“Embraced the whispers...” Her Excellency repeated. “Can you elaborate?”

“Hey!” Rico spoke up, placing a hand in front of his mother. “You can't just threaten people and then chat like it didn't happen!”

Sef Punten sighed and covered his eyes.

The Amikoneth glanced at her child and smiled with love in her eyes.

“And what's this 'show your true form or else'?” He demanded, rising his voice. “Why should mother answer to you? Who do you think you are?”

Her Excellency turned to Rico and smiled. “I could kill the three of you and get away with it,” she replied. “No, even better, I could kill you and say you were allied with a Demon, which is what threatened King Gordon's life until I got here. People will thank me, no justice will be sought, and your name will forever be shunned.” Her smile widened. “All it would take is a few words.”

I glanced at the creature. So that's what a living Demon looks like. Still, how did Her Excellency know it... she... was here? A Halve's instincts? I see.

Rico's face twisted in anger. “Shouldn't you protect us, then? Why are you dangling a weapon in front of us? We're civilized individuals, fuck it! Don't treat us like beasts or monsters!”

Her Excellency nodded, then looked at me. “Am I treating them like beasts?” She asked.

I shook my head. “No, Your Excellency. They're still alive, after all. Your Excellency has employed verbal violence only.”

“Psh!” Rico scoffed. “Yeah, thank you!” He said, full of sarcasm.

Her Excellency's stomach rumbled, then she produced a napkin and wiped her lips while gulping.

I eyed her face, then her tummy. Is Her Excellency hungry? Maybe she should have eaten something instead of drinking only alcohol.

“Anyway,” Her Excellency sighed, turning her attention to the Amikoneth. “Embracing whispers,” she said and gestured for the woman to talk. “And what's your name, by the way?”

The Amikoneth nodded. “Ronissa, but I took the name Rosalia when I crossed over,” she explained, taking Rico's hand into hers and squeezing it gently. “Nerissa's kind,” she sighed, “the Felyareth, were a tricky bunch. Schemers, plotters, manipulators. The whispers changed most people in Haal, some more than others. The ones closer to the prisons turned feral and vicious. Those were the Invirineth, by the way, the... Warriors... of our kind, if you will. While not changed directly by the whispers, there were some who saw opportunity in the chaos. Some Felyareth Elders sought the whispers for themselves, believing them to be a source of power if controlled.”

Her Excellency hummed in understanding.

“However,” Rosalia continued in a quiet voice. “The Hellwalker had arrived, and butchered everyone in the prisons. The Felyareth that had managed to turn the whispers to their advantage were slain by you. There was one Felyareth who kept his mind after hearing the whispers and managed to escape you, though. He passed the secrets to his children, and they to theirs. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on who you ask, The Hellwalker left the prison... and reached the safe haven we had managed to build. You... kept hunting, however. Those who knew the secrets of the whispers tried to hide, but failed. Those of us untainted were left alone. All attempts at communication with you failed. We understood then that you had a single purpose, and there was nothing we could do to stop it. Not that we wanted, though. Haal was dying, and we would soon go with it.”

“I don't buy it,” Her Excellency interrupted. “You and Nerissa smell the same.”

Rosalia nodded with a sad face. “Then that must mean an Amikoneth also tried to control the whispers at some point. No secrets were passed down in my kind, though.”

“And how do you know all of this?” Her Excellency inquired, arching an eyebrow.

The woman smiled. “We Amikoneth were known as Keepers of Tales, Hellwalker. Archivists of culture, history, and what made our society. Our Elders made great efforts to gather information even during the whispers. Perhaps that's why some must have tried to control the corruption, to study it and pass the information. If true, then it would stand to reason that they kept it to themselves. Some powers are better left in the darkest of chasms, beyond the reach of the most curious of individuals.”

Her Excellency studied the Amikoneth in silence. “From one to ten, how scared are you right now?”

“A strong three,” Rosalia replied after thinking for a moment. “But it's nothing when compared to how grateful I am you showed up. We had no way of stopping the corruption of the whispers. If not for you, Hellwalker, Haal would have fallen in a century instead.”

I opened my mouth, but shut it. How long did it take, then? Is what I wanted to ask. The desire to know more about Her Excellency almost made my body act on its own. To think she had been on another world already. Is that why she's not an empty shell? She cleansed an entire world of a corruption that could have ended it in a single century if left alone. The weight of such a task is perhaps the source of her understanding of life. A lifetime of killing wouldn't teach how to lie or act all proper. It would explain how she found lovers so soon.

That small discovery only prompted more questions in my mind, however. Questions that, unfortunately, were not appropriate at the moment.

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“I see,” Her Excellency muttered. “And how did you come to Galeia?”

“Information reached us about a ritual,” Rosalia replied. “It entailed the sacrifice of the corrupted... to redirect the foul power in their bodies and minds and rip open a hole in reality to another world.”

“Nerissa said their group sacrificed their Elders,” Her Excellency muttered. “Made it sound a lot worse.”

“From her perspective, it was,” Rosalia whispered.

Her Excellency nodded a few times. “What do you feed on?” She suddenly asked.

“Food and the desire for wealth,” the Amikoneth replied with a scowl. “I'm not like Nerissa, Hellwalker.”

“I can give testimony,” Rico interjected. “That bitch Nerissa tried to feed on us, but mother protected us with her life.”

The Amikoneth blushed and held her own cheeks in embarrassment.

Her Excellency sighed. “When has your opinion ever mattered?” She told the young man. “Just keep quiet, boy.”

Rico gritted his teeth, but spoke no further.

“That is true, Your Excellency,” Sef Punten finally joined the conversation. “Nerissa visited a few years ago and tried to invite Rosalia, then attacked us when my wife rejected her.”

“I see,” Her Excellency muttered with an understanding nod.

My eyebrows wanted to go up. Does Her Excellency have a positive bias when it comes to older, married men? She's very gentle with the King, and now Lord Punten... even going as far as never being violent with them, be it verbally or otherwise, despite being in similar circumstances with older, married women, younger women, and younger men.

More mysteries.

“How does this 'desire for wealth' work?” Her Excellency probed.

“Whenever Sef acquires money, I feel revitalized. It's similar to having a full meal,” Rosalia replied.

“What?” Her Excellency blurted out. “First Lust, and now Greed?”

“Pardon?” Rosalia blinked a few times.

Sef Punten and his son were equally confused.

Her Excellency turned to me.

I shook my head and shrugged, not knowing what she meant.

“Whatever,” Her Excellency sighed. “Were you alone when you crossed worlds?”

“No, but I was when I got here,” Rosalia replied. “I fear my clan was split while crossing. I haven't met another Amikoneth since I got here.”

Her Excellency nodded. “And when was that?”

“Three centuries ago,” the woman replied.

“And this feeding on wealth business started when you crossed over?” Her Excellency inquired.

Rosalia nodded. “That is correct. I came across a young Chaser to the west and was guided to a town. There, they completed a bounty and got the reward. Life returned to me when I saw it happen.”

“That... makes no sense, but okay,” Her Excellency muttered. “Have you met the Gods?”

“No... I haven't...” the Amikoneth replied. “I fear they might reject me. I don't belong in this world, after all.”

“The way I see it,” Her Excellency began, “Is you found someone that loves you and made a family. If that's not home, the what is? True, you're a Demon from Hell, but you're not threatening the lives of people.”

The carriage was silent for a few seconds.

“So...?” Sef Punten hesitated.

“I exist to protect, Lord Punten,” Her Excellency pointed out. “If that included protecting you from the chance to love and form a family, then I'd be a shitty being.”

“Then why were you such a massive bitch?” Rico demanded with a frown.

“Listen here you little shit,” Her Excellency hissed at him. “A Demon was going to kill the King of your fucking country. Do you know what people do when they find a group of people to easily blame in times of uncertainty? I had to make sure, you retarded, moronic fuck.”

Sef Punten smiled and nodded. “You go, Your Excellency. Tell him off.”

Rosalia nodded along.

Rico's eyes widened. “Mother? Father?” He called for them in disbelief.

“You're too young to understand a lot of things, Rico,” Sef Punten sighed. “You were incredibly disrespectful to Her Excellency. Her Excellency Yulianna would have killed you on the spot. Don't ever interfere with a Halve's duty. That's why people are respectful, you never know when they are performing their duty. Have I not taught you to never take risks you aren't certain will benefit you?”

“But mother has done nothing wrong!” Rico protested, not understanding his father's words.

“True, that's why I cooperated, you stupid child!” Sef Punten chastised him. “People defy when they don't agree. A Halve doesn't have the time to ask this many questions!”

“I kind of do,” Her Excellency interjected. “But yeah, maybe I'm too patient.” She looked at Rico and sighed.

“Apologies, Your Excellency,” Sef Punten bowed his head. “He's only twenty-eight years old. He's fresh out of the Academy, too.”

“It's okay,” the Halve showed mercy. “But he should get his shit together. I don't mean to overstep, but he's a bit too close to his mother.”

Rosalia sighed, “I know. Apologies, Hellwalker.”

“Your Excellency is better,” Her Excellency offered. “Hellwalker is a bit too on the nose.”

“As you wish, Your Excellency,” the Amikoneth agreed.

“So, back on topic,” Her Excellency announced. “How many... kinds? Species? Races? Do you Demons have? And is Demon the right word?”

“Does Your Excellency not remember?” Rosalia inquired.

“Didn't exactly have the time or desire to ask,” the Halve replied.

“I... see,” the Amikoneth muttered in understanding, a complicated expression crossing her face. She looked into Her Excellency's eyes.