Servitude: The Hydrangea Chapters

Chp 9: The Enigmatic Veteran

Mordecai nods to Aurea's command, grabs Marlina's arm, and takes her away from Aurea toward the barracks. The barracks happened to be the tunnel leading underground that Marlina had discovered earlier. 

Once they reach the barracks, Mordecai has her remain still while he checks the gaps in her body. The gaps have widened since before, but the frost is gone, and everything seems to be holding together. With him inspecting the gaps, he can see inside Marlina's body, making Mordecai nauseous. Something that resembles armor with a human soul trapped within it. Urushians are spiritual people, and the soul's integrity is paramount to their beliefs. She is a creation within an unforgivable boundary that no noble Urushian would ever attempt to cross. Have the Colonies been pushing such boundaries?

"Is everything alright? Did it stop?" Marlina asks, pulling Mordecai from his thoughts.

Despite his distaste for her lifeless body and the possible circumstances that led to it, he isn't going to let her feel shame when she seems to be a good person. She is like a child to him, especially since she appears to be the same age as the twins. "Looks like it. Might have to keep a little distance between you and Aurea."

"That was happening... because of her?"

For a moment, Mordecai remains silent, his brow raised. Did she not realize how cold it was getting from being around Aurea? To test a thought that crosses his mind, he taps Marlina's chest lightly with a knuckle, producing a soft metallic thud. "Did you feel that?"

Marlina shakes her head. "I've been told I lack several senses that others typically possess."

Mordecai can only guess because of her lifeless form. At the very least, she should understand why she needs to keep her distance. "Aurea isn't exactly human like the rest of us. She's from a tribe of ice dwellers who live on a glacier far from the Urushian coasts. They always emit this cold air. And you have these... flower petals for a body? I'd bet it's her cold that was having your petals die."

Maybe, but it makes Marlina remember their earlier conversations. "When she talked to me at the gate and in the infirmary, that didn't happen."

"The heat around here probably prevented that."

"The cold harms people, too; doesn't it affect any of you to be around her?"

"Only at night, really, and without a fire nearby. I'm not sure if you can tell, but that desert is a heat trap. Given how intense it gets during the day, a man without water out there would die within hours. We can only be outside because of the cold from her. Nothing keeps it from spreading once the sun sets and the desert gets cold. That's why we spend the night in these." Mordecai gestures to the chamber itself. 

There's a pause, and Marlina isn't sure what makes these chambers significant to his explanation. This girl doesn't seem to know much, does she? Admittedly, she doesn't look like the adventuring type. He wonders how she managed to get this far into the wastes being so ill-prepared.

"These were underground hot springs a long time ago. I guess there was some earthquake at some point, and the water drained. But the sandstone and geothermal areas beneath keep us warm at night."

He leads her into his room next to the twins' room, which is about the same size as theirs. There is a bed instead of a hammock to sleep in at night, and a large table covered with numerous tools and parts for making more crossbow bolts. What strikes Marlina as strange is a pair of shackles secured high on a wall, with a long table leaning against it beneath them. Does he keep unruly individuals in this room with him when they need to be confined? Aside from that, the rest of the walls are covered with various territorial maps, including one of the entire continent. While the map in Elek and Tessa's room focused on information about the desert, Mordecai's map seemed to document the two civilizations at the edges, with sketches of Urushians and Colonials. Many Colonial towns have 'X's over them, brief notes littered in any usable space.