Page 11 of Memory of Ashes

“My head still aches, but it feels different… What did he do to me?”

She hadn’t even been conscious. They could have done anything to her. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to reclaim the privacy Eleandor had taken.

“The Sage looked into your memories. We had to make sure that you were telling the truth.”

“What do you mean, he looked into my memories?” Amelia asked. Her stomach dropped, like a sinking stone. How could someone see another person’s memories?

What had he seen?

“It can take quite a toll. You need to rest. I’ll bring you some food.”

Amelia returned to the bed and sat down whilst she waited. Was this real?

While she waited, she inspected her injuries beneath the orb’s intensifying glow. Most had disappeared, leaving only shiny pink skin where the wounds had been.

Vesryn returned with a bowl containing some kind of broth.

“Here, eat this. It should help,” he said, placing the bowl down next to her.

He hummed as he smoothed the sheets, then gestured towards the orb. It brightened.

“How did you do that?” Amelia asked.

“Energy,” he replied. “Some of us can do a lot more than that.”

What did he mean by ‘energy’? They used the chrysonium at home as a source of energy. Was this similar? How could there be so much that she didn’t know?

“What do you mean?”

“Everything has energy,” he said.

“How can you speak my language, yet I’ve never heard yours before?”

“We all know the old tongue,” he said, as if that explained it.

The fragrance of the broth made her stomach growl. She hesitated before trying it, but soon ate it all, its warmth filling her. When she’d finished, he showed her where she could bathe. The thought of being clean was too appealing to refuse.

Why were they treating her better now? What were their intentions?

With guards following at a distance, he guided her along the polished stone hall and into a walled courtyard, where an outbuilding stood.

“We’ll wait outside,” Vesryn informed her. “There are fresh clothes laid out for you when you’re finished.”

She entered cautiously.

The outbuilding was circular, made from the same pale stone as the rest of the building. Latticed windows let in a stream of light, and in the middle stood a large stone bath from which steam rose invitingly.

She tested the steaming water with her fingers, sighing at its warmth. She peeled the clothes from her skin, wincing as the fabric tore at the dried blood clinging to her wounds. As she lowered herself into the warm embrace of the water, her aches subsided and her head became clearer.

Every answer gave her three more questions.

She was sure that she’d found what her father had been looking for, and despite the danger, she was determined to learn more about them. This was her discovery. Not her father’s or the guild’s. She’d be in no one’s shadow.

Fresh garments lay nearby. Clambering out of the bath, she dried herself, inspecting the clothes. A long blue woollen robe lay beside a shirt, soft trousers and a pair of sandals. The robe and trousers hung from her slight frame and dragged along the floor, but at least they were clean.

She returned to where Vesryn waited outside. The sun appeared larger in the sky, closer than she’d ever seen it. Its warmth dried her damp hair.

He greeted her with a smile. “Better?” he asked.