Tiphaine

“He doesn’t like being wet,” she was explaining to their assistant, Aylard, at around the same time. “It’s because when he was young, only a toddler, his mom dropped him into a puddle and left him there… That’s how he became an orphan, you know.”

“What kind of a stupid story is that? Try harder, lady Tiphaine, by the divines.”

“That’s what he told me, though. I’m serious. About how he ended up alone.”

“Is he going to tell you that ale is poisonous to him, too? Don’t believe him. I saw him drinking it when we accosted you in the tavern when you arrived.”

They were on their way to find Garrick’s house on the far end of the village.

“Oh, were you one of the soldiers? I don’t remember seeing you there.”

“I was. I was behind Sir Meheyn, I was wearing a helmet. But really, he runs fast with a broken arm… Well, I suppose it’s not his leg. Anyway, have you known each other very long? Perhaps since right after you… hatched?”

“I’m part viper, so I didn’t come out of an egg, and no, not that long,” she waved him off. “I think I’d been through… I don’t know, ten winters before I first met him? So… it was about nine cycles ago. He’s three cycles older, so he must have been thirteen. Haha, his chin was completely hairless back then.”

She noticed a human about that same age hiding in the bushes along her path, trying to sneak a peek at her without being noticed. The people were so afraid of lamias here. It was completely different from Aeliah. But then, she’d played a large part in making it so, so she couldn’t complain.

“How old are you?” she asked Aylard, changing the subject.

“Twenty-three years,” he replied. “That’s what we call “cycles” here.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“I’m surprised you’ve managed to stay friends for nearly a decade. He seems like a loner.”

Tiphaine smiled. “He is. Most of Aeliah is afraid of him when he’s not with me. He’s really paranoid and reclusive, especially around the humans. My friend Lenah and I are probably the only ones he talks to on a regular basis. Whenever we leave him alone, he just goes hunting in the woods.”

“He likes killing things, then.”

“Yeah… It’s his nature. But he’s a softy, trust me. I asked him to stop hunting rabbits one time, I said they were too cute, and he really did for a couple of weeks. And he’s changed my bandages three times today, and that’s hard to do with one hand.”

The human snorted. “I wouldn’t have thought it. I hope you’re not in pain, by the way, those seem pretty tight. I’m curious, has he ever seen your face? Since, you know, he can’t do so without turning to stone, being a human and all, like he said.”

“Of course he has. He can see me any time he wants so long as my eyes are closed. Oh, but every now and then, when we find… the stuff, the cure for petrification, he’ll get curious, and I’ll show him my eyes, too. He turns to stone, of course, but he can still see, so I twirl around for him a bit and revive him again. Apparently, I’m really pretty – a real heartstopper. You want to see?”

“I think I’ll pass, if you don’t mind. He trusts you to bring him back though? You know – I recall the villagers saying something about you putting something in their mouths to bring them – oh – divines! Sorry, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that!”

Tiphaine glanced over at Aylard, confused by his sudden reaction. “Hm? Oh, don’t mind them. They have minds of their own, but they’re not actually dangerous, the hair-vipers.”

“You just said they were vipers,” he said, anxiously eyeing the top of her head. The snakes were hissing at him, ready to strike. “Vipers are venomous.”

“But only a little bit,” she cringed, turning to him, lifting her veil a bit to show him her mouth and extending her fangs. “I am much, much more.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied, with a hint of fear in his voice that hadn’t been there before.

She set down the veil again and continued slithering down the road. She wondered when Emony would join them again. He was probably down in the lake somewhere, cursing his cute face. Or staring at him… herself?

Hopefully just staring. No matter what Lenah says, I’m sure he’s still a man in there, she thought.

Then she began wondering which of the two of them might be prettier. It was hard to tell.

“But you’re right, you know,” she spoke aloud to distract herself. “We did put something in their mouths to unpetrify them. It’s pretty easy to free people if they haven’t been statues for long. It just becomes harder or impossible if they remain that way for more than a week or so.”

“Pretty easy, like how your vipers are a liiittle poisonous, I’m sure.”

“Haha. Maybe. Actually, I can’t say, Emony would get angry with me. Oh, right, we didn’t talk about this, okay? If he finds out we did, he’ll… Well, he won’t kill you, probably, but you won’t have a good time. And he’ll call me stupid again.”

Aylard, whilst nodding in her direction, waved at and made some strange gestures to some passerby who were keeping their distance from them.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said. “We’re almost there. Sorry, do you mind waiting here for a moment? I’d like to go ask those people there about Garrick, but they might not talk if you’re with me. I think they might be his neighbors.”

“Awww, I want to go too. But fine. Go.”

With a nod, the human ran off towards the others, who were still casting nervous glances her way. She slithered a little distance in the opposite direction towards a spot the sunlight managed to touch next to the lake. Her hair-vipers appreciated it, hissing contentedly above her forehead. Stroking a few of them gently, she closed her eyes and stretched out over the grass, taking in the meagre warmth. She wouldn’t mind if Aylard took a while…

“Tiphaine!”

The sun really felt so good… She wished she could stay there forever. Maybe with a fire close by, too?

“Tiphaine!” That voice again…

“What do you want?” she yawned, too tired to open her eyes. It was time to sleep. “Are you already back, Aylard? Is it time to go? Let’s wait for another minute or two…”

Hm? That’s not Aylard’s voice…

She struggled for a moment to open her sleepy eyes. Once she did, what she saw in the blurry light was the strangest thing.

A breathtakingly cute girl with a scaly tail and fin the color of the sun was struggling to pull herself out of the water with a single delicate arm.

“Who are you?” she gasped, stupefied.

The small features on the girl’s face contorted into the most endearing sort of angry expression Tiphaine had ever seen.

“Are you still asleep?! Help me!” the little mermaid hissed.

She couldn’t possibly refuse, she thought, shaking her head and quickly getting up.

Actually, she could have, she realized a moment later, when she came back to her senses. Emony hadn’t forced his… her…? Yeah, her definitely fit better right now. Her will upon Tiphaine with magic this time. Nevertheless, she decided to help pull her out of the water.

“You’re back,” she whispered, at the same time trying to calm her hair-vipers, which were angry that they’d been woken up.

“I’m back,” Emony repeated back to her with a ridiculously girly voice. She really couldn’t picture the werewolf she knew was in there.

“And I’ve spoken to the king,” Emony continued. “Sort of. Are you alone?”

Tiphaine shook her head to clear her thoughts again and looked up over the slight incline that hid the pebble shore from the road. Aylard was still talking to the humans a little ways away.

“No,” she said, “but I think we have a minute or two.”

“Good. I don’t suppose you have a towel?”

“Actually, I do. Here – Aylard bought it for me ten minutes ago. I thought you might need it.”

“Good thinking. Help dry me off, would you – ouch! Not so rough with the end of the tail!”

“Divines, you’re cute. Nice bra,” Tiphaine said.

Delightedly watching Emony blush, she let her make her empty threats while she helped her out. It took a couple of minutes, but she managed to get her quite dry. The hair took the most work, since it was the human kind. Then Emony closed her eyes and made an expression of extreme concentration. Soon after, her face and body changed, and her golden tail lost its color as it slowly separated into two human legs.

It seemed he had gotten better at controlling his form, she noted, looking away. He wasn’t completely dry yet, but he’d already managed to change back. And earlier, back at the tavern, he’d managed to resist the transformation for about half a minute, even though it had taken him by surprise.

“Thank you, Tiphaine,” he said. “You’ve no idea the relief I feel every time I manage to turn back.”

“But it’s really a shame, Emony, you were so much cuter a few seconds ago,” she murmured in reply.

“Do you want to die?”

“Haha. Hey, here are those clothes I brought along in case you wet yourself. Those are the last pants, so be careful – and give me your wet tunic, I’ll put it in my bag. Oh, no, you can keep the bra.”

“Tiphaine…”

“What? You might need it again! What if the king starts lusting after you? Haha, fine… Anyway, um, you’re not going to make me look up forever, are you?”

“Give me a second, it’s hard to do this with one hand. Do you have another sling, too?”

“Yeah, I’ll get it ready for you. Right. Well, um, we are on our way to Garrick’s house. The people at the tavern told us where it is and we’re almost there. With a little luck, we’ll find him and the queen shacked up in it.”

“It’d take a lot of luck. I just saw Garrick. He’s dead. He’s become a man of the lake. Okay, I’m done, you can look.”

“Are you sure it’s him that you saw?” she asked, lowering her gaze from the cloudy horizon above him.

Emony nodded, mirroring the uneasy expression she hid underneath her veil. “Verena told me. Anyway, it might still be a good idea to go there. We might find some clues, even if the human is gone. Also, have you heard any mention of a town called Palehome while I was down in the lake? Anything at all?”

She shook her head. “No… I don’t think so.”

“Absolutely nothing?”

“No, why? What is that place?” she asked, slithering over to him and gently placing his broken arm into a dry piece of cloth.

“Not important, apparently,” he shrugged, looking up at her whilst pulling on his new pair of boots. “I’ll tell you later. But come to me right away if you do hear something about it.”

She agreed, noting that he was trying to hide something from her again, and turned to look back at the road. Aylard was returning, looking around to try to find her.

“It’s time to go,” she said.