Servitude: The Hydrangea Chapters

Chp 67: The Tribes of Malice

Ever since the scene at the Pyrecrosse court days ago, Mordecai hasn't left his room.

When anyone approached his door, he only responded to Tessa or Aurea. Only a few of the individuals whom Tessa had led across the desert offered their apologies, though, as a means to use her as the messenger.

Otherwise, no one else had attempted to apologize to Mordecai himself.

He refused to eat for the first day or so, but Aurea eventually convinced him to. This is the first time either of them has seen him in such a state, which is clearly concerning. Whenever the two of them entered his room, he would be at the window, smoking his pipe, with the most downtrodden expression and a haze of deep regret in his gaze.

Tessa never got a chance to speak with Adelina because she was more focused on watching Mordecai, especially after seeing his hands. There isn't much for him and Tessa to talk about, as their experiences with the Urushians' hostility are very different, so Tessa can't offer much comfort.

Aurea can better empathize with their hostile treatment, being the enigma she is, and the Urushians' views of her as unique.

But that has been part of what she has wanted to discuss with Adelina and Kanaka ever since she arrived here. Being isolated from the world for as long as her people have, their documented history remains vague, only shared through stories passed down over the years. Anyone old enough to remember these stories had long since left her people, leaving their knowledge lost over time.

Those two are the only ones who might be able to provide some clarity as to her people's existence.

There is a passage that Adelina had told her about that leads to Kanaka's temple from her chambers in the bathhouse, knowing well that Aurea would want a chance to speak to him, so she is taking the opportunity. Adelina wasn't in her chambers when she arrived, but she also didn't specify that Aurea was not allowed to take the passage without her presence.

Having drunk plenty of water and with canteens filled with ice on hand, she can feel the heat intensify as she approaches the end of the passage. Once she reaches the end, she walks through an open archway leading to the entrance hall of the obsidian temple she and the others saw when they arrived.

On every inch of the walls, floors, ceilings, and even the four columns supporting the structure, carvings depict a long history, illuminated by the lava flowing through the cracks. Along the ceiling, there's a long-bodied, large-winged dragon, its form not quite solid but more an ominous energy, as indicated by the carved lines. Each of its four claws extends toward the pillars, each one carved with people and magical elements around them. One shows users of lightning, another depicts plant life, then there's one that represents the Ébo, and the last features those who use ice—her people.

Aurea approaches the column of her people, wanting to touch the carvings but holding back, then glances at the Ébo pillar, and finally looks at the dragon on the ceiling.

'So we are connected somehow, and this creature is part of the origin?'

Aurea's gaze lingers on the dragon for a moment before she begins to hear faint voices from above. Staying aware of the carvings on the floor and the lava lazily flowing through them, she notices a grand staircase and walks up it. The temple may appear to be multiple stories high from the outside due to its towering presence, but it actually seems to have only two stories, with very tall ceilings.

This being Kanaka's chamber, the room is covered in carvings as well, though some of the 'stories' seem to be incomplete in a way, perhaps representing his people who are still alive, and their tales have not been finished yet. One wall features a curved, hollowed-out area that appears to be where Kanaka sleeps, and every available space of the walls is carved with various images of Adelina in her human and phoenix forms. The opposite wall seems to depict Kanaka's ancestry of past chieftains. At the start of the depictions, what appears to be a chieftain is shown, and only a few of the Ébo appear to be giving praise to the God of Fire's insignia.