Servitude: The Hydrangea Chapters

Chp 14: The Fugitive with Great Magic

The secondary chamber provides ample space for both of them, so Marlina passes items through the gap before Elek helps her through it. He unrolls a sleeping mat and starts a small fire to brew tea and prepare a simple meal using the vegetables from Englias. Marlina notices he takes the personal items from the first remains. 

Sitting on his sleeping mat, Elek rolls out another mat for Marlina as a kindness so she can sit too. She patiently waits while he eats, feeling slightly uncomfortable with her gaze on him. Is it because she had nothing to do? Or is she genuinely interested in his story? It is hard for him to know. Despite these hindrances, she has been quite helpful; she just needs detailed and specific instructions. At first, he is reluctant to hold up his end of the bargain. As he opens the package with the personal items, he begins organizing and cataloging them while he speaks.

"When I was a child, one day my mother left to earn her wages as an escort but never returned home."

"Was she an attendant to a noble, or a guard?" Marlina inquires.

Elek sighs in dismay at having to specify. "No, she'd be company for men. For pleasure."

Marlina's posture slumps slightly as she remains silent for now and allows him to speak.

"With her gone, it left my brother and me to fend for ourselves for months, having to do whatever we could to keep a roof over our heads and some food in our bellies each day." Pausing from his rummaging and organizing the archaeologist's things to glance up at Marlina, he notices the sympathy in her eyes. He returns his gaze to the items and resumes his tale.

"After a while, a man came to our home and took my brother and me in. He told us we were his sons, and all I learned about my mother's fate was that she had come out here to the Everlasting Expanse and never returned. By the time I was old enough to understand that she wasn't coming back and must have died out here, I had discovered that my father wasn't the most honest man over the years. I wanted to uncover the truth, knowing our mother would never have left us without a reason. Realizing that the truth wouldn't come from my father, I decided to find out for myself. I was determined to find her."

There is another pause as he takes a few sips of tea, keeping his gaze downward. "My father funds guilds like the Seekers of the Forgotten, so all I had to do was express an interest in those fields, and he made sure I was taught whatever I desired, as long as I did whatever he wanted. Knowing how to read bones would help me find and identify her if she had been reduced to bones. Especially since by the time I was properly trained, she would have been one if she was dead." By now, it is clear that recalling these things is beginning to weigh on him.

Marlina's forward posture demonstrates her interest in the finer details of his life, and she has many questions. However, after a long day in the desert and considering the sensitive subject, she feels this was the most crucial question, knowing it might be the only one he will answer before he decides not to discuss it anymore: "Did you ever find your mother?"

After a few more sips of his tea, he finishes it and neatly puts the items back into the package, leaving two in particular out. The first is a small pouch that sounds like clanking marbles when shifted. The second is a small magnifying glass with carved symbols on the frame. Elek holds it up to inspect it but still answers her question.

"Eventually, yes. When I was ready to face the Everlasting Expanse, I hired Tessa to guide me into the desert and accompany me while we searched for my mother's remains. We found them not far from the desert's border with the Colonies. Her bones told me she hadn't ended up there on her own..." He stops speaking as if there is nothing more to say, but the way he lowers the item and his gaze to the ground suggests otherwise. He is done talking about it.