Snake Charmer

“This place is absolutely crawling with children,” Troi commented as they walked through the castle keep. “Which ones are yours?”

Creedy tripped over a rock as her question caught him by surprise. “None of them. Most of them we found on the road on the way here.”

“I see.”

“Through this hallway are the living quarters. The kids in these two rooms and adults over here.”

“So all of you live in pretty close quarters?”

“We don’t have much of a choice. There isn’t much room around here.” He led her into a large room where bunks adorned the walls from top to bottom. “There’s a couple of beds free on the other side of the room. We lost some people last summer. There was a fire. So there should be someplace for you to sleep.”

“I don’t sleep much.” She dropped her bag on one of the empty beds and pulled the sweater from around her waist, throwing it aside and turning to face him. “And where do you sleep?”

“I actually have my own quarters down the hallway.”

“Oh I see. So while the rest of the ‘commoners’ sleep piled in a room like cattle, you get to sleep all by your lonesome?” Troi batted her eyelashes at him coyly.

“No its not that---”

“So you don’t sleep alone?” Her blue eyes pierced into his. She was so tiny, but completely intimidating and it was starting to unnerve him. “Take your pick of the litter do you?”

“No! I just--- Quinn and I started this place---”

“So that makes you better than the rest of us?” She asked the questions so matter-of-factly that it didn’t seem like a challenge, but she was testing him.

“No. It was just us and Jared at the beginning... So naturally we got the pick of the places to sleep. More people came and we had to find a place for them.”

“So everyone’s equal?” She narrowed her eyes and smirked, proud of herself that she had made him uneasy.

“Yes.” He sighed heavily, relieved that it seemed that this line of questioning was over.

“Oh. So what do you do?”

“Me? I don’t do anything---”

“Now everyone can do something.” She raised her eyebrow, looking as if she expected a dissertation on his life story and the origin of dragons.

“Are you trying to piss me off?”

“Yes. Is it working?”

Creedy opened his mouth to say something else, but thought better of it and turned to walk away.

“See you soon, Mr. Creedy,” she called after him, smothering a laugh as she started to unpack her sack.

*********************************

“Completely infuriating!” Creedy sat at the table in the kitchen with a large water glass filled with the battery acid that passed for alcohol in the castle. “I’m fucking telling you! She’s crazy!”

Alex and Quinn tried to laugh quietly as they prepared dinner. “She can’t be as bad as you say,” Alex replied.

“You’re right. She’s worse.” He gulped down the last of the liquid in the cup. “Have you ever met somebody that seemed to challenge everything you said? And they just make you feel so stupid and weak?”

“Uh huh,” they responded simultaneously.

“They have no respect for what you have to say?”

“Uh huh.”

“They don’t even listen to what you have to say!”

“Uh huh.”

“Do you think that the two of you could talk instead of just saying ‘uh huh’?”

Quinn laughed and threw a piece of bread at Dave. “You may as well go ahead and admit it--- you like her.”

“I do not!” His voice came out so quickly that it was a nearly unintelligable dialect that continued through his tirade. “The fact that she’s beautiful and mysterious and different doesn’t make up for the fact that she’s completely irritating, self-centered,
and egocentric!” Just as he finished proclaiming his distaste for her, Troi entered the kitchen behind him.

“Hello. Can I help?” The three of them turned to look at her and for a moment she thought that something unfortunate was hanging out of her nose. “Hmm? Tu parle? Do we
all speak English here?” she laughed nervously until they seemed to snap out of their catatonia.

“Oh. Yes... of course you can help!” Alex was the first to speak and smiled, holding out her hand to Troi. “I’m Alex and this is Quinn.” Quinn reached out and shook her hand, trying not to laugh.

“I’m Troi.”

“Yes, Creedy’s told us a lot about you.” Quinn smirked and stared at his friend who was trying very hard to make himself invisible. “Your bike’s broken down?”

“Yes. But its probably dead anyway. Thank you for letting me stay the night. I’ll try not to make a nuisance of myself.”

Creedy snorted and got up to leave, but the damn girl blocked his path. Quinn was nearly exploding with laughter so it was Alex who spoke next. “You can stay as long as you like. There’s not another shelter for miles. Since taking down the bull, the dragons aren’t reproducing, but they’re more vicious than ever.”

“Is it vicious to be hungry?” Troi looked at them strangely, as if she was a little offended, but afraid to show it. Quinn and Alex narrowed their eyes at her and gave her a look that made her feel as if she had a third eye growing out of her head. “I’ve seen
men act far more vicious since this all began.” She seemed to look past them, lost in thought until a popping on the stove brought her back. “Anyway, thank you for all your help. I’ll try not to inconvenience you for long.”

She picked up the bowl of vegetables on the counter in front of Quinn and took them to the table, using a knife to cut them up. “Thanks,” he replied, not really knowing what to say.

“No problem.” Quinn and Alex went on talking about a hot rumour going around the keep and Dave just seemed to stand there awkwardly watching Troi slice up
tomatoes. “Keep standing there like that and I’ll get you a knife,” Troi didn’t look up as she said this but only pushed another knife towards the other side of the table. Unable to think of what to do next, he sat down opposite her and began slicing up vegetables.

*****************************

Over the next few days, Troi seemed to be lurking around every corner. Everywhere Creedy looked, there she was. And he was trying so hard NOT to look at
her, that he was making his interest more obvious. At dinner, he either talked too much to everyone else, or said nothing at all. And on the rare occasions when they were forced to engage in conversation, he looked at either the floor or the ceiling-- never her face.

Troi, meanwhile, was feeling so claustrophobic in this place that she had little energy left to notice the adolescent avoidance going on around her. She had never been one to sit around entertaining herself. She didn’t feel that she fit in here, so she spent
most of her time finding menial tasks to keep her busy or reading books that happened to lie around carelessly. One evening, unable to take the silence any longer, she ventured out into the common room after dinner. She smiled as she stood in the corner, watching Creedy and Quinn make utter fools of themselves for the entertainment of the children. On
the bill tonight was “The Complete Works of Shakespeare in Fourty-five Minutes.” As she walked in, Creedy was Hamlet and Quinn was arguing with him over the murder of family members while dressed as Macbeth. The children were amused by their increasingly intense slapstick, but the adults that stood behind laughed at the subtle jokes. She’d never
seen a community that seemed so content. Most of the castles she’d lived in had been in constant power struggles where everyone clamoured to be the boss. She supposed that was her function in life. Bringing everyone together against a common enemy--- her. Troi
touched the small irridescent circle at her throat. This time would be different. She wouldn’t reveal any of herself but what was necessary.

“Troi is it?”

“Yes. That’s me.” She turned to see a small redhead standing behind her. The girl had messy hair that fell in waves around her face and enormous blue eyes that seemed to be full of questions. “Have we met?”

“No. I just haven’t gotten a chance to welcome you to the castle.” She smiled shyly and offered her hand. “I’m Piper.”

“Oh. Well thanks. I thought maybe you were one of the many people here that I’ve managed to make feel weird and uncomfortable.”

“Not yet. Those two are pretty funny, huh?” She jerked her head to the side, indicating Quinn and Creedy.

“Hilarious.” Troi lowered her head, blushing at the thought that someone had caught her watching them. “Do they do this every night?”

“Pretty much. There’s not much else to do around here for entertainment. And the kids love it. They finally finished “Star Wars” the other night.”

“I see. Dave told me that you had a fire here last summer. What happened?”

“Dragons. A group of slayers came through looking for help on a trip to London. Some went. They tried to attack the city, but the dragon tracked them back here and nearly destroyed the castle.”

“The dragons tracked them back here? That’s impossible.”

Piper looked at Troi strangely. “Of course. They wanted revenge for the attack.” She paused and looked at the other girl uncertainly. “Of course, some say they would have come anyway. A few days before Quinn and some others killed one and left it to rot out in
the fields. Maybe that was why they came.”

“More likely.” Troi looked up and realized that while they were talking, Creedy had spotted them and watched them out of the corner of his eye from the stage.

“At any rate, lots of people were killed. The castle was nearly levelled. The tower is still a mess. Creedy almost died too. He ran up from the cellar to help some people trapped up there just as the dragon let loose with another blast of fire. Luckily he
tripped up the steps and the fire missed him by inches. He just played dead until it was over and managed to get out. He’s got a big scar on his back though.”

“A regular knight in shining armour I suppose.”

“You don’t like him, do you?” Piper smiled at the other girl knowingly and laughed softly. “Or maybe you like him too much.”

“That’s ridiculous. I barely know him. I have no opinion of him, really.”

“Uh huh...” Piper winked at Troi and walked off without saying another word.

TBC...