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perahn · 6 years

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Khem Tells A Story

There seemed to be no way out of Katy’s demand – at least, nothing that would not cause more difficulty later – and so Khemuret Xul wracked her brain. She could find, without difficulty, all the spells she had stored there, all of her dreams and memories, all of the facts she had taken such pains to learn, a good deal of history, and a vast quantity of stratagems, but could she find a story for the sorceress?

“A love story,” the half-elf elaborated further. “You know, star-crossed two people, or maybe more, who risk everything to be together, and there’s adventures and misunderstandings and maybe one of them thinks the other is dead but they’re not, then there’s a happy ending and they, you know, do it a lot.”

Of course. She should have guessed.

“Katy, I don’t think Khem wants to–“ Harper began.

“You must know lots of stories, Khem, you’re so smart. I bet you used to sit with your friends at wizard school and swap stories, right? Like ghost stories, everyone loves going ‘woooooooo’ in the middle of the night.”

“Wooooooo?” Shay repeated, presumably puzzled by this new addition to Katy’s vocabulary.

Khem just shook her head. There were so many things wrong with almost everything that came out of Katy’s mouth; sometimes the only thing to do was to give her what she wanted so that your head did not become too cluttered with her nonsense. “There is one story I could tell you. It’s not a love story, its ending is not entirely happy, but it fits most of the rest of your criteria.”

Katy nodded, her dark-smudged eyes growing wider.

Khem inwardly sighed, then looked over to the side of the fire where Jarnath sat - looking insufferably smug, as usual. One of the many people to whom she did not want to tell this story. “It will not be to your taste,” she warned him. “All the characters are female.”

The drow chuckled. “Oh, I think I can endure it. The sight of a Red Wizard telling bedtime stories should prove entertaining enough to make up for any narrative flaws. Besides, this is hardly likely to recur within my lifetime. It would be a shame to miss it.”

“As you will,” Khem said, and thought rapidly for a moment. How could she make this a little safer and easier to tell? “A final warning, then. I will tolerate two interruptions. No more.”

“Per person?” Katy asked.

“In total. If you want to hear all of the story, I suggest you exercise some self-control.”

“I can do that!” the sorceress said, beaming.

It was very unlikely that she would make it even to the middle. Khem closed her eyes, ordered her thoughts and memories, and began.

“There are many versions of this story,” she said, her words falling softly into the ring around the fire. “I believe every Red Wizard has their own, each a little different. Persuading one to tell you, of course, is another matter.” She shrugged, a little self-deprecatingly. “If I were speaking in Mulhorandi, I would tell you of two women, Reha and Nebastis. However, since Common is required, I will name them Ambition and Desire.”

Shay’s eyes met hers across the campfire. Her fellow Thayan knew perfectly well that while ‘Reha’ could be translated as ‘Ambition’ it was never used as a name, and conversely, that ‘Nebastis’ was indeed a name, but it did not mean ‘Desire’. The monk inclined her head slightly and said nothing, as Khem had known she would not. There were some matters in which Shay’s discretion was dependable.

“They had entered the Academy at the same time. Ambition specialised in Divination magic, wanting to uncover all the secrets of the world and use them to strengthen her position. Desire, however, favoured Illusion, so that she could make the world appear the way she wished it. As such, they had been at the Academy for several years before they really noticed each other.

“Both, you see, had chosen to position themselves in the eyes of their peers as quiet and reclusive, competent enough for occasional use, but not threatening enough to require removal. Ambition was very skilled at using this particular ploy to her advantage, and by the time she was fifteen, she had discreetly eliminated three students whom she considered dangerous. Desire, on the other hand, was more reactive in her politics; she had never been considered worth challenging, and she was content with that. Desire might, perhaps, have been the more intelligent of the two, but she was not as cunning as Ambition. She gave an answer, one day in a shared class, that made Ambition notice exactly what she was doing. And so Ambition chose to cultivate Desire, to draw her closer and into alliance.

“Ambition… well, she was beautiful as all Thayans are, and of pure blood, naturally. But Desire was something more. She was…” Khem paused, tried to translate the phrases. She noticed that Jarnath was looking bored and supercilious, while Harper seemed poised to put his hand over Katy’s mouth and silence any potential interruptions. “She was like the Weave itself. She would lick her lips when she was thinking, and the room would fall quiet. I know no words in any language to describe the grace and precision of her hands, their long, slender fingers, how deft and sure they were in every movement. When she cast a spell, it was as though magic itself had been invented just as a backdrop for those hands. She was as near perfection as it is possible to imagine…or,” Khem added, in a slightly different tone, “so Ambition came to think.”

“These things took time, of course. Perhaps Desire was playing a passive stance, but she had nevertheless survived twelve years at the Academy; she was immediately suspicious of Ambition and her attempts to garner influence. But Ambition was patient and persistent, and so, eventually, the two became allies – in the Red Wizard fashion, which probably still resembles polite wariness to you outsiders. They would study together and occasionally share their insights. They would spend hours discussing the finer points of a spell. Desire requested that Ambition apply one of her scalp tattoos, and then returned the favour. Their alliance was noticed, as these things always are, and three students decided that eliminating Desire would prove a worthwhile blow to Ambition. Desire fought well, but she would have been slain if Ambition had not stepped in front of the Scorching Rays.”

“How… sentimental.” Much to Khem’s surprise, the first interruption came from the drow.

“Quite,” she agreed. “I did warn you the tale was unlikely to entertain you.”

“Does it count as an interruption if I ask something now?” Katy wondered.

Khem sighed. “I suppose not. And you just did.”

“What was that about the tattoos?”

Almost subconsciously, Khem rubbed a hand over her scalp. “It’s really quite basic, if you think for a moment. Attempting to tattoo one’s own head is unlikely to yield good results. The process is quite prolonged, and whether you choose to endure the pain or to make use of analgesia, you are certainly operating at a disadvantage while someone drills a needle into your head. For that reason, most students are tattooed by their instructors, who usually have no reason to harm them. Sometimes, however, there are exceptions. Someone who is overconfident might offer the task to a rival, hoping to provoke them into making a move. Or, as in this tale, it might be done by an ally, to mark shared purpose and the balance of power.”

“You mean, as a gesture of trust.” Harper said.

“I really don’t,” Khem told him.

“Oh!” Katy nodded. “So, who did yours?”

“Mistress Kharzura,” Khem said, telling what was approximately seven-eighths of the truth. “One of the Divination instructors. Shall I continue with the story, or would you like to ask more irrelevant questions about my schooling?”

When nobody said anything more, Khem took a deep breath. “And so, late one night in the library, alone, invisible and nondetectable, and not long after Ambition had saved Desire’s life, Desire told Ambition two secrets. The first was that she wished for a time and place where they could be alone, and safe enough to… learn rather more of each other than they already knew. This was not… unanticipated. To tell the second secret, Desire leaned very close, so that her whisper was no more than warm breath against Ambition’s ear, and she said, “I trust you.”

Khem folded her hands tightly about each other, too much the Red Wizard to betray her discomfort with the words by any more obvious gesture. “As you can imagine, that is not something one hears often in a Red Wizard Academy, and the way Desire said it carried conviction. Ambition was struck silent for a time, and then she told Desire she would arrange some privacy for them.

“Desire understood very well that the words she had said to Ambition were not ones that she could say back to her – at least, not yet, and in her way she was quite as persistent as Ambition. She was willing to wait, and to see what would develop between them. So she smiled, and she kissed Ambition, and she left the matter there.

“Desire and Ambition were hardly the first Red Wizards who ever wanted some time together on neutral territory and free from interruptions; there are customary ways of arranging such trysts.” Khem looked around at her audience, and remembered – again – that possibly only the drow really understood what she meant. Well, that was not inconvenient; it would make it more like a story for them, and less like an inevitability. “So Ambition paid the doorkeeper, and notified Desire.

“When class had ended for the day, Ambition went straight to the room and made the usual sort of preparations. Desire met her there some hours later.” Khem let her eyes unfocus, staring at the cavern wall as though she could see the scene she described – partially to help her concentrate on what she was saying and what she was not, but mostly so she did not have to see whatever expressions her audience were wearing. “They were both Red Wizards, even when the red robes were discarded on the floor. They were, as I have said, patient, persistent, and adaptable. They possessed tongues agile in wrapping themselves around the intricate syllables of spellcasting, hands trained in delicate, precise gestures, and minds ever eager to learn. These assets may be turned to several uses – and were, before Desire was sated.”

There was a silence that mildly surprised Khem. She suppressed the urge to clear her throat. “Ambition looked down at Desire, asleep in her arms, and she thought. She remembered the tone in which Desire had spoken of her trust. She thought of Raelthi and Thazad – two legendary Red Wizards who had achieved extraordinary things, simply because they had trusted each other completely.

“But, then, Thazad had been slain defending Raelthi, and in her grief and fury, Raelthi had woken a volcano to bury them all. No. That did not appeal to Ambition at all.

“She thought of how quiet Desire had always been, and how clearly ill-suited for Red Wizard politics. If she were a sufficiently poor judge of character to trust Ambition, of all people, there was no way Desire would survive much longer at the Academy in any case. And perhaps it would be… kind. Desire had clearly tasted a happiness she had never expected. No other Red Wizard within the Academy walls would offer her anything but cruelty.

“That temptation, too, Ambition put aside. The one irrevocable mistake a Red Wizard can make is to start lying to herself. No. Ambition would act as Ambition always had, for Ambition’s sake and with a clear head.

“So as Desire lay smiling, Ambition did as she had intended to do from the first moment she had noticed the other Red Wizard. By the gentlest means in her power, Ambition slew Desire. She kissed the closed eyelids, rose, cleaned herself, dressed and went out into the Academy. There was so much more to do.”

“That’s so sad!” Katy exclaimed, then clapped her hand to her mouth.

“That’s the end,” Khem told her. “You need not fear to interrupt me.”

“Oh, well…” Katy went quiet.

The sorceress would flood her with questions soon, Khem was almost certain of it. Shay, on the other hand, would probably remain quiet. She knew Thay. Jarnath was chuckling – of course – and Harper… well, Khem wasn’t going to look at him to find out.

“Can I ask a question?”

It was mildly pleasant to be correct, even on an irritating subject. “As many as you like, Katy. However, I will only answer one.”

“In total?”

Well, she had exposed herself to an absurd degree by telling the sorry tale in the first place… “Per person.”

“Uh, Khem?” She looked over to see Shay with her journal open on her knee. “How exactly did Ambition kill Desire?”

The Long Death were not too interested in magic, despite their alliance with the Academy of Shifters and Seers; Khem doubted Shay would find the truthful answer satisfactory. “Cervical fracture, secondary to direct application of magic missiles to the vertebrae.”

“Huh,” Shay grunted, and began scribbling.

“So,” Katy said, “if Ambition was going to kill her girlfriend anyway, why save her from those other wizards? Was it about the sex? I bet it was about the sex.”

“Really?” Khem rubbed her eyes, letting out a frustrated sigh and glancing around the circle at the others. “Please tell me at least one of you understands this depressingly basic manoeuvre?”

Jarnath probably did, but he wasn’t saying anything, and the arrogant set of his features was no more informative than usual. Both Shay and Harper were shaking their heads.

“Katy. They were clearly identified as allies by that point. If you let your enemies kill your allies, your enemies conclude you’re weak. Nor will you be likely to contract another alliance, should you be interested in one. If, on the other hand, you kill an ally when they are no longer useful to you, you strengthen your position.” It was a ridiculously oversimplified way to explain the power dynamics involved, and she was not at all sure Katy understood it anyway. The sorceress was frowning to herself.

Khem sighed again. “I suppose you have a question as well, Jarnath?”

“Only one,” the drow said, his smirk widening. “Does telling this horribly crude little tale mark your intention to retrain as a bard?”

Khem thought, not for the first time, of how much she would enjoy killing him. “No.”

“Oh, that is a relief.” Jarnath yawned, an elaborately feline gesture of white teeth and curling tongue. “I would hate to see you throw away your adequate wizard career to become a mediocre bard.”

Adequate! Khem raised the corners of her mouth and bared her teeth in a grimace only the most careless would call a smile. “You need not add that to your stock of fears. I sing approximately as well as you sunbathe.”

“Indeed,” the drow said, and yawned again. “I believe I require something more entertaining before bed, or else I shall have the most dreary nightmares.”

“Oh, I have just the thing!” Katy picked up her cue immediately, and began digging in her bag for another of the trashy romance stories she had started lending to their guide. As she started extolling the plot – something about pirates and a runaway prince – Harper approached Khem.

“I suppose you have a question,” she said, resigned.

“As a matter of fact,” he said, and made himself comfortable beside her in a leisurely fashion, before leaning in and lowering his voice. “So, which of your tattoos did Neb- uh - Nestabis do?”

The angular pattern repeated – rather unconventionally – along her cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. The memory of those long, painful, candlelit hours flashed across her mind, surfacing only as a superior smile.

“Nebastis,” Khem corrected him, rolling her eyes. “Or Desire – I translated for a reason. The answer, of course, is none. You mustn’t read too deeply into allegories, Harper. Do I truly seem like someone who would allow desire that much power over me?” She bit her tongue on if so, please establish exactly which organ does your thinking for you.

“Well, you didn’t before you told that story.”

#d&d #writing #hopefully I didn't mangle anyone #consider this sort of AUish #no way known Khem is telling this story at the present moment #except possibly on pain of imminent death #Khemuret Xul #alternative ethics

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