Biyu followed the path back to her home village. The path meandered, and she followed the bends even though it would be quicker to cut across it. She had decent leather boots to protect her feet, and she wore rough spun clothing, her fish scale armor hidden beneath a loose gown. She took her time walking, being in no rush.

There was little reason for her to take this route, she could have left the swamp onto the road to the east, but she felt a need to see the place she started from once more before leaving it behind perhaps forever. Part of her knew that she would regret not taking a look, even though she felt fear gnawing at the pit of her stomach as she got closer. When she reached the paved road once more, she followed it to the village.

Biyu had been escorted from the village in late spring. She returned now in early summer. Only a month of difference, but she felt the warmth and could see the liveliness. Insects stridulated in the trees, begging to be noticed. Frogs croaked around little puddles they ruled. Small things skittered through the leaf cover. Wind rustled through the leaves. This was a lovely day. Biyu felt resentment wasting such a wonderful day to visit an unhappy memory. She soldiered on.

Reaching the clearing around the village walls, she paused to look it over. The stockade walls were made of thick logs bound tightly together with stucco or plaster filling the space between them. At the gate was a pair of guard propped up on spears. They wore thick cloth armor and iron cap helmets with wooden shields.

Following the road, Biyu watched the men watching her. Their eyes were suspicious, and one of them ran inside leaving just one man to face her. When she was close, he challenged her.

"Hail the stranger! Declare yourself!" declared a young man with thick shoulders and a face that was unfortunate in how it scowled at rest. His voice had a country drawl that softened his consonants. She could hear shouting within the village, and she wondered if they had raised the alarm. The other guard returned, his spear leveled and ready to lunge.

On the way to Elderwoods, Biyu had considered her options for this moment. There was a vast land beyond this small village, and she hoped to find a place for herself out there. This was just a stop, and her first instinct was to hide her identity and pretend to be a natural Awakened from further north traveling to find a master. She decided against that plan, despite how appealing it was. She had a use for these people, even though she could not trust them.

"I am Biyu Kimmel Lostlakes Elderwoods. My journey east took me back here. I do not intend to stay overlong," she replied.

The man standing to the side growled, "This is a fortress, not a village." Biyu glanced to make sure the walls really were made of logs and not stone, but she made no comment.

The challenger frowned at her answer. "Lady Biyu is dead. She died of sickness three years ago."

Biyu asked, "Is that what you told the Empire? They do not know you have no pact with Lady Serpent?"

"We have a pact with the Great Ruby Eyed Serpent," said the growler. His face was flushed.

"I was Lady Serpent's disciple for the last three years. She told me herself there is no pact. She would not make one. It would conflict with another pact."

The challenger snorted. "Lies, to make us doubt Defender Elderwoods. Reveal your face, charlatan."

Biyu did as she was bid. The mask came away, and the two men stared at her with reddening faces and slackening jaws. When one of them took a step, she put the mask back on. It scowled at them.

"Lady Biyu," the challenger managed, recovering himself. "How are you alive?"

"I was so pathetic a snake took pity on me. What will you do now? I am Awakened. You will die if you attack me."

The man blanched at being told that, and the growler shouldered his spear, unwilling to challenge the tiny woman. They looked to be at a loss when another man in armor came.

He wore a mail hauberk under a surcoat of black and violet with a tree emblem on the chest. His spear had a gleaming steel tip, along with his helmet and the splinted vambraces and boots he wore. His shield was wood, but Biyu imagined there was more to it than that. He had a well-kept beard like a proper man, black and curly, and his gaze was steely. He clicked his tongue at the two cowed guards, each giving fist to heart salutes, before turning his eyes to Biyu.

His eyes were furrowed as he looked her over. "You are well armed," the man said of Biyu. She was holding her bow as a walking stick, and she had a sword and two daggers along with her knife at her waist. Part of her wished she had a shield, but it was unwieldy, and she had a limit to how many supplies she could carry.

"I am prepared," she said. "A lone wandered must be ready to defend them self."

"What is your purpose here?" he asked.

"I wished to visit the place of my birth, since I was passing through. I am Biyu Kimmel Lostlakes Elderwoods, and I am traveling on the orders of my Master. This is just a temporary stop. If my Father will not allow me in, I will go."

The man stared hard at her, then turned to the guards who nodded. "It's her," the challenger confirmed.

"Show me," the guard demanded, his eyes hard on Biyu.

So she removed her mask for the second time. Unlike the two at the gate, the man did not color as he looked at her briefly. "Fuck," he said when he recognized her. "That's enough."

He rubbed his beard, thinking. "Billy," he pointed to the former growler. "Go inform them at the manor that Defender Elderwood's daughter is coming to give him a greeting. I'll leave this shit to him."

Giving a short bow to Biyu, he declared, "Lady Biyu, I am Guard Captain Oswald Kimmel. If you would follow me?"

Biyu nodded her ascent, her mask back in place. She followed Oswald as he led her along the dirt road of the village to the manor in the back. Her eyes took in the village as she passed through.

The villagers had heard the alarm being shouted, and a number of them had collected to see what was happening. Curious and fearful eyes watched her as they kept their distance. More men with spears in mail hauberks, some of them familiar looking, came to flank her. None lowered their spears, but the threat was there. They were obviously better trained than the men in cloth armor, walking with discipline and at a respectful escort distance. Far enough for them to react if she did something they did not like, near enough to keep her from easily fleeing.

As she continued to pass through the village, she compared it to the floating village she had lived on until recently. The fact that the ground beneath her feet did not shift left her with an odd, floating feeling. The huts were clearly inferior to those in the Elf village. The swamp did not have fine lumber—most of the trees were twisted and lacked straight grains—so they made do by venturing into the nearby forests and floating the lumber back to the village. Their planks were poor, but the houses were sturdy compared to these. An exiled people who lived in fear lived better than Imperial citizens under the direct protection of their lord.

Biyu lifted a hand, drawing the eyes of the guards. "A moment, please."

Oswald lifted a hand to signal a halt. "What is it?"

"I want to see into one of these huts for just a moment."

The man scowled. "Very well." He looked around, and pointed at one. Some of his guards ran over to encircle it. He himself came to the door and pounded on it.

A woman answered, a babe at her breast, looking around with a scowl. She was ready to screech at them when she realized she was surrounded by armed guards. Her scowl slid off her face, and she slowly paled. "What can I do fer you men?"

"Lady Biyu wishes to see your hut. She says it will be just a moment."

The woman puckered her lips. "Lady Biyu? That Biyu? The… we sent her to the serpent!"

"And she came back today. Don't worry, we'll deal with it. You just let her look in your hut."

The woman obviously wanted to argue, and her face turned sour again as she bounced her babe, who was getting fussy at being ignored. When she saw Biyu, the sour expression melted away to surprise at the tiny masked woman loaded with weapons and a large pack. She did not bow, but she did not hurl abuse either. Just standing there, staring, she remained motionless until Oswald gently moved her aside.

Biyu entered the hut, looked around, and took stock. The hut was dug into the ground, giving a solid base to the building. The center had a stone hearth, with cushions around it. The cushions were better than the ones in the Elf village, but otherwise the living conditions were worse. The hearth was unlit, and a child was playing with wooden dolls on the ground until he saw her. His eyes lit up at the small woman with weapons. He ran up to her, looking at the feathered knife with wide eyes. His mother stared on frozen, her face aghast.

"That is dangerous. Very sharp," she told the boy. To Oswald and the woman of the hut she said, "Thank you, that was all."

Oswald and the woman both looked confused at her brief stop in the hut, but Biyu followed them to the manor proper without another stop.

The noble 'keep' they came to was the only quality structure. It was made with wood and lacquer. Three stories tall, the top two floors had shuttered windows. It was a long structure, and in defiance of the style from the south, it had two attached wings framing a rear courtyard in the south. Usually the main house was on the south end of the courtyard, not the north. It was the most elaborate and beautiful building in all the village. The roof was covered in curved tiles and not thatch.

More members of the guard were arranged before the front of the manor. These would be her father's personal guard, along with the man she assumed was her father dressed in a hauberk, helmet, cuirass, and protection for his legs and arms. The guards, professional soldiers, had hauberks, pot helmets, shields, and spears. She tried to estimate the quality of their gear while the villagers took the arranged guards as a cue to seek shelter.

The guards with her put their fists to their chest in salute when they arrived before their lord. The man at the head was older than she thought he would be, with a little gray in his hair and weather-worn features. "I am Defender Elderwoods. Do I truly address my lost daughter?" the man asked. Irritation colored his voice, but he was keeping it under control.

Biyu tried to recognize him, but she had no memory of this man. That felt strange, for even if she never knew who her father was she had thought she would have some memory or impression of him, but there was nothing.

With her masked face staring at him without speaking, the guards, already tense, started to make more space around her. Brought out of her thoughts by the movement, she removed her mask again, briefly. Seeing her own father color, when Oswald had not, left her cold to the man. "Do you recognize me?" she asked, replacing her mask. Everyone noted that she had not bowed to Defender Elderwoods.

Defender Elderwoods, her father, was looking at her intensely. "How are you alive?"

"I was shown pity and made Awakened."

Oswald before her stiffened, his eyes looking at her sharply. He had not been there when she told the gate guards that. Defender Elderwoods knew, told by the runner.

"So, are you here to take over Elderwoods?"

"No. I came to properly see the place I was born, before I continue my journey. I have no desire for this place. It would also be nice to see the faces of my family. I never knew them. That seems wrong, so I wished to correct it."

The man's scowl deepened. "Very well. Lady Lihua, your mother, has set up to receive you. I will call your brothers and sister. Oswald, see her to a vanity to clean up."

Oswald gave a slight bow. That Oswald and not a servant was to go with her was a statement. Biyu followed the man to a place where she could wash off her hands and change her clothes into cleaner ones. He frowned at the poor quality fabric, but he made no comment as he led her to the receiving room where the family was seated.

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The table was arranged for family seating rather than receiving a guest. To one side was a younger man and an older boy. On the other was an older woman, followed by a space, and then the youngest daughter who was staring at her with naked hostility.

Biyu gave a shallow bow at the foot of the table, opposite her father. "I am Biyu Kimmel Lostlakes Elderwoods," she introduced herself formally. The family passed unsettled gazes at her introducing herself as if she was a stranger.

"I am Defender Elderwoods," her father introduced himself, deciding to follow her lead. "Eugene Kimmel Lostlakes Elderwoods." He had changed out of the armor, and wore dark blue dress robes over a short tunic of fine material. He had a gold chain around his neck, with the emblem of Elderwoods on it. "This is my wife, Lihua Liu Waderpool."

The woman looked a lot like Biyu, except scaled up. She was a pretty faced slight woman. Her silky hair was bound up in a hair stick, and she wore elaborate dress robes with a gossamer stole. She, and all the members of the family except for Biyu and her father, had a broach with the family emblem on it.

"My eldest daughter has married and left the house. Her name is Elaine. She resembles me more than my wife, if you wished to know." He indicated the young man beside him. "My eldest son, Christopher. He's currently designated as the heir." The man was like a younger version of her father. His hair was a lighter shade, sandy brown, and his expression had a slightly witless look to it. No, she should be charitable. Christopher had a guileless air. He gave her a nod in greeting, his expression conflicted.

"You are the middle daughter, Biyu. My youngest son is Feng, named after my wife's father."

The boy nodded to her, his eyes sharper than his older brother. He was calculating, but he did not come across as a schemer. Not from looks. That only went skin deep. He was a mix of his parents' features, which gave him an exotic look compared to the rest of the family.

"My youngest daughter, Cassia." The girl nodded primly. Her hair was black like her mothers, but her features favored her father. She was a somewhat homely girl, and she was glaring with spite at Biyu.

"I greet the family of Elderwoods," Biyu said formally.

"We have been greeted. Sit at our table, Biyu."

Greetings completed, Biyu joined the table at the foot. The family shifted, eyes looking to one another. She should have taken the spot between Lihua and Cassia. A servant took her sitting as a signal, and she placed and poured drinks for each of them. Defender Elderwoods was first, and Biyu was second. Proper if she was a ranking guest, as she was presenting herself, but improper if she was part of the household. Lihua scowled at that, but she said nothing as they were served. A small platter of some confection Biyu was not familiar was placed in front of each of them.

Biyu waited for her host to partake, lifting a snack and chewing at it while taking a drink. Taking her own bite, she found it was a sweetened fruit dumpling. Chewing a moment, she could feel her [Poison] activate as well as her [Poison Immunity]. She checked what [Poison] had to say about it. It was a common but not particularly effective poison from the swamp, one that worked by interfering with the working of muscles. She let her techniques do their work. [Poison] lost interest once it was identified, while [Poison Immunity] kept her from feeling the effects. Biyu examined the treat speculatively.

The table watched her quietly. Cassia had a mean smile. Christopher was frowning at his younger sister, and the expectant look on his mother's face. Defender Elderwoods was impassive, as thought waiting for something. Feng was watchful. Almost wary.

"This poison is common in the swamp," Biyu said before taking another bite, and sipping the bitter drink that accompanied it. Everyone at the table stiffened as they watched her intentionally eating the poison. Defender Elderwoods paled a bit, while Oswald reached for the sword at his waist. "I thank you for the hospitality, but I have already sampled this poison. Unfortunately, it is weak. At most this would make my muscles twitch if I were not immune. Would you like me to show you a strong poison? I have many."

The tension among the family increased as she dismissed their attempt to kill her and made them her offer. She looked around the table. Christopher was staring with incredulity at his mother. Cassia looked like a child who was denied a treat. Feng kept his thoughts to himself, as did his mother, but Biyu could see she was unsettled. Defender Elderwoods looked upset at the failure.

"That will not be necessary. Take my apologies for my wife's… ill-advised attempt to protect this family," Defender Elderwoods said. To show his contriteness, he gave a medium bow to Biyu. A look at his face showed how much it pained him to lower his head like that. The family followed, except Cassia who had to be bowed by her mother.

"Protection from me? I have no interest in this family except to see their faces but once. As I have said, I intend to leave. I will go east to find my fortune. There is no animosity for you. You are all strangers to me."

"You are my daughter. You may not know us, but we are family. We should be welcoming you." A lie, but the proper words.

"I am no daughter of yours. You cast me out." She stopped, looking around the room. "What did I do to earn your ire?"

"That disgusting face of yours." Lihua started quietly, but her voice rose until she was shouting. "Why did a thing like you have to come from my loins? If you were just pretty that would be one thing. But I gave birth to a natural-born whore!"

Defender Elderwoods put a hand on her shoulder, and she flinched from the touch. Her lips tightened, and she looked balefully at Biyu.

"When you were little, we thought you were a blessing that would help us secure a useful connection to a March family. Maybe even Imperial. Instead…" Defender Elderwoods restrained himself for a moment, but looking at Biyu he dropped his pretense at civility, "you twisted the mind of every fucking person you met. We had to make you a caged bird just to keep the Fortress from tearing itself apart. Not only that, but every vindictive cunt of a noble we had to fire after tutoring you badmouthed you. We couldn't present you at court, that would have ended with nobles marching on us to get you for themselves, if Lost Lakes didn't just demand you! So we got rid of you. You were liability, not a boon." Defender Elderwoods was red-faced as he reached the end.

"It never occurred to you to mask or shroud my face?" Biyu asked.

"Masks are for shame… or some of the parties in the city when nobles want to act the part of fools. No self-respecting noble would wear one in public. As for covering the face… there are connotations there that we couldn't accept. Among them that you are diseased or deformed."

"Or cursed," Biyu said. That was met by a hard stare from Defender Elderwoods. "So I suffered because you could not bare the shame of a daughter who refused to expose her face." She felt strangely empty. No anger. No sadness. Just an empty acceptance. As she had said, these people had never really been a part of her life, even if they were the cause of her misfortunes.

"We should've just slit the bitch's throat when she was a babe and fed her to the dogs."

"She's still our daughter," Defender Elderwoods said. His eyes were hard on Lihua. Biyu wondered if that was an honest statement, or something to fend off Biyu's ire.

"Being eaten alive by a giant snake was supposed to be better? Crushed and suffocated in the dark?" Biyu asked.

"I assumed she'd kill you with her bite. A quick and gentle death."

"She did bite me. It hurt. That was how I Awakened."

"I see. So, what now?" Defender Elderwoods asked.

"I am going east to see the world. I have not decided if I will go to the Three Kingdoms or Shadow Gate, but I will go to the Great North-South Road."

"You're the heir," Christopher said. Lihua gave him a scathing look, while Defender Elderwoods just shook his head. "What? She is! She's Awakened and I know you got her a proper education. Hell, her tutors were better than mine when you were trying to get the Imperial Family to take notice. How the Hells can she not be?"

"I was cast out of the family," Biyu said easily. "Exiled, if you do not want to tell people that I was sacrificed."

"We told people you died," Feng said, speaking for the first time. "You coming back is kinda inconvenient that way. People will have questions."

"A polite lie because you assumed I would die out in the forests after my exile. A safe assumption. Instead, I Awoke, rebuked you, and left. Christopher can still be heir."

"And you do nothing, even though we tried to poison you?" asked Feng. His skepticism was thick in his voice. His father was not amused by his insistence on poking the topic.

"I finally know what my family looks like. Ah, I do have one question."

"That is?" asked Defender Elderwoods.

"How old am I?"

There was shocked silence around the table.

"You don't know?" asked Cassia with mocking disbelief.

"No one ever told me. I could not count the winters in my room. I never had a calendar. How would I know?"

"You are nineteen," Defender Elderwoods told her.

Biyu gave a nod. "Thank you. Some day in the future, I will ask you to deliver something to Lady Serpent. For now, I am going to walk in the garden and then take my leave. Thank you for the hospitality. The snack was quite nice." They stared at her in disbelief as she rudely stood without permission to excuse herself. Christopher started to rise. His mother opened her mouth to object, but Defender Elderwoods stopped her.

Christopher offered Biyu an arm in escort, while Oswald shadowed them. Biyu waved off the offered arm, and she followed her frowning brother as they left for the garden. Biyu looked over the memorable but hazily remembered place. There were no trees, but shrubs and flowerbeds. It was too early in the year for many flowers, only the late spring blooms open. She wandered briefly, the garden was not large, although she took some time to appreciate the roses. She had always like them. They were not open, but she looked at them all the same while remembering what they looked like.

"I didn't know," Christopher said. "You were gone a month before I found out. I would have stopped them."

"And the others?" Biyu asked.

He shrugged. "We have a pact," he said. "What can I do that won't anger the Great Ruby Eyed Serpent?"

"You do not have a pact. She counts it as worship, and favors you for it. You are in violation of Imperial law."

He stopped short. "What? But Father always said we had one. Are you sure?"

"I am Lady Serpent's disciple. We talked about pacts on more than one occasion. She has another pact and will not make one with you."

Christopher turned to look at her fully. "Then all those poor girls… Elise?" He looked crush. "Gods. Oswald, did you know this?"

"I did. Defender Elderwoods has his reasons."

"What by the Hells is that?"

"He will tell you when you are ready. For now, Lady Biyu, please do not speak of it."

Christopher was angry, his lips pressed into a line. "It's because I fancied her, isn't it?"

"Later," Oswald said.

They were silent a while, while Biyu tried to remember a particular flower while staring at the flowerbed full of the early green leaves of the plant. "Why is Elderwoods in such disrepair? The peasants should have better homes than that."

"Sister—"

"Please do not call me that."

He gave her a stricken look. "The reason Elderwoods is so poor is because Father puts all his money into his time at court. He is desperate to raise his standing, and Uncle isn't heartless enough to crush his ambitions. I think he—March Lostlakes—knows things aren't going well though." He glanced at Oswald. "Maybe you should take over. I won't be able to until father finally steps aside, and even then… mother and father will be Elders, so it'll be hard for me to fix things."

"The people here hate me. So far, I think you are the only one who at least pretends not to. I must assume you are trying to trick me. Do remember your mother tried to poison me only a little while ago."

"That… is true. But you are my sister, even if you do not want me to call you that. A part of this family, even if they don't want to admit that. I want to keep a connection."

"You do not," Biyu said. "People are likely to call me an Elf-friend or worse." She lifted her staff. "This is a bow. You would be better off keeping your distance from me."

Oswald shifted, while Christopher stared for a moment without comprehension.

"They treated you better than we did?"

"About the same," Biyu said. He looked unhappy at that.

"Biyu… I want you to be part of the family. When I inherit… there'll be a place for you, whatever else happens. Okay? I'll toss mom into a manor if she outlives dad. She won't get to play Elder. She's too much of a…" he glanced at Oswald.

"Vindictive bitch," the man said.

"That's true, but she's still my Mother. I love her. Just, when she's not in the same room as me." Oswald cracked a smile. "Cassia will get married off someday, if we can find a match who can stand her. Feng is a good boy. Just… way too cynical for his age. I think he's waiting to get sacrificed too. Scared the shit out of him when he heard you got sent off."

He took a breath. "If you change your mind, then I'll support you becoming head of the family. I'm not sure I can get this 'Fortress' running with how badly it's been run, and like I said you have a better education. I could use your help, at least."

"I do not think that I will provide an heir."

Christopher shrugged. "Maybe I'll have a good kid." He paused, frowning. "You know, you have a voice in family politics now. Like… who you and I will marry. You're an Elder, no matter what Mother and Father want. Even if you remain an exile, we just can't ignore you."

"I have no intention to marry. I had someone… I said no." She lifted her arms.

He lifted a brow. "Oh? May I ask why?"

Biyu shook her head. "It would be difficult for you to understand." She turned to look at Christopher. "One day, I will send a delivery for the Great Ruby Eyed Serpent. Please see it delivered to where the sacrifices are made. Should I learn it was not, I will return."

"Alright." Christopher nodded.

"Do not attempt to arrange a marriage for me. I have other plans, and politics are not part of it."

"We are part of March Lostlakes's family still. He might try to meddle, and he has his own Knights to press the issue."

Biyu gave a shrug. "I will be beyond his reach, and he can only pressure. He cannot make me agree to anything. If he attempts to make the family do so, say no."

"Father wants back to Lost Lakes pretty bad, even if he is getting on in years. Might be they offer him something he and Mother will jump on. I will say no, but…"

Biyu gave a nod. "If you try, I will be satisfied. Thank you, Christopher." She considered him. "I will, for now, consider you my brother. You vouch for Feng?"

"He's not a bad kid, but in some ways he's the worst of Mother and Father. A little bit craven, a little more cunning than is good for him. He puts himself first, too. So, like that."

Biyu gave a nod. "Alright, Christopher—"

"Chris."

Biyu offered a smile. "Chris. I am going to go now. Oswald, show me the way?" She paused. "No, one thing. Should I introduce myself as part of this family?"

Oswald gave a slight shake of his head, but Christopher nodded. "Just note that you are currently in exile. Being exiled can be revoked." He frowned as he looked at her chest. "You do not have a family emblem?"

Biyu shook her head. "I do not. It was not one of the ornaments I was sent with when being sacrificed."

Christopher removed his broach, and handed it to her. "I'm sure you know, but I'll remind you. As an exile, you have the right to prove you were part of the family, but you are not allowed to wear this broach. Use it to prove your identity if challenged."

Biyu took it, and put it into her bag. "Now, I am Biyu Kimmel Lostlakes Elderwoods Exile."

"That's right. Oswald? Escort my sister with dignity." Oswald saluted, his face stony.

----------------------------------------

Biyu followed the road east. At her back were high mountains in the distance. Before her was the forest her family used to produce lumber. She continued through the clearing and entered the woods. She found herself in a lumber camp. Treated hides or cloth tents were arranged around fires attended to by boys or women. Meat roasted or stew boiled over the fires, doled out as men came and went in shifts to the camp to refresh themselves before returning to work.

The men and boys, with an occasional woman, watched her suspiciously. She was a masked and armed figure passing through their camp. No one challenged her, but neither did they greet her. A few of the men hefted axes warily, but while she took in the camp and lumberers curiously, she continued along the road without pause. Since she did nothing, so did they.

Biyu's stomach rumbled as she left the camp, the roasting meat wetting her appetite, and she drew out some of her travel rations. She chewed on smoked meat wrapped in dried savory leaves. She hoped the next village was nicer than the one she had left, and the next lord more competent.