How She Did It

Life, Identity

Natalya tells Fenneck how she killed Staladin.

"Checkmate," Fenneck said as he moved his dragonchess piece forward, beating Natalya for the fifth time that day. She looked in shock at the pieces, trying to figure out how she hadn't seen his move coming. "Okay, I'm done," she said annoyed, throwing her hands up in defeat. "Sore loser," Fenneck teased her as he started putting the boards away. "Oh, come on!" she exclaimed. "You always win. It's not even fun anymore!" she complained, standing up to stretch her legs. "You've said that for years now," he said as he delicately put away the beautiful glass figures. "You'd think you'd have gotten better by now," he teased her. She groaned in annoyance. "Wanna go on a patrol or something? I need to move," she asked as she stretched. "Sure. We can watch the sunset," Fenneck said as he finished putting the board up. They put their gear on and headed out into the wilderness. The last few months had been strange. He and Natalya were starting to spend more time doing activities together than they normally did. She was still trying to make it work with Dimitri but Fenneck knew it was a frustrating, delicate situation and he had avoided asking her about it. He did have something he'd been dying to ask her for ages and was finally getting up the courage to ask her with their growing friendship. "I've been wanting to ask..." he started as they crossed a ridge. "- and we don't have to talk about this if you wish. I understand it probably isn't a pleasant memory. But..." He sighed and decided to go for it. "I was wondering why you killed Staladin. What prompted you to do such a thing and... and I am curious as to what actually happened. We've heard many different rumors in Glitterfjell," he explained, looking out into the mountains as they walked. "What have you heard?" she asked, sounding curious. "Well," he started. "Some say Pufuktin ordered you to do it. That it was an inside job for him to rise to power. I personally think that would be too simple for someone like Pufuktin and I've met you and since ruled that one out." He smiled at her before turning back to the mountains and the setting sun. "Some say you were a crazy witch who liked to sleep with her victims before killing them. Some say you snuck into his chambers and slit his throat and some say you seduced him and murdered him mid-coitus." He hesitated and remembered the version Catherine and Vyndius had recounted. "One particularly gruesome one was that he was strung up and blindfolded naked on his bedposts and stabbed brutally in the neck. Some say he was poisoned," he suggested, hoping it had been simple and painless, for her sake. "The list goes on," he said, waiting for her response. She swallowed nervously. "Well, a few nights before it happened I was accompanying Pufuktin to a feast in the Krasnoye Fortress and Staladin was there," she explained. "At the end of the night, after Pufuktin was... done... with me -" Fenneck took a deep breath to control his anger at the disgusting thought as she continued. "- he told me that Staladin wanted to spend an evening with me in a couple of nights. Of course, Pufuktin couldn't tell Staladin no so when the night came I hid a dagger on my thigh. I made it into Staladin's room and he sent his attendants away. He dropped his robes and I convinced him to let me tie him to the bed posts and blindfold him." Fenneck tried to look out over the mountains to avoid looking at her. He had expected this but he didn't want it to be the case. She kept going. "Once he was blindfolded I took my dagger and rammed it through his neck." She hesitated and sighed. "He died instantly. I was covered in blood so I took my dress off and stole some of his robes and escaped out the balcony and into an empty garden before I managed to make it onto the streets and all the way to the southern outpost where I found Dimitri." She paused and sighed for a moment. "I told him what happened and he told me to run. To escape into the mountains. So I did." Fenneck considered these things for a while as they walked. "Why?" he finally asked. "Why not just stab him? Why... why tie him up like that?" He wanted to understand the reasoning behind tying him up in such a disgusting manner. Why she would allow him to go that far. She sighed. "Two reasons. One is that Staladin was a very powerful warlock and I wasn't sure about the extent of his power. I wanted to incapacitate him as much as possible. If he had a second to react, it wouldn't have worked. He would have killed me. I had to make him trust me. To blind him. To remove any margin of potential error," she explained her assassin reasoning as if it were obvious and second nature to her. "The second reason... is that he deserved it. He deserved to be humiliated. To be murdered not by some great sorcerer or monster but by a nobody whore in the most humiliating way possible. His hubris got the best of him, and I wanted everyone in Lenisily to know that." Fenneck was startled by her courageous dedication to her disgust for the man. They kept walking in silence along the mountain ridge as Fenneck considered her story. Eventually he finally stopped and turned to look at her. "You are the most terrifying person I have ever met," he said both bewildered and full of respect for her. Natalya smiled coyly at him. "I'm glad you think so," she said looking proud of herself. "No, really," he said, trying to make her understand how serious he was. "You're terrifying. I hope to god I never make an enemy of you," he said, looking into her eyes as he realized how dangerous she really was. She looked taken aback. "Well, I doubt that will ever be the case. I didn't do it for personal reasons, Fen," she said, equally serious now. "I did it because he was a monster. You are one of the most noble persons I have ever met. You have so much good in you." She looked down in shame. "I don't want you to fear me," she said sadly. Fenneck sighed. "I didn't mean it like that." He took her chin in his hand and lifted her face to meet his gaze. "I don't mean to judge you," he said sadly. "I know I have a tendency to do that sort of thing. I am trying not to. I'm sorry if I offended you," he apologized. She smiled softly at his apology. "I know it's gruesome. I have visions of it all the time in my meditations," she said, shaking her head at the memories. "I don't rest easy knowing I took him from this earth. Even if he was a demonic warlock who slaughtered his people," she said defensively. "I know," Fenneck said softly. "I can't imagine the pain it must cause you," he told her sadly, wondering how she felt about Erikur's death. Even he still felt guilty for the lives he had taken during the revolution. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a small group of ice mephits behind Natalya. He drew his bow and fired an arrow over Natalya's shoulder before she had time to react. She turned and saw the three ice monsters. The middle one let out a shriek as Fenneck's arrow pierced it's chest. It suddenly breathed a cone of ice toward them and they gracefully rolled out of the way of the blast. Natalya drew her bow as she rolled and fired an arrow at the center one. It shrieked again as her arrow lodged into his side, next to Fenneck's arrow. The one on the left ran toward Fenneck and slashed at his ankle ripping a chunk of fox fur off of his boot. The one on the right came for Natalya but she easily sidestepped it. Fenneck notched two arrows and shot one arrow into the the center one and one into the one on the right attacking Natalya. The center one suddenly burst into shards of ice. Natalya went to fire an arrow at the one about to attack Fenneck but her bow string snapped as a shard of ice pierced it and the arrow fell short into the snow. "Damn it!" she exclaimed. The one about to attack Fenneck jumped to claw him but Fenneck gracefully kicked him midflight and sent him falling down the side of the mountain. Fenneck drew an arrow and shot the creature in the head as it fell, causing it to explode in mid air. The other jumped up at Natalya but she gracefully dodged out of the way. Fenneck drew another arrow and shot the creature in the side. It let out a shriek and turned toward him. Natalya took her bow and swiped at the beast sending it down into the chasm it's buddy had fallen into. Natalya and Fenneck looked down and watched it explode like the others had as it slammed against the rocks. "The hell were those?" Natalya asked him casually. "Ice mephits," Fenneck said informatively. "They aren't native to this plane but they have been known to sneak in occasionally," he told her. Natalya looked down at her damaged bow sadly. "I can restring it when we get back to the cave," Fenneck assured her. "We should head back anyway, it's getting late." He looked out at the sun that was setting over the mountains. They made their way back to the cave and Natalya started working on dinner while Fenneck worked on repairing her bow. "You never answered the other part of my question," he said as he delicately strung the bow. "Which part?" Natalya asked, confused. "The why," he clarified. "Why did you do it? I know the whole 'he was a bad person' thing, but... I want to know what changed in your mind after being a dedicated KAV soldier for over a hundred years." Natalya thought for a moment as she stirred the rabbit stew. "One day, I had a job in the mining town, Gornoslav, on the northern border of Lenisily. While I was there I... I finally started to see the reality that was my country," she said somberly. "It was a dark, sad town. Women were being raped in the streets and the air was full of smoke and this... pungent smell. I followed the source to this clearing in the forest where I saw a pit of bodies, mostly half-elves being burned by this sickly purple and black fire. Above the pit was Staladin surrounded by some of the generals from the KAV, including Pufuktin. Staladin had his hands raised above the pit as if it was a sacrifice or something." Fenneck's stomach dropped as he remembered the similar ritual Milena had performed underneath Flottenheim. Natalya continued her story as she stirred their supper. "I snuck out of there hoping they wouldn't catch me and tried to make it to the southern outpost to find Dimitri but on my way there I... I tripped and fell into the snow." She took a deep, long breath and paused for a brief moment. "I sat there and cried for hours. Finally as the sun was starting to rise I..." She stopped stirring and and looked up into the distance. "I felt a large snowflake fall into my hand..." She looked down at her palm as if she was remembering the moment. "As I looked at its beauty and intricacies I... I just... I felt a sense of..." Fenneck looked up at her in stunned silence as she spoke. No one in his life had ever talked about their epiphanies before. It was a generally understood rule among elves. "A sense of understanding," Fenneck helped her, a bit reluctantly. "An understanding of the balance of the universe. Of good and evil," he said knowingly. Natalya over at him, confused that he understood and nodded. Fenneck looked down solemnly. "You shouldn't have told me that," he said shaking his head in shame. "What do you mean?" Natalya asked him, not understanding the importance of what she had just done. He knew she didn't understand most elvish traditions and cultures but this was something he thought was obvious to their nature. "Fen?" Natalya asked him sadly, worried she had done something wrong. Fenneck cleared his throat. "Have you ever heard of epiphanies?" he asked her, trying to gauge how to go about this. Natalya shrugged. "I know what the word epiphany means if that's what you're asking me," she said. Fenneck shook his head. "No, epiphanies. It's... it's an elvish... thing. For lack of a better word. Every elf should experience it at some point in their lives," he explained. "It's a very private thing between an elf and their gods," he said cautiously, trying not to shame her for her ignorance. "Normally one does not discuss it with others, even their children or... lovers." Natalya face flooded with guilt. "No!" he tried to assure her. "Look, it's okay. I... thank you." He looked her in the eyes compassionately. "Thank you for sharing such an important moment of your life with me," he told her genuinely, looking deep into her eyes. "I don't mean to shame you... you didn't know," he tried to comfort her. She swallowed and nodded. "I feel like I know nothing about elvish customs or culture," she said, becoming upset. "They preached to us all the time about worshiping Corellon but it's weird how much I realize I don't actually know about him and our culture." Fenneck smiled at her and sat her bow down before standing up and walking over to her. "I'm more than happy to share my knowledge with you on such subjects." He told her, wanting to help her feel more at ease. "Lenisily took Corellon's name and created a blasphemous culture about elven superiority with it. My parents taught me a lot about traditional elvish beliefs and ideals though. I have some books here I could show you. One of them discusses epiphanies," he suggested. "After dinner let me read some to you," he begged her. Natalya nodded and gave him a small smile as she finished the stew. After the stew was done and her bow was beautifully repaired, Natalya fixed them both a bowl and joined Fenneck in his bed. He wrapped a fur around her as she settled down next to him. He read to her about epiphanies and other elvish customs from his collection of elvish stories. Fenneck felt blissful reading to her and talking in their elvish tongue. Occasionally he would show her pictures and intentionally lean a little too far over so that their arms brushed against one another. He adored telling her about all the wonderful things his parents had taught him about their culture. They ended up discussing religion, Corellon, culture, politics, and nature till rays of sun started to bleed through the pelts over the cave. By the morning they were laying down next to each other looking up at the apple tree branching out above them. "So yes," Fenneck explained, still speaking in elvish with her. "We are essentially reincarnated versions of ourselves on the constant path to perfection," he said thoughtfully. Natalya pondered this. "So if that's the case, would thiramins always be the same?" she asked, trying to understand. "Were we always meant to find each other, no matter the paths or journey's our lives would take us on?" Fenneck smiled at the thought. Perhaps that was why they were struggling so much in this life. Perhaps Lenisily and Mephistopheles' cruelty had cursed them. "I don't know. It's a nice thought though." He turned on his side to look at Natalya. She turned her head to look at him. He smiled at her, completely enamored by their wonderful night together. "You know... I don't hate our situation," he admitted. "I know it's not what I thought it would be but... we've been able to help so many people thanks to this." He gave her a nervous smile. "I... I also enjoy your company... Even if you do scare the shit out me," he teased her. Natalya smiled and laughed softly. "Me too," She said, looking into his eyes. "I think I felt way too much pressure when I first met you to... to just be myself," she said thoughtfully. "I felt like I had to be perfect for you." She looked back up at the apples on the ceiling and smiled. "I prefer this. It's easier," she said. Fenneck smiled and laid back down. "Me too." He found this response to be cryptic. Perhaps she really did prefer for them to remain friends and to not ever pursue a romantic relationship with one another. Or maybe she was becoming more open to the idea of being with him. It didn't matter though. Not as long as Dimitri was a part of the picture. He focused on the apple above Natalya and the plant slowly lowered the apple down to her. She reached up and plucked it from the air. "Good morning," Fenneck told her, very proud of his trick. "Thought you'd like some breakfast," he teased her. She made eye contact with him as she bit into the apple knowing he hated it when she bit into apples with out cutting them up first. "Well played," he giggled at her before drifting off peacefully into his meditation lying next to her.