Amelia Thornheart

Chapter Twenty-Five: Breaking Bones

After an awkward exchange of morning greetings, Serena took a shower in the washroom. She sat down as the warm water rained down upon her, clutching both her horns in a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. Was it normal for her thoughts and emotions to be so strong? She knew she liked Amelia, but the magnitude of her urges and how often she gave into them was like nothing she had ever experienced before.

What she did to Amelia last night - what she enjoyed doing - were things she never thought she would ever do to another person, let alone a human. She’d lost herself in raw desire, and that smug idiot - her girlfriend - had only encouraged her!

Was everyone else this passionate behind closed doors? Or was their relationship different? The romance she had toyed with during her academy years was nothing like this. She let out a soft groan. Infatuation. That was the word that described her situation. Every time she had let her attraction to Amelia manifest into action, the human was right there to encourage it. 

Worse of all, she was undeniably proud of what she had done. She didn’t feel any regret, and knowing she could make those noises come out of her girlfriend from her fingers and her tongue was satisfying. When she-

Damn it.

Even thinking about it made her embarrassed.

She dried and dressed herself and returned to the bedroom. Amelia was sitting in her undergarments, sipping coffee at the table. A second cup was waiting for Serena.

“I poured you a cup!” Amelia chirped as she began nibbling on a biscuit.

“Thanks,” Serena said, trying to sound normal to prevent the atmosphere from becoming awkward. She joined Amelia at the table and began drinking the coffee. Unfortunately, she found she didn’t know what to say, and a lingering silence weighed down upon them.

“I’m really starting to enjoy the coffee in Cascadia,” Amelia said idly.

“That’s good… It’s quality stuff,” Serena said quietly.

“Do you want to talk about last night?” Amelia asked.

“I do,” Serena said, taking a long sip of coffee to give her time to think. She would just power through this as if she were on a battlefield. “I guess, with how intense it was…” She glanced at Amelia and she was relieved to see they were both blushing. “I’m worried that I pushed too much too quickly. I hope you didn’t feel like I was… overpowering you?”

“Not at all!” Amelia smiled softly before hiding most of her face behind her cup. “I really like what you did. I promise you, if I’m ever uncomfortable about anything, I’ll let you know, alright?”

“Right. Thank you…” Serena felt what little guilt she had over last night evaporate. After all, if Amelia had enjoyed it as much as she did, then there was no point feeling bad. “I’ve been thinking, and I just think that our relationship is so… so…” She waved her hand, “Irregular.”

“Irregular?”

“That’s right. I’m the daughter of a Highlord. Any relationship I’m in should be something organised and sanctioned by both families. There would be a long period as the engagement slowly progressed. The meetings would always have attendants nearby, so any passion,” her eyes flicked to Amelia’s lips, “Wouldn’t have a chance to be acted on.”

“And… because what’s happened with us so quickly,” Amelia gestured to the pair of them, “You feel out of your depth?”

“I guess so,” A sigh escaped Serena’s lips. “It’s more than that. My emotions are so strong I don’t feel like I’m in control. It’s honestly frightening, but I also like it, I think.” At her words, Amelia put down her coffee cup and stood up. She approached Serena before sitting on her lap and placing an arm around her.

“Well, I’m delighted to hear you’re as crazy about me as I am about you! Sometimes, you make me so happy I feel like my heart’s going to explode!” Amelia gave her a peck on the forehead before running her hand through Serena’s hair and giving her a massage.

“Are you… massaging my head?” She raised an eyebrow, giving her girlfriend a sly smile.

“Yup! Do you like it?”

“... Yes, keep going.”

A minute passed, and Serena slowly relaxed. She realised she liked these quiet moments of intimacy as much as what happened last night. Sitting here with Amelia while receiving a massage felt so right. She nuzzled Amelia’s neck, lightly kissing her.

“It’s going to be difficult to keep my hands off you when we’re sailing,” Serena whispered.

“Not much room in those hammocks, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, we do have a few weeks to get it all out of our system,” Amelia said with a cheeky grin, “And I still need to repay last night’s favour!”

“Tsk!” Serena ruffled Amelia’s hair. “You’re trying to make me flustered again, aren’t you?”

“Obviously, and it’s working!” Came the reply behind the blond mop.

“That’s it!” Serena declared, “From now on, I refuse to be embarrassed or flustered by anything you say!” She leaned back in her chair, folding her arms and trying to look as serious as possible.

“Is that so?” Amelia asked, using her hands to make an opening in the blond curtain of hair. “How about a bet, then?”

“A bet?”

“I’ll ask you one question, and if you can maintain eye contact with me, I’ll tone down the teasing.” Two blue orbs gazed at her with an unidentifiable twinkle. “Deal?” Amelia asked.

“And if I can’t?” Serena narrowed her eyes.

“Then you have to promise me you’ll never hold back! Any time you want to kiss or hug me, then you have to do it! Unless the situation is completely inappropriate, of course!”

“Fine then, I’ll take that bet.”

“Great! Are you ready?”

“Was that the question?”

“No, you smart-ass demon!” Amelia stuck her tongue out, “It’s not going to be that easy.”

“Let’s hear it then. I’m ready.” Serena focused on their eye contact, feeling determination take over.

“Okay!” Amelia coughed lightly into a closed hand. “Ahem! Did you-” Her girlfriend broke eye contact and buried her head in her hands with a groan. “Hang on, hang on!” She made eye contact again. “Did you li-” Amelia stopped her question again, breaking out into an uncontrollable nervous giggle. “Damn it! It’s too crass, even for me.”

“Oh? So I win, then? If you can’t even ask the question?”

“No, no!” Amelia waved her hands before taking a few deep breaths. “Okay, I’m really ready now. I just needed a moment to prepare,” Amelia wriggled on Serena’s lap, moving closer until their eyes were only six inches apart. The human’s face was as red as Serena’s crimson eyes.

“Did you like it when I used your horns as handles while your tongue was between my legs?”

Serena snapped her eyes closed as she pulled Amelia into a tight embrace so she wouldn’t have to look at her. As the heat erupted on her face, she made a mental note never again to make a bet with her girlfriend.

“Are you sure you don’t want Tomes to come with you?”

Amelia rolled her eyes. What did Serena think she would get up to!?

“What could I possibly get up to? I’m just going for my lesson with Grandpa Gu,” Amelia gestured with both arms to one side before switching to the other direction, “Then I’m coming back here. Easy.”

“Uh-huh,” Serena, Tomes, and Aiden said in unison.

Aiden had appeared at the inn during her morning lesson with Tomes. Apparently, his superiors wanted to question Serena about the Highguard incident and other matters. The timing meant those two would not be able to make that day’s swordsmanship training. Amelia had offered to go with them, but Serena immediately shot down that idea.

For some reason, the three of them seemed suspicious when she declared she would attend the academy training alone. Her girlfriend was initially against the idea but relented quickly. One thing Amelia liked about Serena was she was protective but not over-protective.

“Bye!” Amelia waved at them as she hopped on a tram. In less than a week she had become very adept at hopping on and off the steam-powered transportation. When the conductor approached her she fumbled about counting the required copper coins but managed to pay for a ticket. Serena had given her a rundown of the imperial currency and its denominations.

After clambering onto the second tram Amelia spent her time sounding out the stop names as well as trying to read any passing imperial signage on shop fronts. Manwese was still impossible for her but imperial was slowly falling into place. She figured she would know enough to get by in a month.

Arriving at the academy, she skipped past the gate guards with a greeting before heading into the main building. She had appeared at the time students and instructors were moving between lessons and she was lost in the river of bodies. No one spoke to her, but her blond hair stood out and more than a few utterances were heard by her sharp ears.

“It’s that human again.”

“What do you think she does every day?”

“She’s alone this time.”

“Think she’s training? She has a wooden sword.”

Amelia hummed to herself as she navigated the now-memorised corridors and stairs before arriving at the private training hall. Slipping inside, she bowed politely to the Grandmaster swinging a sword. Her bows had also improved greatly. It was something Serena had been making her practice every evening.

“Hello, grandpa!”

“Hmm…” grumbled the old man, “Just you?”

“Serena and Aiden had a meeting they needed to go to. So it’s just me today!”

“Very well. Let’s get started.” Together they went through her stances, strikes and katas. After warming up, they went back into sparring, where the grandmaster would put her to the limits of her body's movements. Now he would immediately invoke the first aura and begin attacking her. The aura-powered strikes were a magnitude more difficult than a normal attack and Amelia was soon sweating from exertion and focus.

After a while, the attacks slowed down and she was instructed how to exploit openings. The grandmaster would intentionally hesitate between attacks and she would do her best to manoeuvre her sword into a strike. Unlike before, when they would both aim to stop their blades short, she was instructed to actually hit the grandmaster with a decent amount of force.

“Are… are you sure?” Amelia asked.

“I know you’re strong, but that sword will break before my aura does. Have no fear.”

“O-okay!” Amelia parried an attack before swinging her sword around and colliding it with her opponent's shoulder. It was an attack that would surely break the bones of any normal person, but the grandmaster just grunted.

“Good.”

He spent some time explaining the aura of the warrior to her. Amelia was sure that if needed she could Speak the Words of the martial gods such as Narean. However when she had formed the Word as a test, it had felt unnatural. She was certain Narean would hold the communion true especially after she had yelled at him so much but there was definitely a feeling of wrongness with her aether which wasn’t there with her mage Words.

“It is more difficult for a Speaker of magic to discover the first aura,” the grandmaster explained when they stopped for food, “The simplest way is to gain an understanding of your own body through exhausting it again and again. The problem is your constitution means there are very few training partners that could keep up with you. Perhaps only myself and my brother…”

“So if I keep training with you, I could reach the first aura?”

“Mmm… I believe so. Alternatively, you could wear heavy weights when training. Then you might be able to progress on your own.”

“What does it feel like when you break the first boundary?”

“It is almost unexplainable,” said the grandmaster, “There is a feeling of a tremendous rush as your aether changes, and suddenly you’re able to structure it in a way you previously couldn’t. Visualisation is important, especially for the first boundary. Many students find that simply imagining themselves with red aura helped them reach it.”

“Is this visualisation stuff why you and Serena spend so much time meditating?”

“That’s correct. The higher auras are more and more difficult to break through and require a deeper understanding of their sword and the reasons why it is swung.”

“I’ll do my best!” She exclaimed. Amelia would start meditating when she found the time. She would imagine herself as a great warrior in shining steel - no, red aether - armour as she and Serena defended against a horde of monsters!

“There is one other thing I would like to address now that we are alone,” the grandmaster said solemnly while meeting her eyes with a serious gaze. “As you know, communing with the Words grants a permanent boost in the constitution of the Speaker.”

“... Right,” Amelia said softly. It was that boost, along with the rewards of countless game achievements, that allowed her perception to follow the sword swings so easily.

“A decent swordsman who spars with you, knowing that you cannot make the first aura, will be able to make an educated guess that you are a Speaker,” the old demon’s eyes narrowed and his gaze became sharp. “But an experienced master, like myself, can tell from how your eyes move and how you react that you, dear Speaker, have communed far more than just one First Word.”

Grandmaster Gu held her eyes, and Amelia swallowed nervously. She broke eye contact and rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. “I have unusual circumstances…” She mumbled.

“I’m sure you do,” the grandmaster replied, his eyes softening and his posture relaxing. “Have you ever heard of Katalin of Driss?”

“Umm… no. Where’s Driss?”

“Driss is located in the snow-capped mountains in the North. Katalin is a swordswoman, and like you, she is far beyond her peers. She has communed two Words of the martial gods, and rumour has it that she is on the threshold of a third. Some say she might become the youngest Greatlord ever,” the grandmaster chuckled. “Only, she has no interest in politics and apparently does nothing but train behind closed doors day in and day out. She attends no balls and fights in no tournaments. She is reported as being beautiful, yet the letters of potential suitors are answered only by a polite refusal. The woman is married to the sword.”

The grandmaster coughed lightly, “Ahem! Anyway. The point I’m getting at is that despite her lonely lifestyle and her complete absence from the public - Katalin of Driss is a name that every wielder of the sword aspires to. She is constantly talked about in this academy. Her fame carries her name from the Ishaq in the south all the way to the city of Navathe in the corner of the Sabanis Dominance.”

“And that,” the grandmaster jabbed a finger into the ground, “Is how famous she is when she has done nothing to encourage the public. But you,” now the finger was pointing at Amelia, “Are an employee of a famous House, working under a famous captain boarding a famous ship. You’ll see a lot of the empire, and where you go, everyone will not just hear the name of Amelia Thornheart but also see the person behind the name.”

The grandmaster sighed, “I just want you to understand you will eventually become famous. Rumours of your healing have already reached many of my circles. It is only because someone is blocking your photograph from appearing in the papers you’re not identified on the street by the general public. That will change, eventually.”

“I… I understand,” Amelia nodded, thinking seriously about the advice. “I’ll be prepared, and besides, if it gets too much I’ll run away to this academy and train in secret!” She gave the old man a grin as his eyes widened in shock.

“W-well,” he said, “You’ll always be welcome while I’m the director of this place… I don’t know what Speaker Halen would make of such a turn of events.”

“Nah,” Amelia shook her head, “I’ll drag her along with me! She’s really enjoying the training, you know? She told me she can feel the rust falling off every day!”

“Hrmph! She should quit the military. It’s done her no good,” mumbled the grandmaster. 

They both finished their food in silence before training some more. After an hour, Amelia bid the grandmaster farewell and headed back through the academy’s corridors. She was so lost in thought about her impending fame that she took a wrong turn and ended up standing at one of the entrances of the academy’s main training ground.

It was a massive open area of sand and packed dirt. The entire academy was built around it, and at any one time, you could be seen from hundreds of windows and balconies of the floors above. Dozens of students were using the space. Some were alone, and some were in groups. Some were paired up and sparring while others practiced katas. About half of the students had grey belts, and the other half had red. A small number had orange belts, although Amelia noted they seemed to be training alone.

At the rhythmic sound of dozens of swords being swung, she felt a sudden urge to join them. How would it feel to swing her sword in unison with a group?

Besides, the massive doors were open. That meant she was basically invited, right?

Telling herself this was definitely okay, Amelia walked a little into the training area. She was far too nervous to walk into the open space proper so she lingered around the edge. She resolved herself to just watch for a few minutes. She was interested in the differences in training of the grey, red, and orange students as well seeing if she could identify any mistakes the grey students were making.

Slowly, her presence was noted by more and more of the demon students and more and more eyes were glancing in her direction. As she started to pick up on muttered words, she decided coming here was perhaps not the best idea. Before she could turn to leave, a voice called out to her.

“Hello there! Never thought we would see a human here!” Amelia turned to see a demon from a nearby group had approached her with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. The girl looked to be about twenty, and had two neat horns that extruded from her head. She approached Amelia, flanked by a half dozen students behind her.

She wore a red belt.

The demon looked her up and down. “We’ve been seeing you come here every day. Many of us have been trying to figure out who you are and why you’re always here with the war hero.”

Right. Serena was a war hero. Unsurprisingly, many of the students here had a favourable opinion of her girlfriend. Amelia chose her lets-be-friends smile and tried to extrude an aura of friendliness.

“I’m her maid!” Amelia chirped, “What’s your name?”

“You’re a maid?” The demon narrowed her eyes. “You don’t look like a maid. Why do you have that sword?”

“Uh… because I’m learning how to use it?”

“The hellfire captain has taken a human as a maid and is teaching her the sword?” The student's face expressed disbelief.

“That’s right! And, uh… Grandmaster Gu is helping out!” That was apparently the wrong thing to say as the demon spat on the ground.

“Could you not come up with a more believable lie?” She said, venom seeping into her voice. “You really going to stand there and pretend the grandmaster is teaching a human maid in person?” A series of chuckles swept through the group as more and more students appeared. “What do you really do? Carry the food? Massage her feet?”

“Maybe she keeps her bed warm!” Another student called out, prompting the students to break out in laughter again. The one who had spoken was male and had an orange belt and a familiar set of horns to the other girl. Her brother, perhaps?

“How long have you been training, then?” The first girl asked, crossing her arms and sneering. Amelia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Weren’t these supposed to be officers in training? They were acting like teenagers!

“About a week,” Amelia said, changing her lets-be-friends smile to a generic sly smile. She must have come across as confident or arrogant, as the student looked taken aback.

“What aura have you reached?”

“None,” Amelia shook her head, “But I’m working really hard at it! I think I can hit red in a few months!” She gave a not-so-enthusiastic thumbs up.  Why did their eyes look so hostile? Was this a part of the discrimination humans were facing?

“None! Ha! The girl turned in a circle with her arms raised. Where did she think she was, in a theatre? “So we’re supposed to believe that you,” the student finished her performance and glared at Amelia, “A maid, who has only been training a week, who hasn’t reached any aura, is somehow receiving the personal instruction of both the hellfire captain and the grandmaster? Is that what you’re expecting us to believe? Huh?”

“... Now you say it like that, I suppose it sounds a little strange but-”

“What are you, some kind of spy?”

“A republican spy!” A voice called.

“Maybe she’s from The Federation!” Another student yelled.

“I’m not a spy!” Amelia protested.

“Come on then, pretty little spy,” The girl with the neat horns pulled out her training sword. Let’s see what you’re capable of. Don’t worry, I won’t hit you too hard,” she smirked. The students backed away, making an impromptu arena for the pair.

“I really would rather not, I have things to do, so if you excuse me…”

“Running back to keep your master's bed warm? I bet you massage more than just her feet, isn’t that right?” The girl teased to the laughter of the surrounding students. Amelia rolled her eyes again at the childish statement. Still, she felt a flame of anger begin to tickle her heart.

“You seem to spend a lot of your time being concerned about Lady Halen and her bedtime activities. Are you sure you're not compensating for something?” Amelia pulled her sword, gripping it in both hands. “What kind of hidden fantasies are you having about the hellfire captain that you’re too embarrassed to admit to?”

“Bah! You disgusting human,” the student spat on the ground again. “I don’t know how you tricked Speaker Halen, but I won’t let a spy like you shame her name any longer!”

“Sorry, I’m so confused, why-” Amelia didn’t finish her question as the woman swung her sword at her head which she blocked with ease. The students surrounding them erupted in cheers.

“Get her, Mel!”

“Show her what it means to wield a sword!”

“Punish that liar!”

“Make her bleed!”

Amelia saw behind the crowd two instructors were whispering frantically to each other, glancing in their direction. One of them ran out of the training hall while the other just stayed there and watched.

The student called Mel attacked her again and again. She threw out a flurry of strikes that Amelia could tell had been practised thousands of times. They were far more controlled than her own, executed with more confidence, and…

They were so slow.

Amelia frowned as she internally recalculated her expectations. She moved her body to respond to strike after strike. Unlike the vicious assault by the grandmaster, she felt like she could have defended against this all day.

“Is this all you’ve got?” Amelia said between blocks. Ha! She bet she looked super cool saying that. If only Serena were there to see it! Her mocking had the intended effect, causing Mel’s face to contort with rage.

She would make a terrible officer.

“Let’s see how you handle this!” Amelia sensed the aether in Mel's froth as her body took on a red hue. The attacks took on a speed that required Amelia to focus a little more.

Still, it was nothing like when Serena or the Grandmaster attacked her. In fact, she was sure Serena’s attacks without aura had far more speed and aggression. When the grandmaster used red aura, he could strike more than a dozen times a second. This student was managing about four.

Amelia waited until Mel tried another thrust before parrying it like she had been taught. She swung her sword around and struck Mel’s upper arm with about the same strength as she used against the grandmaster.

That was a mistake as Mel’s red aura collapsed under her strike, and Amelia felt the bones in the upper arm shatter as her wooden sword slammed into her opponent.

“Argh! Ahhh!” Mel dropped her sword and collapsed onto the floor, screaming in pain.

“What did you do to my sister, you bitch!” A voice yelled from behind Amelia. She turned her head to see a blade - a real blade - covered in orange aura, carving a path towards her face.

Amelia felt her vision darken as her anger exploded at the attempt at her life. She flared the triple-wards she was running as hard as she could, and as the blade approached her nose, she leaned upwards and…

Bit down on the steel, shattering the sword with her teeth.

She swung her fist at Mel’s brother, whose eyes had widened with shock. Amelia used all the speed she could muster without Speaking, slamming a fist into his ribs. She knew she could probably punch through the man’s body if she wanted, so she simply aimed at the spot where his ribs were and then added another inch.

The effect was immediately felt as she could feel his ribs shatter under her blow. The man crumpled to the floor, gasping and trying to scream but not being able to produce anything more than a whimper.

For a moment, all was quiet apart from the noise of the defeated siblings. Amelia glanced at the instructor in the background and was surprised to see him take a step backwards. She must have had one hell of a look on her face because when she made eye contact with any of the students, their faces went pale and they cast their eyes down.

“D-did you see what happened?”

“I couldn’t see anything!”

“She bit the sword! Bit it!”

“How did she move so fast!?”

Amelia turned to leave, and as the students parted, a familiar set of horns appeared. Grandmaster Gu had come, flanked by the instructor who had run off earlier.

“Speaker Thornheart, what happened here for your eyes to show such anger?”

At his voice, the surrounding students erupted into another flurry of hurried whispers.

“Speaker! He called her a Speaker!”

“Was she pretending all along?”

“But she didn’t use aura!”

“Who is she!?”

Amelia looked at the old man's crimson eyes, which held an unreadable expression. She swallowed before explaining her version of events. “I got lost leaving the academy. I found myself here and thought I would watch the students train. I wanted to see if I could see any of the mistakes in their training that you corrected in mine.”

She gestured to Mel, who was looking at her with a mixture of pain and horror. “This one disrespected me and Lady Halen. She accused me of being a spy and more. She wanted me to spar, and I broke her arm when I struck her back.” Amelia waved an arm at the gasping man on the floor. “This one tried to kill me. He swung at me with a steel weapon coated in orange aura at my face. As you can see,” She met the grandmaster’s eyes, “The sword lost.”

The old man was silent for a while, and it felt like everyone was holding their breath.

“What did you learn?” The grandmaster asked her.

“I learned… that there is more variation in the quality of aura than I thought. I counter-attacked with the same strength I use against you. That was a mistake,” Amelia shrugged. “I also learned that just because someone is a good swordsman,” she glanced at the man on the floor, “That doesn’t mean they have the temperament to be a good officer.”

“And what punishments do you think they deserve?”

“Umm…” Amelia thought for a few moments. She looked at Mel who swallowed nervously. “I agreed to spar with that one. So if anything…” Amelia bowed to the quiet student, “I apologise for breaking your arm. I am not a Speaker of the martial gods and am unfamiliar with controlling my strength.” She raised her body and kept her eyes on Mel. “After the festival, if she is willing to apologise to Lady Halen and me for her words, I will heal her arm.”

“Oh? Hmm…” The grandmaster turned to Mel, “Is that acceptable to you?”

Mel swallowed nervously before answering in a quiet voice. “Yes, grandmaster.”

“Don’t answer me, answer her!” He barked.

“Ah… Yes, Miss Thornheart…”

“Speaker Thornheart!” The grandmaster barked again.

“Yes! Yes, Speaker Thornheart! I will apologise…”

“As for her brother,” Amelia pointed at the quivering man who had caught his breath and was looking at her and the grandmaster with fear in his eyes. “My understanding of Cascadian law is that trying to murder a Speaker is punishable by death. I suppose he would normally be hung.” Amelia shrugged as the man’s eyes widened and his mouth opened, “Normally, that is. I’m not yet a citizen of the empire, so those laws probably don’t apply. I don’t know what should happen, but I won’t heal him for what he did. Maybe make him clean toilets for a year or something.”

The grandmaster rubbed his beard. “Damian, is it?” He asked the demon who was clutching his ribs.

“Y-yes, grandmaster.”

“You’re supposed to graduate at the end of this year?”

“Y-yes, grandmaster.”

“Not any more. I’ll delay your graduation by two years. You’ll spend the next year from now cleaning toilets, and then the year after, you will focus on tutoring first-years. Only then can you graduate. A small price to pay, to avoid the noose?”

“T-thank you! Thank you, grandmaster!”

“Don’t thank me, thank Speaker Thornheart, whose mercy has prevented so much shame from falling upon your family.”

“... Thank you, Speaker Thornheart.”

“Excellent!” The grandmaster clapped his hands. “Looks like everyone here has learned a few important lessons, and it didn’t cost any lives! Remember! When you’re on the battlefield, the cost of lessons becomes the lives of your soldiers and your friends! Make these mistakes now, in the safety of my halls, before you make them in war!”

The grandmaster turned to Amelia. “Speaker Thornheart, I trust you’ll return to training after tomorrow's festival?”

“Y-yeah!” Amelia nodded, “I mean, yes, grandmaster!”

“Wonderful! Now run along,” He gave her a smile, “Try not to stumble into any other training halls on the way out.” He gave a deep bow, and she returned. With a last look at her defeated opponents, Amelia turned and walked out of the training ground.

The tram rides back were a blur as Amelia ran what happened repeatedly in her head. She kept second-guessing actions she had taken or things she had said. What would have happened if she had done things differently? The possibilities kept creeping into her mind and occupied her thoughts all the way until she stepped through the door to the room at the inn.

“Welcome back,” Serena said idly, not looking up from her paperwork. “So, when should I expect the city guard to come knocking with your arrest warrant?”

“You… you! How did you find out so quickly!?” Amelia blurted out as Serena looked at her in surprise.

“Christ! Seven hells, I was only joking. You idiot! What have you done now!?”

Oops.

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