She sends a message in the morning through one of the fishermen, to warn Wellen that she’ll be stopping by with a friend to tell him the story and maybe ask his advice on a spell or two. With that planned for noon, she goes down to breakfast in the dining hall, from there to go to the hospital.
The tables have been returned to the hall, with enough room for almost all of the representatives. Most seem to gather in groups based on country and language, and Leah finds a space beside Meredith and Solace – who seem to be having a lively discussion about something pertaining to the five.
“Good morning,” Meredith says brightly. “How come you never said you had such an interesting new teammate? Where did you meet her?”
Solace turns a bright grin on Leah, who flails for a response. “Uh…she’s our translator.”
“She knows the song!” Meredith says teasingly.
“The returning song?”
Meredith gives her an odd look. “The one about the runaway girl, remember? The Welleslassi Lady’s daughter who ran away into the cursed forests of Bair, the one who ended up having eloped? Well, the song doesn’t include that bit, but – ”
“Really? You’re gonna use the word ‘remember’ on me?” Leah snickers and leans over to pat Meredith’s shoulder. “But it sounds like a great story.”
“Even better now that I know the ending,” Solace says with a grin. “I’m trying to get permission to add a new verse or two to include it, but apparently you lot made a promise never to tell for as long as the girl’s mother is alive.” She shrugs. “Which, frankly, would make a great third bonus verse.”
Leah lets them continue and settles in to eat. The lack of sweet potato is jarring, but the presence of risen bread comes as an unexpectedly treasured surprise.
“Where’s Iris?” Leah asks, once she sees Meredith about to finish up and go.
“In the hospital still. She wants to see you, she wrote.”
“She wrote?”
Meredith gestures to her neck. “The medics say she can’t talk for at least a week, to give the wound time to heal.”
Leah laughs and finishes her breakfast, standing to go. “That’ll be rough on her. She’s okay, though?”
“Yeah, yeah; the blast didn’t really harm her as much as it could have.” Meredith shrugs. “Are you staying long? There’s going to be a thing tonight, for the victims – ”
“We’re leaving today,” Leah says apologetically. “But I wish you luck with the preparations.”
Wandering through the halls, out into the courtyard, she spots Seffon standing in the garden, talking into his wrist. Slowing down, she diverts to meet him, listening in. He finishes speaking in Olues, in a gentle voice, then lets the charm drop.
“Oh!” He jumps a bit to see her there.
“News from the field?” Leah asks.
“What? No, Areiu.” He pulls his sleeve over the bracelet. “I try not to use magic here, to be polite, but she has a charm for emergencies and I always answer it.”
Leah stands straight. “Emergency? Has something happened?”
Seffon laughs at her expression. “Relax. She contacted me to tell me she’d lost a tooth.”
“Ohhh…” Leah’s hands fly over her heart and she sinks a bit.
He laughs at her and gestures that they begin walking. “What?”
“That’s just…your daughter calls you to tell you she lost a tooth, and you answer it, and…”
“It’s the first tooth she’s lost.”
Leah nods, biting her lip. “That’s adorable.”
“It’s vital information.”
“I one hundred percent agree.”
Seffon gives her an odd look, then laughs. “No, really, it is; we didn’t know how many Gllythe traits and how many human traits she’d inherit, so we didn’t know when she’d start losing teeth or how many she’d lose.”
“Gllythe don’t lose their teeth?”
“On the contrary; they never stop. Every few years.”
Leah laughs. “Oh, poor kid; growing up is already such a mystery. How common is it to be mixed?”
“Not.” Seffon says it a little curtly, though not unkindly, and very quickly the fond look has returned to his face. “But we’re doing everything we can for her.”
They enter the recovery area of the temporary hospital together. Bairish doctors are going about checking up on patients, performing the occasional small-scale magic; nothing as major as the splinter-and-sinew spell, but occasionally Leah sees people with their hands glowing.
“And she’s got a charm to contact you?”
“Sewheil has control over it, but Areiu can ask to use it. Otherwise she’d go through a charm a day.”
Leah once again bites back tears. “You realise you’re the best dad ever, right?”
Seffon laughs. “What?”
“It’s just…really sweet to see.” Leah shrugs it off. “I’m not saying my dad was a bad dad, because he wasn’t at all, and it’s not a competition, but – ”
A hard tap on the shoulder cuts her off. She turns to see Iris standing there, hands on her hips, a vivid red scab across her neck. Once Leah is looking, she spreads her arms wide and gives an accusing stare.
“What’d I do?” Leah asks, nervous.
Iris rolls her eyes and pulls Leah into a hug. She rocks from side to side, patting her back non-stop, then pulls away and takes out a stub of pencil and a paper. She scribbles for a few seconds, then holds the paper out: Where the fuck have you been, exactly?
“A little bit of everywhere, Iris,” Leah says with a smile. “I snuck out through the hot spring tunnels to the island city, and then to the Enterlan, and then I went to the meeting of representatives – oh! Edvellu was there, turns out he never asked me to marry him, that was something else. I’m not staying for long, though; we’re on the right track to fixing my memory problem.”
Iris has finished scribbling something else: Did the potion help? I was always too scared to use it.
“It did!” Leah pulls up her shirt to show off her new scar, still bright pink though no longer glowing. “Also it might have saved me from becoming a paraplegic or just straight-up dead, during a different fight, but that’s a long story.”
Iris starts scribbling something else, but then her eyes land on Seffon, standing behind Leah’s shoulder. Leah turns up to him, and sees that he has a bit of an uncomfortable look. “We’ve, uh…we’ve met,” he says awkwardly.
Iris stares him down, scratches out her old question, and starts writing a new one. She holds the paper up to his face, crossly.
Seffon reads it. “Oh.”
“Oh?”
Seffon passes Leah the paper: Where is Leah’s change purse? “Apparently you had a change purse when you were caught in the Hold?” he says uncertainly. “Do I owe you money, Leah?”
Leah reads over the question then laughs. “Let’s call it even, Seffon,” she says, handing the paper back to Iris. “We can call it payment for all the times you’ve saved my idiot self from getting killed.”
Seffon chuckles and gives a half-bow. “Deal.”
Iris watches all this with increasing bafflement, and Leah pats her shoulder supportively. “I’m going to say goodbye to everyone, if I can find them,” she says, “And then I’m heading out to Wellen’s. Would you like to come?” She directs this last to Seffon.
“I had to finish discussing something with the Welleslassi party, but I could be free by lunchtime, certainly.”
“Absolutely perfect.”
Seffon smiles to Leah, and gives a still-somewhat-uncomfortable nod to Iris, then withdraws.
Another tapping at her shoulder calls her back to attention. Iris hands her the paper: Goodbye???
“Oh,” Leah says, walking with Iris over to an empty bench, out of the way. “Now that things have settled down a bit, we’re going to try a few new things to fix the…” Leah points to her head.
Iris scribbles on the paper, then holds it up: two arrows bent over each other.
“Exactly,” Leah nods. “We came across something sort of important last night, and…” She sighs. “Well, I meant what I meant. I ought to go home and try to salvage my life there, if it’s still possible. I don’t even know what’s been happening in my home. I probably won’t be back this way again, so the next time you see this face, all the old memories will be back in it.”
Iris drops the paper and pulls Leah into another hug. Leah holds her as she trembles a bit, her breathing rough but not quite crying. She pulls away finally and picks the paper up. A few scribbles later, she holds it up: You’re just as awesome as she ever was, and I’m going to miss you. Be safe.
Leah nods, tears brimming. “Yeah,” she says, choked. “Yeah, I’m going to miss you too.”
*
Vivitha she finds in the courtyard, writing in her journal, eyes squinted against the sunlight. She looks up at Leah’s approach and smiles. “I’ve heard six different versions of what happened last night with the Nentish serving girl, and I figure if anyone knows the truth it would be you. What’s the story?”
Leah sits beside her and explains the ruse that Edvellu came up with to cover for Leah’s earlier fling, and then finding the servant, and then bringing Kimry up. She skims over the details of the battery-deal, saying only that she gave him some business information and investment advice, based on her insider knowledge of the war.
“Wow,” Vivitha nods appreciatively at that. “That’s definitely a code-phrase for blowjob that I’ve never heard before.”
Leah slaps her on the arm and scoffs, mock-offended but only slightly mock.
“Ow!” Vivitha rubs her arm.
“Shit, sorry, were you injured there?” Leah reaches out, apologetic.
“No, you’re just really strong…”
Leah laughs and rubs Vivitha’s arm gently. “Still not used to this body, I guess. But that’s going to be over, soon. I hope.”
Vivitha looks over, suddenly intent. “Really?”
Leah nods. “I’m going back to the Enterlan with a few new ideas about how the mix-up happened, and maybe we’ll finally be able to fix it. I might not ever see this place again, so…I’m doing the rounds, saying goodbye.”
Her face falls. “You’re going?”
“Yep,” Leah sighs. “You’re gonna have the real Leah back soon, if we can manage it.”
Vivitha looks down at her hands. “I hope she’s okay, when she gets back. Make sure there’s someone there she recognises, or she might panic and start fighting people. She’s not always very sensible.”
“I think Kain will probably be there, and Jeno, so that’s two familiar faces.”
“That’s good,” Vivitha says softly. “Meredith told me, about Kain. She’s gonna be okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine, Vivi.” Leah pats the archer’s hand, her soft brown skin warm and dry. “Do you know where Meredith is, actually? She’s next on my list.”
“With Lord Valerid, probably, in the office. They’re organising the memorial for the fallen soldiers.”
“From the day before yesterday?”
“Anyone who fought in the war, at any point.”
Leah nods pensively. “Okay. Thank you.” She gets up to head back inside.
“Goodbye,” Vivitha calls out, and Leah stops.
“Bye Vivi,” she says, with a sad smile. Vivitha looks back down to the book, face drawn, and Leah continues to her room to fetch the dagger.
*
She knocks on the door to the Baron’s office, and waits for permission to enter before opening the door very slowly. Meredith and Lord Valerid stand by the desk, looking over lists of names. Meredith looks morose but happy to see her; the Baron simply looks tired.
“The Thane has informed me that you are leaving today,” he says, setting down the list he was looking over. “Something about your memories?”
“Yes,” Leah says, wondering how much the Baron knows. “So I’m saying goodbye to the rest of my team, before I go, and – ”
The Baron nods to Meredith, then sits down and rearranges the lists.
Meredith comes up to stand beside Leah and gives her a warm hug, strong arms holding her gently. She’s un-armoured, but her shoulders still feel wrought of steel. “You’re going to fix this?” she asks quietly, tapping Leah’s skull.
“Yeah…hopefully. It’s not been easy so far.” Leah pulls away. “If it works I’ll be…my usual self.”
Meredith nods, understanding. “Well, goodbye to the current you. You were pretty great in your own way, but it’ll be nice to have the real Leah back. I imagine you’re…” she trails off.
“Yeah,” Leah murmurs back. “Yeah, it’ll be nice to be home, myself.”
“Yeah.” Meredith gives her one last hug. “Good luck.” She turns to resume her place at the Baron’s desk.
Leah shuffles. “Also, um…sir.”
The Baron looks up, brown hair falling in front of his eyes. He pushes it away and looks at her. “Yes, Miss Talesh?”
Leah takes a few steps forward and sits on the edge of the chair, facing them. She reaches to her belt and pulls out the package that Adan had given her. “I suppose I ought to tell you the story. Especially if you’re compiling a list of the dead who fought in the war.” She finishes unwrapping the package, and lays the Baroness’s throwing dagger on the table.
Lord Valerid’s eyes do not leave the dagger, in all the time it takes for Leah to recount the story of their flight through the city, into the boat, onto the shore, and then the fight on the pebbled beach.
“I don’t know if Eschen would have mentioned any of this, when he came by…” Leah finishes awkwardly, looking down at the dagger. “But I thought it deserved to be returned to you. If there had been even one more Cheden fighter against me that night I would have died, no question, so I owed her my life.”
The Baron pulls the dagger towards him, slowly. “He didn’t say,” he says finally. “And I am…grateful to have heard it. Thank you, Miss Talesh.”
Leah stands and nods. The Baron is still looking directly at the dagger, held so delicately in his hands. Meredith twitches an arm, then very lightly lays a hand against the back of his chair, and no further.
“That’s all,” Leah says, with a final nod. She leaves the room without another word, and closes the door gently behind her.
*
Leah walks quietly through the tunnels of the servants’ passage, emerging into the kitchen. The cook gives her an odd look before nodding in greeting; Leah returns the nod.
“She’s due back in a few minutes,” the cook says tautly. “You can wait somewhere out of the way.”
With a smile to the cook, Leah walks over to a corner of the kitchen and sits on a barrel. The cupboards are freshly stocked with countless goods – tubers, dried legumes, bags of grain, jars of preserves. Herb bundles hang from the rafters, dozens of varieties, even some that Leah does not know. Beyond a thick door, Leah can just catch glimpses of a cold-storage room with cured meats and cheeses. A skinny cat prowls under the table and rubs up against Leah’s leg, walking with the tension and grace that Leah associates with barn cats, cats that hunt to eat.
Kimry arrives shortly, and Leah stands to greet her with a warm hug. The Nentish serving girl hesitates, then returns it.
“I’ll be leaving very soon,” Leah says, still in the hug. “Not sure about the future, but I likely won’t be seeing you again, not with these eyes.”
Kimry stands a little straighter, then nods. “I understand.” She gives Leah a squeeze.
“I wanted to say goodbye before I left.”
“Right.”
Leah pulls away uncertainly, and Kimry sniffles a bit. “Everything okay?”
Kimry shrugs and shakes her head. “When I first met Leah, she promised she’d help me escape. It was just pretend, we both knew it wasn’t…” She takes a steadying breath. “But you actually kept that promise.”
“Did I?” Leah asks, in some confusion.
Kimry grins up at her cheekily. “Your Bairish gentleman explained the situation to us this morning. Divek and I will not be separated again, though we don’t yet know whether we’ll be living in Bair or Valerin. It’s not perfect…we’ll still be six years away from both of us being free…but it’s more than I ever hoped for.”
Leah pulls her back in for another hug. “It’s inhumane.”
“It’s reality,” Kimry says softly. “But the end of my servitude is much happier than I’d thought it would be. So thank you.”
“I’d do it a million times without hesitation,” Leah says with a little squeeze. “And I’m glad it’s worked out, before I had to go.”
Kimry nods a few times, then sniffles again. “You do have to?”
“I’ve been here long enough.”
Kimry pulls away and tugs at the brown cloth tied around her arm, undoing the knot; it unfurls to reveal the distantly familiar embroidered cloth of Leah’s old headband. She holds it out, and Leah pushes it back, with a tiny smile and a shake of her head. Returning the smile but still not quite meeting her eyes, Kimry ties the headband back around her upper arm.
“Goodbye, then.”
“Goodbye Kimry.”
