Amelia Thornheart

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Polina’s Confusion

Mel paced in front of the door to the training room. Back and forth she went, too distracted in her thoughts to stop. Her throat was constricted and she felt like she wanted to be sick. A pit of anxiety had formed in her stomach that gnawed at her mental state. She wanted desperately just to run away.

Unfortunately, running away was tricky while her broken arm was wrapped in a sling.

For the third time, she raised her a fist to knock and for the third time, she hesitated. Beyond that door were not one, not two, but three Speakers! How was she supposed to be able to handle that!

“You can do it, you can do it…” she muttered to herself like a mantra. She squeezed every bit of mental strength she could muster and knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

Of course there was no answer. This training room was a private area for instructors and Speakers. She knew about the famous sound-blocking enhancements covering its thick wooden walls. She reached down and before her instincts could stop her, she opened the door and stepped through.

Unexpectedly the training room looked like nothing special. It was also questionably quiet. Too quiet. For a moment, Mel considered she might be in the wrong place but then she caught sight of a man eating training buns to the side. He spotted her and waved, then gesturing for her to come over.

Further into the room, Mel saw three people - two demons and a human - sitting silently on the sand in a meditative pose. It was the grandmaster, Speaker Halen, and the individual who broke her arm.

Speaker Thornheart.

Mel approached the man who had waved at her, glad to have some instruction to follow as opposed to standing around awkwardly. She recognised him as part of the trio that had been coming in most days to train. As she walked over, she couldn’t help but note that he didn’t feel like a swordsman. Was he a mage? Another Speaker?

“Hello,” she whispered.

“Hello, sit down,” the man gestured to the floor, “They should stop for lunch soon. Are you hungry?” He offered her a bun as she settled into a respectful seiza position. Mel took the food with her good arm, not knowing how to refuse. She couldn’t bring herself to take a bite, feeling like she would throw anything she ate back up.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice slightly breaking. “Ahem! My instructor told me to come here at this time to, um… apologise.” She looked at the floor, feeling small and naive. She shouldn’t even be in this room! It was a room for monsters. For true masters!

“Ah… you’ll be the trainee Serena told me about. Well, Amelia sure gave you a beating, didn’t she? How’s the arm?” He flashed Mel a friendly smile.

Mel blinked a few times at the man’s straightforwardness. “It’s, uh, well…” How was she supposed to answer this? “... Broken,” she finished before giving herself a mental slap for the lacklustre response. Thankfully, the man seemed to be in a somewhat cheerful mood. He didn’t seem to be training. What was he here for?

Questions she couldn’t and wouldn’t ask.

“You needn’t worry much,” the man said, popping the last bit of a bun in his mouth and swallowing. “Amelia has a kind heart. She feels terrible about what she did. I’m sure she’ll heal you in a- ah, here they are!”

Mel scrambled to her feet and offered a deep bow at the approaching trio. With only one arm she couldn’t manage traditional Manwese etiquette so she placed her good hand on her hip and bowed in the Samino style.

“Trainee Mel, welcome,” came the gruff voice of the grandmaster.

“Hello again!” came the chirpy voice of Speaker Thornheart.

She heard nothing from Speaker Halen and when she straightened her posture, she was greeted with a pair of terrifying crimson eyes that stripped away her ego and left her naked and hollow. What a fool she had been to provoke the ire of such a noble demon.

“Tsk! So this is the one that insulted House Halen with such impudent arrogance?” Speaker Halen snapped at her, putting one hand on her hips and another on the hilt of her training sword. For a moment, Mel thought she would pass out from the sheer presence of Speaker Halen.

“I- I’ve heard of your great achievements,” Mel rambled, “I think- think you’re a huge inspiration to others. And me, of course. I-I wanted to apol- apolo-” Mel swallowed the lump in her throat and forced the words out. “Apologize for my thoughtless words the other day. I’m very sorry!”

“Bah! What an awful apology,” Speaker Halen clicked her tongue, turning her head slightly away as she looked down on Mel. “And what do you have to say to Speaker Thornheart?”

Mel glanced at the human Speaker who gave her a silent wave and a friendly smile, entirely contrasting Speaker Halen’s presence. “I’m very sorry!” She blurted out, bowing quickly again. “I failed to conduct myself properly as a trainee officer!”

“You should make her grovel,” Speaker Halen said coldly. “I would have broken both her arms if I were in your position. And a few ribs. Tsk! To speak to a Speaker like that…”

“Oh, stop it!” Speaker Thornheart suddenly piped up, turning away from Mel and addressing Speaker Halen. “She’s gone white as a ghost! You’re-”

“Why are ghosts white?” Asked the man sitting down. He was staring at Speaker Thornheart with a confused expression. Despite her confusion at being defended by the one she offended, Mel couldn’t help but also wonder where that expression came from. Was it a human culture thing?

“Wha-” The human Speaker also looked confused. “What colour are they supposed to be? Wait, never mind! The point is that Mel feels bad about what she said! No need to torture the poor girl!” 

Mel couldn’t help but wonder at Speaker Thornheart calling her a girl. She was twenty-one herself, and if she wasn’t mistaken the human looked even younger than her. If she had to guess she would say Speaker Thornheart was as young as eighteen!

No, that wasn’t possible. The human was a Speaker. No one could become a Speaker so young. She must have used her human healing powers to make herself youthful. How old was she really? Forty? Fifty? She didn’t act like she was older.

“Whatever,” Speaker Halen rolled her eyes. “Hurry up and heal her, then. I’m hungry, and seeing her here pisses me off.”

“O-okay!” Speaker Thornheart stuttered before turning to Mel with a smile. 

Mel was about to ask if she needed to do anything but before she could get the words out Speaker Thornheart started to glow. It wasn’t the warm glow of a gas lamp or the white glare of an aetherlight. It was the glow of magic. Speaker Thornheart’s golden hair shone with aether, and her blue eyes intensified to a shade that Mel could only describe as beautiful.

She had never been this close to a mage casting a spell and for the first time she understood what it meant to detect the formation of magic that took place within the body. As Speaker Thronheart twisted and moulded her aether Mel could sense it folding into the spell structure. Mel might not be a mage herself, but there was no doubt about the unbelievable amount of skill that Speaker Thornheart was demonstrating.

A moment passed and golden light with - if Mel wasn’t seeing things - blue flecks flew from Speaker Thornheart and entered Mel’s body. She braced herself for pain, but instead experienced a feeling of warmth and love that caused her mouth to drop open. She wasn’t being struck by the human’s magic, she was being embraced.

As the kindness rippled through her body, one thought came to mind.

Seven hells, I’ve become such a bitch. Mel thought.

She always snapped and argued with her brother. Where was the caring and supportive younger sister who would cheer him on while he trained? She mocked and bullied those weaker than her to impress her friends. Where was the girl who used to gossip and giggle about boys she and her friends fancied? When had she let such darkness into her heart?

As the magic dissipated and her feeling of self returned, Mel looked at the human in open wonder. How unfair it was that demonkind had no gods of healing! She glanced down and tentatively moved her arm. She slowly pulled it out of its sling and straightened it. Still feeling fine, she began to flex her arm.

It was completely healed.

No, it was stronger than ever before!

“That’s amazing…” she mumbled. “I don’t know how to-”

“Don’t worry about it!” Speaker Thornheart chirped before giving Mel a thumbs-up. “Just be a lot nicer to people from now on, okay?”

“I… Yes. Thank you, Speaker,” Mel bowed deeply to Speaker Thornheart. She felt a profound sense of gratitude towards the benevolent human. The person she was a week ago would have scoffed if someone had told her she would be thanking a human so sincerely, but here she was.

“Trainee Mel,” the grandmaster intoned softly, “Not many demons alive can say they have experienced human healing magic. You’re extremely fortunate to be granted her kindness, aren’t you?”

“Yes, grandmaster,” Mel replied as she straightened up.

“That said…” the grandmaster rubbed his beard, “It would be best if you minimised Speaker Thornhearts healing, should you ever talk about it. I’m sure your arm feels perfect right now, but keep it in a sling for another week. Do you understand, Trainee Mel?”

“... Yes, grandmaster,” Mel replied, “I understand.”

“Return to your lessons now,” the grandmaster said. “Work hard, and your talent will take you to new heights.”

“Bye!” Amelia waved.

“See you,” said the man.

“Tsk!” Speaker Halen glared at her.

Thanking them again, Mel exited the training hall. As she walked back through the corridors to her lessons, a new-found vigour formed in her mind. She would work hard. She would break through to orange, and then yellow, and then after all that she would challenge Speaker Thornheart again after she communed the First Word! She would fight her as equals!

She would show her what it meant to be a true swordsman!

Polina paced outside the cafe. Three days had passed since she last met Amelia, and now it was time for their second meeting. Under her tongue, the hard wax capsule was a constant reminder of the danger she was in. She took a few deep breaths and double-checked the green flag hoisted in a doorway at the end of the street.

Green meant the meeting was going ahead. Green meant Serena Halen hadn’t followed Amelia. Green meant she could be calm. She forced herself to stop pacing and leaned against a wall. She didn’t have to wait long.

“Hello!”

Polina turned to see Amelia bouncing up to her with a smile. In Amelia’s eyes, Polina saw no deception or hostility. This was great, as it meant whatever investigations they had done on her in the last three days had come up clean. Or, they hadn’t, and Amelia hadn’t been told. The latter was one of the worst-case scenarios, and the thought of it prompted Polina to wiggle her tongue to assure herself the poison was still there.

She had questioned Natalia Marakova over the effectiveness of the poison in the situation where Amelia was there to heal her. She had been assured that what was in the capsule was specifically formulated to resist magical interference. Apparently, it would take a titanic amount of healing energy to overcome. If Amelia did try to heal her it would be meaningless.

“Hi there,” Polina said, with a smile that wasn’t completely fake. Regardless of whether Amelia was a traitor to humankind or not, she was rather friendly, and it was difficult not to respond in kind to the woman’s cheerfulness.

“Shall we get going? I only have a few hours before I have to be somewhere,” Amelia said. “Or, do you want to get a coffee first? My treat?”

“Uh, no, that’s all right, thank you,” Polina had been told to avoid eating and drinking lest she accidentally swallow the capsule. “If we could head to the market immediately, that’d be ideal. Do you need to get anything?”

“Yeah!” Amelia gave her a thumbs up as they began walking to the tramlines. “I’m going to buy a huge bag of Jimari coffee beans! For the ship!”

Ship? She must be talking about The Vengeance. “What kind of ship?” Polina asked.

“Ah, it’s a military ship. Called The Vengeance. I’m helping Lady Halen with her duties! Lots of need for a healer on a military ship, you see…”

Polina’s blessing reassured her there was no lie in Amelia’s words. “That’s amazing. The Vengeance is famous! Even us merchants have heard about it. Are the stories true, what they say?”

“Oh?” Amelia hopped on a passing tram and held out her hand to help Polina up. “What kind of stories do they tell?” Polina clambered onto the tram, and the pair of them settled in some seats.

“Stories like... the ship can sail through the lumina to the fabled undersky! Is that true?”

“Hmm… I don’t think it can do that much…” Amelia looked thoughtful. Her answer wasn’t definite either way. What level of trust did she have with Serena Halen? Polina needed to figure out how embedded Amelia was in the Cascadian military structure.

“I heard merchants saying there’s a creature living in the ship's walls. They say it eats crew members that don’t work hard enough!” 

“Pfft!” Amelia giggled, “That’s not true! Anathor is lovely. I don’t think he even needs to eat.” That wasn’t a lie. At the very least, Amelia did appear to have a benevolent opinion of the Formless’s nature.

“My ship is so boring and cramped! It must be so amazing to be on such a big ship. How did you end up being employed by Lady Halen?”

“It’s a story you wouldn’t believe!” Amelia grinned, and Polina let her eyes show desperation as her blessing told her Amelia believed that to be true. “I guess you can say it was by pure chance! I didn’t even have a say in the matter!”

“You didn’t have a say? Were you captured!?” Polina knew captives could develop attachments to their kidnappers. Is that what happened here?

“Heh… we had a rocky start, me and Lady Halen,” Amelia rubbed her nose, “But we’re all good now. I get paid a fair wage and get to experience a lot of new things!”

“You want to travel?” Polina asked, and seeing Amelia nod further asked if she had any places she wanted to visit if she had the chance. By asking this, she could indirectly verify places Amelia had never been.

“Loads of places! I want to go east to the Three Sisters! That’s where Lady Halen’s family is based!” Amelia started, her face becoming very excited and her body animated. “There’s also a gigantic creature underneath the Cascadian Basin I want to visit!” Polina nodded. She’d seen photographs of the Cascadian Titan’s skull. 

“There’s the desert in the south! Apparently they ride these animals called sandskimmers,” Amelia spread her arms wide, “That glide over the desert sands! Oh, oh! I also want to visit the Far West! See how they grow loqua berries under the green moon! Apparently, it’s hard to get permission…”

“There’s sandskimmers in the Endless Sands,” Polina said, “I rode one when I was a child. They’re amazing animals,” seeing Amelia’s eyes grow wide, Polina recounted the story of when she’d had the opportunity to ride one of the creatures. 

“Ah, you’re so lucky…” Amelia sighed, “I’ve only ever seen Kenhoro!” That was the truth, so Polina took the opportunity to chase down some information.

“You were born here?”

“No, I just meant Kenhoro is the only place in the empire I’ve ever visited!”

“So, were you born on the human continent then?”

“Yup!” Amelia chirped.

It was a lie.

“I was born in Karligard! After I understood my healing abilities, I sort of just… wandered around alone until I chanced upon Lady Halen!”

More lies. Polina resisted a frown. If she wasn’t born on the human continent and she had only visited Kenhoro, then where was she born? She didn’t have the look of a native of the Sabanis Dominance. Was she from one of the floating islands? Maybe she was from Mur?

Most puzzling of all. Why would she lie? Was she protecting someone, or was someone instructing her to lie for another reason?

“It must have been hard,” Polina answered, trying to sound sympathetic. “To be alone for so long. What kind of places did you visit while travelling from Karligard?”

“Ah… I sort of wandered through Christdom a lot. I never really visited any cities as I wanted to avoid the church. Then I kept going south, and the rest is history…” Amelia shrugged. Her words were lies and knowing that Polina could tell they were practiced lies that were spoken a little too mechanically.

“Why did you want to avoid the church?” Polina asked, “They would have given you a life of luxury! They still would!” Her voice raised slightly at the end, and she had to quickly bottle her rising emotions. “Sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s okay,” Amelia said. “I suppose it must seem strange. But there’s not much difference whether I’m up there healing humans or down here healing demons and humans, right?”

Of course there’s a difference! Polina wanted to shout but resisted the urge. “Do you really think there’s no difference? Despite the… conflict?”

Amelia shook her head. “Not really. Did you attend the moonrain festival the other day?”

“No,” Polina said. She was forbidden from partaking in anything like that unless it was a part of the mission.

“Well, I did. We followed the procession for the first bit. It was amazing, there were colourful costumes and dancing and drinking and…” Amelia trailed off, “Anyway, the point is, guess what I saw?”

“What?”

“Demon and human children playing and dancing in the streets! They looked adorable and they were throwing coloured chalk at each other. They were laughing and playing! You know what that means?”

“... What does it mean?”

“It means any distrust or conflict between demon and humankind is learned. Those children playing with each other will only grow up to hate each other if other adults teach them that! Who cares if one person has a pair of horns and the other doesn’t? We all feel the same emotions for the same reasons…” Amelia was quiet for a moment. “And that’s why I’ll heal whoever I want when I want,” She turned and looked Polina directly in the eyes, “So it’s not a problem, right?”

Polina knew she was being asked if she thought it was a problem. The honesty of Amelia’s candid take on human-demon relations had thrown Polina into a pit of confusion. Just who was this fellow human?

“I suppose not… it’s just… not a lot of people share the same views as you do…”

“Well then!” Amelia exclaimed, sounding a lot more cheerful, “It’ll be down to me to start changing people's minds then, won’t it? Come on, this is our stop!”

They hopped off the tram and headed to the central market. During which Polina tried to get answers from Amelia but the signals her blessing gave her were causing even more confusion. She asked Amelia who had taught her healing spells, and her truthful answer was no one did. This was supposed to be impossible. Training even a talented human into a healer was extremely skill, resource, and time-intensive. It wasn’t something that you could just do by yourself.

Was her blessing broken?

As she slipped in questions here and there, Polina grew more and more confused. Amelia, who came from nowhere and had never visited anywhere apart from Kenhoro for a week, had somehow developed a comprehensive understanding of healing magic. To make matters worse, Amelia told her she was only twenty-five.

Had she just fallen out of the sky?

One thing was sure, Amelia’s accent was definitely Centralis Imperial. She spoke like a native, yet every answer she gave around the subject indicated she had never been in or near Centralis. 

It made no sense.

One thing she could confirm is Amelia was not in the military, nor was she a citizen. Apparently, she was planning to become a citizen of Cascadia as soon as possible. Not only a citizen, Polina was sure they would make her a Cascadian Lord.

Amelia asked plenty of her own questions and Polina politely answered. Amelia seemed to love stories and adventure so she would mix in a few tales of her real experiences adjusted on the fly to fit with her fake identity.

“Oh, Tatiana! This was what you wanted, right?” Amelia guided her to a paper and ink stall, where Polina bought a hundred sheets of paper and a few bottles of ink. This action wasn’t just part of her cover story; she’d been told the entire team would be spending much of the time they had on the way back writing reports.

She sighed. Polina didn’t want to leave. She couldn’t leave. How could she head back now after coming so close to Serena Halen? Although she didn’t think Amelia was necessarily a bad person, it made her sick when she heard the woman speak of Serena Halen with such kindness. Did she not know the actions that monster had taken? The people she had killed?

“What’s up?” Amelia asked, “You looked sad suddenly?”

“Ah, I was just thinking I have so much work to do I’m not sure if we’ll be able to meet again…” Polina mumbled the prepared and practised line.

“Oh no! Are you heading back north?”

“That’s right. Merchant traffic shuts down in two weeks, so we’re leaving before then.”

“It must be tough, being a merchant,” Amelia said, “You travel to all these places but never really settle down anywhere!”

“Yes… it’s difficult…” Polina answered.

“Well, if you ever have free time, come find me!” Amelia chirped and told Polina what inn she and Serena were staying in. Polina knew the inn already, although the field team hadn’t assigned anyone to watch it directly. It was too dangerous to tail or observe a Speaker like Serena Halen. They would be detected almost immediately.

Amelia found a stall selling sacks of coffee beans and she bought a huge bag of Jimari beans. Polina couldn’t help her eyes going wide at the amount of money Amelia carried. It made sense as she must have been paid a tremendous amount for her healing capabilities.

After all, demonkind didn’t have any gods of healing.

They took the tram back to the cafe, and Polina bought a coffee which Amelia insisted on paying for. She avoided drinking it, instead standing and holding it in her right hand. A signal to the team that everything had gone okay. She didn’t know who, but someone sitting inside or outside the cafe would be someone under Natalia Marakova’s instruction.

Bidding farwell to Amelia, Polina returned to the merchant ship where she was thoroughly interrogated for hours until every tiny detail had been repeated a dozen times. At the end of it, she was exhausted and simply collapsed onto her assigned bunkbed.

Getting revenge was tiring.

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