Chapter Text
Clementine’s hand refused to press down on the small blade hard enough, screaming at her to stop. She’d been injured before, she’d done horrible things before to her body, but for some reason, in this moment of calm and this place of peace, she couldn’t make herself do the same horrible things she’d done before. Gur Sevraq, mercifully, was silent, as was Emmeline Eckles. They stood behind her, one ghost and one flesh, waiting for her to do what she needed to do.
What she needed to do.
To remove her finger, and replace it, somehow, with this small key that she had found. Clementine supposed Perennial’s magic would do the binding of flesh to copper, just as Perennial used her magic to fuse crystal and plant to people and make them whole.
Looking down at the copper key, simply ornamented, slightly tarnished with green, Clementine did not think it would make her whole.
She made to press down on the blade again, adjusting her weight slightly behind the movement, and again her body betrayed her by remaining whole. She exhaled sharply through her nose and putting the knife down on the stone table hard.
“Can I help?” Emmeline said quietly, just as Clem was about to turn around and say she would do it in the privacy of her rooms in the Reflecting Pool, when they got home.
It was embarrassing that she hadn’t managed to remove the finger yet. As soon as she’d realised what was required, she had explained to Emmeline the situation and said to her “I may as well just do it now, Perennial will ensure the process is smooth” when Emmeline had suggested getting a surgeon to do the work.
She hesitated before answering, and a small tendril of sage in her eye line reached towards Emmeline.
“Very well.” She turned back to face the table, and Emmeline moved to stand opposite her. Clementine handed over the knife and placed her hand back on the table, fingers splayed.
Gently, Emmeline laid one soft hand firmly on Clementine’s, blocking the four other fingers and holding the hand steady. Her grip was strong, and her hand silky and cool compared to Clementines, which felt clammy with the humidity of these damned islands. She hated being so close to the sea.
“Ready?” Emmeline asked, looking Clem in the eyes for as long as Clementine could stand. Emmeline was completely calm, and Clementine was struck with the memory that she had been a curtain agent for Chrysanth before Perennial had gifted her to Clem. There was steel behind those soft hands, and not literally. Diamond, perhaps, would be a better metaphor. If she were harmed in some way, Clementine thought she would heal her with diamond. Emmeline had earned that kind of special treatment.
Realising she’d drifted off a little, Clementine took a deep breath to ground herself, and nodded.
“Ready.”
“Okay, Deep breath -” Clem obeyed,”and exhale.”
The knife, expertly wielded, made neat work of Clementine’s finger, severing the knuckle in a perfect, clean press. Blood pulsed from the wound immediately, and Clem quickly pressed the base of the key to the stump, wincing as metal met exposed flesh. Sage wound its way down her arm to her finger, and wrapped the joining place tight. A lavender flower bloomed, turned red with blood, and fell off. Then the leaves and stems followed suit, dropping away from the wound to reveal a healed joint. Clem flexed her hand experimentally, and the key moved almost as though it were her old finger, minus the joints. The pain did not subside, but Clementine could deal with a little pain.
“Thank you Emmeline.” She said, looking up to see the other woman deftly cleaning blood from the knife.
“Of course.” Emmeline handed the knife back, then moved to pick up the severed finger. “Do you want this back?”
Revulsion washed over Clementine, then was replaced by a completely different feeling that she couldn’t quite place.
“Why not. Perhaps I will keep the bones. Witches in the stories were always doing things with fingerbones. Maybe they will have a use.”
Emmeline didn’t reply, just nodded and wrapped the finger in a handkerchief she fished out of one of her many hidden pockets, and passed that over to Clementine as well.
It was warm, like a recently dead bird Clem had found under her window as a child. She stowed it in her pocket (just as she had the bird - she had kept it in a box and looked at its beautiful feathers frequently until maggots began to crawl from it), and she and Emmeline left the rocky cave behind them, ready to finally travel back to the Crown of Glass and see what had happened to her kingdom in the year that had passed.