The Iron Princess

by Niall Teasdale

‘Rules?’

  ‘Simple rules. First, disturb the forest as little as possible. Try not to break branches. We make sure we pick up everything in the morning after we camp. We don’t disturb the wildlife. Second, no fires. That’s why we brought plenty of preserved rations.’

  ‘Okay.’ The thought of not having a fire at their camps was not especially pleasant, but Ayah would make do. ‘Anything else?’

  ‘Try not to be too… human.’

  Ayah frowned. ‘How am I supposed to do that?’

  ‘I have no idea, though you always feel more like a spirit to me anyway. I think that’s why spirits listen to you.’ Xian gave a shrug. ‘Leshak doesn’t meet many humans, so it’s better to avoid acting like a typical member of your species.’

  ‘How does a typical human act?’

  ‘Like they own the planet.’

  ‘Oh. Well, given that everything I own is on my back, I don’t think that should be a major problem.’

  ~~~

  They camped for the night beside a small stream which looked clear and let them fill their water skin. Ayah set up her tent as the gloom of evening enveloped the forest. Then she wrapped herself in her blanket and ate cold meat and bread in the dim, silvery light of the almost-full moon which seemed barely able to penetrate to the forest floor.

  ‘Do you think we should mount a watch?’ Ayah asked.

  ‘I will,’ Xian replied. ‘You’ll sleep. I’ll take spirit form. Spirits don’t need sleep. Or food or air, actually. You won’t be able to see me, unless I decide you need to, but I can watch out for any trouble and warn you if it comes. I’m not really expecting anything, but it’s better to be cautious.’

  Ayah gave a nod, though she was unsure whether Xian could really see it. Ayah could barely see Xian in the thin light. ‘I assume you’ve seen no sign of Leshak?’

  ‘There’s sign of Leshak everywhere, but that means nothing. He’s walked these woods since long before either of us were born.’ Xian lifted her eyes and Ayah saw them sparkling at her in the darkness. ‘He taught the first Immortal, Nahad, Wood Form.’

  ‘Oh. And you think he’ll be willing to teach me?’

  ‘It might take a little persuasion, but I do, yes.’

  ‘I don’t see what I could have that would make such a great spirit think well of me.’

  Xian’s eyes sparkled in the dark again; Ayah thought they might be laughing. ‘No, you don’t, do you? That’s something we’ll have to work on, but for now it’s good. Some humility combined with that stubborn determination of yours should go down well with Leshak. When we meet him, just be yourself, Ayah. That will be enough.’

  ‘If we meet him, you mean.’

  ‘Oh, we’ll find him. I have some stubborn determination too.’

  34th Day, Second Marita.

  It was raining when Ayah woke up the following morning. It was, she suspected, more of a heavy drizzle up above the trees, but it was big, heavy drops by the time it had worked its way down to the forest floor.

  Ayah looked out into the dingy morning light, grimaced, and grabbed her bag with its supply of food. As she rummaged for something for breakfast, Xian materialised in front of her. It was a slightly disconcerting process, perhaps more so this way than in reverse. It was like a gathering mist at first, swirling in something like the shape of a human. Over the course of a few seconds, the shape thickened, becoming more solid, and bits of it became recognisable: an eye, a mouth, a finger, fragments of cloth… Eventually, all of Xian, dressed in her travelling clothes, was standing at the entrance to the tent and not looking especially pleased.

  ‘What a lovely day to be walking in the forest,’ Xian commented sourly.

  ‘We could stay here and wait for it to clear.’

  ‘Do you think it will?’

  Ayah leaned out and looked upward at what she could see of the sky. It was not much, but what there was of it was an unrelenting grey. It felt like the sort of sullen day that did not stop being just a bit wet anyway. ‘Not really.’

  ‘Then we may as well go on. The deeper we can get the better. Anyway, we won’t both fit in that tent without being rather too close for your comfort.’

  ‘What about your comfort?’

  ‘I’d be quite comfortable, I assure you.’

  Ayah’s cheeks decided that was a suggestive comment and started to heat up. ‘You could turn into a fox. Then you’d fit fine.’

  ‘You just want a warm, furry bed-warmer.’ And the way Xian said that made Ayah’s cheeks flame brighter.

  ‘I’ll eat something and then I’ll take the tent down. We are going to get so wet today.’

  ‘Mm,’ Xian replied, ‘whether we stay in the tent or not.’

  ~~~

  It continued to rain all day. Sometimes it got a little heavier, but it never seemed to get lighter. The sky would brighten every so often, but the leaves continued to shed big, wet drops even when the drizzle was subsiding for a while. Then the sky would darken and heavier drops would fall.

  They stopped early because the light was getting too thin for Ayah to see. She really wanted a fire, but Xian had said that was not allowed, so she did the best she could under the circumstances. She did not want to get into her blanket in damp clothes, so she struggled out of them in the tent, laying them out beside her and hoping they might dry a little before morning. Then she wrapped herself in her blanket and chewed on cured beef and wished she could have a hot drink.

  ‘What a miserable day,’ Xian commented from… somewhere. She had taken spirit form already and her voice just came out of the air.

  ‘Might be better tomorrow. It’s almost summer.’

  ‘I’m not sure the weather believes in human seasons. Anyway, the weather here isn’t quite like the Plains. Clouds get blown over the flat lands quite easily and then they hit the Sandfire Mountains and it’s like they don’t like having to climb. So, they drop a lot of rain in the forest to make themselves lighter and then there’s none to drop in the Great Sand on the other side.’

  ‘I suppose you’ve been there. I’d imagine you’ve been all over the world.’

  ‘I’ve seen most of it, but it’s the Western Plains I know best. The temperature here is nice. Everywhere else is too hot or too cold.’

  Ayah giggled. ‘I don’t think you can just judge a place on what temperature it is.’

  ‘Have to judge them somehow. I like it warm, but not too hot. Oh, and there are parts of the Iron City no one should want to be in. They smell. Metal smelting is not pretty.’

  ‘I don’t think I really want to visit the Iron City anyway. I’m not quite sure what I expect it to be like, but I don’t think they like outsiders very much there.’

  ‘No… No, they’re not exactly friendly people. Well, that’s the state, obviously. Individual people can be friendly or not, depending on their character. You said Sanden was born in the Iron City and he seems to have turned out alright, but as a unit, the Empire isn’t fond of people who aren’t their own. Of course, a lot of other places, especially the cities, aren’t too fond of strangers either.’

  ‘Not a lot of trust going around, I guess.’

  ‘Not a lot,’ Xian said sadly. ‘No.’

  35th Day, Second Marita.

  The next day dawned just as damp and unpleasant as the last. By midday, Xian was making grumbling noises about the weather and the lack of progress. ‘He must have had word that we’re here,’ she said at their stop for lunch. ‘The old bastard’s avoiding us. Avoiding me.’

  ‘Why would he avoid you?’ Ayah asked.

  ‘He probably thinks I want something.’

  ‘Well, you do.’

  Xian sniffed. ‘That is no reason to be uncivilised.’

  ‘Xian, we’re in the middle of a forest. We’re in the middle of the biggest forest in the world. It doesn’t get much more uncivilised.’

  ‘Ah, you say that, but you’ve never been in the middle of the Great Sand, or in the tundra up north. Much less civilised, but you d
on’t get the local spirits ignoring you as an inconvenience. Besides, it’s you who wants something. I’m just facilitating the meeting.’

  ‘Leshak probably doesn’t know that.’

  ‘Probably not, but if he hasn’t become more polite by this evening, I’ll do something to attract his attention.’ Xian lifted her head and raised her voice. ‘Hear that, old man? On your own head be it.’

  Ayah was not quite sure what Xian meant by that, but she was not sure she liked it.

  ~~~

  There was no sign of anyone by the time they made camp for the night, whether they be an old man or something else. Ayah began setting up her tent in the lee of a huge, ancient tree which had fallen at some point and left a huge bowl dug into the ground when its roots had pulled up. There was more sky visible here thanks to the gap in the trees and the moon was obvious above them, full or nearly so and shining brightly through the clouds. At least the rain, which had been getting heavier in the afternoon, had subsided to a measly drizzle.

  Xian returned as Ayah tapped in the last peg. The fox spirit was carrying some dead wood and a large handful of brown leaves, and her first act on arriving was to push leaflitter away from a spot close to the tent with a boot before setting the drier leaves down on the damp soil.

  ‘I thought you said we shouldn’t make a fire,’ Ayah said.

  ‘I said that, yes. And now I’m going to make one.’ Her voice settled back into muttering. ‘Grumpy old bastard won’t ignore this.’

  ‘Those leaves are too damp to make good tinder.’

  Xian set the wood down beside her pile of leaves. The wood looked quite green and, if Xian could get it to burn at all, it was going to make for a smoky fire. ‘They’ll do,’ Xian said. She pressed her right index finger to the leaves and took in a deep breath through her nose, exhaling through her mouth. After repeating this a couple of times, smoke began to rise from under her finger. Then flames sprang up but Xian kept her hand where it was.

  ‘You’ll burn–’

  ‘Just let me work,’ Xian interrupted. She used her left hand to settle a couple of the branches she had gathered over the burning leaves, then she slowly lifted her hand, spreading her fingers and almost seeming to draw the flames upward. There were crackles and pops as the wood caught and the water under the bark exploded. Thick smoke began to rise – Ayah had been right about that – and Xian moved her hand away. The fire continued burning and Xian held up her unmarked hand to show Ayah. ‘See? No harm done.’

  ‘Yes, but how–’

  ‘It’s all in the qi.’

  Ayah could feel the heat of the fire beginning to soak through her damp clothes. She huddled closer to it, rubbing her hands and holding them out to the warmth. ‘Could I learn to do that, or is it a spirit thing?’

  ‘You could learn. A number of humans have in the past. You have some more traditional learning to do before you get to that stage, however.’

  Ayah nodded. That was reasonable. ‘You really confuse me at times, you know?’

  Xian blinked, surprised. ‘I do?’

  ‘Yeah, you’re… contrary. You say no fires and then you make one.’

  ‘Yes, well, Leshak isn’t coming to investigate why a couple of people are marching into his forest. He’ll come to investigate a fire. He’s not very fond of fires.’

  ‘That… isn’t so surprising. But, um…’

  ‘What? Spit it out.’

  ‘Well, you make those suggestive comments, but you never do anything. You’ve had plenty of opportunity to, but you… don’t.’

  There was a pause and then, ‘Do you want me to?’

  Another long pause. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘And that’s why I haven’t. Foxes are libidinous creatures. Well, fox spirits are. I can’t speak for the animals. They get as frisky as anyone in spring, I suppose. I’m perhaps a little less inclined than some of my kin, but I’m inclined to bed those I find attractive. I find you attractive, but it would be… unseemly to take you when you’re unsure. So, I content myself with little remarks and judge your reaction. I apologise if I’ve made you uncomfortable.’

  Ayah’s brow wrinkled in thought. ‘Not uncomfortable. Well, maybe a little. It’s more like I said: confusion. And it’s partly confusion over whether I’m disappointed that you haven’t done anything about it.’

  ‘You’re young. There’s time yet to sort out what, and who, you want out of life. When your heart has decided where your affections lie, then perhaps I will do what I just bet you’ve been imagining me doing.’

  Ayah gave Xian a scowl, though there was not a lot of heat in it. ‘There you go again.’

  ‘Mm-hmm. I’m entirely incurable.’

  ~~~

  It was full dark and the cloud had thinned to reveal a bright full moon when Ayah heard something out in the forest. It took a second to realise that ‘heard’ was the wrong word: she was feeling something tramping through the forest as vibrations in the ground.

  ‘What is that?’ Ayah asked.

  ‘That would be Leshak,’ Xian replied, not uncurling from her position in front of the fire.

  ‘How big is he?!’

  ‘As big as he wants to be. Well, up to about fifty feet. He’s pretty tall even when he’s trying to be more human-scaled, but right now he’s probably going for intimidation.’

  ‘It’s working.’

  The thumping got heavier and more audible, which seemed to imply it was getting closer. Then there was the added sound of leaves thrashing as though something were pushing through the trees. And then something huge parted the foliage and stepped into the narrow clearing, looming over Ayah and Xian. ‘What are you doing setting fires in my forest?’ The voice was deep and rumbling and Ayah shrank into herself in the face of the figure’s anger.

  ‘I’ll put the damn fire out when you come down here and behave like a civilised spirit,’ Xian called out. ‘You’ve been ignoring us for days. How else was I supposed to get your attention?’

  There was a deep rumble of annoyance, and then the massive shape began to shrink. It was sort of like it just deflated, stepping forward as it did so until, a few seconds later, it was the size and shape of a tall man and the firelight was showing enough for Ayah to get an idea of what Leshak actually looked like.

  He was almost a full foot taller than she was even now and his skin had the colour and texture of supple young tree bark. His eyes were green, a little darker than Videen’s but the same monochrome. He had obvious features, though they looked strange thanks to the barky skin. While he did not appear heavily muscled, he was bulky, solid like a tree trunk, and he looked as though he was very strong indeed. He had no hair, but his skull rose up vertically before breaking off into spikes which made it seem like he was a tree that had broken in a storm. He also looked annoyed.

  ‘Xian, what brings you to my forest?’ Now that he had calmed down a little, his voice had a less gravelly quality, though it was still rough. His gaze shifted to Ayah, who was still huddling away from him. ‘Another one?’

  Xian ignored him for long enough to reach into the flames and quell them; the fire died as quickly as she had caused it to bloom. Then she stood up and scowled at Leshak. ‘Your social skills haven’t improved at all. Ayah, this is Leshak. Leshak, this is Ayah of the village of Avrilatha. She needs a Wood Form teacher, and I suggested that you might take her on.’ The woodman’s mouth opened, but Xian kept on talking before he could say anything. ‘And the least you can do is talk to her before you send her away. A little hospitality wouldn’t go amiss either. We’ve been tramping through your sodden backyard for two days. We’re cold and damp.’

  ‘Ever the perfect guest,’ Leshak said in a resigned tone. His green eyes turned to Ayah again. ‘Pack your tent quickly, girl. I’ll not have rubbish littering my forest.’

  Ayah got to her feet and, rather hurriedly, began packing away her gear. ‘Xian told me that,’ she said. ‘Of course, she also said not to light a fire.’

  ‘I disli
ke fires.’

  ‘She said that too. I can understand that.’

  ‘Hm.’ He fell into silence and Ayah did not wish to say anything wrong, so she packed her tent and blanket and shouldered her pack. ‘This way,’ Leshak said. He turned to one of the nearby trees and raised a hand. After a few seconds, the bark on the tree seemed to split and open, and Ayah could see light through the gap which formed. It was a doorway of sorts, but not one to the other side of the tree. ‘Go through. It won’t last forever.’

  Ayah walked through the doorway in the wood and out into… another place. It was a clearing in a forest – presumably the same forest, but Ayah was not quite sure of that – and in front of her was some sort of stone structure. There was a platform of worn stone perhaps thirty feet across with five great monoliths around it. The upright stones were about fifteen feet high and had been there for a very long time because there was thick moss growing on them, and where there was no moss there was lichen which Ayah knew was slow to grow.

  At the other side of the platform were two buildings made of stone, the doorways hung over with curtains which looked like they had seen better days. The curtains were probably newer than the buildings: the buildings were ancient. Ayah could see light coming from inside them, but she could not really imagine anyone else living there and Leshak did not like fire, so where was the light coming from?

  ‘You can use the one on the right,’ Leshak said from behind Ayah. She turned around just in time to see the tree-doorway closing, the bark becoming seamless as the portal vanished. ‘I’ll find you some food and you can get cleaned up. We can discuss… other matters in the morning.’

  ‘Thank you, Leshak,’ Xian said. ‘I’m pleased to note that you remembered that humans need to eat.’

  The tree-man gave a shrug – particularly expressive with his broad shoulders. ‘I thought all they ever did was sleep and stuff their faces.’

  ~~~

  Xian waited until she was sure that Ayah was asleep before she allowed her physical body to drain away into the spirit world. Then she went looking for Leshak.

  He was sitting on the stone platform outside, apparently just watching the dark forest around him, but he saw Xian as soon as she stepped around in front of him, even though a mortal could not have seen her invisible spirit. ‘Another one, Xian?’ he said.