He watched her expression for a few seconds before shrugging the dismissal off. If she didn’t want to tell him, fine. He didn’t really care anyway – he’d just been trying to make conversation. Besides, if he really wanted to know, he could ask any one of the females that didn’t want to be Ethel’s friend.
‘So,’ said Ethel another hour later. ‘You’ve got a girlfriend, haven’t you?’
Jack swallowed hard; the thought of Avalon made him dizzy. So far, working for the Realm’s guard had not yielded any information regarding Avalon’s whereabouts, nor whether she had been captured. Not only that, but Jack had not heard anything about this ‘cure’ which could bring back Helena’s memories.
Jack grunted, instead of responding to Ethel’s questions.
‘You do?’ she asked.
He grunted again.
‘What’s her name?’
‘Um.’ Jack had not been prepared to think on his feet.
‘Um? Have you forgotten her name?’
‘No,’ he said, a little too defensive. ‘Her name is ... Ada.’
‘Ada?’ Ethel repeated.
‘Yeah,’ he nodded. It was the closest name to Ava he could think of.
‘A lot of wives visit their husbands whilst they’re on duty. Why doesn’t Ada visit you?’
Jack didn’t like all the questions; it was as though Ethel was interrogating his personal life.
‘She … works in another city,’ Jack invented.
‘Oh, what does she do?’
‘Uh … she’s a Healer like me.’ Lie after lie.
‘Oh, how nice.’ Her tone indicated that it wasn’t nice at all. Ethel’s arms were crossed, and her lips were pursed. ‘Sounds like a perfect match.’
Jack grunted noncommittally. He and Ava were complete opposites, but that was why he liked her so much. She was his flame, filling him with hope and passion, and he was the only one who could get close to her without getting burned. He figured, in a way, that they were like two pieces of a puzzle.
Avalon was fire and brimstone, whereas Jack was calm and rational.
Yin and Yang.
‘How long have you been together?’ asked Ethel.
A more complicated question - one that Jack didn’t have an answer to. ‘You ask a lot of personal questions,’ he replied.
Ethel shrugged. ‘I’m just interested.’
‘There’s no need. I am exceedingly boring.’
‘I am beginning to realise.’
‘So what about you?’ asked Jack. ‘Do you have a special someone?’
Ethel took a deep breath before shaking her head. ‘Men aren’t really a priority right now.’
‘What is a priority?’ he asked.
‘Work,’ she replied. ‘Serving my government for the good of Mage-kind.’
Jack couldn’t help but snort with laughter.
Ethel shot him a daring look. ‘What?’ she snapped.
‘Nothing,’ said Jack, hiding a smile.
‘Why is pride for my country amusing to you?’
‘It’s not,’ he said. As a matter of fact, he found it extremely contradictory. Ethel was proud of her country, which was built off the back of slave labour – and it disgusted him. But he’d never tell her that. He’d be imprisoned as a human empathizer.
But something about the way that Ethel spoke led Jack to believe that she had been brought up to think this way. She was young – perhaps the same age as Jack, but she spoke strongly of matters that she probably had no experience with.
‘What do your parents do?’ asked Jack.
Ethel seemed shocked by the question. ‘That’s none of your business.’
‘Now you’re the one keeping secrets.’
Ethel crossed her arms. ‘My father is a green grocer,’ she said.
‘And your mother?’ asked Jack.
‘She is dead. She could create force fields as well.’
‘Sorry. My mother is dead, too. She was a Healer.’
‘How did she die?’
‘Giving birth to me,’ replied Jack.
‘And your father?’ asked Ethel.
‘He is also a Healer.’
‘He couldn’t save her?’ asked Ethel.
Jack shook his head. Suddenly, he was overwhelmed with the desire to admit something he’d never told anyone before – not even Avalon.
‘There were complications with my birth,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t breathing when I was born, so my mother gave her entire life essence so I could live. The effort of saving me was so great that it killed her.’
‘You can die from healing?’ asked Ethel.
‘Under extreme circumstances,’ said Jack. ‘Healing involves sharing your life essence with another person. Most of the time, with small injuries, it does not require too much effort to heal. But if someone is inches from death it requires everything you’ve got to save that person. Often the amount of energy it takes to bring someone back from the brink of death can kill a Healer.’
Ethel stared at Jack with wide eyes. ‘She must have loved you, to give her life to save you.’
Jack swallowed hard. His throat felt tight, and his eyes were burning. ‘It’s what any parent would do, I think. I know I’d do it.’
‘You have children?’ asked Ethel.
Jack shook his head.
‘Would you? With your girlfriend?’ she asked.