Amelia Thornheart-Chapter 137: Safe House

“Are you sure I should not come with you, my sayyidah?” Menes asked.

“We’ve imposed enough,” Serena replied, slipping her feet into her boots, with Amelia quickly following suit. “I’ve taken enough time from you and your wife, Menes. Now, Miss Liona, the crate if you would.”

“Mmm!” Amelia hoisted the crate onto her shoulders. The Kanaxai illusion shimmered momentarily, but neither Menes nor Nefertari gave any indication they noticed. Amelia looked around. “I, uh, can’t find Rommy,” Amelia said, a note of concern on her voice.

“Not to worry,” Nefertari said, folding her arms and leaning against the wall. “The good Captain Duval used to let him roam Ishaq. He’ll return to you when he’s ready. Luscans are like that, Miss Liona.” Without missing a beat, Nefertari turned and flashed Serena a warm smile. “It’s been a pleasure to host you, Speaker Halen, or should I say, Serena.”

Serena returned her own polite gratitude, despite the weird feeling in the back of her mind. The revelation of the South’s perspective of homosexuality between women had confused her more than anything. She wanted to bring it up with Amelia to get her opinion on the cultural differences, but it would have to wait.

They had a more important task ahead of them.

Serena opened the front door, revealing Finella and Aiden. Mel and Hinako were positioned down one side of the street, while Arin, Ido, and Daichi were down the other end.

“Any trouble?” she asked the Northern officer.

“No, Captain,” Finella replied. “Feels like the quiet before the storm, though.”

“Noburu and Seonmi?”

“Left them at the ship,” Finella explained. “Didn’t want to have non-aether users slow us down, should we have to move quickly.”

“Good.” Serena nodded, casting a look at Aiden. Her old friend was dressed casually, almost inconspicuously. From the look in his eyes, he hadn’t been drinking heavily, if at all. Serena couldn’t smell any alcohol on him. “Where did you find him?”

“On the main throughway,” Finella said. “We couldn’t find him anywhere. We were regrouping, and he just popped out of nowhere.” She cast a side glance at Aiden and gave him an elbow. “Pretty suspicious, don’t you think?”

Aiden rolled his eyes. “I was merely taking a walk. There’s quite a lot of nightlife in this city, you know? More than I would suspect. I was scouting out the best locations.”

“Locations?”

“Bars”

“Have you been drinking?” Serena asked.

“No.”

“No?”

“No,” Aiden said with a sigh, “and by the sounds of what I’ve been told, I’ll be denied that pleasure for the rest of the night.” He leaned to the side, waving at Amelia. “Good evening, Miss Liona. I should say I’m surprised what happened has happened, but truthfully…” Aiden gave a small shrug. “It’s not a surprise, is it?”

While Serena let her lip curl in amusement, her mind was busy thinking back to Amelia’s theory about Aiden; that his drinking persona was a carefully constructed fake to disguise top-secret Intelligence activities. No, fake wasn’t the right word. She knew Aiden liked drinking and had seen him consume copious amounts of alcohol and the resulting indecent consequences more than once.

But that alone didn’t disprove the idea that Intelligence had taken that personality trait and used it to their advantage, crafting a false narrative around it.

“Let’s not waste time,” Serena said, turning to Menes and Nefertari. “Should you face any consequences for this, I will aid you in what way I can. Do not hesitate to ask.”

“My sayyidah,” Menes intoned respectfully, tilting his head and tapping his horns.

“May the Red Moon light your path, Speaker Halen,” Nefertari said, a small smile on her face. She stepped closer to Menes, delicately taking up her place by his side. “Now, if you excuse me, I have some catching up to do with my dear husband.”

“...Of course,” Serena said, under no illusion as to what kind of activity Nefertari had planned for the remainder of the night. She bowed to them and stepped into the warm night air. Amelia followed closely behind.

“Lead us,” Serena said to Aiden the moment the door closed.

Aiden nodded his agreement and jerked his head in one direction. Without a word, they began working their way through Ishaq’s streets. Serena kept her aura simmering at a low orange, seeking to detect the faintest footsteps behind them. She kept one hand on her sword at all times. The rest of the squad was similarly armed, a fact that drew a few looks as they worked their way to the busier streets of Ishaq.

“Is there a quieter route to our location?” she asked Aiden, keeping a wary eye on a drunken couple kissing against a wall.

“This is the quiet route,” Aiden replied. “Not long now, Captain.”

It was deep in the night, but there was the ever-present soft moonlight from the Red Moon, casting warm shadows over the city. Underneath its gaze, Serena could hear dozens of revellers spending the night in jubilation and excess.

They passed a drinking establishment with its drunken crowds spilling out onto the street. Serena thought city drinkers in Asamaywa could be an indecent lot, but it was nothing compared to what she saw before her. More than half of the men were topless, and more than a few women showed more than enough of their bodies to shame themselves in Samino society.

Ishaq was a strange place, wasn’t it?

They passed quickly. In the distance, Serena could make out a line of neatly spaced shaletrees that marked the main throughway that traced the outer portion of Ishaq. If it wasn’t her imagination, Aiden seemed to be leading them towards the busiest part of Ishaq.

Surely he doesn’t mean to take us through the main street? Serena thought.

“Officer Adachi…” Serena began.

“We’ll be taking a side-entrance,” Aiden replied. “There’s constant foot traffic through the main doors, day and night. This is as subtle as we can be.”

Main doors? Serena thought. What kind of Intelligence safe house was so popular?

They escaped the activity in the streets and stepped into a quiet, narrow alley. Bins full of refuse lined the walls, and the floor was covered in steam vents, constantly hissing out hot air. It reminded Serena of the field of fog from her dreams. She sniffed, catching the scent of countless smells, both pleasant and unpleasant.

“Here we are,” Aiden said, stopping at a metal door. He glanced over the group. “The fewer of us there are, the better. If you give me the item, I can take it up myself. The less you know, the more secure the operation… is…” Aiden trailed off before sighing. “You’re going to come anyway, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Serena said.

“At least leave some behind,” Aiden said, producing a key. “The kitchen staff know not to ask questions, but if all of us walk through it’ll be harder to blend in and—”

“Kitchen staff?” Serena questioned. “What is this place?”

“It’s a hotel, Captain,” Aiden replied casually.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I get it,” Amelia said. “Hiding in plain sight, right?”

“Exactly,” Aiden said. “Our destination is one of the rooms. The hotel owner knows enough to know not to pry. You can come and go quietly enough when needed. Anyone we bump into will think we’re guests. We can take the staff elevator and avoid most eyes. It’s quite simple, really.”

He’s already been here, Serena thought. Instead of drinking, he came here. For what? To make contact with an Intelligence asset? According to Aiden, they were supposed to wait in Ishaq until they were approached by whoever Intelligence had sent to Ishaq to meet. Had that been a lie?

“Miss Liona and I will go with you,” Serena said. Aiden looked like he wanted to protest even that, but relented when she explained, “The item’s cloak is most stable near her. She has to come with it until another mage can take over.” Once he nodded, she turned to Finella and instructed, “Watch both ends of the alley.”

“Aye, Captain,” Finella saluted and gave the orders to her squad.

“Now then,” Serena said, turning back to Aiden. “Officer Adachi, if you would.”

Aiden unlocked the door, and the three of them stepped inside. He led them confidently down a corridor, slipping past sacks of onions, potatoes, and grain. They passed open doorways, through which Serena saw the organised chaos of the hotel kitchens. Through the flames of gas-hobs and the hissing of steam, dozens of people efficiently darted about under head chefs shouting orders in deeply accented Hakian.

There was something strange about the hotel kitchens. Something about them didn’t look right. At first, she was concerned that the staff were a hidden ambush waiting for the right opportunity, but after they passed the third open doorway, Serena figured out the cause of her unease.

Nearly every kitchen worker was human. There was barely a pair of horns to be seen. It had been so long since Serena had been the minority race that it had taken her mind a moment to realise. The last time she’d been around so many humans was half a year ago, when she walked through the captured population of Port Highwind.

“Everyone’s human,” Amelia said with a grin. “It feels weird not seeing horns everywhere!”

Serena hummed her acknowledgement as they came to a stop at a staff elevator. They stepped inside and closed the doors. A kitchen worker pushing a cart of silver-plated food called for them to wait, but Serena simply shook her head and glared at the worker until he muttered something in Hakian and moved away.

With a clunk and hiss of steam, the elevator began moving. They rose in silence until Aiden spoke out, saying, “You can’t come into the room. Either of you.” When Serena looked at him, he explained, “What’s the point in operational security and separation of concerns if the captain knows the identity of the asset?” He gave an apologetic shrug, saying, “You know how they like to work.”

“Yes,” Serena said noncommittally. She couldn’t help but notice Aiden’s phrasing. He had said the identity of the asset. Not the face or name. Whomever they were to meet would work through an alias or share no name at all, but Aiden had indicated that if Serena was present, she would know their identity by looks alone. So they were either someone famous enough to be known by their face, or more likely…

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They were someone Serena knew.

Is it… Chesterfield? she thought.

“This takes me back,” Amelia said cheerfully. When Serena raised an eyebrow, Amelia explained, “To Hotel Highguard. They had old-fashioned lifts like these, didn’t they?”

“Old-fashioned?” Aiden questioned. “These are quite modern, especially for Ishaq.”

“Oh?” Amelia looked awkward. “I see.”

Serena didn’t say anything; she was more interested in Aiden’s reaction. She didn’t know exactly how much he knew. She knew that he was aware of Amelia’s Asclepius embodiment. They’d never discussed it, but he almost certainly knew about Suijin as well. The real question was whether he knew that Amelia wasn’t native to this world, that she was a realm-traveller.

If he, as part of his preparation, had been given access to the axiom crystal recording, the one Serena made when she interrogated Amelia when she first appeared on the Vengeance, he would know that she came from the mythical founding realm of the humans. Or perhaps he hadn’t heard the recording, but had otherwise been informed on the matter, but if he had, why would Aiden have picked up on Amelia’s comment about the modern elevators being ‘old-fashioned’? He would have known not to bring attention to it. Was he bringing attention to it on purpose so Amelia would be more careful without letting her know that he knew? Maybe he did know of Amelia’s origins, but lacked the knowledge of her realm's technological superiority? Perhaps—

Stop ruminating, Serena thought, chastising herself. Focus.

Still, as the elevator continued its upward trajectory, she couldn’t help but ponder the consequences if Amelia’s origins ever became public. It was in the Old Law of the Demonic Testament that realm-travellers were not to be allowed positions of power in any realm but their own. All realm-travellers in the Empire that Serena knew about held diplomatic positions, representing their otherworldly governments before the Empress. They practically never left the capital, Celle, and rarely published public statements.

Focus, she reminded herself. You—

“I hope Lord Yulan’s doing okay,” Amelia said idly. “When we’re next in the East, we should visit him.”

“You could write him a letter,” Serena said, grasping onto the conversational lifeline and pulling herself out of her conspiracies and Amelia-centric catastrophes. “As long as you don’t mention anything about our current duties, Intelligence can spoof the delivery so it looks like it came from your estate in Asamaywa.”

“I already did that,” Amelia said.

“Did what?”

“Send him a letter from Asamaywa,” Amelia said with a shrug. “Before we left. Don’t worry, I didn’t talk about anything I shouldn’t. I also sent him a whole sack of Jimari. Felt right, you know? He was the one who introduced me to it after all. I just thanked him for his hospitality and wished him good health.”

“You didn’t mention this before.”

“You were too busy studying for the Commodore exam.”

“I see…” Serena trailed off. Then a flash of warning appeared in her mind. Not of any impending danger of an imminent ambush. No, it was a warning for something far more serious. It was Serena’s innate Amelia-induced chaos warning system, telling her that her girlfriend had done something outrageous.

“Say,” Serena began tentatively. “Did you send any letters or gifts to anyone else before we left?”

“Mmm? Oh, a few.”

I shouldn’t ask, Serena thought. If I don’t know, perhaps it won’t hurt me.

“Such as?” Serena’s mouth asked before she could control it.

“Grandpa Gu, of course,” Amelia replied. “For everything he did for me, and you. I found a nice book on Shimokan kata applications. Thought he would like that. Sent the same thing to Grandmaster Shun, along with an apology for all the chaos I caused.” Amelia’s smile widened. “Not that it was my fault, of course.”

“Of course. Anything else?”

“I arranged for a totally inappropriate amount of chocolates to be delivered to Kiku and the kids on Christmas. Thought it would only be right to spoil them something terrible.”

“Let’s hope they remember to clean their teeth,” Serena mused. “Who else?”

“Ah… there was one more.” Amelia’s grin widened into the now-familiar I-did-something-outrageous grin Serena had burned into her memory as a matter of life-or-death. “I sent Katalin a lovely letter thanking her for instructing us, and a package of the most expensive Eastern tea leaves I could find. It should have arrived in Driss not long ago.”

Serena felt a groan building up along with the almost unstoppable urge to grab her horns, ruffle Amelia’s hair, and pull her cheeks. Or all three, at the same time. Just as she was trying to work out the logistics of doing that, Amelia continued, “And I sent her an invitation, saying how lovely it would be for either her to come visit us at my new estate, or for us to go to Driss and drop in for a chat!”

Serena’s eyes widened. “Us? Did you say us?”

“Mmm!” Amelia flashed her an enthusiastic thumbs up. “Wouldn’t it be fun? We could all meet up and”—something sparked in Amelia’s eyes—“reminisce about old times?”

It was only the dinging of the elevator’s bell marking their arrival that kept Serena from engaging in the most thorough cheek-pulling session the Empire had ever seen. Giving Amelia her best I’m-going-to-punish-you-later look, and ignoring the I-can’t-wait look she got in response, Serena steeled her mind and focused on the task ahead.

“O-Officer Adachi,” Serena said. “Lead the way.”

“Yes, Captain.” Aiden frowned. “Are you… okay? Your cheeks seem—”

“I’m fine,” she snapped, clicking her tongue and nodding her head down the corridor. “Let’s go, Officer Adachi.”

“Right, this way.”

Aiden led them into the winding corridors of the hotel. To cool her mind and body, Serena focused on the environment, mentally comparing it to Uncle Yulan’s hotel. The walls here were slathered in marble panels, but unlike the Highguard’s white marble, this establishment favoured more muted colours. Reddish/brown marble balanced the almost sandstone coloured walls, giving both a modest and luxurious feel.

He’s been here before, Serena thought, watching Aiden path his way left and right. He definitely came here after I gave him leave. She made a mental note to keep a closer eye on her friend from now on.

“This is the room,” Aiden said quietly, stopping. “May I?” he gestured to the disguised safe carried on Amelia’s shoulder. He took it from her, letting out a groan as he struggled with the weight. “How strong are you?” he muttered. Shaking his head, he said, “Drop the cloak when I’m inside. The room will hide it.”

“Sure,” Amelia responded.

“About to get my horns twisted for breaking protocol,” he muttered quietly before knocking a coded sequence on the door. There was a long pause, and Serena thought she heard movement from the other side. Something was strange about the room. Was it cloaked? The sound she could hear was muted, as if it were distant. It came to her ears scrambled, reminding her of the noise Sensors would pick up from the aetherfield during a lumina storm.

A muffled thud and click sounded as the door was unlocked from the other side. Aiden gave her a final look before opening the door and quickly closing it. Serena looked at the handle, briefly considering forcing her way through. Instead, she turned to Amelia.

“I can’t believe you sent that to Katalin,” she said, doing her best to keep her voice quiet. “What are you going to do if… if she accepts?”

Amelia shrugged. “We’ll go meet her, won’t we? I never got an answer to my question, did I?”

“What question?”

“Whether Katalin of Driss is real or just a—”

“I get it,” Serena interrupted. “I get it.” She reached out and ruffled Amelia’s hair, careful to avoid the illusory horns. “You keep surprising me. That’s not a bad thing.”

Amelia grinned. “You keep surprising me. Who knew you were such a deft hand in the kitchen?” Amelia leaned against the wall and motioned with her knuckles. “This is interesting, isn’t it?”

“The room’s cloaking?”

“Cloaking? It’s not cloaking.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s Writing, like what they had on the walls of the Speaker training rooms. I can see the letters glowing in the Shimmer.” Amelia tapped her face just below her eye. “It’s Writing I’ve never seen before. A different type of privacy wards, perhaps? I’d love to try it myself at some point. I wanted to at the academy, but there was barely any information on it in the library.”

“It’s a lost art,” Serena said. “Forgotten, mostly. Still…” She placed a hand on the wall, stretching her senses. She couldn’t see into the Shimmer like her girlfriend, but now that she knew what she was looking for, she could faintly make out the blurred shapes inside the walls. “Whoever did this must have been greatly skilled. I couldn’t tell it was Writing until you pointed it out. I thought it was a Kanaxai cloak. Everything’s muffled.”

“Good for a safe room, I suppose.” Amelia gave her a wink and asked, “Wanna eavesdrop?”

Serena frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I can hear them,” Amelia said, tapping her ear. “One of my perception spells works. Want to try?”

“...Yes,” Serena said after a few seconds of contemplation. Despite knowing how normal it was for a ship’s Intelligence Officer to keep information from the captain, Serena couldn’t help feeling a little miffed at the matter. Perhaps it was because it was Aiden in particular, but Serena wasn’t going to miss this chance. “Go ahead,” she affirmed.

“Mmm!” Amelia nodded and focused for half a second.

There was a rushing sensation, similar to when Serena heightened her senses by convecting her aether. Only Amelia’s magic didn’t affect the sensitivity of Serena’s ears; they were already sensitive enough. It opened them to a new world. It was as if she was hearing with another sense for the first time, as if there was another set of ears layered upon the pair she already possessed.

Serena took a breath, taking a moment to adjust to the new sensation. Then, glancing at Amelia, she turned her attention to the room. It took a moment, but behind the static interference of the Writing embedded in the walls, voices could be made out.

“—only been here a day, Aiden.”

“I know,” came Aiden’s voice.

“And you brought them here?” a woman said, her voice smooth. “My my… this will be problematic.”

I know that voice, Serena thought, feeling a frown form. At least it isn’t Chesterfield.

“I had no choice,” Aiden said. “The ship rejected the crystal. It’s not exactly the kind of item I can just leave at a drop point, is it? Nor could I wait around for a reply using the normal—”

“I get it. It’s fine,” the woman said. “Tea?”

“I’m not—”

“It wasn’t a question.”

Serena heard someone get up and move across the room, followed by the sound of running water and the filling of a kettle. There was a long silence before Aiden spoke, saying, “You look concerned.”

“I’m thinking through the consequences. Tell me again how she found it.”

Serena listened while Aiden recounted what he knew. Finella had only given him a quick overview when she encountered him and dragged him to the Bastet family home, so it was missing a lot of detail. When he finished, there was another long silence, eventually broken by the woman inside.

“Well,” the woman said. “She’s really something, isn’t she? Really… exceeded the expectations we had for her.” Serena heard the woman sigh, the noise crackly through the Written walls. “I should have advised her to be subtle.”

“What should I do?” Aiden asked. “Captain Halen won’t be happy if I leave this room without a direction for her.”

Damn straight, Serena thought.

“This thing with the arcwhale has delayed us,” the woman said. “It’s not the first arcwhale that’s been targeted in this manner. Rhaknam’s waking is causing a whole lot of lumina interference.” As the woman spoke Serena heard the sound of boiling water and the whistle of a kettle. “It’s been hard to get a message through the aethergram network recently. Every node throughout the Krummunds keeps going down.”

“I’ll need something,” Aiden said.

“Let me think,” the woman said.

Serena heard the woman move, and then the clinking of tea cups upon saucers. She heard the tea being poured, and the women and Aiden taking their first sips.

“Moons,” Aiden said, coughing. “It smells nice, but the cracking in your throat…”

“I like it,” the woman responded. “Once you build a tolerance it’s rather pleasant.”

“Can I ask…” Aiden began, “why you’ve laid out four placements?”

“That,” the woman intoned, “is because I’ve come to a decision.”

“About?”

“Tea tastes better with more people, don’t you think?”

“Are you thinking—?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t that—?”

“Yes.”

“Would it be better if—”

“Go and open the door, Aiden. They’ve been eavesdropping for a while now.”

“Oh.”

While Serena exchanged a look with Amelia, she heard Aiden stand up and walk to the door. There was a loud thud as a heavy deadbolt was drawn and the subtle whine of hinges as the door opened. Aiden looked at Serena with a resigned expression.

Without saying a word, Serena pushed past him, opening the door and stepping into the Intelligence safe room. There, sitting elegantly on a chair with all the polite etiquette only a Samino upbringing could provide, was their Intelligence contact.

“I should have known,” Serena said, “should have suspected that it would be you.”

The demon only smiled in response.