Chypa isn’t human.
“You’ve got that half-right, Tollon,” she tells me. She closes the door, walks in, and takes a chair. “Like you, I’m a demigod. Been one for a long time. You don’t think just any wizard could stand off Mrokitar as long as I did?” She looks over to Mia. “Go wash up, Mia. We demigods have to have a conversation.”
Just us demigods chatting
Mia meekly does as she’s bidden. As she closes the door behind her, Chypa remarks, “She’s been with you the whole time you’ve been changing. Wouldn’t dream of any of the rest of us taking a turn. Of course, where else is she going to go?”
I don’t know what that quite means, so I pull over the chair and sit down facing Chypa. I begin with an accusation. “Why didn’t you ever tell us you were a demigod?”
Chypa purses her lips. “For the same reason you’ll probably not want to tell most people about it. Get yourself dressed and go out among them, Tollon. You’re going to realize you’re not the same as them anymore. You’re probably going to look down on them at first. It’s an incredibly uncomfortable feeling. You are going to find it all but impossible to have any sort of real relationship with normal humans for years to come.”
“You . . . ah . . .” I don’t know quite how to put this.
“Bedded you?” Chypa laughs. “True. But I wasn’t in love with you, Tollon. I couldn’t be. I couldn’t share much of what I am with you, when you were merely human.” She gets a sad look on her face. “And it took me decades to be able to do even that. Becoming a demigod cost me my marriage to Sarton. It’s the real reason I left Auspulia. It was too painful to stay here and see him so . . . diminished.”
I don’t like the sound of this. “Maybe my experience will be different. I don’t feel any different.”
Chypa snorts in disbelief. “Nothing at all?”
I almost say so, and then I remember how I could tell Mia was a fairy by sight. Same with Chypa being a demigod.
Chypa sees she’s scored a point. “And speaking of people not mentioning important things, what’s the story with Lady Gwella’s pregnancy?”
She scored another point. I confess, “It’s my child, and it’s the reincarnation of my sister Jallia.”
“Ah, that explains some idiotic remarks Lady Gwella has made.” Chypa shakes her head. “That’s a pity. That means you’ll want to stay around, when the best thing you can do is leave as soon as possible.”
“You mean like you, Chypa the Stranger?” I make it an accusation.
Chypa is not put out at all. “Exactly.”
“I don’t think so,” I insist. “We’re not the same.”
“No, we’re not,” Chypa admits. “You’re going through what I went through eighty years ago. I didn’t enjoy it then. You’re not going to enjoy it now. But I’ll leave it up to you to figure out the right thing. Go out there and see for yourself. Just warning you, Tollon, don’t fight it when it becomes obvious. And then, when you reach the inevitable conclusion, come back to me, and I’ll give you the most valuable advice you’ll ever get.” She chuckles. “I’d give it to you now, but you’re not ready for it.”
Sillyverse 