Chapter Thirty-Seven: Mind Reader
Amelia tried to wake him up the next morning.
Exhausted, Xaphile hid his head under the covers and moaned at her, but she was relentless.
"Phil," she murmured, tapping his shoulder. "Come... we have to start packing..."
Really, she and Ella just wouldn't give up when they wanted something, would they? That similarity had never been more apparent until she ripped the covers off his back and cold air rushed down to meet his skin with chilly kisses.
"All right, all right, I'm up!" he croaked, sitting up with a groggy expression; he blinked dazedly in the light, then yawned and stretched. In the process, he smelled himself and cringed. "Dude... I need a bath."
The warmth of her smile made him flush and look away, awkwardly hunching his shoulders.
"It's open now," she murmured, folding her hands together, "if you'd like to take one, the private baths are empty."
"Don't mind if I do!" he muttered, getting to his feet and shrugging a hooded shirt on. "Thanks."
They parted ways then, and he gathered up some fresh clothes so he could go for yet another soak in the hot springs.
Slinking past the the sparsely filled cavern, he moved into the private bathing area and undressed, then washed himself clean with all the zeal of a priest in the middle of a purification ritual.
And it was a purification ritual, of sorts.
After the nightmarish events of the previous evening, he needed a good wash to clear his head. Rinsing out his long hair, he sank down into the bubbling water and just sat there, knees drawn up to his chin as he stared moodily at the hot water and steam.
And as he stared, he thought.
About a lot of things.
Nearly a month and a half had passed since he'd ended up on Atlas, and still, he had no answers as to why that was. He'd avoided the anxiety by refusing to think about it until this point, but after last night's events, he didn't know if that was going to be a possibility anymore.
Whatever the hell that thing had been... it hadn't been Connie.
So, how had it managed to take her shape?
This place is messed up, he silently murmured, leaning back into the water's hot embrace; the fur on his tail and down his spine drifted with the motion of the liquid. I don't get anything at all.
He soaked for a little longer, but he ended up getting out of the warm water pretty quickly since he felt oddly restless.
He dried himself off and got dressed in the dark robe Amelia had given him, dragging the hood over his horns, then started walking upstairs.
The moment he walked into the Inn's reception bar, however, he froze like a statue. All of the inn's patrons were dead quiet, eyes glued to the two figures standing in the center of the room.
Much to Xaphile's consternation, Ella was standing chest to chest with Sinmir, bristling with fury.
"I don't know who you think you are," she said in a tone of forced politeness, refusing to lower her eyes, "but I'm afraid what you just said isn't going to happen. I won't allow it."
"I never said anything about you allowing it," he snorted, quirking a thick blonde brow. "I do what I want, lass, and you can bet your pasty little arse I'll be following your group with or without your permission. Might as well get used to the idea."
Ella narrowed her eyes, giving him a very familiar look of cold hatred that made Xaphile shiver.
Amelia was fidgeting back and out of the way, blue eyes filled with discomfort, but Gus looked more confused than anything.
"Do you know who I am?" Ella asked in a slow, calculating manner. "Do you know who you're conversing with right now?"
Eying the people watching them, he leaned down and spoke so quietly that Xaphile barely heard him.
"Some of the folks down south call you the White Witch and the Demon Slayer," Sinmir said, regarding her with eyes that held no fear. "The people of the capital, on the other hand, call you the Countess of Nimika."
Her face flushed with outrage and she abruptly lost her temper.
"Correct!" she hissed, putting a hand on her dagger. "Since you already know, you had better listen to me when I tell you something, or you'll face the consequences. You're not coming with us. End of story."
When she nodded and turned to go, Sinmir chuckled.
"Do you know who I am, Lass?" he quietly inquired, making her pause. "Addressing me in that kind of manner would have gotten a normal woman hanged."
Ella stiffened and fixed a glare on him, brows furrowing.
"Hanged?" she scoffed, cocking her hip. "Oh, really?"
"Aye," he chuckled, taking his helmet off and shaking out his wild, lion-like head of hair; Ella frowned up at him when he unstrapped the sword across his back. When he held it out with the front of the sheath facing her, she jumped and her mouth fell open.
"That crest!" she squeaked, lifting her eyes with horror on her face. "A-are you... are you, by any chance, Sinmir Ein Vindrael, the crowned prince of Adanac?!"
He merely grinned in a toothy manner.
"Aye," he growled, waggling his bushy blonde eyebrows at her, "that I am, Lass."
Ella blanched, and then, much to Xaphile's surprise, she abruptly bowed at the waist, clapping a fist over her heart in a formal manner. Amelia gasped and Gus jumped, mouths falling open.
Both of them looked just as stunned as he felt.
"Forgive me, my Lord prince," she murmured, lifting her eyes and regarding him with firm respect. "I did not know who you were, so please forgive my disrespect."
"Bah, skepticism like yours can at the very least keep one's head where it belongs," Sinmir grunted, slinging his sword back on and regarding her with a smirk. "It's a good quality for a political ruler to have."
Ella's brow wrinkled with confusion and she righted herself, giving him a slight frown.
"I apologize if I am intruding," she muttered, "but what exactly are you doing this far South in Aerika without an entourage or, at the very least, guards? I was not informed that someone of your status was actually within our country's borders."
Sinmir's amusement vanished.
His steely grey eyes slowly flitted across her face, alarmingly cold and calculating, and there was something about that strangely icy expression that completely intimidated Xaphile. His tail fluffed out and he swallowed tensely, but as quickly as the look appeared, the moment passed.
Suddenly the prince was smiling again, although the look in his eyes didn't really fade away.
"My reasons are my own," he said curtly, but pleasantly. "If you must have something to sate your curiosity, I will say this: I'm on a personal political errand."
"A political errand?" she asked, frowning at him. "What is it?"
"That's a discussion best saved for where there are less ears," the man grunted, nodding at the staring people with a knowing expression, "but if you must know, I'm looking for someone. That's all I'm going to say as I've already made it clear that my reasons are my own."
"...I see."
"Now, about what I said earlier," he continued. folding his arms. "I've decided to come with you, no questions asked, since you've caught my indefinite interest. I trust there won't be any further protest."
Ella stiffened, anxiety lacing her features.
"W-why would someone of your caliber want to travel with us? Certainly you can deduce that we're on an important mission of our own, can't you?"
"Aye," he murmured, then leaned down close to her ear and whispered something that Xaphile couldn't hear; when she stiffened, eyes flashing open wide, the man pulled away. "Although, I believe due to the nature of it, this should also be discussed elsewhere."
"You saw him?!" Ella squeaked, eyes growing huge. "You... oh, shite, this... look, he's not!"
The prince merely smirked and jerked with his thumb.
Confused, Ella turned and followed his finger, but when she spotted Xaphile, outrage flashed across her expression.
"You!" she snapped, instantly sweeping forward and gripping his arm. "Upstairs! NOW!"
Xaphile stumbled, ears involuntarily dragging down across the interior of the hood when he was unexpectedly jerked forward by the arm and pulled towards the stairs leading up to their rooms. Amelia, Sinmir, and Gus followed quickly them, but Ella hardly noticed or even seemed to care.
Once they were in the room, she roughly threw him against the wall and held him there.
"This is your fault!" she barked. "This is all your fault! Gods, damn you!"
He scowled and a pang of dangerously cold irritation flooded through him.
"First of all... let go," he muttered. "Second, what's my fault?"
"You weren't careful and your identity as a primordial faery was uncovered by someone!" Ella retorted, removing her hands and sliding them back into her cloak. "Do I really need to stress how big of a screw-up that is?!"
"She means that in the nicest possible way," Amelia hesitantly piped up; he turned to look at her with a deep scowl. "Don't glare, Phil... please. After all, Ella is right. The fewer who know your identity, the less chance there is that something will go wrong."
"What's the problem?" he asked, not understanding why they were so bent out of shape. "I mean, I'm not a demon... who cares if I'm a fairy?"
"As far as we know, you're literally the last Primordial Sprite living in the south," Amelia told him carefully, casting a wary glance at Sinmir, who's brows flew clean into his hair. "If that kind of knowledge... gets spread around, people might..."
When she trailed off, Ella let out an exhale and glared at him.
"There's no might about it," she growled. "People will use you and news of your existence will cause an enormous power struggle."
Anger, hot and white, flooded through him so quickly that his pulse pounded in his ears.
"If that's the case, why did you treat me the way you did?" he hissed, body suddenly aflame. "If you knew faeries were really so important, why was I... treated so badly?"
"Because I've never seen a Primordial Sprite until you," she sourly informed him, looking him up and down with scrutinizing eyes. "I believe this isn't the first time I've said that."
For the longest moment, Sinmir frowned at the ground, and Xaphile could practically see the wheels turning in his head. Then his eyes lit up with some sort of epiphany and turned steely. He slowly stepped forward, brows wrinkling like clouds above swirling thunderstorms.
"When he says you treated him badly," he said in a quiet, but commanding drawl, "he isn't... referring... to the... scars on his back, is he?"
Ella's lips pulled into a thin line, but when she refused to answer, Sinmir's expression darkened to the point where he actually looked frightening.
However, she didn't lower her gaze.
"Yes, he is," she quietly admitted, voice coming out in slightly guilty tone. "I am the one who gave him those scars."
The man remained silent.
His grey irises flashed in Xaphile's direction, who upon noticing, lowered his head with a twinge of anxiety and hid his face with his hair and hood. Sinmir rubbed the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh, rolling his bearded jaw back and forth.
"I think I know what's going on here, and if not, at the very least, I can guess. You're ferrying him to safety, aren't you?"
Ella frowned at him.
"Wrong. There are other things we're doing."
"Such as?" Sinmir demanded, looking a little irritated. "The sprites of the east have themselves shut away from society, the sprites of the west are dead and gone, and he is the last sprite of the south. If you aren't taking him to a place where he'll be safe, where are you taking him?"
Ella glared, clenching her fists... but before she could open her mouth, Amelia stepped forward.
"We're looking for a mage who can dream walk, since Phil claims he isn't from this world," she explained, clasping her hands when everyone turned to gawk at her in dismay. "He apparently came here from another plane of existence after... well, after his life there ended."
It seemed to take the blonde man a second to process that.
He stood still, blinking at her as if asking with his eyes if she were joking, but when her earnest expression didn't change he shook his head and took off the horned, partially masked iron helmet that truly resembled something from a Viking movie.
He held the armor piece against his thigh and shifted his weight, staring at her skeptically.
"A dream walker?" he demanded, no expression on his face. "Why in the name of Asgrog would you come all this way in search of a dream walker?"
"We think there are answers to be found in the Ethereal plane," Ella snapped, making him glance at her again. "In whatever world he came from, there was apparently another me who loved him dearly... a different Ella who died."
"Preposterous," Sinmir derisively chuckled, looking at her as if she were nuts. "Even a mage would laugh at such a claim."
"Actually, you're wrong about that," Amelia countered, making his chortling fall silent. "Magic is still vastly unexplored, so in all honesty, such a thing could undoubtedly be possible, and any mage would say as much."
"And how many magi do you know?" Sinmir deadpanned. "You don't look like the sort to affiliate with magicians."
"That is because I don't need to," she said, then pointed at herself with a smile. "I myself am a mage and I don't doubt the validity of this situation at all."
"You?" he asked, gawking at her in surprise. "What sort of mage are ya, lass?"
"Healer," she stated politely, clasping her hands. "My ability isn't anything special, but my father was a famous pyromancer so I grew up around magic and I know a lot about it."
"I wasn't nearly as easy to convince as she was," Ella reluctantly added, "but this past fortnight, I've seen enough proof to make me question a lot of things, so we're taking this journey to answer as many of those questions as we can."
Sinmir fell silent, not having a way to counter that.
"Is this true, boy?" he finally asked. "This outrageous claim they're making on your behalf... is it true?"
Xaphile finally lifted his eyes and met the blonde's gaze, uncertainty and discomfort roiling in his belly and making him feel extremely stiff.
All he wanted was for the argument to be over already.
"Yeah, it is," he admitted. "I'm from another world."
The words sounded strange on his tongue and he had trouble, for whatever reason, in meeting Sinmir's eyes after that.
"You," Ella muttered, turning and poking him sharply in the chest. "You be more careful from now on. Gus, please let Martin know to have the horses tomorrow night, and everyone else, start packing up."
"Tomorrow night?" Sinmir asked, furrowing his brows. "Why at such an odd hour?"
"Traveling during the day is extremely hard on my body," Ella muttered, pulling her hood up and hiding her face. "I'd rather not be in pain for the whole trip. We initially planned to travel only at night, but we had some trouble with a group of slavers along the road. Now, if you'll excuse me, we have things to do. If you're truly set on coming, make sure you're prepared by tomorrow."
When she turned and grumpily began to pack her things up, Sinmir frowned, then tensely walked out of the room, not bothering to close the door behind him.
"Leave the provisioning to me," Gus sighed, walking out as well. "I'll go get us some supplies for the road. Going down the mountain is going to be rough, since it's actually quite a bit cold on the northern slopes of this mountain range."
Once he was gone, Amelia walked over to Xaphile, who was standing frozen in place.
"Are you all right?" she tentatively inquired, gently setting a hand on his arm. "Talk to me, Phil."
It took him a moment to formulate a response.
He had questions rolling around in his brain about everything that had been discussed.
"Am I... really so important to Atlas that people would lock me away if they knew what I am?" he asked, looking at her with worry and confusion in his heart. "I... don't understand. Not at all."
Her eyes saddened behind her glasses and she patted his arm with a solemn-sounding sigh.
"I think... once we actually get on the road again," she murmured, "that I'm going to have to start teaching you about our world on top of magic."
"Speaking of magic," he muttered, "I don't think I'll ever be able to use it very well."
"Eh?" Amelia asked, looking startled by that. "Why not?"
"Well, I kind of... um, you know, it's just... it's hard."
"Oh," she murmured, blue eyes lighting up with understanding. "You're referring to the fact that you're still have trouble getting the hang of meditation, aren't you?"
How can she put such embarrassing stuff in such neat context? he wondered. I was going to say that I outright sucked.
"Something like that," he admitted, but her smile was like a miniature sun.
"It's never easy, not at first. I've been learning since I was a child," she chirped, clasping her hands with a cheerful laugh. "As an adult who had never even known that they possessed magic ability until now, I can't imagine how difficult it must be to adjust to such a change."
He stared at her with a frown.
"Why do you act like this?" he asked, making her pause. "Whenever I'm upset, I mean."
"You know why," Amelia noted, frowning right back at him. "I'm trying to look out for you."
"I can look out for myself," he informed her, keeping his voice hard.
"Are you sure?" Amelia asked, tilting her head.
Glaring didn't even begin to cover it: he shot laser-beams at her.
"Look, I get it, I'm a freak with mental issues," he snapped, body instantly starting to shake with tiny tremors of agitation, "but I hate it when people patronize me! I don't want your pity!"
Ella's hands paused for a moment, then she continued packing, albeit more slowly. The only sound in the room came from the folding of her clothes since Amelia kept her blue eyes fixed on the stone floor while he glared at her.
"You're wrong," she finally said, voice coming out very sad-sounding. "Very, very wrong, Phil. I don't pity you. Have I felt sympathetic now and then? Yes... but pity? Of course not. There's no shame in having help sometimes. Friends help friends. That's just what they do."
He couldn't look at her.
"Friends?" he asked, mouth curling a bit. "Is that what we are?"
"Well, I care about you," she pointed out, making him wince, "and you, at the very least, respect me... so, in all honesty, yes, I do indeed consider us to be friends."
His startled glance made her smile.
It was on that note that she turned and walked out of the room, braids swinging to and fro.
Xaphile was left standing stupidly in place, unsure of how to react.
"You know?" Ella drawled, making him turn. "You really are an idiot."
"Oh, thanks!" he spat, tone coming out laced with venom. "That's much appreciated."
"She confronts me all the time," she retorted, seemingly unaffected by his negative attitude for once; she merely continued packing and folding her belongings. "About how I need to work on the way I address you and such... saying I'm rude, that I'm in the wrong. She cares for you."
"We only met last month," he retorted. "You can't be serious."
"Doesn't matter to Amelia," Ella said, rolling her eyes. "She's the sort who protects people. It doesn't matter if you're small or big, old or a baby, a new friend or a family member.... she's kind to you because she trusts you, and that makes you precious."
"Then why doesn't she do the same for Gus, or you, for that matter?" he asked, confused. "Why do I get all the special treatment?"
"Honestly?" Ella asked, giving him a glare. "She and I have our differences, and Gus is older than all of us. Amelia knows that we can both take care of ourselves. The reason she pays so much attention to you is because she knows you've been completely swallowed by your grief."
"Isn't that the same as patronizing me?"
"No, and there's not a patronizing bone in that girl's body," Ella said, eyes turning hard. "All she wants is to do something that might lift your spirits. Don't yell at her ever again."
He guiltily deflated, knowing that she was right.
All Amelia had ever been was kind to him.
"Fine. For now, I'm... gonna go for a walk or something. I need to clear my head."
"Meet me by the castle tonight," she muttered. "I'll take you to play the odd instrument again."
He stared at her grimace for a moment, then nodded and turned to leave the room. However... as he did so, he paused, since that strange purple itch once again began to tickle his head.
He saw Ella jump out of the corner of his eye and turned, giving her a perplexed expression.
Weird, he muttered, lifting a hand and rubbing his nose with a wince. The flashes I'm getting are the same color as that glow I saw around her last night...
"I think I'm somehow reading your mind," Ella unexpectedly snapped, making him jump; when he gawked at her, she turned and scowled at him. "Now and then, I feel a weird tingle behind my eyes, then I can suddenly hear your voice even when your mouth isn't moving."
"Huh?" he scoffed, not believing his ears. "You're joking."
"No, I'm not," she snipped. "It's actually rather annoying. I think it's a result of me kissing you, since it only started happening right after that glowing light was pulled into me."
He frowned, then tilted his head.
"You can hear my thoughts?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "What am I thinking right now?"
Anyone with a sane mind would have baited her... but to his surprise, when she looked him clean in the eyes, the purple itch came back.
You're a domineering sadist, he silently drawled. You're scary. And you definitely have a mean streak.
Her face instantly darkened to a deep maroon and a vein bulged in her forehead.
"I beg your pardon?" she hissed, stamping her foot in fury. "I am not a domineering sadist!"
He jumped, mouth falling open in horrified shock.
"You can really read my mind?!" he squeaked, tail sticking straight out. "Are you serious?!"
"Indeed, so keep your thoughts to yourself," she snapped, turning back and stuffing her things into her bag with an irritated grumble. "Go. After hearing that, I'm resisting the desire to punch you in the nose."
Blanching, he left the room, hastily heading down the hall towards the stairs.
Describing the rest of the afternoon would probably be a little pointless, seeing as how he skulked off to a random corner in the bar downstairs and sat at an empty table in obscurity until lunch. He didn't like the idea of Ella being able to read his mind, not at all.
He sat there, head buried in his arms, and tried to let himself doze... but just as he was actually beginning to drift off, Sinmir joined him.
He was roused when the blonde man spoke.
"Answer me something," he growled, making Xaphile lift his head. "Your companions aren't around now... so, tell me the truth. I will not judge."
"The truth about what?" he groggily asked. "There are lots of things to pick from."
"Supposedly coming from another world," Sinmir quietly explained, leaning forward. "Tell me. Is it true?"
"Yeah," Xaphile muttered. "I died and somehow ended up here, but before that I was human. This whole situation is way more complex than it probably seems from an outside point of view."
"Tell me the truth," he said slowly, grey eyes narrowed. "How much do you know about Atlas, Aerika's government, and the dangers of the world around you?"
"I know some things, but everything I know was told to me," he weakly admitted. "When I first woke up here, I didn't even know I was on another world. It came as a huge shock."
Sinmir's brows furrowed worriedly, but just as he opened his mouth, the odd purple itch filled Xaphile's head. He winced, squeezing his eyes shut for a few seconds.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah, just can't talk anymore, I don't think," he admitted, opening his eyes. "I'm always being watched, apparently."
Just as he said it, Ella hurried into the bar, spotted them... and stalked over. Sinmir tensed when she sat down in the chair beside him and leaned forward with sharp eyes.
"This is abrupt, but if you ever feel like you're in trouble," she said in a low tone, "or like people are being too inquisitive about things of a serious nature, I want you to call for me."
Okay, Xaphile had to admit it: that threw him off guard.
"Call for you?" he asked, shaking his head. "Why?"
"Because I said so!" she snapped.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Whatever. Fine."
When he buried his face in his arms again, hoping to fall back into his doze, she scowled.
"Hey!" Ella snapped. "Don't ignore me!"
"I'm not ignoring you," Xaphile waspishly retorted, voice a bit muffled. "I mean it when I say that I will call for you, if and when the need arises. Thank you for taking care of me."
She stared at him, unreadable eyes narrowed in scrutiny... but he didn't lift his head. She didn't buy it, if the look on her face was any indication, but that was fine since there was a damn good reason for her not to: he was not nearly as calm as he was letting on.
How long has she been reading my mind? he wondered, with venom. And asking me to call for her? Ha! As if! She's getting mad at me for things she caused herself! I bet she wants me to get into trouble just so she can swoop in and have an excuse to insult me later. Fucking sadist...
His nose tickled, suddenly, and he reached up to rub it... but then he stopped. Slowly, very slowly, he looked across the table. Ella was staring at him with flaming eyes and a very, very taut mouth. They traded eye-contact for about a minute.
"I would appreciate it, Ella," he growled, drawing his lips back and baring his fangs as the tickle-itch skittered across his brain, turning over his thoughts the way a stream tosses a pebble, "if you wouldn't do that."
He was sure she could hear him despite his low volume.
I'll get out when you make me get out, she replied, voice echoing like an avalanche. How's that sound?
He had to admit, hearing her voice rattling around inside his head like a foreign thought was the weirdest experience of his entire life.
I don't have anything to prove to you, he shot back. Get out of my head!
Oh, but you do, she said, narrowing her eyes. Prove to me that last night wasn't so dangerous I shouldn't tie you up for the good of saving my people. Prove to me that you can think things about me without being an ass or rude!
My thoughts are my own, he instantly spat. You may be able to control what I do, but you can't control what I'm thinking or even how I'm feeling, so don't you dare fucking try to. I truly believe everything you've heard so far since you've given me no reason to feel otherwise.
Their eyes bored into one another's, trading looks that could melt steel.
Regardless, she eventually shot back, heed my warning and tell me if something happens.
I'm surprised, he thought, coating his words in syrupy sweetness. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were worried for my safety.
The most interesting part of her subsequent response was the lack of one.
What the hell did that mean?
Sinmir looked back and forth between them and frowned.
"Am I missing something?" he asked. "You two are acting very odd."
Ella glanced at him for a moment before looking back at Xaphile.
"No," she said.
The tickle didn't go away, in fact, it only got worse.
In retaliation, Xaphile took a deep breath and decided to use his meditation.
Without prompting, he started humming. Sinmir glanced up at his half-hidden face in confusion.
"You all right, lad?" he asked. "You look like you're in pain."
"I'll be fine," Xaphile answered through gritted teeth. "Really.
Then he bitterly resumed his humming.
It was a small foreign tune called Ensei, but with it he was able to successfully stop thinking long enough to render Ella's probe useless. He couldn't drive her out, of course, but if he didn't think anything there would be nothing to see.
When he finished the song, he opened his eyes, eyes he hadn't realized he'd closed.
"Did I pass the test?" he irritably demanded.
"That wasn't a test," Ella glowered, scowling at him. "Are you a fool?"
"Oh, no," he snorted, giving her a sarcastic stare. "My mistake."
She opened her mouth. Closed it. But Xaphile didn't wait for her to form a response... merely stood up and walked towards the door.
Fucking sadist, he silently grumbled. God...
"I don't like your attitude," she instantly called, making him halt, "and I am not a sadist!"
"I don't care! And you could have fooled me," he loudly retorted, looking over his shoulder with angry eyes. "You're the definition of a sadist, since you actually seem to enjoy pissing me off or making me extremely uncomfortable! Get out of my head, dammit!"
He was just about to storm away when Amelia and Gus walked inside the inn, spotted them, and hurried over. He turned when Amelia stumbled: in her arms was a mountain of wrapped packages, and Xaphile, thrown off guard, grabbed a few of them before she could topple over.
"Thanks," she panted, smiling at him from over the top of the parcels. "I was having trouble."
"Was a little much for both of us," Gus added. "We carried all of this across Ordin."
"And what, exactly, is all that?" Ella demanded, eying the parcels with a wary gaze. "Amelia, please tell me those aren't what I think they are. I thought we agreed to only get four or five!"
"Some of these extras are for me," Amelia kindly retorted, stumbling forward and dropping her load on the table, "but you're correct. I had several other dresses and complete outfits made for you that I think will look very... nice."
Ella's lips twitched.
"That pause wasn't exactly reassuring," she muttered, giving her a dead-fish stare. "At least tell me the clothes won't restrict my movement."
"Oh, don't worry, the tailor designed most of them to suit your lifestyle," Amelia explained, giving her a dismissive wave. "If you want, you can try some of them on later."
"Fine... I won't look a gift horse in the mouth," Ella grumbled, shaking her head. "Thank you, but how many new dresses are there?"
"Eighteen!" Gus chuckled darkly. "Eighteen gowns, my lady, not including a wide variety of skirts and blouses."
Ella instantly cringed, shoulders bunching up as she threw the brunette a sour look.
"Don't worry," Amelia soothed, grinning in spite of the death glare being sent her way, "aside from the formal gowns I bought for us, they're all very thin and light. Now, there are still several books I need to buy in order to aid me with my task of teaching Phil. Will you come with me?"
This last part, much to Xaphile's surprise, was directed at him. It was the first time in a while that she'd spoken to him directly.
"Uh... sure?" he muttered, closing his lackluster eyes. "Better than sitting around, I guess."
"Return here in an hour," Ella commanded sharply. "No exceptions."
"Yes, we will," Amelia sighed. "Come, Phil... we have things to do."
Without another word, she grabbed his hand and left Ella, Gus, and Sinmir at the table.