Emblems

Chapter 29: Weak

Chapter 29: Weak

"OH." THAT EXPLAINED ALL THE wounded Delegates. And as the head of the Human division, Leone had to be rushing around everywhere. "Well, I'm just glad you found enough time to stop by." She gave Leone a smile of thanks. The middle-aged lady flashed another smile and disappeared out of the cubicle her curtains formed.

"It doesn't make sense though," Daniel continued his explanation. "I've been told that they usually don't do this. It's like throwing themselves to their deaths. Even weakened, we can utterly slaughter them. But this time they're going crazy. Not much damage has been done but we're still taking hits. The fact that all our medics are close to collapsing point isn't helping either. Their sheer numbers..." He trailed off, standing up and peeking out of the curtains. Sighing, he said, "Okay, now no one's in earshot." He turned back to her. "I thought you weren't supposed to tell anyone that Nicholas told us about our parents and Vortex?"

She shrugged at him from her bed. "The Delegates deserve to know."

He gave her a strange look but seemed to brush it off. "And your motives for running? I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but I thought you'd never tell them what you wanted to do."

It was her turn to look at him strangely. "Why not? I needed to repent for my mistake."

Daniel chuckled and shook his head. "You're a great actress, you know that? I mean, I know you hate Leone, and to think that you could put up that much of a front with her. I totally underestimated you. You even fooled me.” He gave her a dubious look. “But you can drop it now."

She let a small smile cross her face, though it probably looked as lost as she felt. "As much as I like being complimented by you, I don't understand why I would want to fool Leone. Or you, for that matter. I used to have some problems adjusting to training with the Delegates here but I'm okay now. Leone's a nice lady too; I don't want to lie to her."

"Uh...?" He pushed up his glasses and squinted at her as if she'd grown a second head.

"I mean,” she elaborated, “I’m sorry I didn’t realize this before, but I can see why you’re so devoted to the Delegates.”

He fixed her with a searching gaze. “Amber, why are you saying this?”

“Don’t you agree with me? After all," she said, "you're the one that opened my eyes. You tried your best to explain everything to me, but it took some time for it to sink in."

He laughed softly, as if to himself. "You're actually saying sorry for that?"

She nodded, her face as serious as she could make it. "I've been pushing everyone away because I was afraid I would hurt them. It started because of Emily. She hated me. I reminded her of her sister and Lucian Starling. Maybe she knew that they died because of his involvement with Vortex. Losing control with her was a mistake I regret. But…” She looked down at her hands, spread her fingers and looked between them to the whiteness of her bedsheets. “Everything that happened just made me into an Emblem.”

“You lost me there,” he said.

I always thought it would be me saying that. “Criterion eight, remember?” she asked. “The Emblems must go through hardship and sacrifice. Emily just made me stronger. That time with Dax too.”

Daniel cocked his head at her, then sighed like he’d given up trying to understand. “Dax tried to come in to speak to you before this. Apparently Leone didn’t let him in.”