Otaspes looked for a good place for the night. The seventeen years old youth was admittedly used to the life in the open but since it was early October already he preferred a more sheltered place to sleep for the night though. The young man in particular couldn’t depend on it that compassionate souls would give him lodging for the night because whoever caught sight of him recoiled like with a leper. What was more was that it wasn’t even the case that Otaspes would have been disfigured by illness or injury, no, the panotian who, originating from far-off places, once had come into the county as a slave simply looked strikingly different. Of a lanky, somewhat skinny build and a skin color as white as chalk in spite of constantly dwelling under the sun, he had fire-red curly hair and attractive golden eyes. The most striking, however, were his ears which were, as common with his kind, so long that they reached his elbows and furthermore so wide that he could cover his chest with them without problem. The former slave surely was a strange sight but what bothered him more than the rejection he experienced because of his strangeness was the rumor going around that panotians would eavesdrop on all secrets with their big ears. This rumor was first and foremost spread by the church of the Almighty that used peoples enslaved in the empire – the church was the state religion of the empire that thus surnamed itself very modestly the holy – as allegories. With the gradually increasing influence of the imperial church corresponding prejudices came to the Northern kingdoms too.

Nevertheless, the boy wasn’t that bad off because he could gain his livelihood on one hand as a musician – he was skilled at playing the foreign double oboe known as aulos – on the other hand as a hired scribe, for he had mastered the local script and language. That also became apparent in his clothing: tunic, trousers and shoes from simple but durable fabric and leather respectively. Only, the youth was soon chased out of the settlements he passed and the landlords didn’t want to give him a room even for hard money because of the rumors. But not everybody faced the panotian as superstitiously. Thus half a year ago a long-distance merchant, who he had warned about nearby waiting bandits that he had discovered perchance, had gifted him something out of gratitude what he himself had purchased on a marked in the Orient on a whim. It was a xingxing, a big brown monkey from the farthest East that had white ears, red eyes, and a long tail. The xingxing that listened to the name Xiaozhong was a highly intelligent animal that was even capable of flawlessly learning the human language. But since it wasn’t a very long time in the kingdom of Sucellie yet, it didn’t particularly master the local language yet. At first Otaspes wondered what he should do with the monkey but he soon was happy to have the new travel companion, not only against loneliness but also since Xiaozhong’s dance to the melody of Otaspes playing auloi was able to draw many onlookers that gave donations to the musician and dancer. The monkey creature again quickly came to appreciate the panotian because he freed it from its chains and also treated it better than all its previous owners, some of which even had planned to sell it as a delicacy.

“Otaspes! Xiaozhong is hungry, is tired!” the xingxing complained with a sharp voice.

“Just a bit longer.” the youth consoled it, a tired smile on his lips himself. “When we have found a good camping place, then we can eat.” It really didn’t take any longer. Soon a not insignificant cave in a steep face came in sight. The cave likely could protect them somewhat against the inclemency of the weather. Thus they made camp there.

After finishing his meal Otaspes lay against the cool cave wall with closed eyes while a small fire burned in front of him that drew bizarre figures and flickering shadows on the rocks. Xiaozhong had headed off in the meantime to explore the interior of the cave. “Don’t go too far.” the young man had advised the monkey beforehand.

Suddenly the xingxing came running on its hind legs. Normally it moved on all four legs. It cried at the top of its voice so that it echoed through the entire cave: “Otaspes! Snake! Big snake!”

This announcement of course didn’t delight the panotian. As a precaution he put all his belongings in a shoulder bag and then he ran in the direction of the cave entrance. Outside he waited for the monkey. How bad could it be? Although the youth had to admit that he was reluctant to spend the night with a potentially venomous snake.

It came as bad as it could. The big snake Xiaozhong had spoken of was a full-grown vouivre. The leathery wings widely spread, the gigantic serpent shot out of the cave. The xingxing was barely able to avoid it. Otherwise it surely would have been roasted by the flame shooting from the vouivre’s mouth. The scaly monster gleaming like glowing iron wildly threw its head about looking for the escaped intruder. At the same time a gemstone located in the middle of its forehead produced a bright light that it used as a searchlight.

It didn’t take long until Otaspes and Xiaozhong found themselves in the light beam of the diamond. Panicky they ran away when the serpent creature took up the pursuit again.

“What have you done?” the panotian asked angrily. He got no answer of course. While the shadows of the night slowly but surely spread over the land, only lit up by the light of a full moon already slowly waning again, two helpless figures ran over hedge and ditch, through shrubbery and water, always closely chased by a glary light and a flame burst occurring in regular intervals.

The youth and the monkey didn’t quite know where they had hurried all over the place. Finally they found themselves completely surprisingly in a snowstorm – at the beginning of October, mind you! The vouivre had already abandoned the chase sometime earlier. It knew that its anger wasn’t worth it to risk going into the incessant roar of the storm and the never-ending snowsquall.

Since they didn’t know the way back, the young man and the xingxing took the bull by the horns. While icy winds tore at their clothes or fur respectively and their limbs became stiff with cold, they advanced further and further. They couldn’t see much in the dense snowfall but the incline of the terrain suggested that they moved upwards.

Suddenly the wind settled and the clouds tore open. The last snowflakes fell onto the closed snow cover that was sparkling silvery far and wide in the moonlight. On an elevation there stood a gorgeous tall woman clad in a snow-white dress. Her spotless face as white as the flowers of edelweiss appeared inapproachable, stern the look of her ice-blue eyes. Her long silvery blonde hair majestically glistened in the moonshine. “Turn back, you miserable, or you will regret it!” she shouted with a clear voice.

Thereupon, Otaspes and Xiaozhong started back, seizing the moment, but the youth couldn’t get the sight of the young woman standing there on her lonesome out of his head. In the villages at the foot of the mountain he heard that she was the fée alpestre, the mountain fairy, who trapped the Mont Neigeur in an everlasting snowstorm. It was said that she was called Blanchefleur but that wasn’t for sure. That the snowstorm shortly settles like the boy and the monkey had experienced wasn’t witnessed in centuries.

The panotian decided to stay in the area of the eternally snowy mountain for the time being. He even found an abandoned shepherd’s hut nearby the mountain massif covered in white. The building admittedly was drafty and leaked in every nook and corner, partly even ramshackle and generally showed that it wasn’t maintained for a long time. After some repairs though – Otaspes and Xiaozhong took the material for it from the forest, the tools they bought in the village – the little hut was inhabitable again and in any case better than everything the youth had had as lodging since he ended up on the streets. The interior was not furnished if one disregarded the fireplace framed with stone above which hung a rusty old pot. That was no problem for the new inhabitants though. The only thing they really wanted was a good bed and that they simply made from a thick layer of straw.

After he had settled down in the shepherd’s hut, Otaspes often was drawn to Mont Neigeur. Of course he prepared himself accordingly after the first experience, clad himself in many layers of warm clothing that he bought beforehand. Over the years he had gained a good sum of money especially as scribe for hire but he couldn’t spend it because he was usually quickly chased out of the settlement by superstitious people. Now it was time to use the savings he carried with him. During later ascensions of the mountain the snowstorm never ceased – the villagers didn’t think of him as suicidal for no reason – but that didn’t hinder the young man in love. In the same way as it didn’t hinder him that he had never set his eyes again on the Lady of the mountain after the first time. Xiaozhong on the contrary stayed back to house-sit or to explore the area.

One day when the panotian fought through the snowstorm again, the fée alpestre appeared before him.

“Why do you struggle in this storm, stranger?” she asked with a cold voice. “What is the use of it that you risk your life again and again?”

“I have already what I wanted.” The youth answered “I wanted to see you again at all costs. Since I’ve seen you for the first time my heart is passionately in love with you.”

“Love? Ha! You fool!“ the beauty laughed mirthlessly. “Give it up, your love. Eventually love only brings regret and pain, nothing more. Because of something like ‘love’ I have lost my sisters forever. They had to die because I fell in love with the wrong man. I won’t ever be able to atone for my sin. Therefore give up, stranger. One last time I’ll let you go. If you return nonetheless, it will be your end.“

Genuine concern was mirrored in Otaspes‘ face when he listened to the mountain fairy’s story. Nobody should have to bear so much bitterness in their heart. Therefore he even did what the young woman never would have expected. Instead of turning back he stepped up to her and – gave her a hug.

The ice-blue eyes of the embittered fairy widened in surprise. She hadn’t experienced something like interpersonal warmth for ages. Then her eyes started to fill with tears. At first only a few tears fell but then, as if a dam had broken, they came in torrents. With heart-melting sobs Blanchefleur wept the century-old regret, grief, and self-damnation out of her heart. At the moment where the emotional chains broke which had held the fée alpestre captive for such a long time, the eternal snowstorm collapsed too. The gorgeous woman sobbed without restraint while the youth held her deeply embraced as long as she required it.

After that everything had changed. Blanchefleur, freed from the burdens of her past, opened her heart to the world again and was now ready to start a new future. The unapproachable Mont Neigeur was history – except for winter of course when heavy snowfall was the rule. With the help of Otaspes she finally gave a proper burial to her sisters whose corpses lay buried beneath the snow for the whole time. After the dead were honored like this, the mountain fairy wanted to live without forgetting her lost family but also without getting trapped by it.

The panotian didn’t accomplish completely what he had intended. He hadn’t been able to win the beauty’s heart– after the betrayal she had experienced in the past, she wasn’t willing yet to believe in love again. She offered him her friendship though. The young man was already overjoyed with that result too because what started with friendship could become more after all.

For Xiaozhong, its life essentially didn’t change. The monkey was quite happy to have the fairy as a new friend – she understood profoundly better to groom its fur than Otaspes did – but that was already all. Otherwise the xingxing continued its life like it was used to.

When spring had come to the country, Otaspes and Blanchefleur sat together in a colorful flower meadow high on the mountain and let the spring sun shine onto their faces. Xiaozhong, however, preferably stretched out contentedly in the sun in the valley below. It was a small miracle that this bloom thrived so well in the mountain heights because where the plants grew there had been snow for centuries. When her sisters still were alive this had certainly been the favorite place of the fée alpestre. Blanchefleur told her friend of the joys and sorrows she had experienced on this mountain. The panotian listened patiently. When she had finished her story, he immediately leaped up and disappeared somewhere in the valley, leaving the beauty behind alone dumbfounded. Only after the sun had wandered a good distance across the sky he returned.

“Blanchefleur, you’ve told me how the man who betrayed you has gifted you a wreath of flowers, haven’t you?” he said with his return.

Astonished, the mountain fairy confirmed this with a nod.

Thereupon, a broad smile appeared on the youth’s face. He now showed what he had hidden behind his back before. It was a wreath of fir sprigs.

“This wreath is for you.” Otaspes declared “In contrast to the flowers whose short life withers so fast, the fir tree is evergreen. Equally permanent shall be my friendship and love for you. I promise you to always be there for you.”

With these words he put the fir wreath on her silver-haired head.

In return Blanchefleur gave him a touched smile. “Thank you, Otaspes.” she said.

Then the young man sat down next to her in the sea of blossoms again and both of them believed somewhere deeply in their hearts that this relationship would last.