The Deer and the Dragon

Marlow takes a hot shower, remembering how Caliban only ever cared about her happiness. Fauna finds the sigil drawing in Marlow’s jeans pocket and wants to know if she had it with her when she saw Silas and the parasite. She credits the Prince for using a sigil so ancient and powerful. Fauna compels Marlow to order a mountain of baked goods and pastries and then she explains that Marlow’s ability to see preternatural beings is in her “blood” as well.

When Marlow protests that this situation cannot be real, Fauna assures her that it is. Marlow thinks that her mother, Lisbeth, has a mental illness, but Fauna claims that Lisbeth was “one” of them as well, as was Marlow’s great-grandmother Aloisa and Aloisa’s daughter, Dagny. Marlow says that her mother has schizophrenia and is obsessed with angels and demons, but Fauna expresses sympathy for clairsentient humans who are erroneously viewed in this way.

To Marlow’s horror, Fauna uses a permanent marker to draw protective sigils all over her apartment so that no one else can enter. She uses Zeus as an example of someone who might try to come in. Fauna tells Marlow that names have power, inquiring about the name that Marlow gave to Caliban. Marlow shares her grandmother’s name—Dagny, which Fauna says means “new day,” though Dagny dealt with “terrible agoraphobia” and was not a happy woman. Fauna insists that women like Dagny are made to question their mental health unnecessarily.

The next morning, Fauna tells Marlow that Jesus was clairsentient and a “[c]ool guy,” though she does not like his “fan club.” Fauna makes Marlow get dressed so that they can find a bakery. Meanwhile, Nia texts to check on Marlow, and Marlow sends a picture of herself and Fauna. Nia thinks they are having a fling, so she backs off. Though Fauna tries to blend in, wearing a hat and sunglasses, patrons and workers can tell that she’s someone special. Fauna and Marlow discuss Aloisa’s fae lover, Geir, who is Marlow’s great-grandfather, and Fauna tells Marlow that Caliban is a demon, though she won’t elaborate.

Marlow, Fauna says, means “driftwood,” and she thinks the name is appropriate because Marlow “bob[s] amid realms” and “float[s] between kingdoms” (139). Marlow is upset that her mother was right about Heaven and Hell; Fauna argues that it’s foolish to believe that they are the only two realms in the universe.

Marlow gets a tattoo of the true-sight sigil, hoping that this will lift the veil for her without the need for a bond. Later, Fauna explains that the sigil won’t allow Marlow to move between realms, but it might grant her more than mortal sight.

Fauna wants to stop at another bakery on their way to test Marlow’s tattoo. After the bakery, Fauna directs Marlow to Daily Devils, a metaphysical shop owned by a mortal witch named Betty. Betty recognizes Fauna immediately, though it’s been 130 years since they last saw one another. Betty cautions Marlow about using her real name, echoing Fauna’s warnings. Betty helps women in abusive relationships, working with a demon called Azrames to punish their abusers.

Fauna asks if Azrames might help them find the Prince, and Betty summons the demon. He appears as a young man in monochromatic shades of gray, black, and white with obsidian horns. Fauna greets him familiarly.

Azrames is shocked that Marlow can see him, but it proves that her tattoo works. When Marlow introduces herself by name, Betty reacts with disapproval, and Fauna chastises her. Fauna explains to Azrames that Marlow is the Prince’s human, calling her a princess-in-waiting, and he is surprised to learn that she is part fae. He tells Fauna that the Prince hasn’t been in Hell for some time and suggests that they speak to the King, who will want to help Marlow and his son. Marlow notes the sexual tension between Fauna and Azrames.

Fauna asks Marlow if she has access to Aloisa’s things or if she knows anything about a silver sølje, a traditional silver Norwegian broach. Marlow recalls this item, and Azrames says that the sølje will allow her to travel between realms with Fauna. However, they’ll have to visit Marlow’s parents’ house to retrieve the sølje, and to Marlow, this feels “worse than summoning a demon” (164).

Marlow hasn’t spoken to her parents in four years. She recalls how they and their church referred to Lisbeth’s sight as the “discernment of spirits.” Marlow wonders how often humans who are part fae only find validation of their experience from the church and nowhere else. Her mother is lauded as special, her abilities signifying how she’s been “chosen” by the Lord for particular duties.

In a flashback to when she was four, Marlow recalls watching children outside her family’s trailer and how her mother sent her out to play. When they rejected her, she tried not to cry but found that her legs wouldn’t move. Suddenly, she saw a white fox hopping toward her home, and she ran toward it. Marlow asked her mother to make her a white fox with silver eyes, like the one she saw, and she agreed. Marlow went to her room, where the fox waited for her, and Marlow asked it to be her friend. Lisbeth overheard and asked Marlow who she was speaking to, immediately convinced that Marlow was visited by the devil. After that, everything changed between them.

In a flashback to when she was 16, Marlow recalls how she stopped telling her mother the truth about seeing the fox because she insisted that it was evil. The family moved their trailer into the woods to try to isolate Marlow. Other teens dated, while she became a student of the church. Lisbeth was manipulative, growing loving when Marlow did well and distant when she was disappointed. Lisbeth insisted that she and Marlow were friends until Marlow told her something that “ignited her rage” (177).

One night, Marlow reached for a bottle of painkillers, and a male voice commanded her to drop it. A week later, she saw Caliban for the first time, and she realized that he was the white fox. He told Marlow that he was there to help her have a good life. She began calling him “Caliban.” With no one else to talk to, Marlow approached Lisbeth with her questions about him. While her mother admitted that Marlow likely inherited her gift of discernment, she argued that the being Marlow saw was a demon and not an angel. Marlow insisted on Caliban’s goodness, but Lisbeth only angrily rebuked her daughter.

Marlow and Fauna begin the nine-hour drive to the Thorsons’ home, and Fauna says that Frigg—among other Norse immortals—read Marlow’s books and is happy with her representation of their pantheon. Marlow’s first book brought more converts to Norse paganism, Fauna says, than it received during the last two centuries.

Marlow is still scared to say anything negative about her mother’s Christian God, and Fauna argues that the first of the Ten Commandments suggests the reality of other deities: “If no other gods can come before him, he confirms the existence of other gods” (190). Fauna tells Marlow that her fae blood is Norse and guesses that she met Caliban a few lifetimes ago. They have a deep enough connection that he seeks her out lifetime after lifetime. Marlow cannot understand how such a love can be real, and Fauna tells her that human logic is limited.

Fauna explains that Silas is morally neutral but that most of the realms are not on Heaven’s side; instead, they support Hell in its war with Heaven. For millennia, this war has raged like the Cold War, in part because Heaven’s “defectors” should not have to be enslaved to that God, who doesn’t believe in equality. Fauna describes all the gods, demons, and angels as “fae”; only humans think that “Heaven” and “Hell” correspond to supposed “good” and “bad” entities. She says that, whenever the war ends, it will mean the end of every human life, and she offers to lift Marlow’s veil herself. They stop for the night at a motel, Marlow’s anxiety thrumming.

Nia and Kirby text Marlow, but she thinks it’s better not to tell them what’s going on. Her parents can’t stand each other, but divorce is off the table because of their religious beliefs. Marlow checks her mother’s social media and learns that they recently moved into a beautiful new home.

The next morning, Marlow dresses well, determined to exude success. By the time they enter the Thorsons’ house, Marlow feels a combination of dread and fear. They locate her great-grandmother’s sølje and look out the window, spotting Lisbeth and Silas walking toward the house.

Faced with her mother, Marlow feels like a powerless child again. She notes the “cold fire” in Lisbeth’s eyes as she addresses her daughter by her full name: “Marlow Esther Thorson” (220). Lisbeth asks Marlow to explain herself, and she says that Fauna is not “of God” and is therefore unwelcome.

Marlow remembers when her mother discovered her history of sex work, and she describes the argument they had then as “the Pandora’s box of fights” (223). Lisbeth can see Silas, and she claims to love Marlow still; Silas reminds Fauna of Heaven’s claim on Marlow. Fauna ushers Marlow to the door and tries to leave, but someone has hung a protective ward to trap fae entities inside. Fauna begins to panic, and Marlow remembers Aloisa’s sølje in her pocket. Grasping it, she tells Fauna to step into another realm. All at once, Fauna understands, and she reaches for Marlow just as Silas cries out. The world goes black.