We continued down the tunnel until we reached another chamber that was more or less a rough semi-circle that bulged out from the tunnel itself. On the far end of the tunnel was a door that contained a carving of a very pregnant naked woman seated in meditation. In the bulged out part of the room was a shallow pool of water surrounded by large white stones.
There were also three pillars marked with runes I recognized and a table that contained a bowl and a chalice. The chalice was empty, but the bowl contained a bunch of seed corn. It was obvious that opening the door required placing the correct objects within the alcoves on the tops of the pillars, likely a performance of some kind of ritual
The first would be easy, since the pillar contained the symbol for “corn”. And the third wasn’t too difficult either, as it had the marking for “water”. We had a cup, we had water. It wouldn’t take too much effort to get either of those pillars taken care of.
No, it was the pillar marked with the rune for “Sun” that worried me. I wasn’t sure if Cortana could make one of those fusion generators that Daddy designed, so, how were we going to get a star in there? Or was I overthinking it? Would any source of light do the trick, or maybe just some kind of fire? Or maybe if we cut a star out of paper, set it in the alcove and lit it on fire?
I turned to the others to ask for their input, but was stopped mid-sentence by the sight of Bekkin pulling away from Terry’s grasp and running over to get a drink from the pool. Could she really have been older once, if a tiny pig was giving her so much trouble?
She didn’t even bother trying to scold Bekkin, instead just flopping down beside the pool and relaxing. Again, my thoughts were interrupted, but this time by Burin. “So, Miss Lyriana, do you have any ideas on how to activate the pillars and open the door? I mean, I know we’re probably supposed to put corn and water in these two, but how do we get sunlight all the way down here? It could take all day to set up enough mirrors from the entrance, and what if it’s snowing?”
Gregor gave him a look. “Is ritual, yes?” Burin nodded. “Then likely it wants us to use something symbolic. Sun is ball of fire, so we set ball of wax inside, and light it on fire.”
It was probably less silly than lighting a paper star on fire, so we went with that. Luckily, it worked just fine and the door opened. “Wait. All that and it’s just a wall? That’s stupid,” Terry said, getting up and walking over towards the open archway that did indeed just open up to a wall about six inches beyond it. “If we’re going to put in the effort to open a door, there should be something beyond –“
She was cut off as her pocket started glowing in resonance with the arch and a portal appeared. She sat there, dumbfounded for several moments before Burin spoke up. “See, people are generally good. Now be a good girl and apologize to the nice archway for doubting it.”
“But, I,” she stammered, not even knowing how to answer it.
She looked to Gregor for help. “I’m just surprised you haven’t gone in alone already,” he said.
I felt bad for the kid, so I changed the subject. “I’m sure this won’t stay open forever. Let’s get a move on.”
Beyond the portal, we found ourselves within a small, locked room. The door looked passably sturdy, but not too bad. It wouldn’t take Burin or Gregor too long to open it with a bit of force. But Terry was determined to pick the lock. After her embarrassment, I think she needed a win.
Burin stood over her shoulder, cheering her on the whole while. I’m not sure if that helped or hindered her, but it didn’t matter, as either way, after about two minutes of fiddling with it, I heard the sound of the lock clicking and the door was now open. Terry looked pleased with herself.
The door swung open, revealing a curtain before us, hanging from the ceiling and offering privacy to the room beyond. The curtain appeared to be of crushed velvet and was nearly entirely opaque, but we could see a bit of light beyond. And we definitely heard the soft sound of a woman crying.
Cautiously, I peeked past the curtain and saw a very lavishly decorated room, complete with gold chandeliers, surprisingly. There was an attractive half-elven woman with short, strawberry blonde hair sobbing on an overstuffed four-poster bed. Burin pushed past me. “Hello?” he said cheerfully. “Do you need help, miss?”
“Who are…” She froze when she saw me. “YOU!” she screeched, pointing a finger at me accusingly. “Is this another of your tests? Fine, tell me what I must do and I will prove myself so we can be together again?” What? What I had done to this woman?
“How long have you been friends with the warden?” Terry whispered at me.
“Are we really doing this whole thing again?” I asked the girl.
“There is only this. I will find the warden. But fine, if you want to talk to her, go ahead. Let’s see how well you do.”
“Okay, so, who exactly do you think I am?” I asked the half-elf.
“You and your tricks!” the woman said, clearly exasperated. “Is this another test?”
“Hey, that’s not a name, warden,” Terry said.
I shot the girl a look. “How could this be a test?” I asked. “We just got here. And let me tell you, it has been rather interesting, what with the giants, the demons… and don’t even get me started on that creepy satyr.”
“Wait,” the woman said. “You’re really not her, are you? Did Jadrenka send you?”
Terry rolled her eyes. “‘Jadrenka?’ Is that really the best name you could come up with? So, what’s your name, and it had better be more believable than ‘Jadrenka’.”
“I am called Marislova.”
Terry looked at her for a moment in disbelief, then began laughing uproariously, eventually collapsing onto Bekkin’s back. “Really? That’s the best you could do?!” she chortled.
“Actually, that’s a fairly common name,” I said. In fact, I think one of the Rangers is named Marislova, now that I think about it.
“Well it’s an ugly name,” Terry grumped at me.
“What kind of name is ‘Terry’?” Gregor asked, giving her a look.
Terry rolled her eyes at him. “Okay, so how long have you been waiting for us, War-“ She was cut off when Gregor lightly slapped the back of her head. “Ow! Fine, how long have you been waiting for ‘Jadrenka’?”
“It has been maybe a day since she last came to test me, which she has done at least daily since that damnable nymph gave me this lock of hair.” She held up a black lock of hair tied with a ribbon.
A lock of hair from a nymph? Daddy had one of those. She had given it to him for the efforts of him and his friends and not only recovering the body of her fallen lover – he had been turned undead! – but using very powerful magic to bring him back to life. It imparted powerful magical benefits to someone who uses magical performance, and even beyond, it would allow even a non-performer to surpass their skills. And even beyond that, it offers powerful protections, bolstering ones will and ability to shake off certain magical threats.
What had this person done for a nymph to get such a token? I had to know, so I explained all of that to her and the others and asked. “Why did she give you a token? Did you do something for her?”
Marislova shook her head. “No. She was trying to seduce me. I believe that she uses it to keep an eye on me. I could throw it away, but it does give powerful protective benefits, as you said. And here, in Artrosa, I worry that I might need such. Especially with that satyr running about. I do not think he would ever cross Jadrenka, but I would be a fool to put my faith in such a thing.”
“He is not so much running around anymore,” Gregor said.
“Yeah, I think he’s mostly just decomposing,” Burin added.
“Truly? Then perhaps it might be time to cast this away. Jadrenka was furious when she found it. She accused me of lying with the nymph, and locked me up here. I am not sure exactly how long I’ve been here, but it has been at least a week, and I would dearly like for this ordeal to be over.”
“So this is a lovers’ quarrel?” Terry asked. “What kind of test is she giving you?”
“It is different every time.”
“And so you just sit here crying like a little bitch the entire rest of the time?” the girl asked, narrowly ducking Gregor’s hand. “You two need to be more like my parents. Just hit her. She’ll hit you back. Then there’s the frying pan, and someone pulls out a gun. Then, once most of the dishes are broken, you have a ton of sex and everything is okay, with the understanding that if either of you screws up that bad again, you’ll end up killing each other. So you both behave.” Behind her, Gregor just facepalmed. “So, have you heard of the coven?”
“Of course?” Marislova seemed confused by the question. “Most of the women here are witches.”
“And you?”
“No. I do have some small skill with magic, but I learned from books. I didn’t get my powers in the way of a witch.”
“So, if you’re not a witch, does that mean you’re not the Warden? And if not, who is?” Terry really wasn’t letting her search for the Warden go.
“Jadrenka. Okay, I have to know. Just what are you doing here to know so little?”
“Answer my questions or else.”
“I answered your question. Are you attacking this place?”
“We’re just looking for Baba Yaga,” Terry said. “Ugh. I’m so tired. My stomach hurts. My feet hurt. My face is tired.” She flopped onto the bed next to Marislova. “And… um, Lyriana, is it possible for someone’s soul to hurt?”
“I… think so?” I answered hesitantly. I knew there was magic that would let you rip a soul from a body, and I’m sure that had to hurt. So probably, I guess.
“I think the little girl is becoming a woman,” Burin whispered to Gregor, who snickered in response. I shot them a look and they shut up.
Terry didn’t hear them and suddenly hugged Marislova around the waist. “I’m so sorry I’ve been mean. I just want my mom.” Her voice broke as she spoke, like she was on the verge of tears. Then, sitting there like that, she fell asleep.
Marislova, not having any idea what to do, stroked Terry’s head. I grabbed something to sit on and sat across from her. “We really are trying to find Baba Yaga,” I confirmed. “We need to find her so she can reign in her crazy daughter, who is trying to cover the world in ice and snow. We’re following a trail she left, and it leads here. Supposedly, there are objects here that will lead us to her next destination.”
“I see. I wish I could help, but I really don’t know much.”
“Do you mind if we take a bit of a rest here? The kid seems pretty tired.”
“That’s fine. She certainly seems it.”
“We know why you’ve been locked in here,” Burin said. “But why come here in the first place?”
“For a girl,” Marislova said.
“Ah, yes. Always trouble,” Gregor nodded sagely as he sat with his back against the wall.
“I wasn’t always as you see me. I was born a boy and was then known by the name Maroslan. I made my living as a hunter, trading meat and pelts for coin to buy what I needed. One day on one of my hunts, I came across the most beautiful woman at the banks of a spring. What struck me most was her eyes.”
“That’s what all the men say,” I laughed. “But we all know it was her breasts, or her butt. No need to hide it.”
Marislova laughed in return. “I admit, normally that would have been true. But with Jadrenka, it truly was her eyes. One was the deepest of blues, the other was a striking green. It was like looking at a doll with one eye made of sapphire, the other made of emerald.”
Heterochromia? I remembered something about that from my lessons with my parents about the different types of people in Golarion. “So, she was a changeling?”
“Yes, very astute.”
“So, if you were born a man, why are you a woman now?” Burin asked. “Was that something you always felt would be right?”
“No,” Marislova said, shaking her head. “That comes later. First let me tell you that it took me a week of persistence before she would even say more than two words to me. But in time, my feelings shined through and she came to return them. We became lovers and I learned that she was the Warden of this place. I ended up deciding to give up my hunter’s life to join her here. It wasn’t until I had been here for some time that I began to feel like I would be more comfortable as a woman. So Jadrenka helped me change, using her magic.”
“We cannot remain here any longer than necessary,” Gregor said. I just laughed.
But it made me wonder. If this place’s magic made Maroslan want to be a woman, could it be having an effect on hormones? And if so, would that be having an effect on Terry? Maybe she really was becoming a woman, as Burin had put it. Crap. I hoped she didn’t have any questions. I don’t exactly have answers.
I don’t have a monthly cycle. It’s part of my mutation. “Completely covert estrus,” Daddy calls it. Apparently Mama’s the same, though we don’t know if it’s something that runs in her family in particular or if it’s a thing for Aasimar in general. Daddy says it’s pretty hard to get people to talk about that kind of thing.
Hiding that from the girls in school was a bit of a thing. Eventually, I just started carrying tampons in my book bag so that I had them if someone asked to borrow one. That more or less prevented the majority of questions.
So yeah, this wasn’t exactly something I had a ton of information on. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t help a bit. As we talked, I set up the box. “Cortana, are you capable of making medication?” I asked.
“Affirmative, as long as my stores contain the requisite organic compounds required. My stores are more than eighty percent full of numerous compounds, so it is likely I can make what you require.”
“Can you make anything for menstrual pain that’s safe for a girl of about twelve?”
“Acknowledged.”
“Excellent. I need a bottle of that, extended release if possible. Put dosage instructions on the bottle in Taldan, if you would. Also, tampons, I guess. Also for a twelve year old girl. Put illustrated instructions on the package, also in Taldan. The less I have to try to explain this to her, the better.”
Once I was finished with that – and no one asked me what I was doing, even though the entire conversation had been in English – I turned back to Marislova. “I have a question.”
“Yes?” the woman asked.
“Are there any other prisoners here?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“So, girl was right,” Gregor said. “That woman, Caigreal, was lying?”
“Probably. Do you know who Caigreal is?” I asked.
Marislova shook her head. “I’ve never met her, though I think I’ve heard the name once or twice. I think she may be part of the coven?” She definitely sounded unsure of herself.
“What about the other woman?” Burin asked. “The one with the cow.”
“It was a bull,” Gregor corrected him.
“I didn’t really look.”
“It did not have an udder. That was plain to see.”
“If you say so.”
“Boys,” I said. “The animal doesn’t matter. So what about the woman?”
“She didn’t give you a name?” Marislova asked.
“No,” Burin said. “She said she couldn’t.”
“Then she was most likely Jadrenka,” Marislova answered. “She likes to deceive.”
Ah, so she’s not just possessive, but also two-faced? That sounds a lot like a certain girl I know, who shall remain nameless. “I see. Well, don’t worry. Once Terry gets up, we’ll get these other two doors open and you can make your way from here if you want. We still need to find Baba Yaga, but that doesn’t mean you’re stuck here.”
If we couldn’t do anything else good while we were here, at least we’d have the knowledge that we helped this poor girl escape her controlling, psychologically abusive girlfriend. Just because you talk to another woman isn’t grounds for your girlfriend to throw a tantrum and try to control your life while she gets to run off and frolic around anywhere her black little heart desires.
Well, not for normal people. Isn’t that right, Becky?
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