შუალედი (shualedi/šualedi)
Georgian, "interval; lapse; intermission"

Talk to me of love! [...] Talk to me of fiery dragons! But talk to me of poverty and wealth, and there indeed we touch upon realities. -- Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend

There was, and there was not. There was...[1]

...A young man who was not yet called Konstantine Niðarajë, or Gao Cheng Yin, or any of the other names his family had given him. He had long since left his mother's home in Belgonkorovo. Sui was closed to him. It would be years before he set foot in Vakaryan for the first time.

In the meantime he lived in a small, unimportant town in a small, unimportant country and worked as a doctor's helper.

There was, and there was not. There was...

...A young woman who stumbled into town one day. She wore the armour of the large, important country that bordered the small one. An archer had shot her in the arm. The wound was infected.

The doctor took one look and shook her head. "We'll have to amputate," she said.

The young man argued with her. "Let me try. I can cure the infection and save her arm."

He was pretending to be human. But he couldn't always pretend perfectly. The doctor had taken him on because she had seen him sew a man's fingers back on, and the patient had been able to write less than ten minutes later. Word had gotten around the town that he was blessed by the gods.

The doctor let him try.

He destroyed the infection.

The woman lived.

There was, and there was not. There was...

...The young woman, who stayed in the town afterwards. She lodged with the doctor and kept the accounts. She insisted she was the only survivor of a disastrous battle. No one would come to arrest her as a deserter. She had nothing to return to.

The young man, who found himself spending more and more time with her. They went for walks together. She told him parts of her past. He told her parts of his.

She never told him her real name. "Would you believe me if I said I didn't know it?" she asked.

He never told her his. "Would you believe me if I said I had too many to choose which is my real name?"

The doctor, who watched them become friends and decided to do some matchmaking.

Maybe they were both a little in love with each other. Maybe only one of them was. Maybe they both just went along with it because they had no better prospects and they were both lonely.

Whatever the reason, they got married.

There was, and there was not. There was...

...A great deal of lying on both sides.

The man refused to reveal his true nature. Dragons had a tendency to send people running for the hills, after all. Especially dragons that shouldn't exist.

The woman refused to tell him about the enchantment covering half of her face. It was blatantly obvious to him. She never even acknowledged its existence.

The marriage was doomed from the start.

There was, and there was not. There was...

...A conversation that would echo loudly through the years to come.

"I'm sick of being poor," the woman said. "My whole life, I've had to follow someone else's orders. Parents, employers, sergeants and captains. If I was rich enough I could make other people obey my orders."

The man thought of a palace full of rare treasures and a prince who had everything he could want. It hadn't stopped him having his head cut off the moment his father decided he was a threat.

Their first fight was over money. So was their second. Their third was over a similar but related subject.

"Let's go somewhere we can make our fortunes," the woman said. "I'm sick of this town."

"I don't want to leave," the man objected.

First there were angry words. Then there were pleas for each to see things from the other's point of view. Then there was silence.

There was, and there was not. There was...

...One day when the house was oddly silent. The man went to the woman's room — they had long since stopped sharing one — and found she was gone.

~~~~

There was, and there was not. There was...

...A detective many years later who annoyed the leader of a powerful and sinister organisation. The leader came to deliver a message in person. She wore an enchantment over all her face. He didn't recognise her.

But she recognised him.

Chapter Footnotes:

[1] Translation of Georgian იყო და არა იყო რა, იყო... (iko da ara iko ra, iko...), which according to Wikipedia is the equivalent of "Once upon a time".