Servitude: The Hydrangea Chapters

Chp 17: Lingering Doubts

Over the last few days, Marlina gradually memorized the daily routines of everyone around Englias.

Mordecai was usually the first to wake, hours before sunrise, to do his morning exercises and training. Marlina would watch him as he did so and noticed that he was also skilled in throwing knives, as well as with his crossbow and scimitar. He'd also tend to the braxl by feeding them and scraping off their dead scales with a tool, similar to how Marlina does with her metal body. To clear the area, he'd lead them to the nearby hekoska carcasses to feed and collect the bones once the corpses are picked clean.

Once the sun rose, so did Aurea; she could be found doing odd tasks, at least strange to Marlina, since it seemed Aurea was the closest thing to nobility among them. There had been many instances when Marlina found her making repairs to the buildings and walls. Ever since that hunter hekoska smashed into the wall surrounding Englias, she has spent considerable time working to repair that section with clay she made from degraded soil.

Elek was usually the next to wake, spending most of his day in the room where he kept the skeletal remains to examine and catalog their information. With Elek awake, Tessa was not far behind; she made breakfast for everyone and briefly pulled Elek away from his work to eat before attending to the indoor garden on the upper floors. There was a section of land just east of the outpost where she seemed to be preparing a space for farmland using her earth magic circles. She had told Marlina that it was in special preparation for the nutrient-rich volcanic soil the twins will bring back.

Speaking of the twins, they were set to return today. Marlina was asked to help tidy up the tavern, at least as much as she could manage. This involved dusting, sweeping, and putting the chairs down on the floor. If she had a sense of smell, she'd pick up the aroma of beans simmering in a broth made from boiled hekoska bones. Mordecai was at the stove, tasting the beans and chopping herbs and peppers to add to the broth.

"Did Miss Tessa not make enough for breakfast?"

Mordecai chuckles and takes another taste. "The twins will be dying for a hearty home-cooked meal after their trip. I always make this for them when they come home from a delivery. It's my best dish, considering all we can grow here. Once we start growing more varieties of vegetables, I can update this and make it even better." Looking over his shoulder, he finds Marlina watching him cook, her gaze fixed on the pot. She seems curious about what the contents might taste like. However, as they have all discovered, she doesn't eat. 

"I know this might sound like a silly question, but was there ever a time when you could eat?"

Marlina shakes her head. "I only remember being in this metal body that doesn't require food. Whenever I tried, it would just fall into my body and start to rot over time. I would pretend to eat and remove the food later when no one was around."

Mordecai's gaze followed her body, particularly the gaps that remained. Then he returned to his cutting, scooping peppers into the pot. "Can I be honest with you?"

"About what, Sir Mordecai?"

"I can't exactly explain why, or provide any proof of what I feel, but it seems to me that you weren't always like this. Metal and empty. Let's just say it's intuition."

"Is it because I act so human?"

Placing a lid on the pot, he turns to her and points his wooden spoon at her. "Exactly, you have a soul. I've seen those automatons the Colonials invented when I had some patrons passing through. They don't look like humans; they just resemble something humanoid. They cling to their creator and respond only to them. You don't act like them; you have more life in you. If you weren't riddled with holes and missing hands, I would guess you were a living, breathing person, no questions asked."