The Wolf’s Daughter

If there was one thing that Phaedra had learned during her time as a demon, it was this.

Don’t ask what you didn’t want to know.

All she knew was that the small, green disks she was eating tasted a lot like quiche. As long as she didn’t ask where they were from, or what they were, she had no reason to be horrified. And since they tasted good, she could enjoy them in peace. Besides, they were probably made of some bug, or eggs, or magic peaches. Not normal peaches, though, nothing was ever made of peaches. She was pretty sure this world didn’t have peaches.

Besides, Yroth seemed to like them too, so it was probably fine. Dixxy had poked them a few times, but finally she had relented and was eating a few. “So, they don’t have oranges here?”

“Haven’t asked,” Phaedra said. “I just have them prepare whatever they’re already preparing.”

“But this is your territory,” Dixxy said. “Shouldn’t you just ask for and get whatever you want?”

“No,” Phaedra said, rolling her eyes. “This is my territory. It means everything and everyone in it is my responsibility. How can I ask my people to eat what I’m not willing to eat myself?” she asked, glancing towards her.

“Because you’ll kill them if they don’t?” Dixxy asked.

“They’re my responsibility and under my protection,” Phaedra said. A part of her wanted, desperately, to just say ‘you’ll understand when you’re older’. But she knew that wasn’t true. It wasn’t a matter of age, she knew plenty of adults who felt that way. She knew that as Fenrir’s daughter she’d always been offered a lot of things that others within his territory hadn’t been allowed. But now that she was in control and had her own territory, she didn’t want to be like that. “There are a lot of people who believe once they’re in charge they can do whatever they want, that they can take whatever they want. That they have every right to drain the land of all of its resources and leave nothing but rubble in their wake. It’s theirs, after all. But… that just destroys the most valuable resource a territory has.”

“The magic?” Dixxy asked.

“The people,” Phaedra said, rolling her eyes. “I want my people to be happy. I want them to be strong.”

“Won’t that just mean they can rise up and kill you, one day?” Dixxy asked.

“Maybe,” Phaedra said with a shrug. “But if that day comes, I want it to be a day others look back on in mourning and say ‘if only she’d continued to rule, things would be better’. There are no shortage of rulers who only care about themselves and will only ever care about themselves. Who will exploit everything underneath them for their own gain, regardless of the drain they put on the land. I don’t want to be like that. I want all of my people to be happy and strong.”

“Is this why you’re working with my cousin?” Dixxy asked Yroth.

“She spouts interesting nonsense,” Yroth said with a shrug. “Not disagreeable. But interesting. I’m interested to see how long her desires will hold up, or if she will crumble before them. To hear such desires from the daughter of the Wolf, however, is interesting indeed.”

“Sounds stupid,” Dixxy said. “Shouldn’t the strong just take what they want? If they get weaker trying to make everyone happier, won’t someone stronger just come and take it eventually anyway?”

“Maybe,” Phaedra said with a shrug. “I do have every advantage, so it’ll likely take a while. But, while I can, at least in my territory, I want it to be a place where people can be happy. I want there to be safety and security.”

“You’ve put a lot of thought into breakfast,” Dixxy mumbled before picking up another one of the little pucks. “You’ve always done stuff like that, though.”

“If she wasn’t that kind of person, would you be here now?” Yroth asked. “Or would you have fled somewhere else from your sister’s wrath?”

“Fair,” Dixxy said before taking another small bite and glancing back to Phaedra. “So, I think—”

“Talk with your mouth empty,” Phaedra said when she saw a bit of the puck fly out of her mouth and onto the table.

Dixxy gave a light growl, but swallowed before speaking up again. “Fine. As I was saying, I think with the dragon, getting Lilith to believe us will be easy. She—”

“I will not lie to Lilith,” Yroth said.

“… What?” Dixxy asked. “Why not? You want Medon just as much, don’t you? He—”

“From what I have heard, the ritual is nothing more than a falsehood,” Yroth said. “Not one of Medon’s designs. If so, he was but another victim of it. My anger and hostility towards it is aimed entirely at those who perpetuated it. Not at him.”

“So what happens if we DO find him? Are you going to protect him from Phaedra?” Dixxy asked.

Yroth stopped and her eyes met with Phaedra’s for a moment. She then gave a small nod. “Should that time come? I believe it will be… quite the interesting moment for us all.”

Dixxy slowly looked to Phaedra.

“Don’t worry about it,” Phaedra said. “Depending on how things go, I might not even want to take his name.”

“WHAT?!” Dixxy asked before jumping to her feet. “That’s one of the most powerful names in existence! How can you not want it?!”

Phaedra took a slow, deep breath and took another bite out of the little puck. She’d need to choose her words carefully. Once she swallowed, she spoke up. “Of course I want it. Who wouldn’t want the name Medon?” Well, other than her when she first came here, she supposed. “However, we’re still not fully aware of all the effects of that spell. From what my father has told me, Medon himself didn’t really live up to the expectations as some legendary hero summoned from another world. If whatever spell they wove ended up damaging the name, why would I want a broken name? Better to try and fix it. Then, if the name is fixed? Well… I suppose I would want it then.”

Dixxy frowned but, slowly, sat back down. She angrily took a bite out of her puck before shaking her head. “Even if it’s a damaged name it’s probably incredibly powerful. Imagine what you could do with it…”

“I suppose I really should start focusing on trying to gain a name or two, shouldn’t I?” Phaedra asked. “Before I focus on what to do about this Medon’s.” She reached out a hand and gave her cousin a little squeeze at the base of her wings, making her jump and give a little angry giggle. “You worry too much, Dixxy. Trust me, I’m thinking all of this out, even the involvement of the Ascended Dragon. I desire power, but I am not so arrogant as to believe that I cannot be dethroned. It takes more than just power to rule, it takes cunning and planning. Allies that can be depended on. If power was all that mattered, then all would have knelt before my father long ago, no?”

“You’re too much of a sheep sometimes,” Dixxy said softly.

“Oh, please, I’d hope you’d know better than that,” Phaedra said. “Your sister thought I was too much of a sheep as well, didn’t she?”

“True…” Dixxy said softly.

“So, what does Lilith currently believe?” Phaedra asked.

“That I’m an ally of Medon’s,” Dixxy said. “And an elf. That I tricked the demons into turning her over. Once Circe found us… well… I had to put her back to sleep. She uhhhh… didn’t… particularly like that.”

Phaedra imagined how Lilith would react to someone telling her that she was going to be put to sleep for a bit and… no, violence seemed like the proper response. Well, or knowing her, seduction of some sort. “No. I imagine not. So she’s asleep? So what do you intend to tell her about me?”

“I mean, you’re a sheep demon,” Dixxy said. “So, probably that you’re peaceful and weak. A servant of the elves. If you could get your dragon to behave, though, it’d be easier.”

“Trust me, if I could get her to behave a lot of things would be easier,” Phaedra said, even though it earned her a small glower from the dragon, before Yroth blew smoke at her. Phaedra ducked, the smoke flying overhead. “So much, much easier,” she said before coughing a few times.

“Right,” Dixxy said, before glancing to Yroth. “Are you going to interfere, then? Or… try to rescue her?”

“Not currently,” Yroth said. “For the time being, my agreement with the sheep is enough. I have agreed not to interfere in her decisions with Medon’s former allies, as a part of the truce we currently share.”

“And you believe her?” Dixxy asked.

“Of course,” Phaedra said. “A truce cannot exist without belief in each other. Otherwise we’d just be, well… waiting to turn on each other.”

“Uh huh,” Dixxy said, though she sounded unconvinced. She stuffed the rest of the puck into her mouth before getting to her feet and mumbling something through her mouthful.

“Try it with your mouth empty,” Phaedra said before taking another bite of her own. “It’s not going anywhere, either. So you don’t need to rush.”

Dixxy gave a frustrated sigh before, after a lot of chewing, she finally swallowed. “Okay. Let’s go. I’ll introduce you.”

“Already? I figured you’d want to wait longer,” Phaedra said. “I’m not in any rush.”

“Really?” Dixxy asked.

“I’ve already gotten your sister to leave you alone,” Phaedra said. “You’re not likely to go anywhere and it’s kind of nice having my cousin around. I understand if you’re nervous about showing me her, and I wouldn’t blame you for not trusting me.”

“I trust you!” Dixxy said quickly. “You’re weird, but you’re at least honest.”

“Heh, honest,” Phaedra said with a small smile. “I never really thought I’d qualify as that. A demon like me?” She got to her feet before grabbing a few more of the pucks. “We should bring these. She’s probably hungry.”

“Sometimes I wonder how you can be my cousin…” Dixxy mumbled softly.

“I guess you’re just lucky?” Phaedra said before glancing back to Yroth. She mouthed that she’d talk to her later, but judging by the confused look she received in response, Yroth had no idea what she meant.

Then again, considering the translation magic, it probably couldn’t work anyway. “Hold on,” Phaedra said before glancing back to Dixxy. “I’ll meet you at your room, okay?”

Dixxy sighed and glanced back. “Really?”

“I want to clear something up with the dragon. I’ll be there in a few minutes, promise,” Phaedra said.

Dixxy eyed her for a moment before nodding. She then turned and walked off. The moment the door closed behind her, Phaedra cast the spell to silence any sounds outside of it before turning to Yroth. “I know what you’re going to say.”

“Do you now?” Yroth asked.

“I think so,” Phaedra said. “I know, I’m playing a dangerous game. Dixxy isn’t going to… well…”

“Why do you call her by that name?” Yroth asked.

“Oh, it’s part of the name Paradox,” Phaedra said. “At least, to me it sounds like that. She’s never really minded and I’ve called her that since we were… well… young. Very, very young. By our standards, at least. But… yeah. I just… I know this isn’t going to be easy. But I’m going to tell Lilith as soon as I can. I just need to find out how to tell her without Dixxy finding out. Or without her pulling a… well…”

“Pulling a what?” Yroth asked.

“Pulling a you,” Phaedra said.

“A me?!” Yroth asked before sitting up and glaring down at her. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means my room back at my father’s home is in shambles, my bed was shattered and everything you could get a hold of was destroyed,” Phaedra said, her voice dripping with annoyance. “It means that I didn’t have much there I’d need to go back for, and now I have even less. It also means if she tries doing that, if she doesn’t trust me and tells Dixxy the truth because she doesn’t believe it, or worse, believes I’m trying to trick her, then I’ll be in a lot of trouble. So I need to be careful.”

Yroth glowered at her before sighing. “Fine. Perhaps I was a bit… destructive. At first. Fortunately for you, Lilith is known to be a bit more… careful in such matters. Admittedly, I am more concerned by some of your other comments.”

“Oh? Which ones?” Phaedra asked.

“What you said before about your people,” Yroth said. “I think I’m beginning to get a bigger image of what your world was like and I… wish to discuss with you. Later. For now, tend to Lilith and I wish you luck.”

Phaedra nodded before she turned and headed towards the door. Luck. Yeah.

She suspected she’d need it.

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