Ghost Spider

Aedric hurries to bring his Elven chainmail to the mysterious Snoe.

15.

Ghost Spider

 

It didn’t take the Elf long to return to the quarters, which were in the Royal barracks, retrieve the chainmail suit from his equipment, and then hurry back to the armorers’ lane.   He was thankful that the Elven chainmail weighed much less than the human chainmail that he now wore. 

 

A great crowd had gathered at the various armorers’ stands by the time he returned, as more and more people arrived for the tournament week.   The Westmark Armorers had perhaps a greater number of people at their stand, but Snoe was not to be seen.  

 

Aedric found that he was quickly growing angry at the inconvenience of the situation when he saw a form peeking around the edge of a tent that the Armorers had set up for sheltering supplies.   The clocked figure motioned to him and he ducked under a rope barrier around the Guild’s perimeter and hurried to the tent.  

 

It was the albino girl, who popped back into the interior of the shelter before he reached her.   Probably to get out of the sun, he theorized, remembering the tales of albinos’ dislike of bright sunlight.

 

She had seated herself at a long worktable in the extreme dimness of the tent and looked up when he came inside.   The sight of her red eyes glowing slightly surprised him and he stopped in his tracks.  

 

“Your eyes!” He exclaimed, backing away.   No albino he had ever heard of had eyes that glowed in the dark.   Snoe sighed as if annoyed and stood up and came toward him.

“What are you?” He demanded, his hand falling to the pommel of his sword.  

 

She held her palms up when she saw him grasp his sword and shook her head.

 

“You are no mere albino Elf, are you?”   He asked, somewhat harshly, hoping he could dominate the situation until he could determine just what she was.

 

She stopped in her tracks, her hands still up to show that she meant him no harm.   But her eyes now seemed to be glowing brighter red.

 

“Are you a demon?”  He asked her, and she shook her head.

“Some sort of undead?”  Again she shook her head.

 

Then it came to him.

“You’re an albino Drow!”

 

Her hands fell to her side and she nodded.   For a long moment they just stared at each other as he tried to come to terms with the new information.   She was an albino Drow girl from Westmark.

“You’re one of Duke Dullerm’s daughters?!”

She nodded and Aedric groaned slightly, “Unbelievable!”

 

Before he could say or do anything, she came up to him and glanced down at his father’s chainmail.

He pulled it away quickly, “No!”

She looked up, surprised at his reaction.

“You won’t touch it!   Not my father’s chainmail!   I don’t care how skilled you are!”  He pulled the chainmail back and it slipped slightly from his grasp.  

 

He recovered it, but not before he had uncovered the pattern of his father’s coat-of-arms which the Elven armorers had so skillfully woven into the mail; a white swan with its wings spread wide as if it was about to take flight, perched on a green tree.

 

As soon as she saw the heraldic device, the girl’s glowing eyes widened and she gasped loudly, her hands flying to her mouth.   She backed away as if the coat-of-arms was a Dragon.  

“What’s wrong with you?” He snapped, wondering why she suddenly seemed almost terrified of the symbol.

She backed up until her hip hit the edge of her worktable and she uttered a little whimper.   With a terribly trembling hand she pointed to his father’s chainmail.

 

“What’s wrong with you?” He asked her again, growing more and more angry, “It’s my father’s coat-of-arms, and it is better by far than any that your parents might posses!”

 

His words seemed to only fuel her terror and she suddenly turned and gracefully vaulted the table then ran out of the back of the tent, nearly knocking the tent down in her frenzy to escape.

 

“You crazy idiot; what madness has possessed you!” He yelled after her, but she quickly escaped and Aedric was left standing there with all the spectators watching the armorers at their craft, now looking at him.

“She’s insane!   Totally insane!” He replied to their stares and he stomped off, enraged.

 

***

 

Aedric had no idea what he should do.   Snoe was Duke Dullerm’s daughter and if he upset her, certainly the grey-skinned monster would find out.   It was one thing to act submissive to the man who killed his father, but he did not think he could contain himself upon being rebuked by the man.

 

For in his heart, Aedric knew it was his plan to one day kill Duke Dullerm.   Oh, he never dwelt long on the thought, for his Paladin foster parents would sense the evil in him and know at once that he had been fouled by the thoughts.

 

Yet hidden deep he knew he would seek that one day.   It was about honor, and his father’s royal blood demanded it.   Aedric had no idea how he would achieve this or even when, but the young Elf knew it would be his destiny to at least try.

 

As skilled as the half-Drow was at arms, it would certainly be suicide to confront him.   Yet assassination was beneath a son of the King, so this would leave killing him in some conflict, where the odds were greatly against the Duke.

 

He would kill his son too-- the overly friendly Gamel.   Aedric found little comfort in bringing the thoughts to his mind as he wove through the crowds looking for the freak albino girl.  

 

What about the girl; or her sisters and mother?   He had not thought about them.  Would he have to kill them as well?   Certainly the Drow Duchess’ family had spared the women when they took the Faesidhe Kingdom, and though he hated her passionately, the Duchess had also spared his life when her husband had been prepared to kill him.

 

No, he concluded then and there; he was no killer of women.   It was beneath his station to kill or bring harm on any of them.   Even the dark-skinned devils or the creepy white- skinned freak.

 

He would confine his revenge upon the Duke and his son.   But what about his foster parents and his siblings?   They would certainly oppose him if he went against the Dullerms.   He would not kill them; for they had treated him well.    Yet if they drew swords against him, what would he do?  

 

The thoughts tormented him so deeply that he didn’t hear someone calling his name until he finally reached him in the crowd and grabbed his arm.

 

He spun around with a growl, his hand going to his sword, until he found his foster brother looking at him.

“Hey, easy!  It’s just me!”  Aaron let go of his arm, “I didn’t mean to startle you.   Father sent me to find you.”

“Why?” He asked, struggling to sound calm. 

“We need to gather for the banquet.   We’re supposed to parade in together as a group.   The Duke wants us to all dress in our finest and to gather outside the barracks in an hour.”

“Oh.”  He had nothing better to say in reply.

“Aedric, are you alright?   You look like someone who just awoke from dreaming of battling ghosts!”

“No, not exactly… tell me, Aaron; does Gamel have a sister that is a freakish white color with blood red lips?”

Aaron seemed surprised at the question, “Why, yes - that would be Snoe.   She’s an albino.”

 

“She doesn’t look like a typical albino that I’ve ever seen.”

“That is how the Dark Elves’ albinos look.   Drow skin is different than surface Elven skin.  Thicker or something like that.   Which is why the Duchess and her other children are so solidly black in color; it is different than our skin.”

“When an albino Drow is born, their skin is always milky white, and their usually purple lips are blood red.   ‘Szarkai’ is the word for them among the Drow.   It means ‘Ghost Spider’, but they are rare.   So did you meet Snoe?”

 

Aedric paused for only a moment, “Yes, I didn’t know who she was though.   She looks like a clown… I don’t mean that disrespectful, but she is a fright to behold.   She was working at the Armorer’s Guild table.    Tell me, why is she a mute?”

 

Aaron had a look of panic flash over his face for a moment, as if he’d been asked a question he had been told not to answer.   Yet after a pause to gather the right words, he did give an explanation.

“Um… well, she was… traumatized when she was younger and since then has not spoken a word.”

“How was she traumatized?”   He pressed.

Aaron again paused, again panicking at the question.

“Uh… Well…”

“Aaron, please tell me.   It has something to do with the Faesidhe War, doesn’t it?”

“Um… well, yes, but father told me not to mention it to you as he didn’t want to upset you.”

“When Snoe saw this armor of my father’s, she ran away in fear.”  

“Oh… Oh, no, that’s not good.  Poor girl.”

“Aaron, tell me why she did that!”

 

Aaron took a deep breath, “Aedric; when Snoe’s sister Leah and Princess Joila were… uh… murdered…. Snoe was with them in the bedroom.   She hid underneath the bed, but saw everything.   Since then, she has not spoken.”

 

“She saw it?”   He asked angrily; he had always disbelieved the tale about the Faesidhe killing the two girls.   Yet he also remembered hearing his father addressing his men before they left (along with his father) on the mission, instructing them that all the Drow were to be killed.   But surely not children!

“Yes,” Aaron answered his question, “She had to write out what she saw to Duke and Duchess Dullerm.”

“So her testimony is what led to the war?!”

“Aedric; I wouldn’t say that.   I’d say it was the two girls’ deaths and others in Westmark that led to the war.   I’m sorry, but the Faesidhe started it.”

 

Aedric took the comment like a blow, but bit his lip and forced himself to nod.   Mustering up all of his control, he smiled very weakly, “Let’s go and make ourselves ready for the banquet, and leave such talk.”

 

Aaron gladly agreed, but it all remained in Aedric’s mind, a chaotic jumble of facts and feelings that drained off his anger and left him feeling cold and numb.