The Curse on Eris

Chapter 23: Abysmal

"You're up early," Edmund noted as Nalsy walked down the stairs hurriedly.
"I was wondering if it's okay if I go to see Lauren in the library today," Nalsy asked with a slight bounce.
"I don't see why not," Edmund answered as he started brewing cups of tea and coffee, having observed Nalsy's preferences over the past few days and knowing that she likes her cup of tea. "Why don't you walk with me when I go in?"
"Not sure whether my limping self will not slow you down too much."
"It's early enough for us to walk at the snail-pace and still make it early enough."
"I'm more concerned about running your patience too thin."
"My patience is concrete-thick. You don't have to worry about me running out of it." Edmund let out a soft and pleasant laugh.
"I'm sure I'll get to test it out to its full potential soon enough," Nalsy replied with a smile as she started preparing breakfast.
"That's very daring of you."
"Is it? Then, shall I expect a very dramatic outburst once you run out of patience?"
"Very dramatic, of course."
"Oh. Can I get a synopsis?"
"Hmm... it'll probably range from passive-aggressive comments to petty little things."
"What kind of petty things?"
"Hiding your tea from you might be a good start," Edmund said as he passed a mug to Nalsy.
"That's truly sadistic!" Nalsy shook her head in disbelief.
"If it's something really bad that I run out of the last ounce of my patience, I'd revoke your library membership and ban you for life."
"That's just plain cruel, Edmund! You can't do that to another person!" Nalsy didn't hide her disapproval. "You must have lots of experience in torturing people to come up with something like this." As Nalsy said it, Edmund's smile vanished. He looked away, whether it was shame or something else, Nalsy couldn't tell, but she was quick to notice the change. "I'm sorry if I struck a note."
"It's fine." Edmund quickly sat down by the table with his coffee.
"Do you have experience with tortures?" Nalsy asked, but only silence answered her.
"I do not torture people," Edmund said at last. His voice was stern and cold, his face tense.
"What is your role?"
"What do you mean?" Edmund looked back at Nalsy with furrowed brows and confusion written on his face. His eyes, however, were filled with anger and sorrow.
"I never asked what your job was." Nalsy sat down in front of Edmund, placing a plateful of toasted bread and spreads on the table.
"I'm a General and secondary military advisor to her majesty, Queen Solina Lateat of Lumen," Edmund said as if he read a script.
"My comment was insensitive to your job, and I'm very sorry," Nalsy said quietly.
"I do not torture people. Our methods are different to Tenebrae's."
"I see." Nalsy nodded in understanding.
"I'm being honest with you," Edmund said defensively.
"I do not question that," Nalsy admitted as she looked at Edmund, who still seemed on edge. "I did not question your honesty."
"Baba Saga provides us with a potion, almost like a truth serum, and we use it to try to extract information. It doesn't work perfectly, as prisoners still have a choice of remaining silent. We use psychological and behavioural approaches to encourage them to speak. We do not use force or violence." Edmund sighed. "I don't want you to think that...."
"Edmund, you do not have to explain yourself." Nalsy cut him off. She didn't like the idea of Edmund being in the military, of course. The mere thought of him having to kill people because of an order was sickening. But, Edmund's reaction just then, his defensiveness and concern for how she viewed him, made her even more uncomfortable. After all, she didn't feel she had a right to judge him, not without knowing the whole picture.
"No?" Edmund looked at Nalsy with surprise.
"No. I am not judging you. Well, maybe a little. Who chooses coffee over tea?!" Nalsy tried to lighten a mood. Edmund locked his eyes on her with shock written on his face. It was not the reaction he expected.
"Coffee is clearly superior." Edmund smiled again, his worries washing away. His face relaxed.
"Blasphemy!" Nalsy showed an exaggerated reaction which made Edmund laugh again. "Next, you're going to say something as outrageous as jam being superior to honey," Nalsy said as she grabbed the first toast, pouring honey over it.
"Isn't it?"
"Noooo... Honey is the ambrosia, a liquid gold!"
"Have you always been this opinionated?"
"Only about food."
"So... I need to take you to the finest restaurant in Lumen," Edmund said with a smile.
"Is it so that I can enjoy fine dining? Or is it so that I can criticise the chef's cooking until their overinflated ego shatters into pieces?"
"I'd be happy to see either of these things happen. For the sake of the chef, I do hope that you'd enjoy the food."
"For the sake of the chef." Nalsy nodded as she was wiping away the last of the honey off her plate using bread.
"What would you say about Friday night?"
"Ehh..." Nalsy looked at him in astonishment. "Firstly, I did not think that this was a serious offer. Secondly, I would rather enjoy fine dining once I do not have a cast on which limits my joy of food."
"At least your rigid braces are off. Not much longer left. Just four weeks!"
"Three and a half." Nalsy corrected him.
"Then it's set. In three and a half weeks we are going to Lumen's finest restaurant. And, in addition, we will have one more thing to celebrate - the freeing of your arms."
"We'll see. You know, I might be able to return to Earth before then."
"Already bailing on me?" Edmund asked teasingly; even though Nalsy's reminder of her leaving soon stung him, he wasn't going to let her know his feelings.
"Aw, don't be upset," Nalsy said quickly. "If you really want to, I'm sure I can make myself available and make a day trip back. Besides, it's not like I have anything urgent waiting for me anymore. Over two weeks of unexplained absence definitely means that now I don't have a job or university to go back to." Nalsy sighed.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realise."
"And what could you do if you knew?"
"Realistically, it was a significant emergency. I'm sure they would be understanding of the situation."
"Not my job." Nalsy smiled reassuringly. "It's probably a blessing in disguise to get out of that place."
"Why? What was your job?"
"I worked in a fast-food restaurant."
"Is that where you learnt to cook?"
"Oh no, not at all." Nalsy chuckled. "I was mostly waiting tables, dealing with idiots, and only occasionally I would throw toxic waste in a fryer which customers seemed to be very keen on having on their plates."
"Toxic waste?"
"Looking at the ingredient list of everything in there, I don't think beef burgers contained a gram of meat, beef or any other type. Probably, nutritionally it was closer to the toxic waste than food."
"Hmm... this sounds...." Edmund was trying his best to pick the right words.
"Abysmal." Nalsy finished for him as she finished the last sip of her tea. "We should probably head out if you don't want my snail-pace to make you late."
"I would be more than grateful if you could make me late. Meeting with Caspian, this early is bound to give me a headache for the rest of the day."