Ms. Sophie Heartless had been a maid at the Zephyrine house for nearly ten years. She was first brought in when Tsisana’s parents became certain of their child’s introverted personality, in an attempt to have her socialise a bit more and, hopefully, make a friend. Although their daughter still kept a distance from Sophie even after a few years, the couple felt their plan had been successful. They noticed that sometimes the girls read the same books and talked about them. That was enough for Boreas and Tuuli, as they did not want to force their daughter in any way.

Sophie had a similar disposition to Tsisana. She was introverted and shy. She also liked physical exercise, and would often be seen running outside. One would think she was training for a marathon, but they didn’t exist in this world. Not that I was aware of, at least.

Sophie was from a fallen noble family. When she first came to the Zephyrine’s state, her parents really needed money. They left her at an unfamiliar place and never came back, never wondered whatever happened to their child. She had once confided in Tsisana about the grudge she felt in regards to her parents. However, Tsisana could not understand her friend’s strong feelings, and often told her how she thought they were excessive. To Sophie, this may have seemed somewhat cold, and may have caused her disconnect with Tsisana at some point.

Sophie waltzed into the office. I took a good look at her: we were almost the same age, but she seemed somewhat older and tired. Her figure was slim, and she had a sharp, powerful gaze. When our eyes crossed, I felt the urge to look away. Nonetheless, no matter how uncomfortable I felt, it was important that I did not avert my eyes.

She looked a me with a serious expression, and asked:

‘How can I help you, my lady?’

‘Sophie, I won’t beat around the bush. Don’t ask me how or why, but I know you are planning on killing me. I’d like for you to explain yourself and, if you won’t, I’ll just get it out of you’.

I hated mind games. I had no intention of playing some pseudo-intellectual battle with Sophie, or anyone else. I thought it was always best to be honest, and straight to the point. With any luck, she would be taken by surprise and blurt out what I needed to heat. A small part of me, however, was afraid of learning the truth.

Were those Tsisana’s feelings?

I saw the corner of Sophie’s  lips turn. At first I thought it was hate that I saw in her face, but then it looked as if she was happy. Was Sophie holding her laugh in or controlling her anger? I couldn’t tell.

‘I do not know what you are talking about, my lady’.

I sighed and looked up at the painting of Boreas Zephyrine, that was hanging right behind me.

‘My father once asked me what I thought wind was. I was still a child, so I thought it was a strange question, because wind was wind, it was so obvious. But he said wind is the movement of air, we cannot see air itself, so we named the only situation in which we can feel its existence. Wind is action, it’s a verb, not a noun. Weird, right?’

‘Yes, indeed’.

‘But he was right. Wind mages aren’t really wind mages, because wind is not an element, air is. I am an air mage, Sophie, I control air. So stop wasting my time or you won’t be able to breathe’.

At that moment, I moved all the oxygen around her so she couldn’t breathe. I remember reading somewhere that humans could remain without oxygen for about 4 minutes, before having some serious brain damage. I left her breathless for 30 seconds, gave her 10 seconds to rest, and then deprived her of oxygen again. I repeated this cycle for a bit, and let her talk. She was on the ground panting, and looked at me with her pair of beautiful hateful eyes.

‘You’re crazy’, were the first words that came out of her mouth.

‘Talk, my dear’.

‘I have hated you for a long time, ever since I realised you cannot relate to people’s emotions. No… I don’t think you even have any emotions at all. The others say you just have an introverted personality, but you won’t fool me. Even now I know you feel nothing’.

That’s not it, I thought, but she was talking about the old Tsisana and not me, so I couldn’t be sure. To me, it seemed Tsisana had a hard time understanding people’s feelings, especially strong feelings of anger, hate, or even love. It’s not that she didn’t feel them, but she could go to a TV room in her brain and watch them from afar. I understood it well, because I was more or less the same in this regard. Sophie continued to talk.

‘When they asked me to poison you, I thought it was a great deal. I got a lot of money from it, and was set to receive more when it was done’.

‘So it was poison… such a cowardly method. But probably the safest. I’d send any assassin’s head flying. Who hired you?’

‘You think I’d tell you-’

Stupid. I did not allow her to finish her sentence, and repeated the same cycle of torture: 30 seconds without air, 10 for resting, 30 seconds more without breathing. I did this for some time, until I thought it was sufficient to make her spill the beans. When she finally did so I was not surprised at all:

‘The Temple…. people…. from the Temple’.