“Sergeant
Hamnar,” Aubrey called to one of her lieutenants.
Aubrey wasn’t
particularly fond of the woman. Jexi
Hamnar was young, idealistic, and had an annoying eagerness to do the right
thing. She was too young to have
experienced battle, but had the kind of fire that made for heroic corpses. The ones the Imperial Court liked to toast at
funerals and show to the foot soldiers as examples of perfect sacrifice for the
Empire. Aubrey didn’t really like
heroes, they tended to get the people around them killed.
“Constable?”
Hamnar said.
“Have you ever
dealt with the fae before?”
“Just the
stories,” Hamnar replied. “And the usual
children games. Chasing a will-o’-wisp
through the hills, or trying to follow a spriggen back to buried treasure.”
“I thought
not. This will be valuable.” She turned to Wilhelm and said, “Thank you
for your time, burgher. I’ll keep you
updated on the investigation.”
As they drew
closer to where the naiad, Aubrey slowed her pace and Sergeant Hamnar followed
suit.
“What do you
know of naiads?”
“Water spirits,
right?” Hamnar replied. “They lead men
off with promises of pleasure?”
“Not just men,”
Aubrey said. Hamnar made no reply, but a
light blush crept up over her face.
“The fae aren’t
like the stories,” Aubrey said. “Or
rather only half like the stories.
They’re practically immortal, with experience both broader and deeper
than any mortal can possibly have, even an empress. We’re mere children to them. They play games with us and tease us—they
like to see us embarrassed and foolish.
They have a darker side as well.
You don’t want to make one of them angry. It rarely ends well.”
“Like being
spanked by your da?” Sergeant Hamnar laughed.
“Yes, except
with teeth and claws and blood.”
“How do you keep
from that?”
“Avoidance,
mostly,” Aubrey said with a shrug. “Fae
don’t usually seek us out, we tend to trespass without knowing. Keep out of their way. Endure them when you can’t.”
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