The Bride of the Serpent is Silent

Her mother's eyelids fluttering and complexion turning a ghastly pale color, Jing Li cradled her head in her arms. The woman gradually awakening from her fainting spell after several minutes had elapsed, her daughter passed a sigh of relief. Seeing that her mother had not suffered any injury aside from the shock she had received, Jing Li helped her to sit up once more. The woman's dark pupils dilated and shaking, she muttered fragments of a delirious conversation to herself that Jing Li struggled to comprehend.

"Why?" Jing Li's mother murmured to herself softly. Lips quivering, the anguish she suffered became more pronounced as the woman continued to air her grievances into the corners of the confined room.

"Why must you take her from me?" her mother cried, her face wet with the streams of her tears. Jing Li hugged the woman's fragile frame closer as another sob burst forth from her, "Shui Long can't take her." Her body trembling in vehement anger at the injustice that had been served to her and nails latching on to daughter in avid desperation that she should not be removed from her side. Her mother shrieked towards the unseen entities of the room, "I won't give her to you!"

Distressed by her mother's outburst, Jing Li softly caressed her back. Gently soothing the woman, she held her close chest for a long while. Jing Li's mother was finally persuaded to rest in the back room of the house, whilst her daughter sought to erase all evidence of what had occurred. Carefully recuperating the shards of the clay cup from the floor and wiping up the tea that had been spilt, Jing Li could guess the meaning of the mark that had appeared on her ankle. However, could fear only for the health of her mother at this time.

Several hours passed before Jing Li was summoned into the back room, she came to sit beside the wooden platform where the two of them usually slept. The woman lying on the straw mattress, regarding her daughter in sorrow. There were tears that began to reemerge once more from her mother's eyes as she said, "My child, the god of Xilian Lake has deemed for you to become his bride." Jing Li's suspicions towards this possibility, not sparing her heart the overwhelming sinking feeling that came over her once this fear had been realized, she took in a short breath of air. 

Her mind instantly returning to the unusual snake she had encountered in the lake; Jing Li silently cursed her foolishness at having been seduced by its charm. Enticed by the creature's otherworldly beauty, she had lingered longer than she should have in the water. Her thoughtlessness, ultimately leading to the regrettable devastation of the sole surviving member of her family. Jing Li held her mother's hand as she awaited the affirmation of the fate that fell from her trembling lips. However, her punishment to be prolonged, the woman's voice took on an unfamiliar vehemence. 

"He will not have you though." she hissed. Jing Li's head previously hung in shame; she tilted her chin towards the woman lying beneath the sheets on the wooden platform. The perturbation that this statement instilled in her, noted in the graceful arch of Jing Li's eyebrows. This feeling was to become more severe as her mother declared firmly, "You are to stay in the house until the next selection has passed." The moisture gone from the woman's eyes, there was a rigid determination that seemed to possess her now. Obvious that she wished to invoke her rights as head of the household by wielding unquestionable ruling on all decisions. Jing Li could not disguise her unwillingness to be made an active participant in this plan. 

The opalescent blue irises that were bequeathed to Jing Li by her father, staring at the woman in obvious horror as she recoiled from her. The hand that had grasped her mother's, flying up towards Jing Li's lips in unfettered mortification at being asked to consider her life before another's. Her natural impulse to reject the woman's selfish request to feign ignorance whilst someone else took her place as the water god's sacrifice. Jing Li grew increasingly weak to the pleas of her mother.

"Please, Jing Li," she begged, "losing you would kill me." Unable to ignore the woman's entries as she reached a feeble trembling hand out her daughter. Jing Li's face crumpled together, and chest filled with pain as she felt her heart being torn between her morals and the love she possessed for her mother. Jing Li's eyes flooded with the extent of her sadness. Tears beginning to slide from her cheeks, their droplets formed little puddles on the ground as Jing Li nodded her reluctant acceptance towards her mother's decision. 

Her unwilling compliance in this plot, weighing on Jing Li's mind. The choice would come to torture her seemingly endless nights and woefully empty days in the time to follow. The unrelenting heat of the crimson mark, never allowing Jing Li to forget the deceit of her decision. She had almost been driven by the maddening burn of the serpent on her ankle to out herself on multiple occasions. However, had always been prevented from acting upon these desires by the mere thought of the heartbreak this treachery would bring her mother.

Spending most of her days staring at the vast sky and feeling more desolate than the day before. Jing Li's absence was noticed only by her friend. Fu Guo visiting their home to inquire after her on the second day of her confinement, he had been staved off with an excuse of illness provided to him by her mother. The news of her poor health inciting her friend's concern, he had threatened to bring the herbalist from the next village to see Jing Li. However, had been made to retreat with a blush about his cheeks instead, once it had been implied that the issue was of the female variety. 

Therefore, adding embarrassment and guilt to her sorrows, Jing Li slunk back beneath the covers of the bed once more. Her mother satisfied that her efforts to ward off any unwanted visitors had been successful. Jing Li heard the door being secured behind the woman as she left to retrieve the allotted bag of their grains from the village stores that week. Burrowed deep within the sheets and her dismissal mood, Jing Li had almost missed the faint tap of precipitation knocking on the tiles of the roof shortly afterward. Poking her head out from between the layers as she listened at first to its soft rhythm, Jing Li soon threw them off as the unmistakable sound of rain became more pronounced. 

Rushing to the side door to confirm that her ears had not been deceiving her, Jing Li gazed up towards the sky in disbelief. Gray with clouds that produced a magnificent spray of droplets which fell onto the hardened earth in the yard. Jing Li stood in the entryway for a long instant, before realizing that the laundry still hung on the line. Their fabrics not yet made too damp by the fine shower; Jing Li leapt out into the garden. Forgetting her shoes and outer covering as her only thought was to recover the sheets, Jing Li rushed to the opposite side of the garden. Snatching linens from the line as she went, Jing Li had already collected most of the laundry by the time her mistake was realized. 

The group of ladies heard before they were seen passing the yard, Jing Li knew them to be the same band of broody women that she had encountered by the lake. Their faces already alight with cruel grins, they did not hesitate to approach her. 

"What's the matter idiot? Never seen rain before?" one tittered, over the nonexistent boundary of the garden. The other women, signaling their support by sniggering on either side of the one who had spoken, Jing Li turned away from them. Content to ignore the group and retreat back into the inner sanctity of the home with her pile of moist cloth. Jing Li was prevented from doing this by a harsh tug on her hair.

One of the women, entrapping the long strands of Jing Li's dark hair between her pudgy fingers. She grasped at the locks tightly as she scoffed, "You think you're better than us, mute? Where are you running off to so soon?" Jing Li, letting out a pained groan in response. The vindictive smirks faded from the faces of the gang of females, once they spied the pronounced crimson mark of a serpent on Jing Li's ankle. A collective inhalation heard from amongst the group to signal their shock at this discovery, it soon fell away into a series of grunts and ardent cries as they tackled Jing Li to the ground.

The ball of laundry released during the struggle of Jing Li's arrest, the discarded clothes and sheets laid next to her in the mud. Her hair and face marred by the wet soil; Jing Li's muffled cries were barely heard as both of her arms were secured by the women. Dragged back onto her feet once she was held on either side, Jing Li was shoved forward. Compelled to march into the village by the women, their slow procession was noticed by all who they passed. 

The short-lived spring shower, ceasing once the women had arrived at the home of the Village Head. There was a middle-aged man who appeared in its entryway. The lines on his face, apparent as he reviewed the pathetic looking creature that had been brought before him and the hoard she had attracted. His eyes lingered solemnly over Jing Li's woefully lean attire and bare feet, before suggesting that she come inside. Ushering Jing Li away from the prying eyes and scandalized murmurings of the gathering outside by the Village Head whilst the Elders were summoned to the home.

The man released a long sigh, once the door was closed firmly behind them. Pulling the wrinkles of his tired face downward as he passed a hand over them, the Village Head addressed her. 

"You probably know this already, but there is very little that I can do for you, child." he said. Jing Li looking at the man vacantly as he spoke, she could comprehend the severity of the situation without being told. The roused mumblings of the hoard still heard outside; Jing Li stood with her back to the opposite wall. Submerged in her own thoughts, she could only signal her understanding with a vague nod of her chin as the Village Head carried on in his strained conversation.

"I really wish that people did not put so much stock in these rituals," said the middle aged man as he sat, "but if Shui Long has chosen you as his bride, then I am really left with no choice " Although, his words fell short of an apology, the man's expression remained sincere as the two looked upon each in regret of the situation they now found themselves. Aware that they must both play their parts under the circumstances, there was neither judgment nor resentment passed between them; only sympathy as a knock arrived at the door. 

The sound announcing the Village Elders, the entry was opened to allow them to proceed inside of the home. The four men, entering one after the other. They lived up to the expectation of their titles as Elders. The knobbly collection of men, too stubborn to succumb to death, each cast a castigatory glare towards Jing Li as they crossed the threshold. Their slow march, finally ceasing and the door firmly shut behind them. One of the men came to point his cane in Jing Li's direction, grumbling, "Is this the girl?" A few seeming unimpressed with the disheveled woman standing before them, they stroked their beards analytically. 

Continuing to pass judgment upon Jing Li, another Elder's face stretched into a grave frown as he added, "What would Shui Long want with the dumb and illegitimate daughter of a peasant?" The query, more blunt than hurtful. Jing Li's fear of what was to come surpassed any offense she might have taken towards the old man's query. Twiddling her fingers nervously instead as she was forced to suffer their deliberation, despite knowing the outcome. Another Elder evaluated Jing Li's features. Regarding the woman as though her value could be estimated from her appearance alone, he responded, "She is certainly pleasing to the eye. Perhaps the water god has no need for her to speak." 

Finding this supposition more of a slight than the previous remark on her birth. Jing Li's face puckered in moderate displeasure at this comment. The Elder with the cane making a condemnatory click of his tongue, he declared sagely, "It is not our job to question the god's choice of bride. Merely to deliver her to him." His eyes weary and body worn from age, the elderly man no longer possessed the fortitude to argue the issue any further as their conversation appeared to draw to a natural close. Silently awaiting the instant when the time and place of her death would be foretold, Jing Li looked at the straw mats on the ground mildly. However, these details were to be withheld from her a moment longer as a violent pounding descended upon the door. 

The noise, startling the people within, they looked at one another in varying degrees of confusion. A tense minute elapsed before the Village Head went to investigate the sound. Opening the door cautiously, there was barely a crack formed in the wooden portal before Fu Guo burst into the room. Nearly knocking the Village Head over as he grappled with a few other men who sought to restrain him. Fu Guo attempted to deflect their efforts, whilst yelling his appeal, "You can't send Jing Li!" 

The scuffle eventually nullified by the Elders' gestures for the men to desist, Fu Guo was allowed to submit he plea on Jing Li's behalf. His wispy beard wagging as he spoke, one of the Elders inquired, "Young man, do you have a valid reason as to why we shouldn't meet the demands of the water god?"

"Jing Li is the caretaker of her mother, Fan Yi. To sacrifice her to Shui Long would be to take two lives." Fu Guo petitioned. Jing Li's chest aching and eyes pricking from tears as she watched her friend argue her hopeless case. The Elders did not seem to be as moved by his words. 

Having lived and argued for much longer than the young man, their expressions maintained a manner of stoicism whilst one spoke out from amongst them. 

"And is the soul of one widow worth more than the others that will be lost should this blight continue?" said the man who appeared the most advanced in years. Her friend, lacking a response to the moral dilemma that was posed to him. Fu Guo's face crumpled into a combination of dismay and frustration, as the eldest man hobbled over to him. Placing a wrinkled hand on the young man's shoulder, he said, "We have all loved and lost in this life, my boy." 

The Elder's words, causing Jing Li to realize the feelings that Fu Guo held for her. She looked upon him now with more sadness than before as she thought that she could have come to love him too. However, clear that the possibility of this future would forever be denied to them, Jing Li's sentence was finally declared.