Alessandra and Helga
Alessandra very carefully and slowly put the delicious meat on the flat thing the scary Duchess (whatever that was) was pointing at. She looked at the Duchess with a questioning look and received a look of approval. She then looked at the other stuff on the table but could not figure out what a “fork” was. With a small voice, she asked, “Ma’am, which one of these is a fork?”
With a sigh, the Duchess pointed at something that looked like a stick that was split at the end. “Does Everything I just said answer your first question?” she asked in an exasperated voice.
“Well, Ma’am, I do want to know what a Duke and Duchess are; you said it like that was important. Also, why do you think I have magic?” replied the girl.
“My God’s you tell someone they have powerful magic, and she asks what a Duchess is! To answer your first question, child….no to ask a question first. I just realized I have been terribly rude and have yet to ask your name, so what is it?” the Duchess asked.
“Alessandra, Ma’am,” the girl replies, “I guess I have been just as rude as I haven’t asked either. I’ve been calling you Madam, maybe Madam and Duchess in my head, I think that might have been rude, but the whores and beggars always thought my names for them were cute; I hope you do too?” Alessandra gushed nervously.
The Duchess paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. The fork slowly returned to her plate, and she leveled a blank look at Alessandra.
“Never, ever, let anyone, even my husband, know that you thought of me as a Madam or maybe Madam. Do you understand me, Alessandra?” the Duchess stated more than asked. Alessandra bobbed her head so fast the Duchess was afraid she would reinjure her head. “Calm down, calm down, child. I’m not mad, just startled that anyone would confuse me for a Madam. I know you don’t know what would be rude or insulting to someone from my social standing, so don’t be afraid of asking questions or speaking your mind when you are alone with me, my husband, or Hector. We may be shocked or loud in our responses, but we will not punish you for questions. Do you understand me, Alessandra? Repeat what I said as best you can.”
“Yes, ma’am. Don’t tell anyone I thought you were a Madam, ask questions without fear to you, your husband, or Hector,” replied Alessandra.
“Good, but only when we are alone. If other people are around do not speak, they might get mad. Also, my name is Helga, but call me ma’am or Duchess when others are around unless I tell you otherwise,” said the Duchess.
“Yes, ma’am.” Looking at her fork in confusion, she asked, “How do I use it? Do I just stab stuff? Why is it ok to grab bread with my hand and not with a fork like meat? Why do you think I’m a mage? If I’m a mage, do I get to wear a pretty dress like the Priestess that sometimes give me food?” she asked in a rush before Duchess Helga changed her mind about asking her questions.
Helga laughed at the rapid-fire questions. At the look on Alessandra’s face, she quickly stifled her laughter. Putting on a serious face, she answered.
“I was not laughing at you but at your questions, as I have never heard most of them. For the first one, for now, just stabbing is fine. For the second, I do not rightly know; that is just the way it is. I will skip the next one for now, as it is better answered by my husband. For the last, if things go as planned, you will get many pretty dresses. Is that it for now? We really must finish eating and get you to my house for a good bath and some proper sleep; being unconscious is not restful.”
Alessandra thought for a moment about which was more important more food or more questions. Between bites, she decided that one more question needed an answer. She shoved the arm that held the bracer at the Duchess and asked, “What’s this, and why did your husband put it on me?”
“Well, that is a good question in more ways than you know. It is a suppression bracer it helps a young mage control her powers until she learns the basics of control. You are very powerful, and if our tests were correct, you have at least one dangerous but useful power, so we don’t want any accidents. What I want to know is why my husband didn’t keep his minions under control enough to explain this earlier. Does this answer that question for you?” Duchess Helga asked.
Alessandra thought for a minute. She didn’t understand most of what the Duchess had said, but she decided that she would trust her a little.
“Not really; I don’t know what ‘suppression’ is or why you think I’m dangerous,” she replied while stuffing more meat in her mouth. “But you’re nice, not trying to kill or sell me to the mines, so I’ll trust you a little when you say it’s to help me.”
****
The Duchess decided that was good enough for now. She looked at the child Jerome was proposing to adopt and decided that while she was not happy about him springing the idea on her after summing her to this dump. She understood what would happen to this ignorant, not-so-innocent child in the cesspool of the Capital Guild. If this were back home, she would have shut him down hard; their Guild could be trusted to look after a semi-feral street child and turn her into a productive mage. Here some noble brat would either trick her into becoming a mistress popping out bastards, or even worse, into breaking a law and buying her slave contract. She just wished that Jerome had found a way to give her more notice so she could think about it longer before making a decision. Well, she thought, there was no real decision; with her power and gifts, she needed to be protected as much as possible until she could control herself. As she watched the girl, she realized something else.
“Alessandra,” she said calmly, “eat some vegetables.”
*****
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Reluctantly, after noticing the look the Duchess was giving her, Alessandra grabbed some yellow and orange things and bit into them. She made a sour face at the taste but chose not to anger the nice lady by spitting them out, though she did not try to hide her sour face. She wanted the precious/delicious/never enough of/ non-rotten meat. The Duchess, having raised two sons, didn’t miss the barely hidden rebellion and gave her a small smile.
“You had to choose the worst-tasting one’s didn’t you? The cook here can not cook squash or peppers to save his or her life. Way too much salt and overcooked as well. Try some of the broccoli or cauliflower, the green and white ones. Much better, but still not a favorite of children; at least my boys never liked them. Have you ever had a proper bath, deary?”
After deciding that she did not like ‘cauliflower’, but that ‘broccoli’ was ok, who knew vegetables had names, “I think so, ma’am,” she answered. “The whores at Madam Bianca’s had a bathhouse that they would sneak me into sometimes. They used soap and scratchy things they called brushes. They also complained that I fought worse than a cat,” she said in a whiney voice. “I hate baths; people don’t give as much copper when you’re clean.”
After a few more minutes of silent eating or, more accurately, in Alessandra’s case, inhalation, the Duchess decided to call an end to the meal. This was a new situation to her, not ending an awkward meal but trying to stop a mostly starved kid from eating what to her was a massive meal. Tentatively she told the child it was time to stop.
“Alessandra, it is time to go.”
Alessandra growled at her around the meat and bread in her mouth. The Duchess, deciding that stopping a feral cat was a man’s job, got up and went to the door. Poking her head out, she called out to her husband.
“Jerome, get the Life Mage and come get this child away from the table before she throws up all over the place,” she called out loudly
Alessandra panicked at the thought of being taken away from all this food, started trying to stuff her pockets. She looked over her shoulder and saw the bearded man from earlier come in, followed by a thin woman in pants. Absolutely scandalous, even on the streets, only the most depraved women wore pants! She must be the Life Mage the Duchess had mentioned. She got up from the table quickly and stepped away from the table.
“I’ll be good, Duchess Helga; please don’t torture me. I’m sorry for growling at you,” she said as quickly as she could. The strange feeling in her chest started to come back, but it felt like something was pushing it back, trying to cool the warmth. It scared her, and her arm with the bracer hurt. She fell over, throwing up most of the good food she had just eaten.
All three adults froze at her statement. The Life Mage actually lost her balance and fell into the Duke, who didn’t seem to notice. The Duchess gasped and ran over to the girl, who was now trembling uncontrollably. Falling to her knees, she gathered the sobbing child in her arms, not caring about her makeup or expensive dress, and started rocking her gently.
“Oh, honey, we weren’t going to torture you; we just wanted to get you to stop eating, so you wouldn’t get sick.” She gathered the girl tighter in her arms and stood up, turning to her husband and the Life Mage, “She’s just here to keep you from accidentally hurting yourself or someone else. She is here to help, not hurt, and she’s leaving now!” the Duchess said to the sobbing girl as she glanced meaningfully at the Life Mage.
The Duke, somewhat recovered, helped the Life Mage to her feet and shooed her out the door while mumbling something that Alessandra and the Duchess couldn’t hear. After shutting the door, Jerome, no longer having to act the noble, took two long strides over to where his wife was attempting to calm the frightened girl. Placing a hand on the Duchess's shoulder to get her attention, he gave her a concerned look.
“What do we do? We can’t move her without a Life Mage now that the Guild knows about her. If she panics every time she sees one, they will….” He whispered in her ear while making a cutting motion across his throat. The Duchess motioned to her bag, which the Duke retrieved for her. She riffled thru it for a pencil and notepad, and when one was found, she scribble a note that she pointed at and then signaled for him to be silent. Reading the note, he nodded that he understood. She had written to get a Priestess of Life and to have a Fluffy Priest meet them at the townhouse. He looked back up at her, nodded his head, and headed for the door Helga pipped up, “Dear, could you see that Sasha or Nadia finds this poor dear a new dress? It would do her a world of good. Also, send up some broth for her.”
“Yes, dear, I understand,” he said while giving her a look that he understood all her thoughts.
Helga, still cradling Alessandra, who was clinging to her like her life depended on it, stepped over to the bed and sat on it. Stroking Alessandra’s hair, which caused the girl to freeze up, she started to ask her many questions.
“Sweety, do you remember when I told you that I would not get mad at you in private?” The girl nodded weakly. “If I would not get mad at you for asking rude questions, why do you think I was mad at you for rude behavior? Honestly, I thought it was cute, like a little kitten growling at a huge dog,” she asked.
Between sniffles, the rapidly calming girl said, “Because (sniff) it wasn’t nice. (Sniff) When I growled at a Guard trying to chase me off (sniff sniff) from a scrap pile, he beat me. I thought you were getting Beard Man and the Life Mage to torture me.”
“Okay. That’s a least an explanation of what happened. Next question, do you know what Life Mages do?”
Nodding her head rapidly, “They torture people for fun. At least that’s what the beggars say. The Guards are always telling everyone to behave, or they will send them to meet the Life Mages in the dungeon to be be ‘flayed,’ or ‘vivi….vivise….’ cut open, or have their insides made their outsides while still alive, or….”
“OOOKKKAAAYYY! that’s enough,” cut off Helga. “I can see that the Guards here are a bit over-enthusiastic in describing punishments. I will not lie to you and tell you that stuff like that does not happen. Life Mages do far more than that, though.” This earned her a dubious look from the now mostly calm child. “It is true that most Life Mages use their magic to help people. They can keep a dying person alive until a Healer or Death Mage gets there to fix them. They can help a woman thru a difficult birth and do many other things.” This earned her another look and a squirming child trying to escape her grip.
“I don’t know if that’s true, but I need the toilet,” Alessandra declared with the assurance of children everywhere. Helga freed her, and the girl rushed back to the toilet.
Suffering a bit of emotional whiplash, Helga stood and started to pace. How did this child survive what sounds like a horrid environment? It seemed like prostitutes and beggars were the only hope for reliable food she had. How had she avoided the Guard sweeps for children like her? Even if she hid from the Guards, why didn’t the Priesthood grab her when they were handing out food? If any part of Halrond were even half as bad as the slums here sounded, they would be razed, and the people resettled in other areas after a few public officials were shortened a head or two, of course. A knock announced the arrival of the broth she had ordered. Setting it on the table, she realized that Alessandra hadn’t come out of the toilet yet. Walking over, she was about to knock when she heard sobbing thru the door. She heard soft mumbles as well, “Why (sob) is she being (sob) nice? It (sob) must be (sob) a trap. Why (sob) would she (sniff) want a (sob) street kid? (Sniff) It can’t be good (sob), whatever it is. No one (sob) gives away that (sob) much food. And she hugged me! Only (sob) Seth ever did that. I miss you, Seth; why’d you have to go?” She wailed.
Stepping away, Helga decided to give her a few more minutes alone.