Chapter 38: Chapter 37: Basic fey politics and powers

I had quickly run Eirlathion’s behaviors through my head. Assuming he isn’t trying to bait me out, his assumption that we have previous-life memories similar to those of a fairy with possibly a bit more maturity involved will make things considerably easier. In that case, I should go with an angle of impressing him with my information-handling abilities I just boasted about.

He seems like someone who is trustworthy, so I can assume his motives likely involve trying to keep us alive every bit as much as we want to stay alive. That being the case, showing competence here will get him to be more open with us about his plans. I would like for him to also openly consult with, at the very least, me if not the rest of the crew here as well. It would be rather inconvenient if he just went making unilateral decisions that may clash with my intentions.

So, I essentially give him the same list of deductions and their basis that I gave to Tia earlier. About how I became aware we were grey elves and the nature of our relationship with our fully absent mother. About how I was aware of the intentions of the other elves, both from hints and then later because I had recently confronted Nymph about the subject. I couldn’t tell him about the history of genocide back on Earth that lead me to my actions in regards to the other elves, but I did play out a few of my concerns and likely scenarios as things continue which my actions were designed to at least partially dissuade.

Eirlathion had been nodding along for most of my explanation, and his body language became continuously more relaxed and confident. It seemed I was right, he really was quite concerned about us and it seemed like my show of competence had eased his mind considerably. As I got to the last part about how my small actions as well as my argument with Nymph were for the sake of accomplishing a goal though, his body language became stiff and he began watching me with a very serious look.

[I see.] He said and then gave me a complicated expression. [You were being very serious about having the ability to handle information.] He said, and then went off into a long period of thought. [The way you just talked about everything. You gave all the important details, and you made predictions based very well in what really could happen based on what you know. It felt like talking to one of the “lugam a lutel”]

Well, that’s great. The language barrier just got in the way at the end, but I feel those unfamiliar words might be something important for me to know. [I’m sorry, I do not think I recognize those words you said at the end. “lugam a lutel.” What does that mean?] It hurt to harm the credibility I was trying to build up here, but it simply would not do to be denied what could be important information based on a language barrier and not asking the right questions.

[Ahh… you have not heard the word “lugam” before, Asa?] Eirlathion asked. [It is the word we call the “enis” of the forest. She is the “enis” for everything that the trees cover. She sends some of her specially trained “lutel” into human lands to gather information on them from time to time. She is interested in what the human “lugar” are doing.]

Ok, it really doesn’t help that now he’s dropping a lot more new vocabulary on me, but I think I sorta get it from the context. Lugam = queen, Lugar = king, Enis = Ruler… I still am not completely sure what “Lutel” means, but I have it’s definition narrowed down to either “agent” or “spy.” I guess I will have to hear it in some other context to be sure, but it’s not important right now. I will keep it in mind for later.

[So women are the rulers in this forest, and men rule in the human lands?] I ask, trying out the information I understood from his explanation.

[Well…] Eirlathion paused. [Most elven countries are ruled by a queen (lugam,) but in this forest the queen is just the queen because she is the most powerful. We are not an elven “enisid” (kingdom?), this is a forest ruled by all of the most powerful fae, we elves are simply citizens here.]

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Elven translation note: "enisid."

Enis = Ruler, Kisib = hand. Therefore, because Asa knew the word "kisib" before and just learned the word "enis," she was able to reasonably come to the conclusion that "enisid," a word she has heard for the first time, probably means Kingdom. "What is in the ruler's hand."

(a "b" transforming into a "d" is a very natural thing in language evolution, it was likely "enisib," or even "enissib" or "enis-kisib" originally and, along with other changes, the "b" was softened into a "d" because it was easier to say.)

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[So, the queen is not an elf. Is she a fairy?] I asked. Great, I am sounding closer and closer to my physical age. But, having information is never bad, and knowing the political situation here could even be important.

[Well… a fairy.] Eirlathion stops to think. [I guess that is correct, she is the most powerful class of fairy. A fae “galmustar.”]

Ok, I’ve about had enough with new vocabulary. I think I had better stop here. I will find out what “galmustar” means sometime later. It’s enough for now to know it’s some kind of incredibly powerful fairy.

More importantly, now I know that there are definitely things out there in this forest that are much more powerful than the elves around here. Nymph can probably protect us from elves, but with the way Eirlathion talks I am getting the impression that fairies and some of the other fae who live in this forest are much more powerful. If we antagonize the villagers too much, they can easily seek help from something nasty that Nymph might not be able to handle.

[Alright, so, you are saying that I sound like the “lutel” of the queen when I told you what I know?] I bring things back on topic now that I’ve heard what I need to know.

[Yes, you were very exact and only told what you know, and when you had to make predictions they seemed very reasonable.] He said. [It sounds weird to think that some humans might have trained someone as well as the “lutel” of the queen, but I guess I have the evidence in front of me here.]

So, elves… or rather fae in general are born from reincarnated humans, huh? Or at least that’s the common sense of this world.

[Well, I couldn’t tell you anything about where I got my training.] I told him.

Eirlathion just sat there and stared me down for a while. [Well, I guess it does not matter.] He said. [This means you should be able to help me to keep something bad from happening to you two. It is better if you know some things like that. You even surprised me a lot. I thought you were being naïve earlier with those two young men out there, but to think you were thinking so far ahead…]

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[I still do not know if it will work.] I said. [If anything, it will only lessen the damage done by the act of destroying all of your careful attempts to hide the real abilities Tia and me have. I am sorry for that, by the way.]

[Well, I would likely be dead if you two had not moved.] He said. [I appreciate it. So, how bad do you think things are, with your information skills?]

[I was hoping to hear more from you about that, actually.] I told him. [I do not know enough about dark elves, grey elves, or what regular elves think about us in order to make a clear prediction. I only know what I was able to get out of Nymph right before you came up here.]

Eirlathion sighs and lowers his eyes. [Well, I should probably tell you about that then.] He makes a difficult face like he’s trying to work up the nerve to say something really painful. [Dark elves… they are the demon equivalent to elves. Every race has  a demon that is a corrupted version of their race. A demon will always seek to destroy members of the race from which they were born.] He explained and then looked up at me.

[The half-breed of a demon and the race the demon is based from, they always have power that can be used to fight the demons if they are raised correctly. There are several half-orc heroes among the humans who fight the demons assaulting their lands.] Wait, half-orcs? So, that would mean orcs are the demonized humans? Also, why is the word for “orc” the same as the one I know?

[It is only because the orcs are stupid that they allow those half-orc children to be born and grow up.] Eirlathion continues. [Dark elves are far more intelligent than orcs. Any dark elf man who takes an elven woman must kill her after he finishes. I have heard failing to do this is a death sentence crime among the dark elves. If a woman does happen to survive such an ordeal as the mother of you girls had and she gives birth, the dark elves will send a strike team to destroy the entire village a grey elf child is found in.]

[Ahh, I see.] I interjected. [They wish to frighten the villagers into killing us for them, so we do not have the chance to grow up and become a threat.] I pause and watch Eirlathion nod his head in confirmation. [I understand enough now.] I continued. [Eirlathion, how far is it between here and the royal capital?]

Eirlathion’s eyes bulge at the sudden question, and then he goes pale. He likely understands the implications. [On foot, about a month. If a messenger manages to recruit a great fairy from the capital though, they can make it back to this village in a matter of only a day or two.]

[Then, if anyone leaves the village for any reason, we should assume we have less than a month to get away. Do you have a good idea of a place we can escape to in the human lands, Eirlathion? From what you’ve told me, we should be less likely to draw the interest of dark elves if we are among the humans who they have no interest in.]

[What!?] An angry voice suddenly cuts into our conversation and Nymph’s projection appears right in front of my face, blocking my view of Eirlathion. [Asa! How can you talk about going away!? Are you leaving me?]

“Nymph!” I respond in an angry tone, switching to English so I could easily be more ‘eloquent’ with my thoughts. “I told you already, this is about me and Tia staying alive! Do you honestly think you have the power to fight off someone powerful enough to serve the queen!? That is what you could be fighting if we simply stay here! You may be confident in your power, but I am not willing to risk mine and Tia’s lives as well as the boys’ futures on you being selfish!”

“Selfish! Asa, I… I just want to protect you!” Nymph said.

“Yes! You want!” I said with a very harsh edge to my voice. “You want to be the one to protect me, you want it to the point that you’ve selfishly stopped thinking about what is the best way to actually keep us alive!” I yelled at her. “Now, if you do not have anything reasonable to contribute, I would appreciate it if you would stop interrupting!”

Nymph went silent. There were tears, or at least a facsimile of them, in her projection’s eyes. There was a deadly silence over the room. Eirlathion sat to the side with a panicked look on his face.

[Ahh… Asa, this “sikitii” is almost ready to become a “lukis,” it might not be…]

[Stop talking Eirlathion!] Nymph yelled at Eirlathion as he seemed to be trying to talk me down from my position in the argument he didn’t even know the details of.

He jumped as though he was just burned when Nymph yelled at him like that. Even Eirlathion, huh? The people here really are afraid of Nymph.

Nymph looked back at me. “I’ll make sure none of them leave!” Nymph said. “Nobody is going to leave this village for any reason! So, you and Tia will not be in danger. I’ll watch them, so… if Asa can just give me the mana for it then I can stop all of them!”

I sighed at her offered solution. “So, you want to lock this village down and become it’s dictator? Rule this village through fear?” I said. “Fine. You just scared Eirlathion enough that I don't think I can get any more productive conversation done. I will go along with your solution until I can think of something better. But I will tell you this. I am going to loose a lot of respect for you, and it will become worse the longer this goes on. I might even grow to hate you.”

There were several sharp pops from the wood that Nymph’s true tree body was made of. Reading Nymph’s mood, I could tell her entire real body was tensing up from the turbulent emotions she must be feeling. “I don’t care.” She said under her breath before her projection disappeared.

Well, that's just great. Could there possibly have been a worse time for Nymph to throw a fit? Well, I did warn her. It's angry Asaren time. Eirlathion, like the other elves outside before, is afraid of Nymph. It's going to be very hard to get good information out of him now. Guess that means hot anger is not an option. Cold anger then. Nymph is going to regret this little outburst.

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