Valkyrie of Desire

30. Fire And Water

River people are beebos

Short and serene they sneak by

Triple eyelids frog skin blue

Nimble and patient they spy

They make music with logic

Emotion escapes their eye

Ignore muses of passion

A beebo will never cry

—Yogurnut Peebody

Sweat drips from under the blonde, beehive-themed wig. Hildr growls and tosses it off to land on a sky-blue dress that the girl, Baelu, bought to match it. Fancy, but at the cost of comfort.

Hildr fingers her pink cotton dress. "Wish I could keep this on underneath."

In the corner of the living room farthest from Hildr, Baelu helps her shaking mother pull a blackened wing off a roasted chicken. The thin woman presses the meat towards her daughter, begging her to eat first.

"Don't mind me," says Hildr.

Baelu pulls away from her mother. "Sorry, Lady Hell'Gina. Did you need something?"

"Hell is a fiery place, and Lileth's Nirvana is a wet place right?"

"Wh-what?"

Hildr claps her hands. "Don't call me Hell'Gina when I'm wearing Lilethian style. It doesn't match, get it?"

"Yes, ... Lady."

"I wish another style made sense, maybe one where discomfort is not treated as a status symbol."

Baelu says, "Does the wig and dress not please you?"

Hildr cracks a chicken bone to suck out the marrow and sips a bowl of milk. Baelu fidgets with her apron and chews on her lip, while her mother huddles in the shadows.

Storybook pathetic. Hildr shakes her head at the two and wipes fowl grease off on her simple dress.

"Do they 'please me?' Well, these city nobles take pride in crusader trends that deny practicality. I bet Lileth's crusaders consider such nonsense a cultural victory, as if dominating high fashion matters more than winning actual battles."

Baelu bows her head. "I-I'm sorry—"

"No. No. You did good. I'm displeased by society, and ... Nevermind. Don't worry about it. The costume will get me to Scarlet Keep, then the library. It is different enough from my Pale Nun guise and what I am really. You keeping taking care of your mom."

Hildr bends down to a pouch and pulls out a gold bracelet decorated with sapphires and diamonds, the treasure taken from Uonna. She wraps it around her wrist and sings a Celestial sound, making the gems glow with blue and white light.

"Magic!" Baelu's mother shakes her head. "Cursed. Stay away. Stay back."

The glow fades, and Hildr rolls her eyes. "It wouldn't have activated if it was cursed. Baelu, come here."

The girl shuffles over. "Yes, Lady?"

Hildr frowns and takes off the jewelry. "This is too much isn't? Will I get robbed walking around with this on?"

"It may be so, Lady."

"You take it." Hildr holds it out. "Sing that Celestial word I said over some food or drink and it will purify it. Not so much that rotten food won't be rotten or piss won't be piss, but if you have to eat or drink it, maybe it won't make you sick. Should work the normal five times, four times now, before needing to recharge. Takes a few hours to recover a charge if you are unfamiliar with mystic gear."