Pollyanna met up with Them for breakfast the next day; as always, his wisp friend, Pete, was there with him.
Pollyanna held a plate of eggs and bacon in her hands as she stepped in front of Them who was intending to sit by Taylor. “So… Did you talk to her? Did you treat her like a man?”
Them cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well, I kind of ended up sleeping with her.”
The dark look on Pollyanna’s face made Them shrink in fright.
She looks like an angry bull!
He thought to himself.
“You slept with that innocent boy who knows nothing about the world…” Pollyanna murmured lowly and dangerously as she took a step closer to Them.
Them laughed awkwardly. “You misunderstand! I merely slept in the same bed as her—I didn’t touch her at all! She was lonely and wanted company so I slept with her like she asked.”
There was a storm in Pollyanna’s head and the waif would be dead where he stood if not for Eory sitting nearby.
As it was, she had to swallow her rage. She forced herself to calm down. “Do you think coddling her will bring Eory back out? She needs to stand on her own two feet like a proper man!”
Them frowned deeply and crossed his arms--holding his head high despite Pollyanna dwarfing him in height. “You think men don’t get scared? You think men don’t like company every now and again? She has no friends or family! The only person she had when she arrived was you! And you started ignoring her! Fearlessness isn’t a male trait—it’s a Pollyanna trait—and I can only imagine how hellish a trait it is! You need no one, and that’s the saddest fact about you.”
“Are you going to help me or not?” Pollyanna asked, looking into his eyes searchingly. She appealed to the waif’s better nature because she knew it was the best way to convince and manipulate him. “You may be right; I am a lonely woman, and Eory is my only friend. Won’t you please help me bring him back out so I can talk to him?”
Them was a sucker for Pollyanna’s tears which he didn’t realize were half-real and half-forced. He looked down at his feet. “What do you suggest I do?”
“Tell her she’ll look prettier with short hair; don’t let her hang on you as you have been.” Pollyanna told him sternly. “Keep her at a friendly distance.”
Them looked thoughtful for a moment, but he ended up nodding. “Very well. Why don’t you come sit with us? I’m sure Eory misses you deep down…”
Pollyanna planted a hand on one of her hips and leaned to the side. Eventually, she shrugged. “It couldn’t hurt to just sit next to him…”
Pollyanna and Them sat on either side of the fairy who narrowed her eyes at Pollyanna. “Where have you been? I could have gotten killed without you!”
Pollyanna looked at the fairy’s indignant face intently. It seemed to be becoming more and more feminine by the day, and it hurt her unexpectedly to see it happening. “You can clearly handle yourself. However, you can order me to protect you and I will, of course.”
Them raised an eyebrow—wondering just why Pollyanna seemed to take all her orders so seriously.
“You’re right, I don’t need you to protect me!” Taylor retorted foolishly—speaking without thinking. “But… But it is your duty as the Arrozan Sword to do so!”
Pollyanna plopped an egg into her mouth and asked snidely, “don’t tell me you were missing me?”
“No! Of course not! But you just stood by and watched that… That Maruka humiliate me!” Taylor said with a trembling voice.
“I’m willing to help you learn how to use a sword if you wish—that way, you won’t have to worry about anyone catching you alone.” Pollyanna knew such an activity could only help bring Eory back out.
Taylor lowered her eyes and then cleared her throat. “I suppose… It would be good to learn.”
Pollyanna smiled. “Your wish is my command.”
“With us helping you, you’ll be able to fight like a pro in no time!” Them exclaimed. At Pollyanna’s sidelong glance, he added, “but you’ve got to stand on your own two feet, too!”
Taylor looked at both her companions confusedly and wondered why they were suddenly getting along so well. “I shouldn’t have to learn to fight! I have magic that’s more powerful than—”
“You can’t rely on that right now. You need to learn a skill.” Them interrupted.
Pollyana was shocked that he was being so helpful, and she turned her head away for a moment with a smirk.
“Speaking of which, why don’t you let me cut your hair… I bet you’d look very cute with it short, and you can fight without worrying about it getting in your eyes, too.” Them gave the fairy a look that Pollyanna could mistake as nothing other than bedroom eyes as he brushed the back of his blue hand against her golden braid.
Taylor batted her eyes. “You think so? You don’t think I’d look like a boy?”
“You could never look like a boy!” Them assured her.
Pollyanna continued eating and let Taylor and Them do the rest of the talking while they ate.
Aside from that brief flirtation, he kept the fairy at arm’s length and treated her like a companion rather than a lover.
Pollyanna was pleased.
__
The old warrior-maiden was bored for the most part during the training session. She had learned how to kill the doppelgangers and didn’t need to learn how to fight; she could kill anyone in the room if she wished.
Maruka debated who he would have fight at the beginning of the session.
He locked eyes with Taylor and he said, “Eory, come here. I’ll fight you myself.”
Pollyanna watched curiously.
The fairy girl had her arms crossed and her nose turned up in disgust.
She wouldn’t budge an inch.
Maruka smiled a warm smile. “Don’t be shy! You’re very far behind in training from yesterday—I want to help!”
Pollyanna watched Taylor’s posture loosen; she watched the girl go from haughty and defensive to self-conscious and nervous.
She was no longer looking at Taylor; she was looking at Eory.
Eory stepped forward and entered the ring with Maruka.
“I a-am speaking to Eory, correct?” Maruka asked.
Eory nodded silently.
Pollyanna’s eyes widened.
Eory…
Maruka nearly grinned ear-to-ear at how shy the fairy was. “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.”
Maruka grabbed a wooden sword from one of the racks and tossed it to Eory who missed it and it clattered to the ground as a consequence.
The whole room erupted in laughter.
Pollyanna shot the room an ugly glare. She didn’t care when they mocked Taylor, but Eory was a different story.
The room silenced at her angry glare; they all knew from fighting her yesterday what a terror she was in battle.
Eory picked the sword up with nervous fingers.
I can teach him. There’s no greater swordsman than me—I want the job for myself!
Pollyanna thought to herself.
But I don’t want him to learn… I want him to stay harmless and sweet.
“Keep your grip very loose,” Maruka explained, showing Eory the grip he should have on his own sword.
Eory imitated the dark-eyed man’s grip as best he could. “That’s good—y-y-you’re very smart.”
Eory smiled at that—becoming more confident and wishing to learn more.
“Now, right foot and left foot forward—very good. Bend both your knees—excellent, that’s the basic stance you want.” Maruka nodded his approval. “I’ll show you some blocks now. Keep your blade vertical.”
Pollyanna watched with her heart pounding and feelings she had not felt for the longest time.
Eory looked happy training with Maruka. She realized just how much she wanted to train him—how much she wanted to make him smile like that, but she didn’t know how.
What am I thinking? What am I doing? Why should I care if he stays Taylor forever? My only goal should be to protect him.
Pollyanna thought to herself.
__
“So you’re Eory!” Them exclaimed while he, Polyanna, and Eory ate dinner together after training. “I must say, you’re just as beautiful as Taylor, but that’s to be expected, right?”
Eory was slumped in his chair and his smile from earlier had left his face.
Pollyanna was staring forward and concentrating on eating her peas—ignoring any facial expressions Eory was making. She instead looked at the talkative table across from their own.
Them leaned over and whispered to Pete, “I think they’re definitely having some kind of tiff…”
Clearly, you dolt. I would guess that she threw herself at him and he rejected her.
Them gasped. He thought to himself,
scandalous!
“On the other hand,” Them continued, practically talking to himself. “You do seem quite a bit sweeter than her, which is a little shocking… You know, I promised her I’d teach her how to use a bow earlier and… Hey, you should eat.” Them said worriedly, noticing the fairy hadn’t eaten a bite.
Pollyanna glanced down at Eory’s plate. She said gruffly, “eat.”
__
Them and Pollyanna sat the reemerged Eory down in an empty room after their silent dinner together where Them did most of the talking.
Them handed Pollyanna a sharp, small knife. “Girls know how to cut hair, right?”
Pollyanna made a face. She did know how to cut hair, but only because she had lived for so very long.
Eory had been quiet the whole time around both Them and Pollyanna since he had briefly reemerged. He had been giving Pollyanna the most disappointed looks he could muster, and she didn’t know it was possible for anyone to make her feel bad about the things she had done.
No, she didn’t feel bad about them. She merely felt bad that Eory disapproved of them.
Pollyanna first took the ties from Eory’s hair to undo his long braid. There was an explosion of beautiful, pale blond hair that fanned out in all directions when she unraveled it.
Pollyanna didn’t know what to say to Eory while he was still out. She started by saying quietly, “I don’t know why you ran away from me. I’m here to protect you.”
“Because you’re an evil woman.” Eory answered with his voice barely above a whisper.
Pollyanna grabbed a great deal of Eory’s hair in her hands and began chopping away. “I may be an evil woman, but I’m an evil woman who will keep you safe. I…”
Pollyanna cast an angry glance at Them.
“Oh, should I leave?” Them asked.
Pollyanna nodded, and Eory didn’t voice an opinion. Them ended up leaving—not wanting to anger the old woman.
Pollyanna continued. “I have to do everything you say, so you can make me do good things now.”
Eory closed his eyes bitterly and fought a lump in his throat. “I don’t want you to do good things because I tell you to do them. I want you to do them because they’re the right thing to do.”
Eory’s face twitched a little at the sound of the knife slicing through his hair—although Pollyanna was being very gentle.
“I don’t see my actions as good or bad, Eory. I see them as self-preserving.” Pollyanna answered plainly.
“You said earlier that I would never make it to Paradise if I kissed a boy.” Eory said as Pollyanna tilted his head back with a strong hand. “Surely you must believe in a right and a wrong if you believe there’s a Paradise.”
Pollyanna snorted. “The thought of two boys and two girls kissing is repulsive to me regardless. I have religion ingrained in me--so I just say things like that.”
“But you kissed Taylor… You kissed me, and I have female parts right now.” Eory reminded her.
“Yes, well, you see my point. We all have to do things we find repulsive from time-to-time.” Pollyanna reaffirmed.
Eory sighed. “How can you live like that? Not believing in anything—discarding wrong and right because they don’t serve you?”
Pollyanna cut off another inch of hair with precision and exposed Eory’s neck. She stopped for a moment. Her eyes glazed over with longing at how kissable the back of his soft, ivory neck looked.
“Because morals don’t exist. The only reason anything has moral value is because we assign it that value. If an animal kills another animal, we call it nature—but if a human or another intelligent creature does it, it’s suddenly wrong. There’s no difference between intelligent creatures and animals to me.” Pollyanna explained.
There were long moments of silence as Pollyanna perfected Eory’s haircut, and then he finally said to her, “I loved you. I loved you so much.”
Pollyanna paused and her heart thudded. She put a hand on his shoulder and barely resisted kissing the back of his neck. “I know you did. But it wasn’t me you loved. It was that picture of me you had built up in your mind.”
Pollyanna roughly ran the knife through Eory’s hair a few more times in frustration. “How much of love do you really understand? You probably understand it as a thumping in your heart—a sick feeling in your stomach--perhaps you even understand that people make love when they like one another… But I doubt you understand that love does not exist. We intelligent creatures merely see something that we think is pretty and have a desire to see it naked. It overrides all our senses. If love existed, there would be more to it than making love.”
“What if I ordered you to make love to me? Would you enjoy it? Surely you wouldn’t—I’m sure you have no feelings for me.” Eory interjected. “Surely you could see the immorality in such an order, and surely you would have to admit that there is more to love as well. Deep feelings have to exist to enjoy the rest."
Pollyanna grinned a little. “I would enjoy it very much, but I would feel guilty about… About ruining you. Besides, such an order would kill me.”
Eory was stunned. “What?”
“Your family never told you?” Pollyanna was shocked. “I suppose you were very young—there would be no reason to tell someone so young about it… I can’t sleep with anyone ever again. Your ancestor, Fjorn, owns this body.”
Eory stared forward in stunned silence.