Sarah shouldn’t have been surprised the castle had a games room, nor that it seemed to configure itself at Jareth’s whim as she had never seen it the same way twice. At the moment an enormous slot car track looped around the room. Her brother had a Scalextric, but this was another league entirely. There were eight tracks and the cars were the size of her hand.
Jareth had set up a viewing platform that offered an elevated perspective of the track as well as muffling the noise. The high pitched whine of the cars wasn’t too bad, but the competitors tended to get a little enthusiastic.
Sarah and Bishop leant on the railing watching the cars zip around the track so quickly the movement was a blur.
“I have to ask about your names.” Sarah waved her hand at the other half of the chess set below them.
Bishop chuckled. “We’ve used more names Above before and since, but they really were our names at the time we were recruited by the Labyrinth.”
“You knew each other?”
“We’d never met. Neither names were even chess related. If they were, it would make more sense for me to use Rook considering I’m Marrakeshi.” He shook his head. “Perhaps it was a wild coincidence or maybe the Labyrinth has an interesting sense of humour.”
Sarah glanced at her companion with his impeccable suit, neatly cornrowed hair and very proper London accent. “I thought you were from London.”
Bishop bared his teeth in a grin that Sarah quietly thought made him look like he ate small children. “I’m from lots of different places.”
A muffled roar sounded as a car failed to make the turn. Magic may not have been allowed while racing, but it was useful for catching errant vehicles that exited the raceway by unconventional means. Jareth plucked the car out of the air above the track and placed it back on the track.
“They’re all shapeshifters?” Sarah nodded to the competitors.
“All the guardsmen are.” Bishop shot his cuffs before leaning back on the railing.
Sarah cocked her head in thought. The guardsmen assigned to domestic duty were smaller than those who accompanied them outside the kingdom. Rather than play twenty questions, she decided to be blunt. “What are they?”
“The smaller man and woman are hyenas, all of the domestic crew have pack tendencies.” Bishop nodded to a pair of men who both, despite the difference in skin colour, looked Mongolian. “That pair are tigers. The Finn and the Canadian are bears.”
“Are all shapeshifters predators?”
“Our sort…” Bishop shrugged. “I’ve only known us to be predators.”
Sarah nodded. “Should we break up the argument before it escalates to violence?” A vigorous discussion of race rules was underway amongst the competitors.
“Or we could assume they’re playing to the audience and we could remove the temptation by decamping to the kitchen for tea and scones.” Bishop stood up and offered his arm.
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ninetydegrees
Stray
2022-08-09 10:22 (UTC)Drabble:
Sarah shouldn’t have been surprised the castle had a games room, nor that it seemed to configure itself at Jareth’s whim as she had never seen it the same way twice. At the moment an enormous slot car track looped around the room. Her brother had a Scalextric, but this was another league entirely. There were eight tracks and the cars were the size of her hand.
Jareth had set up a viewing platform that offered an elevated perspective of the track as well as muffling the noise. The high pitched whine of the cars wasn’t too bad, but the competitors tended to get a little enthusiastic.
Sarah and Bishop leant on the railing watching the cars zip around the track so quickly the movement was a blur.
“I have to ask about your names.” Sarah waved her hand at the other half of the chess set below them.
Bishop chuckled. “We’ve used more names Above before and since, but they really were our names at the time we were recruited by the Labyrinth.”
“You knew each other?”
“We’d never met. Neither names were even chess related. If they were, it would make more sense for me to use Rook considering I’m Marrakeshi.” He shook his head. “Perhaps it was a wild coincidence or maybe the Labyrinth has an interesting sense of humour.”
Sarah glanced at her companion with his impeccable suit, neatly cornrowed hair and very proper London accent. “I thought you were from London.”
Bishop bared his teeth in a grin that Sarah quietly thought made him look like he ate small children. “I’m from lots of different places.”
A muffled roar sounded as a car failed to make the turn. Magic may not have been allowed while racing, but it was useful for catching errant vehicles that exited the raceway by unconventional means. Jareth plucked the car out of the air above the track and placed it back on the track.
“They’re all shapeshifters?” Sarah nodded to the competitors.
“All the guardsmen are.” Bishop shot his cuffs before leaning back on the railing.
Sarah cocked her head in thought. The guardsmen assigned to domestic duty were smaller than those who accompanied them outside the kingdom. Rather than play twenty questions, she decided to be blunt. “What are they?”
“The smaller man and woman are hyenas, all of the domestic crew have pack tendencies.” Bishop nodded to a pair of men who both, despite the difference in skin colour, looked Mongolian. “That pair are tigers. The Finn and the Canadian are bears.”
“Are all shapeshifters predators?”
“Our sort…” Bishop shrugged. “I’ve only known us to be predators.”
Sarah nodded. “Should we break up the argument before it escalates to violence?” A vigorous discussion of race rules was underway amongst the competitors.
“Or we could assume they’re playing to the audience and we could remove the temptation by decamping to the kitchen for tea and scones.” Bishop stood up and offered his arm.
“I like the way you think.”