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“You were bitten by a venomous snake. A deadly species called elapythe, an ancestor to most of the snakes on the Earthly plane. Their venom is stronger and faster than most snakes you would have encountered back home, as they evolved to prey on Hell beasts who tend to possess stronger constitutions than Earthly creatures.”
“Fascinating,” I murmur, raising one eyebrow. “I had no idea you knew so much about wildlife.”
“It is important to be educated on one’s environment,” he tells me.
“I imagine it is,” I agree tiredly. “But I remember that part, vaguely. What happened after? How did I end up here?”
“Ah. After Lucifer killed the snake, he brought you to a healer who lives far outside the city limits.”
“There aren’t doctors in the palace? Seems like a bit of an oversight, considering how many bones get broken around here.”
“There are quite a few healers living in and around the palace, but few who know how to make anti-venom. There are even fewer who would willingly attempt to save a human, even for Lucifer’s sake. There’s a bit of pride involved, you see.”
I try to sort that thought out but I don’t get far. “I don’t see.”
He looks uncomfortable. “It’s—ah—so allow me to preface this, Sophia. I mean no offense or disrespect whatsoever. This is simply an observation.”
“I promise to take whatever you say with an academic humor,” I tell him.
“Thank you. Now, asking a master healer in the palace to tend to a poisoned human is akin to asking a human surgeon to treat a sick chameleon. Not only do they not have the knowledge base they would need to begin treatment, but it is also—if I may—below their pay grade. Again, this is not a belief I hold. It’s simply an observation.”
“Understood,” I tell him. I’m surprised to see relief cross his face, however briefly. He holds Lucifer in high regard, I know, but I don’t think Lucifer would take him to task over this conversation even if I was silly enough to get offended about it. Maybe he legitimately wants to avoid hurting my feelings, or maybe I underestimate the severity of personal offense in this society.
“So, this healer outside the city limits, he doesn’t have the same hang-ups?”
A very slight smile touches Fenriz’s face.
“He’s a bit of a rebel,” he begins. “He studied on Earth—in secret, of course—and still uses the name he was given by the people he met there. He and Lucifer traveled together quite a bit, each to their own specific purpose, but both for the same reason. They were fascinated by humanity, and couldn’t resist getting closer.”
“A lot of people seem surprised by my presence here, especially with Lucifer,” I tell him as I analyze his face. There’s a burning question, or sentiment, that I can’t seem to shake from my mind. “Knowing him like you do, it must not surprise you much that he fell for a human.”
Fenriz considers his answer carefully. “Your humanity is not the part of it which surprises me. It’s the fact of him falling in love at all which takes me by surprise.”
That startles me, my brow sinking with confusion. “Why do you say so? He seems to fall in love a lot. With jazz, money, his pet snake—” I shudder, and find myself hoping that he continues to forget to introduce me to the snake even if we do make it back to Earth. After last night, I’d be happy if I never saw another snake again. “And I know he’s had human lovers before. You even said yourself that he’s always been fascinated by humans.”
He gazes pensively out the window. “To love a foreign land is one thing. To be fascinated, intellectually, by a people who are dissimilar to your environment, does not put the student of that culture at a disadvantage. Enjoying the music born of that foreign culture is a simple pleasure, one which neither threatens nor is threatened by the listener. Learning to access the power of that culture—in this case, money—is a logical step to take when integrating oneself into that culture. A pet is just that: a companion, a responsibility. He was in complete control of his pet and her fate, and while he would go out of his way to care for her, he was never vulnerable to her.”
I’m seeing a common thread here and I want to argue, but my head is still foggy. Even if it wasn’t, I’m not sure I could make a valid argument against his assertions. After all, if it weren’t for me, Lucifer wouldn’t even be here. So I keep my peace and let Fenriz work through the problem out loud.
“The lovers Lucifer took, human or demon, were neither his companions nor his responsibilities. He took pleasure in them. A different kind of pleasure, the sort which lacked the simple intimacy of music. Some provided him with shortcuts to various kinds of power, but none gave him anything he couldn’t get for himself by some other means. He would study them; knowledge is one thing he has always craved, but once he knew and understood them, he would grow bored of them.”
A touch of anxiety makes my heart lurch. Will he get bored with me? I’m pretty simple to understand but even if I’m complicated by human standards, Lucifer has eons of experience. My concern must show on my face, because Fenriz leans forward in his chair with an earnest expression.
“But then something changed—hechanged. This is a man who moves worlds, universes, to his whims. I’ve known him a very long time, and before you came along, I’d only ever seen him moved once. One single time, and it took all the powers of Heaven and leaders of Hell to do it.”
“His brother,” I breathe in understanding. My heart aches, but there’s a warm glow behind it. I’ve moved him, this rock of a man, this force of nature, like nothing but the death of his brother has ever moved him.
“Uriel,” Fenriz confirms. “Lucifer loved Uriel selflessly. I don’t know if you’ve realized it yet, but Lucifer does nothing selflessly. That isn’t a moral judgment, it’s a simple fact. He craves knowledge, he collects power, he demands freedom.” There is a pause, as though calculating the weight of his next words. “Anything which doesn’t contribute to those goals isn’t worth his time, unless he’s doing it for you, and Uriel before you.”
I’m stunned, I had no idea he’d changed so much. What on Earth drove him to save my life that first time, before we’d even met? I suppose it wasn’t too much of a risk to him, with as fast as he moves. Still, he could have easily kept himself completely out of danger. Disregarding that, though, and with the context Fenriz is providing, I think I’m beginning to see the transformation. Memories float lazily to the surface, begging to be contextualized.
“Tell me something. Is Lucifer the type to show mercy to, say, a thief, if that thief has nothing obvious to offer in terms of knowledge, power, or freedom?”
“He’s not,” Fenriz says with a knowing look. “Nor is he the kind to reward a thief for their trespass against him. Although he has recently developed a bit of a weakness for overpriced baked goods. A thoughtful thief might easily use that to their advantage.”
It makes me laugh, and I wonder if I wasn’t wrong about Fenriz’s sense of humor. “Come on, a cupcake isn’t enough to change a man like him.”
“You’re right,” Fenriz says, completely serious once more. “Frankly, I don’t know what would. Something about you speaks to him, I’m guessing. You noticed, I’m sure, that the women in the office bore a certain resentment toward you.”
