บท 39: Progress
"Serenica Ingram, are you all right? You seem upset."
Spade was offering her a cup of something delicious, dark and sweet. Serenica had never tasted anything like it before, but it sure made its way into her favorite beverages.
"William made it for you," the captain said. "You were mumbling about the Dreamer in a nearly catatonic state for five minutes or so. I got worried."
"So there is a heart inside you under those layers of scarves," Serenica said quietly, sipping the delicious drink. "That is a good thing. A good thing indeed. Thank the Admiral for me, will you please?"
"A short-lived delirium can happen with bloodsight," Spade said, almost apologetically.
Serenica felt unnerved by this newfound softness, but she didn't complain.
"So, did you meet him? The Dreamer?"
"Yes," Serenica said. "Apparently he is the one with most information about Kinley."
"She's in love with him." The captain nodded. "I understand. Is the feeling mutual?"
"Not if he was honest in any way, but he will come after us if we harm her," Serenica said. "Give me something to wash myself with. I am all bloody."
Spade handed him a big bowl of clean water, a rag and a bottle of perfume. "Do you need new undergarments? I know Myorka wouldn't mind you borrowing some of hers."
"I would love to have something dry and warm on me," Serenica agreed.
As she changed into something with far more lace than was necessary, the captain looked away like a proper gentleman.
"I don't think we need to heed his warning," he finally said after Serenica had put on all her clothes again. "I am very good at disappearing and if he doesn't value her much, his interest in putting any true effort into chasing us will wane before he can catch us."
"I am more conflicted on this matter than you," Serenica said, running her fingers through her hair. In her delirious state, she had managed to get it in a thousand little knots. "He was...scary. I don't know how to convince you about this, but he is frightening enough that it has made me rethink taking this job. No offense."
"You will finish this dead or alive," Spade said nonchalantly, with a corpse candle in his hands. "You know I am scarier than him if I want to be."
Serenica didn't know if that was supposed to be encouraging.
"Well, thanks for teaching me, I guess," Serenica said. "I must be going. I have a memory diarrhea patient to look after. Did you know we had to tie him up so that he wouldn't hurt himself?"
The captain grimaced. "Such a sad, sad fate for a young fellow."
"Tell me about it. It's rather horrifying to watch him deteriorate. Especially up close."
Someone had neglected to bring Little John water, perhaps due to some notion about everyone deserving the same amount of it. Serenica was rather annoyed.
"What does Kinley use to stay awake?" she asked, desperate to get any possible information out of her patient before he kicked the bucket.
"It comes on a ship! It comes on a ship! Please don't kill me!"
Serenica looked at her pistol, hanging from her belt. Apparently Spade had taken as his responsibility to clean it while she had been unconscious.
It was tempting to threaten the young fellow. He was of the nervous sort, and violence yielded immediate answers from him, but Serenica wanted to consider herself a healer and healers did not threaten people more than necessary.
"If you give me the answer, I will allow you a sip of rum," she said.
"It comes on a ship," Little John repeated.
The smell was too much for Serenica. She retreated to her cabin and found the bookkeeper relaxing in the better chair.
"And what brings you here today, sweet Myorka?" Serenica asked.
"I am much more sour than sweet, but thank you nonetheless. I am very close to the ultimate realization. I want you to aid me in that."
Serenica fixed them a portion of the paw, and as she was lighting up, Myorka interrupted her.
"This should be the last time, no matter what happens. My lovely husband has given me an ultimatum."
"It is for the best," Serenica said. "Try and push yourself as far as you can. I believe you are strong enough."
As they waited for the mind-numbing effect to hit them, Serenica chatted about her patients with her friend. She told her shortly about Helen and the bookkeeper seemed to pay special attention to tales of the Neulian socialite.
"She sounds like a lovely girl. You must miss her terribly."
"I do," Serenica admitted. "She is one of the brightest, most positive, most admirable people I know and I would give anything to see her again."
Though her chest ached with the mention of Helen's name, it was a sweet pain, one of privilege, one of love. She would make her friend proud. They had always wanted to visit Aja Vana together. Now, though, Serenica had to make that voyage alone.
"All right," Myorka said, pleasantly interrupting the emotional storm within Serenica. "I am ready. Are you ready, darling?"
"As ready as I will ever be."
"They took some kind of a plant extract and rubbed it on two stones," the bookkeeper said, speaking rapidly, as if wanting to get something awful done as quickly as possible. "The stones were black and blue and I am almost certain those were echostones. Gods! I can't even look at black stones nowadays."
"Tell me more," Serenica said. "What did the extract smell like?"
"It was a bitter smell with some floral notes. I could identify it if I smelled it again. They...they put the stones inside me. In the incisions they made on my belly."
Myorka was crying quietly by now. "That is everything I remember. Gods, it hurt! It hurt me so much! And they did take away what was truly mine. My choice...my decision...just one baby, I don't need even two, please, help me, Serenica. I want to be a mother so bad."
Serenica felt this pain as if it would have been her own. She embraced her shaking friend and dried her tears.
This was progress.
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