Chapter 2: 1.2 As Free As Can Be

The fire still danced- albeit unenthusiastically, in the light of the morning sun. And she was still there, curled up at the foot of the cell door after finally finding some repose. The once enclosing shadows now translucent grey, a harmless blemish against blackened stone.

The shadows retreated further at the thumping of metal to the hard ground.

A guard stood menacingly. Standing over the sleeping figure. He lent forward, a fiendish look in his eyes as he kicked the cell bars, sending reverberations across its entire frame.

“Up!”

“Wah the fu-”

Amora’s head jerked up suddenly, eyes darting wildly before focusing on the guard's imposing figure- his grinning face.

“Get up human. Captain wants to have a word with you.”

“Wha-who? Why does he want to talk to me?”

Amora looked up at him, disorientation clouding her vision. She couldn’t completely make out his face, but as her gaze lowered to his arms, she noticed something.

His skin was red.

Not only red but seemed to fold on itself unevenly, creating ridges and vertical cracks, like bark on a tree. She looked up for his response but he didn’t answer, nor did he wait for her to fully gain her bearings. Amora yelped as he slammed the cell door open, yanking her out by her arm. He stared down- gloating, as she stood barely at shoulder height, before reaching over her and pulling the cell door shut.

Wordlessly, he gripped her shoulder and pushed her forward, toward the end of the corridor. Amora tried to resist, but all attempts were futile under his iron grip. She strained her neck as they walked, attempting to peek into the cell beside hers, only to her disappointment as the cell lay empty. Unable to put face to voice.

He steered her forwards, marching past lines of steel-barred cells, before turning left as the corridor widened, revealing another block of cells. Unlike the first block this area was surprisingly clean and well lit. It had what looked like a single large cell intended for mass lock up. Amora shivered as she peeked at the crude steel bars, each striping downwards unevenly, its steel maw eerily empty.

They marched forward still, past the large cell, before stopping at a single desk. A bearded man sat at it, with red skin much like the guards, only with a quill in hand, scribbling furiously.

“Warden.”

The man grunted in response, not looking up, and flicked his spare hand toward the doors behind him. The guard stepped forward at his prompt, pushing open the double doors before collecting Amora and pressing her forwards onto the street.

“Where are we goi-”

Amora yelped loudly, blinking furiously at the sudden downpour of natural light. She looked around, gawking as her vision finally cleared. She gazed down the wide stone street, glancing at the buildings as they moved. They each stood beautifully silent in the emptiness of the street. And they were beautiful. No two looked alike. Some, with high walls crafted with pale blue stone or metal, their glass windows reflecting light celestially. While others stood smaller, made of darkened wood, with simple shutters and strange signs hanging over their doors.

“Stop gawking and move faster.”

The man grumbled, picking up his own pace. She shuffled forwards trying to keep up, glancing down at her feet. She stared at the paving stones. They were flat slabs of smooth rock, each meticulously carved in identical segments, which felt oddly cushioning as she walked over them.

They stopped at the foot of a large building. It stood tall, even among the other tall buildings, in a deep oppressive gray. Its walls were made of some kind of ridged dark stone, which seemed to ebb and flow in the light, resembling waves in an ocean as they rippled downwards.

They approached two armed guards at the foot of the door. Amora licked her lips nervously as she stepped past them, sweating as their stares bore into her back- an uninviting sensation to say the least.

She held her breath as she entered the large hall.

It was not at all what she was expecting. For how beautiful and exorbitant it appeared from the outside, the inside was well… plain. The ground level was largely bare, only furnished by simple wooden tables and chairs. She coughed silently to herself, mildly disappointed as they ascended a large spiralling staircase.

They reached their destination.

A single blue door. Gold handle looped gracefully, laden ornamentally with small pink gemstones. She flinched as the man reached over from behind her, pushing it open with ease.

---

Amora noticed the smell first.

A honey scent enveloped her as she stepped forward, stomach stirring at a hunger she didn’t know she had.

A single table sat in the room, large enough to seat ten people. A bespectacled man sat at the head, sporting a napkin rolled abreast his collar, tucked into a shamrock tunic. He sat, knife and fork in hand, head down inspecting some kind of pastry dish. The napkin waved as he lifted his head, eyes meeting hers as he smiled coolly. A female guard sat perpendicular, rolling her eyes as they entered.

“You’re late.”

The man grunted, pushing Amora into a seat before taking one opposite the woman.

“She’s a slow walker. Little feet. Practically had to drag her all the way here from her cell.”

The woman snorted, folding her arms. Amora opened her mouth in protest, saw the woman lean forwards, and went still. She remembered her from last night and didn’t relish the thought of being tackled again. She quietly stared at the woman. At her long flowing pale blue hair and her light blue-ish skin. Amora focused on her face. Was that fur?

Amora shrunk into the seat as black eyes met her own, gaze darting quickly from the guard to the man eating. And then it hit her. A late realization but a realization nonetheless.

She was sitting at a table with monsters.

Talking monsters.

To say she was afraid would be an understatement.

The man smiled as she met his eyes again. He seemed human, or at least much more human-like than the other two guards. Just a little paler, with grayish skin.

“Hello there miss, we are going to ask you some questions. Answer them to the best of your ability.”

Amora gulped audibly as she remembered her conversation from last night. She couldn't let them know she had no memory.

“And if I don’t?”

She bit her lip. Why did she say that? That was so stupid! Surely she could’ve phrased that better. What kind of idiot says that when they’re surrounded by monsters?

The two-guardsman twitched but the man didn’t react. He just looked at her, scanning her face appraisingly. Then he smirked, leaning into the backrest of his chair, seemingly pleased with her reaction.

“Brave answer. I suppose we would simply stick you back in your cell until you comply. You would be quite a refreshing addition to our prison, I’m sure. Lately it’s all been drunkards and it’s not so often we see your kind here.”

“Good riddance to that. Humans are such a pain”

She blinked, ignoring the guard's comment. They would just stick her back in her cell? That was it? She expected them to like- rip her head off or something if she didn’t do what they said.

The man watched her expression clear slightly, glasses flashing as he continued on.

“You can go free as soon as we determine you haven’t committed any crimes or are a threat to this city and its citizens.”

“Free?”

Amora repeated in disbelief.

“As free as can be. I promise.”

“Okay that’s… fair. And you’re not going to eat me or anything, are you?”

He blinked, taken aback. Amora flinched as the guard beside her bellowed with laughter, slapping the table, causing all the plates to jump.

“Hanley what did you say to her? Eat you? That’s disgusting! Why would we want to do that?”

The woman shot a look at the guardsman beside her. Hanley, was it? Amora squirmed in her seat as the laughter died down. The man coughed politely, breaking the silence.

“You must be starved. Here. Have some food, I can’t imagine they serve anything palatable at the prison.”

He pushed a plate of what looked like purple fruit, cut into star shapes, toward her. She glanced suspiciously at the food and shook her head, ignoring the gurgled petitions coming from her stomach.

“You know, it’s a sad thing. To not be trusted.”

She opened her mouth to rebut, before closing it again and looking down, shamefaced. The man nodded at her reaction.

“I- you’re right. I’m sorry. I’ve had a tough day- or well, day and a half, I guess. I’ll try and answer any questions you have.”

Her eyes flicked back to the food. They were being fair. More than fair. She took a breath. A deep breath. And smiled. Maybe she should trust them.

Leaning over, she reached out across the table and accepted one of the fruits with her hands. She felt the stares of all three people as she brought the fruit to her mouth.

Sweet! Her face scrunched up as she bit into it, the juices instantly filling her mouth. Amora paused, chewed for a moment, and swallowed. She sat back in her seat, smiling, and rubbed her wet fingers on the side of her pants.

The man returned the smile, taking a piece for himself as the female guard spoke in a calm soothing voice- like she was talking to a child.

“You shouldn’t be too suspicious of us. If anything, it is we who should be suspicious. After all, you came here, infiltrated our city, and snuck into our guard hall. All completely undetected. If there’s a flaw in our cities' defence, we would surely like to know about it.”

The man nodded, grabbing something from his front pocket. A small perfectly circular gemstone. He placed it gently on the table, its bright blue light emanating softly onto the table. She thought it would surely roll, but it didn’t. It sat there, perfectly still, humming quietly in the middle of everyone.

He brought a hand to the side of his glasses, tapping them surreptitiously as Amora stared at the gemstone. He muttered something softly under his breath.

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“Hm. No Bounties. Curiouser and curiouser.”

Amora perked up as the guards around her shifted uneasily. No bounties? Isn't that a good thing?

He clapped his hands and pushed his plates to the side, leaning over intently, eyes fixed on hers.

“Now. For the questions! Don’t worry, they're simple really.”

She nodded.

“Where should we start? Oh yes! Introductions. I am Aiken. This is Hanley and Alayna”

“Um. My name is Amora.”

He nodded, eyes affixed to the gemstone.

“And where are you from Amora?”

She winced slightly, rapping her fingers on the table awkwardly.

“Um… well about that”

---

“Useless! She’s useless. You’re useless! How is it possible you know less than us?”

Amora wiped his spit from her cheek with the sleeve of her shirt, and sank into her seat as Hanley shouted at her.

The spectacled man stood up, brows furrowed, and plucked the gemstone from the table. He stared at it absentmindedly for a second, before pocketing it.

“Hanley come with me for a second”

They both hurried out of the room, Hanley slamming the door shut behind him. She looked at the guardswoman across from her, Alayna, as her head resting against her hand, clearly lost in thought. She caught herself, moments after the door shut, managing a somewhat sympathetic smile as she sat straighter. But still her eyes, even as wholly black as they were, still betrayed that phony veil of composure.

Amora heard muffled voices from beyond the door, barely able to make out the words, despite Hanley’s abnormally deep voice.

“Yes, I agree her lack of memory is… beyond unhelpful. She can’t tell us how she managed to elude our guards. Perhaps it was some kind of invisibility or maybe some kind of greater teleport spell?”

Hanley huffed loudly, staring back at the closed door.

“She doesn’t look like she’d be able to cast any of those. Or be important enough to know anybody that could.”

Aiken nodded- he already knew that. For a human, she looked completely ordinary. Perhaps she was wearing strange clothing but beyond that? Painfully mundane. But something in him stirred. She may be uninteresting but this situation was anything but.

“Yes, you’re right but no Bounties? It’s troubling. No, more than troubling. And the timing of it- days before the inspection. I can’t help but think she must be part of some greater plan. To have her infiltrate our city and throw it into chaos. Perhaps they even planned to have her publicly denigrate our city. A ploy to have us ejected from the continent!”

Hanley stopped, eyes widening at the sudden precariousness of the situation. A sudden anger swept across his face in a bubbling red, veins pulsing violently across his forehead

“How dare they! And with her memories wiped they are completely unidentifiable! What should we do? How do we counterattack? We can’t just sit here and take it.”

Aiken saw it. Afterall it was plain to see. His immediate comprehension. His readiness to defend the city. His anger. He couldn’t help but smile. Even with all his antics Hanley was reliable. Because at the end of the day this is what he was. A soldier. Fearsome. Loyal. Completely dedicated to this city's defense. He admired him for that.

“Perhaps this dilemma is the extent of their plans. What we choose to do with her could very well end up damning us. We have to figure out what to do with her before we do anything else.”

“Well, we can’t just keep her in prison. If the kingdoms get wind of this, they’ll turn on us. And we can’t let her just walk about! That’s even worse!”

“Perhaps we should give her some money and have her live within these walls. At least until the inspection is over.”

“Ha! I’d rather rot than give our money to useless humans! And what’s to stop her from snooping around. Or bad mouthing our city to the inspectors?”

Aiken rubbed at his temples, glasses in hand, and sighed. Screwed either way. And they couldn’t simply kick her out. A person with no memories. She’d surely die. And that would be the same as killing a human and that would be a voilati-

“Did she have any possessions on her? Any coin at all?”

“Nope. I checked. No weapons, no items. All she’s got are the clothes on her back”

Aiken closed his eyes, sighing in relief.

“Then perhaps there is a solution after all. And I get to keep my promise.”

Amora jumped as they burst back into the room, swinging the door widely. The spectacled man entered first, slicking his hair back smoothly, before stopping at the foot of the table. Hanley stood behind him, about a head taller holding some kind of white fabric in his hands. He twisted his head, eyes fixed on her, armed with a serpentine toothless smile.

That’s probably not a good sign?

“Hey little miss human. Do me a favour. Put on this blindfold.”

---

“Hurry up! We’re almost there.”

The wind blew harder here. Amora shivered, stumbling slightly as the ground seemed to soften. Her legs ached and she heard him snicker behind her. They’d been walking for some time now. She had no idea where they were headed but hoped dearly it wasn’t back to the prison.

They stopped suddenly. A chill ran down her spine as she felt the blindfold loosen. She blinked furiously at the sudden downpour of light, eyes focusing on the ground. Gone were the smooth paving stones. Her foot flattened a small tuft of frosted grass growing out of the icy dirt ground.

“Brrrh I hate the cold. It’s probably gonna snow tonight too. We’re here by the way.”

He grunted, stuffing the blindfold into a pocket.

“Where is here?”

Amora looked back the way they came, they had followed a path of flattened dirt, hardened and glazed over with a thin layer of ice. The once mountainous walls of the city barely a spec in the distance- practically non-existent.

He followed her gaze, eyes narrowing.

“Don’t bother trying to come back. We won’t let you in. It costs 8 copper to enter and even if you had any money we don’t care for humans.”

“So, you’re just going to leave me out here, is that it? In the middle of nowhere?”

He nodded, hands spread, smiling sadistically.

“It was either that or I eat you. But Captain Aiken says we wouldn’t be very popular if we ate every human we came across.”

He paused for a second, glint in his eyes.

“But I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if we made an exception for you.”

He bared his teeth for effect, flaunting rows of sharpened hook-like fangs, and laughed as Amora stepped back scared.

After she was sure he was just joking, she reared back, stomping her foot as her cheeks flushed.

“Hey that was rude!”

He shrugged, nonchalant.

“You can try to follow the path if you want. The next city is about 60 miles out.”

“W-what should I do? Where- what do I do?”

She stammered looking out at the woodland, its vastness completely overwhelming. She squinted, trying to peer further into the greenwood, but the overarching canopy casted deep shadows, obscuring vision.

He shrugged again, uncaring, and distanced himself from her.

“Do what you want, what do I care. Oh and Captain Aiken told me to tell you: He keeps his promises. You’re free.”

She turned and opened her mouth to reply but he was already jogging away. She watched him move, impossibly fast, blurring back the way they came. Until he was gone.

“As free as can be.”

She looked around. Woodlands, right and left, and a single path stretching from a city 60 miles out to one that didn’t want to let her in.

Amora felt like laughing. Or crying. She sat on the ground.

And settled for both.

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