One of my biggest interests is folklore, and I'm fortunate enough to have a good library at my college that carries a lot of books on the subject. Sometimes, when I'm reading through one of these books, there are some stories that really stick with me for a long time. One example is the story of Tam Lin, from Scotland. After reading it a few times, my fanfictioneer brain kicked into action. "You know, Tam Lin sounds a lot like Lynn. This might make a good Lynnka story."
And just to make a few final things clear; this story is vaguely in the mid-1500s, and it's not an exact retelling. Enjoy.
As the morning sun was creeping its way towards its peak in the sky, its bright rays shone on a small mansion at the side of a vast and great woodland. Within the walls of the mansion, a young woman with long, albino hair was busily applying powder to her freckled cheeks.
She smiled to herself in the mirror when she finished, allowing herself a moment of vanity to admire her thin figure, wrapped in a beautiful dress. It wasn't the fanciest dress in the world, and it lacked the laces and frills that some of her wealthier friends were able to afford, but it was a gift from her father, and Linka Loud was ever-grateful to have it.
"One of many gifts he's given me," Linka smirked to herself as she looked out of her round window to the woods besides her home. Carterhaugh, it was named, and Linka trembled with anticipation and excitement at the prospect of exploring it.
She rushed down the stairs of her home, greeting a few of her father's knights and servants with her adorable smile. When she made it to the foot of the stairs, she was greeted by her father himself. The middle aged man laughed as his young daughter rushed to him with a hug, and wrapped his arms around her just as she wrapped her arms around him. "What's the rush, Linka? Are you planning on bothering the poor horses again?"
"No, Father. I'm just excited to go hiking through the woods you've given to me."
"You plan to trek through the woods in a dress?" he asked, raising a confused eyebrow.
"All you buy for me are dresses, Father. What am I supposed to wear? Your clothes?"
"Fair point," he conceded, before a look of parental concern covered his face. "I hope you'll be careful in there, Linka. The woods are a dangerous place. I knew that even when I was a young boy your age. It's filled with lizards and snakes and bears and lions..."
"Lions? Father, you know that lions are African and Near Eastern creatures, right?" Linka giggled. "There isn't a lion to be found in these parts."
"I don't know. I could've sworn that I saw one lurking in the bushes when I was a young lad… but perhaps I was mistaken, and it was a wolf. But regardless, whether it was a lion or a wolf or even a dragon, I would just hope that you will take care to avoid the beasts in that forest."
"Beasts are the least threatening creatures that dwell in Carterhaugh, Lord Loud."
Linka and her father turned their heads to see Agnes, their oldest maid, sitting comfortably in a rocking chair and knitting. The threads danced in her fingers as she smiled mysteriously at the two, a knowing twinkle in her brown eyes. "A bear knows to leave humans alone, lest it and its entire family be hunted down in revenge. The true danger of the forest is no animal or bird, and is indeed not even a creature of this Earth."
"Oh, Agnes, not one of your old wives tales again," the lord rolled his eyes.
"I assure you that Tam Lynn is no fiction."
"Tam Lynn?" Linka repeated the name.
"Oh yes, dear. Tam Lynn. He is a handsome, elven spirit that has lived in those woods for a long time. A fae that possesses much boyish charm, though he spends much of his time alone and isolated. As legend has it, those who pass through Carterhaugh without leaving a gift for Tam Lynn will have something important taken from them."
"What kind of gift?" Linka asked, intrigued.
Agnes grinned wickedly. "They say that any young maiden that passes through his domain without leaving a green cloak behind will find him before her… and he shall take her virginity."
"Fairy tales," her employer scoffed, "and a fairy tale much too inappropriate for my daughter to hear."
"Y-Yeah," Linka nodded in agreement. "There's no way that story is true. It's like when I was younger and you told me that girls that scream in the hallway would be taken by goblins."
"That was just to get you to stop disturbing me when I napped," Agnes shrugged.
"Well, I'll be sure to be careful in the woods, so you two can stop worrying about me."
"Alright, Linka. Just return home soon, and without scratching yourself, please. You still have that meeting with the suitor later today."
"Oh yes, I forgot I was about to meet with Chandler," Linka scowled, her happy mood immediately evaporating. "How I excited I am to be marrying him soon. How lucky I am that I will be wed before my breasts have time to sprout, to a young gentleman that parties in mud and poop."
"That's the spirit," her father said, clearly not picking up on the sarcasm.
With an annoyed sigh, Linka threw the front doors of the mansion open and stomped out onto the lawn. She growled under her breath as she trudged on towards the woods, before taking a calming breath. This was her day to enjoy, and she wasn't going to let anyone spoil her mood. With another deep breath, she found herself smiling again, and with that she marched on to Carterhaugh. When she reached the edge of the forest, she took a moment to stroke the rough bark of the trees. The leaves were bright green at the top, and in the cool wind, they swayed from side to side, as if they were enthusiastic dancers.
Linka stepped into the forest, carefully dodging a puddle of mud by her feet. She reached down to pick up a long, clean stick, and tapped it against the ground. "This'll do," she said to herself as she began using it as a walking stick, navigating her way on the faint road someone paved long before her time.
As she walked through the woods, her ears were filled with the pleasant chirps and songs of the birds in the trees. She glanced to the side to see a small, red fox, glaring at her, and when she waved at it, it let out a nervous hiss and ran away into the brush. "I don't know why he's so scared. I may own the place, but I'm not going to charge him rent," she joked to herself. "You know, I should tell that joke to that pun-loving servant boy Lane. He'd get a chuckle out of it."
Linka pushed on, and only stopped again when she noticed a thin stream of water in her path. A wooden bridge was built over it for her to cross, but when she noticed what was right next to the bridge, she gasped and turned away. It was a beautiful natural shubbery, with red roses sprouting from the ground. "Oh my God, it's so pretty," she whispered as she got down on her knees, setting her stick on the ground by her, and reaching over to touch the flowers. She cupped a flower in her hands, and sniffed it, sighing at the aromatic scent of the pollen. "This is what Eden must have looked like."
She glanced over the other flowers, and her eye was caught on a certain one; it was a beautiful double rose, with pink and white melting into the red color. Linka stared at it, and with a sneaky grin, plucked it. She took the flower and placed it on her ear, and the petals pressed against her white hair. "I do feel a little bad for taking that flower, but then again, these are my woods," she shrugged.
"You have no idea how wrong you are."
Linka shot up, her eyes wide, as she looked around. "Wh-who's there?" she questioned, spinning in place. She picked up her stick and held it defensively. "Show yourself!"
The clear sky suddenly went dark above her head, as black clouds, crackling with electricity, formed and blackened the sky. A bolt of lighting hit the ground besides her, and she yelped as thunder boomed in the air. She fell face first into the dirt, groaning slightly as she got back up and looked at the spot where the lighting had hit…
… and found, to both her wonder and her horror, a young man standing there.
He looked around her age, though perhaps maybe a few years older. His cheeks were freckled like her own, but the comparisons ended there. His hair was thick and chestnut brown, and his skin was a little tanner, though it was hard to tell due to the otherworldly aura that covered his fit body, and made it glow. He was dressed as noble, in a red shirt and brown pants. And when he opened his eyes, she saw they were coffee colored, and her first thought was;
You know, he's actually pretty cute.
Her second thought was of the story Agnes had told her back at the mansion, and she gasped. "T-Tam Lynn," she said his name, making the young man raise an eyebrow.
"So, you know who I am," he said, in a voice far more rough and boyish than she expected. Judging by his clothes, she thought he would've sounded more gentle and passive. "I guess that saves me the need to introduce myself. What are you doing here, anyways? If you know the tales about me, you should know that pretty girls shouldn't be wandering through these parts."
"I'm L-Linka," she said, blushing at how he called her 'pretty'. "And I'm the owner of Carterhaugh, by the decree of my father, who owns the lands."
"Legal ownership and paperwork means nothing to me. But very well, I will not intrude on you as long as you have brought me the green cloak tribute that I am owed."
And with that, Linka froze and dropped her stick.
"Oh, right… um… see, about that..."
Lynn lifted an eyebrow. "So you… don't have it?"
"No, I don't."
"Dang it," she heard him whisper to himself, before he looked back at her. "W-Well, I guess we have to do this now..."
His cheeks turned bright red as he scanned her with his eyes. He swallowed, his Adam's apple visibly bobbing, and he clenched his fists so hard that his fingers dug into his palm. At first, Linka was terrified of what was going to happen next, but as moments passed, she realized that Lynn hadn't even stepped closer. "Are you… are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine. Prepare yourself, girl, for soon I shall take your maidenhead and you will be overcome with waves of pleasure and pain."
The moments turned into minutes.
"You sure you're okay? The legend said you would've had me by now."
The young man's head hung in shame. "Most women just bring me the green cloak, so this is the first time I've had to do this. And you're really just so beautiful, so I don't want to... you know, do that to you against your will."
Linka blushed again, and parted her white hair slightly. "I… I think I get where you're coming from. Sooner or later, in the coming year, I'm going to be wed to someone I don't want, and then I'm going to have to do… well, this for him. I don't know if I can go through with it."
"Guess we're both stuck, then," Lynn sighed.
"Maybe we're not, though. Hold on… I just got an idea," Linka said, slamming her fist into her palm. "I think I know a way we can both get what we want."
"How?"
She grinned a foxy grin, and stepped over to the young man. She stepped close enough for his nervous breaths to wash over her face. Then, with no warning, she pressed her lips against his, and held him tightly as their teeth clinked together and they tasted each other's mouth. She broke the kiss with a gasp, and moved her hand closer to his crotch, rubbing and massaging it lightly enough to encourage a moan from him. "You do your thing, and don't worry about it. You're handsome and kind, so… believe me, I want you."
"But how will this help you?"
"Leave that up to me," she whispered huskily. They fell to the ground, their arms wrapped around each other, struggling with each other's clothes in the haze of youthful desire.
The months rolled by after Linka's secret love-making to the fae boy in the woods. The green leaves of Carterhaugh began to change into their more autumnal colors, with browns and reds and oranges decorating the aging trees. A calm breeze rushed over the tops of the trees of the forest, but over at the Loud manor, things were anything but calm.
"WHO WAS IT?!" the lord of the manor roared as he dragged Linka out of her room and into the main hall, where several of his manservants were gathered. "WHICH OF YOU BASTARDS IMPREGNATED MY DAUGHTER?!"
"Father, please..."
"I bet it was you, Lane. You crooked tooth pervert, I should have never taken you in," Linka's father ranted angrily at the poor confused young man. At this point, Linka had grown frustrated enough, so she slipped her arm out of her father's tight grip and pointed an angry finger at him.
"How do you accuse me of sleeping with one your servants, as if I were that kind of loose woman?"
"Oh?" her father growled as he turned away from Lane to look at her. "Then pray tell me, daughter, how did this small bump in your belly come to be? Are you Hera, that you can create a child on your own? Or perhaps an incubus from Hell rose to the human world and found you waiting for him?"
"I'm not telling you anything," she growled in return.
"Linka… please understand. How am I to wed you to Chandler if you're bearing another man's child? Do you think he wants to raise a child that looks nothing like him?"
"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to cancel our engagement. I'm too soiled for Lord Chandler now, aren't I?" Linka said, struggling to maintain her angry expression when all she wanted to do was burst out in cheers.
I don't have to marry that creep anymore!
"I… I suppose so," her father realized. He turned to the wall and placed his head on it, and let out a heavy sigh. "The engagement is off, and the Duke's son will find another bride waiting for him, while my daughter, little more than a child, is bearing a child of her own."
"S-Sir, if I may… my own mother birthed me when she was only ten, a year or two younger than Linka. I believe if you give it a chance, you'll find having a grandchild so early a wonderful opportunity..."
"Shut up, Lane."
"Sorry, sir."
"And I'm not done with you, missy," Linka's father turned to face her, only to find her vanished. He looked at the men gathered, and asked "Where did she go?"
"She ran off while Lane was babbling," the Swede boy named Loki said as he smacked his younger co-worker.
Indeed she did. If anyone had been looking out the window, they would've seen Linka sprinting across the front lawn, hiking up her skirt and dashing into the dark woods. She slowed when she made it past the first group of trees, and she panted and gasped lightly, clutching her stomach delicately. "I probably shouldn't exert myself too much. For your sake," she said to the child growing inside her. She then started to rub her stomach. "I wonder when you're supposed to start kicking me. Does that hurt? I think it hurts."
Focus, Linka. Stay focused.
"Right," she said to herself, as she began wandering into the woods. She needed to find Lynn and tell him the news of what happened, and she knew the best place to find him was at the silvery creek where they had originally met.
When she came to the creek, she was pleased to find the young man there, sitting by the rushing water. "Lynn!" she called to him, and the boy turned his head to face her. He smiled at her, but as she got closer, she found his smile to be more of a sad smile.
"Welcome back, Linka," he said as she sat besides him. "It's… it's nice to see you, again. Was I able to help with your, uh, problem?"
"Indeed. And the best news of all… you're to be a father," Linka said with a warm smile. She reached for his hand and placed his flat palm on her belly underneath her shirt, and let him rub her smooth skin. For a moment, the light in Lynn's eyes seemed to reignite, before they returned to a depressed cold.
"Oh, great," he whined, withdrawing his hand.
"What's the problem, Lynn? You seem upset about something."
"I… well, I was upset before you showed up. But now I… now I'm even more disappointed with myself. I'm afraid that you're going to have to raise that child alone. I won't be there for either of you."
Linka's eyebrow raised, and she tried to keep a steady voice when she said "Explain."
"It's a long story."
"Well, you better tell it before I take you down the river in a splintery boat and throw you down the waterfall."
Lynn chuckled, and let out a light sigh. "And people call me the aggressive one. Alright, I'll tell you, but I don't think you'll like what you're about hear."
Linka leaned in, her eyes wide as her mate prepared to tell his story. He coughed into his closed fist, and cleared his throat with a disgusting spit into the river ("Gross," Linka muttered) before he started his story. "You see, Linka, the legends and rumors surrounding me may have said that I was an elf or a faerie or a gnome, but the truth is that I am none of those things. I'm actually human, believe it or not."
"You're human? But then how do you look so good?"
Lynn grinned a cocky grin. "Just my natural charm. A lot of girls back at my old manor used to say I was handsome and fit, which might be explained by the fact that I played a lot of sport back in the day. In fact, my story begins in the middle of one of these sports. I was out riding my horse through these woods, when it was spooked and suddenly threw me off the saddle. I fell, and for a moment feared I would fall on a rock and break my head. But I wish that were the case, for I had the cosmic misfortune to fall right into the lap of the Queen of the Fair Folk."
"I… see," Linka lied. She wasn't really following.
"After a series of enchantments, they decided to keep me around as a sort-of reverse changeling. I would retain my age as the human years went by, and when I came to these woods years later, I found my family gone. I would visit from time to time, only to find new settlers… those settlers being your family. But anyways, my problem with the faeries is due to the time of year it is."
"What? October?"
"The end of October is Halloween, and there's a specific ritual my adopted people perform every year. On the night of Halloween, which is tomorrow night, they must repay their ancient debt to Hell with a sacrifice. And since the Queen hates to sacrifice one of her own people… I have been chosen to be handed to them," Lynn ended his story with a nervous swallow.
"Lynn… I can't believe it..." Linka gasped.
"That's why the stories say that I demand a green cloak from women who pass. Those dressed in green can avoid the eyes of magical creatures. I was hoping that I would get one this year to sneak away from the Queen, as I have before, but," his tone turned accusatory, and he gave her an unamused glare, "someone decided they were too good for that."
"Oh, shut up, Lynn," Linka scowled.
"Look, I'm just saying that I might be handed off tomorrow night, so… I'm really sorry, but..."
"No. No. No, I won't accept this," Linka said as she stood up, stamping her foot for emphasis. "I don't want you to be tossed away to demons."
"Me neither. And it sucks the most because… well, I really wanted to spend some more time with you," he said with a shy blush, rubbing the back of his head.
Linka sighed, and got down on her knee, her tone and face softening for the worried young man. "Lynn, I promise you that you won't be used as a tithe to Hell. You helped me with my problems, so I want to help you with your problems. There's also the fact that I don't want to be a single mother, and, most importantly…"
She hugged the young brunette, and dug her face into her strong shoulders. "I love you, Lynn. I don't want to see you go," she sniffled, her eyes threatening to spill tears on his crimson shirt. He ran his fingers through her long hair. "I love you too, Linka," he whispered.
"If you do, help me think of a plan to save you."
"Well… there is one thing that worked before. It's honestly really complicated. Like, way too complicated for someone like me," he chuckled, knocking his own head. "But if we work together, maybe this will work. But for it to work, you have to absolute trust in me. Look, I hate to ask this so soon, but… do you trust me, Linka?"
Linka chuckled. "Lynn, we met months ago. What do you mean 'so soon'?"
"It's just that we never really took that much time to get to know each other, you know? It feels weird."
"You're such a dunghead," she cooed, pecking him on his cheek to cut through his endless verbal supply of doubt. "We may not have gotten to know each other much, but I trust you enough already to know that I want to. Let's save you from the Devil's clutches, and then we'll have all the time in the world to talk to each other."
The boy's lips curved into a sheepish smile. "I'll look forward to it. E-especially with you, Linka. Now here's my plan..."
Linka supposed she was lucky when she found her father still fuming and angry with her. He had taken to isolating himself in his room, demanding to be waited on by the staff. Linka made a mental note to talk to him later, but right now, she had a more important task in mind.
She glanced out her window to Carterhaugh, hoping to catch sight of some otherworldly phenomenon. It was Halloween night, and she knew from Lynn that all manner of inhuman creature was walking the earth as they did before the arrival of the sons of Adam. Elves, goblins, vampires, banshees, giants, warlocks, selkies, demons, dullahans. Werewolves too, judging from the bright full moon that was steadily rising to the peak of the night sky.
The fair girl summoned all of her courage as she wrapped a green cloak around herself. She took one last look in the mirror, and whispered "I hope this works," before stepping out of her room and walking out the front door.
She crossed into the woods and crept through the vegetation, her eyes darting from side to side, alert. Linka remembered a time when the most she had to fear in these woods was stepping in some mud and ruining her white dress. Ah, how she missed those days.
Linka paused when she heard the sound of hooves stamping on the ground, and quickly ducked behind an ancient tree. She peaked from behind the trunk, curious to get a peak at the Fair Folk…
She felt her breath get taken away.
A company of knights were riding in the forest, with an ethereally beautiful woman riding a glimmering unicorn in front. Both she and her steed were dressed in elegant robes, jeweled with rubies and emeralds. She sniffed the air suddenly, and frowned angrily, and Linka was worried that she had caught her scent, until she remembered that the green cloak protected her from detection.
The eleven knights that rode behind their queen were just as magnificent; each dressed in a plate of golden armor and bearing Oriental scimitars in their scabbards. And behind them all, riding on his trudging horse, was Lynn.
As soon as she saw him, Linka poised herself. She used to the tips Lynn had taught her to pounce swiftly, and angled her nimble body just right. "One Loch Ness… Two Loch Ness..." she counted silently, "THREE!"
She pounced at Lynn, knocking him off his meek horse. They fell on the ground together, but Linka refused to let go of him. She clutched him tightly, and wrapped part of her cloak around him. The parade stopped, some of the horses whining loudly, as the Queen of the Faeries spun around, fiery anger in her eyes.
"You dare steal our tiend?" she growled as she pointed a clawed finger at Lynn and Linka. "Have at thee."
Linka screamed as a hot cloud of steam burst from Lynn, and she found him transformed into a slimy lizard. Still, she maintained her grip, which only further angered the Queen. She cursed again, and Lynn transformed into a writhing snake, fangs spewing venom on Linka's skin. But she didn't let go, clutching on the transfigured boy.
"Now you're starting to annoy me," she heard the Queen say in a voice that reverberated through the woods. The tall elf changed Lynn yet again into a giant, hulking bear, nearly crushing Linka under its weight. Yet, she held on still. Again, Lynn changed shape, and now he was a roaring lion, clawing at the air under him. The Queen uttered her final curse, and Lynn changed, not into another animal, but a powerful hot fire. Linka clutched the fire to her chest, and rushed to a nearby well, and dumped the fire inside. Steam rose from the bottom of the well, and both women stared at it with bated breath.
A naked Lynn popped out of the well, a playful smile on his face. "Hey, ladies, hope I didn't keep you waiting."
"Lynn!" Linka cried as she hugged the young boy so tightly that he choked. "Your plan worked. You're free now."
"Don't sell yourself short, Linka. It wouldn't have worked if you didn't trust my advice; no matter what form I take, I can't hurt the one I love. See, that's good teamwork."
"Yes, yes. Congratulations, mortals," the Queen hissed at them. "The Powers That Be have sent you this girl to save you, Lynn. Be grateful, and thank your Christian God that you have been saved from the clutches of his opposite."
"We will thank Him, in the church the day we are wed," Linka shot back, getting to her feet. "Now as for you… you may be the Queen of some Fairyland, but right now you are standing in my property. I own it, and with that authority, I demand that you leave."
Lynn gulped at the utter hostility Linka showed the Queen. But all the regal woman could do in response was scowl, and flick her heads towards her knights. "Come now. We will leave this place."
"But Queen, who will we pay as tribute now that Lynn is..."
"Not another word," she growled at her knight with grit teeth. The knights began to clear out, while the Queen turned back to look at the panting young man. Her long blonde hair flowed with the cold wind, and she put on a cold smile. "Why, Lynn, if I had known you were planning to fall in love with a mortal girl, I would've burned out your eyes or made you a statue in my garden."
And with that, she vanished, leaving Linka and Lynn alone.
"I guess my immortality is gone now," he noted. "Now I'm just a regular young man, thirteen years of age. And I'll grow up and die just as any other man or woman would."
"There is one thing that'll set you apart from other men and women, though."
"What's that?"
"That I'll grow old and die with you," Linka said with a smile Lynn found overwhelmingly adorable.
They both stared at each other for a quick moment, before they slowly brought their lips together and kissed under the yellow light of the moon.