The Land Set Aflame

Chapter 6: The Half-Spirit

He couldn't leave the tavern. He knew he couldn't, even though he wanted to. Not until she said he could.

That's how it worked. Once an ember of nymph charm is in your heart, you do what the nymph wants you to do, and little else.

And so Svenden sat, listening to Callyndia and Leofric gushing excitedly about the performance of the illusory dancing girl, "Kithana", long after most of the tavern's patrons had filed out and gone home for bed. The two of them went on to talk about the nature of magic, comparing and contrasting the scholarly mana-channeling formulas Leofric used with Callyndia's innate fairy magic, and inevitably circled around to talking about Callyndia herself. Which, of course, was Callyndia's favorite topic.

"I'm the daughter of a nymph. Yes, literally. I was born from her womb." "Yes, nymphs are fairy spirits: they're born directly from the kallaw. But my mother gave birth to me like a human mother would. She didn't even know that was possible." "My mother's name is Alloria Rosa. Some people call her the 'Queen of Nymphs', but she doesn't like titles." "She's the most beautiful and most magically gifted fairy in all of Wenwyn, probably the entire Kallawlands." "I'm only half-nymph. My father was human: Drake Sablesong, the Margriff of Llalanos." "Yes, I have a noble title: 'Margrivina'. Isn't it dreadful? Maybe someday Mother will embrace her 'Queen' title, and I'll get to call myself 'Princess Callyndia'! Doesn't that sound pretty?"

Svenden had only heard Callyndia's backstory once, when she told it to him five years ago, but he knew it by heart nonetheless. Well, he knew it by the ember in his heart. She wouldn't let him forget it.

"It's interesting that you're only half-spirit," Leofric was saying, "If you're half-human, then... Mr. Moon was very concerned that my dust might have whisked you away to the Spirit World along with that elemental. A fairy or other spirit might have been affected as such, but I'm not sure what effect it would would have had on someone who is only half-spirit. I didn't even know a 'half-spirit' was a possibility until meeting you. He was right to err on side of caution, though."

Callyndia tossed a warm smile in Svenden's direction. "He always was protective," she said, reaching out to caress his hand again, "Such a noble soul! He should have been a knight, I think."

'Always' seemed like an exaggeration to Svenden: after all, she'd only met him that one time, five years ago.

"You don't know me well enough to say that," he said out loud, taking another sturdy pull at his cider.

"I think I do," she said.

Svenden sighed, perhaps a bit too heavily. "Naturally," he muttered under his breath.

There was an awkward pause then, during which he was sure he could feel Callyndia's eyes on him, and the ethereal fingers of her fairy magic probing him for something.

Leofric seemed to read the room, and he cleared his throat. "I do need to talk to the blacksmith before I retire for the night," he said as he stood up, "It was delightful to meet you, Lady Sablesong."

"You too, Leofric," she said warmly.

"Mr. Moon, I'll see you tomorrow?" Leofric asked.

Svenden nodded his confirmation, and Leofric quickly made his exit.

"Well, he's certainly an interesting young man," Callyndia said conversationally after Leofric left.

Svenden rolled his eyes. "Please don't try to seduce Leofric," he said, "There are plenty of other men you could sleep with tonight."

She regarded him quizzically for a moment. "Well, that's rude to assume I would," she replied, her voice still sounding sweet and innoncent, "But I don't think I could, even if I tried. Which, of course, I wouldn't."

"Huh," Svenden said dryly, raising his glass in a sarcastic toast, "A rare bout of humility from the nymph's daughter!"

Her brow furrowed sadly at that. "I don't remember you thinking such unkind things about me before," she said. There was a little bit of a pout in her voice that made it feel like she was still trying to flirt with him. "What did I do to hurt you so, Sven?"

He sighed heavily. "You're a wonderful girl, Callyndia," he said dutifully, "It's just... you're not... real."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Well, you're..." he began, then paused to struggle with some thoughts, "Okay, 'not real' is obviously unfair. It's just... you really messed me up, you know? How can a guy ever have confidence again when... when he learns that... that those feelings aren't even real?"

"What do you mean, they're not real?" she asked.

"It's magic, Callyndia!" Svenden said, "That's the definition of 'not real', isn't it? I mean, you're a nymph. You walk in the room, you look at a guy, and he's instantly in love with you. And there's nothing he can do about it. And, he doesn't even realize it's not real, that it's not him. It's... it's you!"

"Oh, I'm not that bad, Sven!" she said indignantly, "And I've learned a lot in five years. You must have noticed that I wasn't accidentally charming you tonight, right?"

"You really think you weren't?" he asked.

"No, Sven," she said firmly, but gently, "I wasn't. I know my magic. I've been very good about it."

He narrowed his eyes in mistrust and studied her face carefully for the slightest sign of deception, but he knew he was no match for her in this kind of contest. She met his eyes with an absolutely unreadable expression. He sighed and shook his head. "It sure felt like you were," he muttered, directing his comment more to his cider than to her.

"No," she said, "I've been controlling it." She paused. "Well... I did use it on the elemental. I've never charmed an elemental before: that was interesting!" Her face froze for a second, and she looked away guiltily, chewing her lip. "And... I did try it once on Leofric."

Svenden sighed. "You've got to be kidding me!" he said.

"I wasn't going to try to seduce him, or anything!" she said defensively, "I was just... I had to know something."

"What?" Svenden asked.

She hesitated to continue. "Well, I've told you that my magic has limits," she said, "It doesn't work on just anyone. For example, people who are already in love with someone else."

"Oh?" Svenden said, "And who's Leofric Banin in love with?"

There was another pause, during which she hid part of her face behind the rim of her glass. "Kithana," she said.

-----

Chapter 6, and the drama has finally landed! Svenden sounds pretty bitter here, but don't worry: he's still a hero. I think.

And you're finally getting some insight into Callyndia's side of things. Does she seem all that bad to you?

Kallaw (from the Swedish word "källa", meaning "source" or "origin"). No, I don't speak Swedish, and I actually came up with the word before I discovered the Swedish word. Take note, because the kallaw are important enough that I named the entire world ("the Kallawlands") after them. They even use the name "Kallawlands" in-universe, so they must think they're pretty important, too.