Chapter 37: The Devil You Know
C/W: vague sex discussion
(~***~)
A week later, the elves headed for the forest as soon as Angharad had gone to class in the morning. She hadn't been happy when they told her they were leaving the temple grounds, but they had insisted, promising they would be back by lunchtime. The girl challenged herself to bear it, running out the shaky feeling it gave her to know they were not close by.
As the telling of the tale had progressed, Thranduil had started taking long walks in the evenings. It gave him some solitude as he let the younger parents take care of the children. It helped him calm himself when he felt he might boil over with rage as he thought about Masterson, the Collector, or the Emperor who had terrorized his grandchild.
He had been sure to praise both children lavishly on their daring escape from the Emperor and overall astounding resilience. He intended to have a more nuanced discussion with Angharad someday about her spying venture – but now was not the time. As the tale progressed, he only grew more curious about the snake. He had wondered if he might finally meet her in the forest, but even when he purposefully walked very far from the temple grounds, she did not appear.
During one of these walks, he had found a clearing deep in the forest that he thought would be appropriate for their task today. He led the small company through the foggy wood, which was dominated by proud pine trees with wide boughs and clouds of bushy needles. The oak trees were leafless and quiet in their winter sleep. For these stressed elves, being in their presence was a balm.
"I can see why you have been out here every night," Legolas commented to his father. "This is a good, old forest."
Thranduil nodded along. He didn't feel like disturbing the quiet until they arrived at their destination.
When they arrived, he set Lossrilleth up opposite a dead tree and started explaining what he wanted her to do. Not just shoot the weapon, but to take it from its casing, load it, and shoot it as swiftly as she was able. He thought it looked awfully complicated and she'd said herself that it was slow.
She was about to begin when tree rustled behind them. The elves turned quickly; whatever it had been, it was big. But instead of the gigantic creature they had been expecting, Xiaoqing walked out of the trees, approaching them as a petite woman in a rustic tunic and wide trousers.
"Is that a firearm?" she asked in Westron, not bothering to explain herself or greet them. "I have never seen one so small before. They are getting cleverer every year."
The elves were not sure what to do in response to this sudden appearance. Lossrilleth finally decided to get right to the point, if that is how the snake wished to do things.
"We owe you greatly for what you've done for our daughter, madam. We have heard the full tale now. You saved her from every disaster that might have come from her own inexperience," Lossrilleth told the demon politely. "I don't know how I could ever thank you enough. Words seem too little, but I regret I stand before you with empty hands."
"Oh, lovely and poetic. Your daughter doesn't take after you so much, does she? Perhaps she is more like her father. Although, have you seen her Eastron calligraphy? Quite good for a beginner. A sign of a good swordsman in the making," the demon chatted casually.
"I must agree with my wife. I fear our debt to you will never be repaid," Legolas said to Xiaoqing with a bow.
"Oh, like the father indeed! The likeness is remarkable. You could stay, you know. That pond scum, Jade Fox was right about one thing: if she studied to full mastery in the Tradition she could become quite legendary," Xiaoqing mused. She was going to miss the two foreign children. They had been spectacularly entertaining for her.
"We are not free to stay," Thranduil informed her. "Our gods call us home without delay. When the pass opens, we must go."
"They have a tight collar on you, these gods," Xiaoqing commented.
She was coming down on the side of an elven birth being one of illusory gifts. It was often so with immortals. She had concluded the same thing about her own existence many centuries ago.
"You must go swiftly to avoid this punishment? Do you know the way home?" she asked them. She had thought they would arrive sooner than they had. She wondered if they'd gotten lost.
"We have maps and sea charts. We will have to study them to find the best path. We must stop in the Western lands to see Ginnar home somehow," Legolas replied. They had learned some lessons about paying attention to winds and tides in sea charts, but they still could not call themselves experts. If she knew how they should go, it would be welcome knowledge.
"Why not ask the seagulls? Or fish and other swimming things?" Xiaoqing asked. She had a sort of fëa sense, too. She was examining the elves, to their discomfort. She could see they ought to be able to talk to the wild peoples.
"We did so on our journey East, when we could. But the farther we got, the less we could understand each other. They no longer recognized our magic or knew our tongue. Few would stop long enough to let me know their minds," Lossrilleth told the demon.
Xiaoqing nodded thoughtfully. It was hardly surprising. What did gulls, fish, and sea mammals have to gain from speaking with tree spirits? But she had some sway with the peoples of the East these days. And she found the wish that the little girl arrive home safely nagged at her like a sand flea stuck under a scale.
"I tell you what. I cannot go too close to the temples. The Brothers might kill me on sight. But I can meet you on the far side of the pass when it is time and travel with you to the sea. There are peoples in our oceans who I could appeal to on your behalf," Xiaoqing offered.
"We could not ask you to do more for us," Legolas told her, although he hoped she would make good on this offer. They had apparently taken a poor route here. He had been looking at the maps a good deal lately and thought he understood that there was a canal that would let them bypass a massive stretch of land they had gone around the last time. But if they aimed for it and he was incorrect, they would be hard pressed to make up the lost time. He would like to confirm this reading if he could.
Xiaoqing waved him off with a smile. "It is odd, but I like your daughter very much. It is not often the way of serpents to have such attachments. But when we make them, we will defend them to the death. I will give you all the aid that is in my power to see her returned to safety," she told the elves.
"Then I thank you sincerely. You have called yourself her aunt and that I name you – you are an Elf Friend and I would call you sister," Lossrilleth said. She had nothing else to offer, although she greatly wished to give something of value to this person who had the strange fate of being her daughter's champion, guide, and protector.
What Lossrilleth did not know was that there was special meaning in these lands to offering someone such a bond of family. She could not understand how astonished this declaration made the serpent woman. Never in her long, long life had any being offered such a thing to her.
"Then you are also a sister to me, mother of my favored child," Xiaoqing finally replied, straightening herself out of her casual posture for the first time in this meeting to offer the pale woman a bow. There was a strange, warm feeling in her breast. As if the sun was shining on her scales from inside herself.
"But I have interrupted your weapons exhibition. Please, continue," she added. She was unused to these sensations. She wanted to think them over before basking in them.
The elves did not entirely wish to continue in front of Xiaoqing, but it appeared she was not leaving. And they needed to get on with things. So Thranduil began again, positioning Lossrilleth before the dead tree.
Lossrilleth waited for Thranduil's mark. When he called it, she extracted the pistol from her belt-purse, poured gunpowder and the two bullets she had twisted into bits of paper for quick access, placed them in the chambers of the gun, tamped them down, cocked and loaded both flintlocks, fired the first, and fired the second. It was a laborious process, they all agreed. When they examined the holes in the tree, though, they also agreed that her target was undeniably dead.
Thranduil weighed all the information he had now and could reach no clear conclusion. In a sudden emergency situation, it would not be helpful. But a stand off or something of the like, it could be. Finally he shared his opinion – in Westron, for their guest's sake.
"We aren't going into a battle. Most violent situations we suffer will be sudden and swift. Honestly it would be faster and just as effective to throw a dagger. We have six weeks left here – that's something you can practice while you are here. And you're proficient with a bow, Lossrilleth. I don't see how this would serve you better than that," the old king mused. "I leave it to you. Get rid of it if it bothers you. Or keep it in case you find yourself out of your depth and have time to make use of it."
"You are not a fighter, sister? I thought it was a gift of all your kind. Then why get rid of a perfectly good weapon, if it is so easy to carry and conceal? More options are better," Xiaoqing opined.
Lossrilleth shook her head ruefully. "I should have started practicing a hundred years ago, but it is so safe in Valinor it did not occur to me circumstances might change and I would need to know how to fight. I am the youngest here by far and still wet behind the ears at moments, I'm afraid. I'm only two hundred seventy-seven," Lossrilleth said, counting only her elf years.
"Oh dear, babies having babies," Xiaoqing said teasingly. "What about the two of you? Who remembers the first appearance of that extra bright star when the sun sets? Or when the horizon changed and the time that the sun rose and set shifted forever?"
"Not I," admitted Legolas. He knew what she was talking about, but he had not been there to see the end of the first age.
"I remember the appearance of the evening star and the encircling of the world," Thranduil told her. "But I cannot remember the appearance of the moon or sun, could you?"
"No indeed," Xiaoqing admitted. "Those were already in the sky when I cracked my eggshell and took my first look at the world."
"It seems we are peers, then. Let us walk and speak for a while, keeper of memory for the East. I am curious to hear your tales," the old king offered to her.
He turned to the younger else. "Stay, discuss what to do with this 'pistol' if you will. I suggest you steal an hour for your favorite pastime, in any case. As your constant companion I am away it has been some time. And will be again after this. You have both been under great stress and there is a long road ahead of us still. Replenish yourselves." He began walking off with Xiaoqing without a backwards glance.
Lossrilleth turned to Legolas with a look of disbelief. "Did you father just tell us to - " she trailed off, feeling a bit stunned.
Legolas was rubbing a hand over his face, trying to hide an unbecoming smirk. "He certainly did," he replied. "I would note it seems we were successful at being silent on the boat," he added.
Lossrilleth scoffed, waited a moment, then let out a peal of laughter.
"I do not think he is wrong, melethril," Legolas told her, grinning at her mirth. "But perhaps we should discuss the fate of your weapon first."
Lossrilleth sighed heavily. "I still do not know my own mind when it comes to that. Maybe it will be easier to let it go after we have had another six weeks to improve my skill. Throwing daggers is a good idea. I would like to learn that."
"I do not think you will find that difficult to learn. Keep it if you will, and try training more first, if you think that will help ease your worry," her husband encouraged her. He agreed with Thranduil – he thought it would have limited practical use for them. But it seemed important to let her give it up herself. He thought it was more about her feeling unsure in a fight than the actual usefulness of the thing. The first bit, he could help with.
"Then that is what I will do. Will you help me think on it again before we leave?" she asked.
"Of course. You need only ask," he told her sweetly, feeling relieved that she had listened and was being more open about it.
"What else need I only ask for?" she said, making sure the gun and powder were safely stowed before sidling closer to Legolas. He didn't bother to reply.
(~***~)
Thranduil selected a roundabout path back to the temple grounds, knowing that Xiaoqing would have to depart when they got too close. Xiaoqing decided she did not like looking up at this 'peer' of hers and changed her body from the waist down. She rose until she could look him in the eyes and slithered beside him on the trail.
"The Brothers seem to despise you for some reason. Do they share this hatred for all demons, or have you earned their special ire?" the old king asked.
"They believe themselves to be empowered to uphold the laws of the realms. A few of us have tried to tell them, but they don't believe it: unlike you, we haven't been given another place to go. Generation by generation we become simpler and smaller. The youngest demons are hardly better than clever animals now. But for those of us who remain and are as we were before, there is nowhere else but here. So they warn us to leave. We can't leave. Then they imprison us and demand we do penance or kill us outright," Xiaoqing explained coolly, although she could feel the embers of outrage kindle in her heart. This had been her home first. How dare they?
"But they also hate me. My true sister caused the flood that destroyed some of their shrines. Some Brothers died. I counseled temperance to her; her wrath was too great even for my appetite. But she would not listen. And now she is their prisoner. All their Abbot Fahai knows is that he saw me there that day. He blames me as well as her," Xiaoqing told Thranduil. She did not like what had happened to SuSu, but her sister had made her own choices and would have to live with them.
"What caused her rage?" Thranduil asked, listening thoughtfully.
"Suzhen had the misfortune of falling in love with a mortal man. The Brothers learned of this union: it deeply offended their sense of order. They attacked Suzhen and her husband in their home. They took him away and kept him in the shrine in a magical trance. To 'protect' him from her, you see. She came to fetch him back and would stop at nothing to do so," Xiaoqing told the elf bitterly. "So you see, if they'd simply let two lovers love, everyone would be alive and free, and nothing would have been laid waste. Alas."
Thranduil could hear the anger in the demon's voice, and it echoed his own on behalf of this Suzhen. It was foolish for immortals to love mortals. But it was their own choice to be fools, or it should be. He was feeling much less warm towards Fahai now. The man called himself a dedicate of spiritual learning. He sounded violent and ignorant to Thranduil.
"I am sorry for your troubles, then," he finally told the snake woman. She shrugged her shoulders.
"All who have lived as long as you and I know that the world is full of trouble," Xiaoqing said. "Samsara turns on and on."
Thranduil was about to ask her what Samsara was when she looked up suddenly at a bird flying by, cheeping loudly. She turned and looked at Thranduil curiously.
"Do you know they are mating, back where you left them? Don't they have enough of a brood on their hands right now?" she asked, perplexed.
Thranduil scoffed in surprised amusement. He could see what she had meant when she told Angharad that the demons were a bit closer to beasts than elves were.
"Their activities will not produce young," he explained, trying to think of it the way an animal would. "Its purpose is to foster their mate bond so they can serve better as parents to the children who already live."
She looked at him skeptically. "Warm bloods are strange to me. I've had clutches before. I wasn't fond of being egg-heavy. I cross paths with my offspring from time to time – the ones who survived, in any case. It tickles me when they are particularly clever. I have a son who never hit his growth. I was ashamed to have hatched such a creature, but then I watched him and realized he's a wily little serpent. He has a nose for treasures whose owners have grown overfond of them. He steals them from under their noses, teaches them a lesson about greed. I am proud to name him as one of mine now."
"Hmmm," Thranduil considered this. "Would you tell him so?"
"What, that he's one of mine? Or that I'm proud of him? Why would he care?" Xiaoqing asked, entirely serious.
"You've said our people are alike, but we appear quite different to me," Thranduil said. "We care greatly about the opinions of our sires and would spend our last drop of blood for our children."
"Perhaps you're different from the scaled folk, yes. We are mostly solitary. Sometimes we have a friend, like my sister was to me. But there are warm blooded demons who care for their young. Don't stand between a she-wolf and its pups, you would regret it, I promise you," Xiaoqing said, laughing harshly.
"How did you become interested in my granddaughter, then, if you do not care for children?" Thranduil asked.
"For the same reason I am proud of my undersized son – she impressed me!" Xiaoqing said.
"You should have seen her in that garden, surrounded by enemies, dressed up like a doll every day for their amusement, without a hope in the world. But she produced the keys to her own bonds as if by magic, then announced she was going to flee over the roofs! I couldn't take my eyes off her. What confidence. A bit too much at moments, but still," Xiaoqing said with surprising warmth in her voice.
"I haven't regretted watching over her," Xiaoqing reflected. "In truth I have never enjoyed a good deed quite so much before."
The odd pair strolled through the winding woods until Xiaoqing could go no further, discussing their lives, lands, and people as though they had been friends as long as they lived. When they came too close to the temple grounds, Xiaoqing prepared to leave.
Thranduil addressed her once more before she went. "The old tales of this land are interesting to me. It has been very different here than it was in our home on the Western continent. I walk in these woods every night. Shall we meet again?"
"Not here," the demon replied. "I have risked much already to meet you today. We'll have time to speak when we walk to the ocean. Don't underestimate the threat of those blades the Brothers carry, my friend. I did and I regret it. You have the spirit sense – exam me, if you will. See what it did to me. The scratch to my skin was so small it was healed in a week."
The old king took her invitation and reached out in fëa, looking over the soul of this creature who was both strange and familiar somehow. When he was finished he knew he would never ignore a spirit blade held against himself or any elf. It had left her maimed. A piece of her soul was missing; the light it should have held, drained away. The snake woman could see how it disturbed him and nodded knowingly, then left to hide from the Brothers until the snow melted and the elves left.
Thranduil left the conversation with many things to think about. He had decided that he opposed Fahai's blanket treatment of these demons. Did these humans even understand how cruel an injury these blades inflicted? If a particular demon causing great pain and havoc, then it was warranted that the humans would protect themselves. But this wholesale persecution of them as a people? It did not sit well with the Elvenking.
(~***~)
Footnotes:
This chapter is heavily influenced by the Legend of the White Snake, including as depicted in "The Sorcerer and the White Snake." I considered not taking the White Snake arc any further just to not take too long, but it's ripe now and I've been convinced to see it through.
There continue to be some influences from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon running through this.
