Amends

“Amends” is a novelette published in the collection *Low-Key Calamities* in 2023. Lorelei discovers a stolen piece of art from her past during a reception hosted by a prospective benefactor of the conservatory.

## Warning

“Amends” contains explicit sexuality, explicit violence, numerous expletives, stolen and looted artwork, burglary, perfidy, conspiracy, snobbery, breaking and entering, assault and battery, stalking, eavesdropping, assault with a deadly art object, false identities, indecent acts on a utility easement, divine rule-bending, flashbacks, persistent flirting, lewd behavior, impersonation of federal agents, impersonation of international criminals, impersonation of ordinary working stiffs, one-upmanship, afterplay, smooching, cuddling, ass-grabbing, fraud, profanity, condescension, vigilantism, deceit, punching, kicking, performative charity, genuine charity, oral sex, insensitivity, ordinary jerks, lust, party fouls, enabling of sexual promiscuity, flashbacks, and a bunch of Neoclassic and Romantic artists’ names that the author completely made up.

## Synopsis

At a social gathering at Ben Palmer’s home, a prospective benefactor of the conservatory, Lorelei noticed a piece of art from her past. This caused a series of memories of her prey Nicolas and his kindly daughter Stelia.

With the assistance of Alex she concluded that much of Palmer’s art collection was stolen. With the advice of Sierra they hatched a plan to steal Palmer’s collection and return as much of it as possible to its rightful owners, and set that plan in motion.

As an incognito Lorelei approached Palmer as a prospective buyer, Alex broke into Palmer’s house. Palmer’s hired guards chased him off, but not before he had managed to take a valuable piece of art. The next day Lorelei and Alex again approached Palmer, impersonating FBI agents investigating a series of art thefts. Suitably spooked, Palmer decided to leave Seattle, but the movers he engaged turned out to be several members of the Crew.

The art that had been stolen from Stelia’s family was finally returned to her.

## Appearances

### Characters

* Lorelei
	+ also appears as Elina, Dominika Lakatos, Agent Smith, and the foreman
* Stelia
* Ben Palmer, a wealthy and unscrupulous art collector
* Kathy
* Richard, of the conservatory
* Nicolas, Stelia’s father (flashback only)
* Brooke, an aspiring influencer
	+ Max, her sugar daddy and sponsor (mentioned only)
* Alex
	+ also appears as Agent Johnson and a mover
* Rachel
* Sierra
* Drew Jones
* Steve, a blonde henchman
* “Khakis”, another henchman
* “Beardo”, a third henchmen
	+ Tobiah, his guardian angel
* Bobby, a security technician
* Wade Reinhardt
* Ariana, Stelia’s daughter
* Belial (as voice; flashback only)
* Stelia’s mother (mentioned only)
* Zafirah (mentioned only)
* Molly (mentioned only)
* Onyx (mentioned only)
* an imp, several unnamed henchmen, and a cat demanding food

### Locations & organizations

* A house in foreign land
* Seattle
	+ A very posh house facing Elliott Bay
	+ Suite 1705
	+ Ahmed Kovac’s pool hall
	+ A food court
	+ The conservatory (mentioned only)
* An upscale restaurant in Bellevue
* An apartment in Greece

### Items

* An orthodox cross infused with divine faith

## Theories

Lorelei remounting the Orthodox cross, though it is painful to her, in order to help and protect Stelia mirrors her later action when she enters holy ground in support of Rachel.⁠

It is unclear where Ben Palmer’s house is located, but it is in a hilly area and faces Elliott Bay. That makes Queen Anne a likely location. Other possibilities are Magnolia and North Admiral.

It is not stated where Stelia’s family used to live, but they are Orthodox Christians, their names are of Greek origin, and Stelia and her mother fled to Greece. A nearby candidate would be the various civil wars in former Yugoslavia (1991–2001), but that is not confirmed in any way, and can be hard to describe as an “invasion”. Other more invasion-like possibilities are the United States invasion of Panama (1989), the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait (1990), the War in Abkhazia (1992), or the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Much earlier possibilities would be the Turkish invasion of Cyprus (1974) or the Israeli invasion of Lebanon (1982), but those would likely make Stelia too old.

It is not stated explicitly or shown how the Crew managed to insert themselves as Palmer’s moving crew.

It is unclear why Lorelei did not seek out help or advice from Kyra. Some possible explanations are:

* Alex did not know about Kyra, and proposed asking Sierra before Lorelei could bring up Kyra.
* Lorelei did get in touch with Kyra, but she could not provide more assistance than Sierra already had.
* Lorelei wanted to preserve any favors she could ask Kyra.
* Lorelei wanted to keep the operation in as small a circle as possible.

## Trivia

Ibiza does indeed host an annual fashion show and is known for its music culture, especially electronic music.

Earlier stories usually contained references to real-world art and music. This story shifts to only using fictional artists.

Alex thinks about an armoire attacking him, probably a callback to the events in “Guardians”.

“Agent Smith” (Lorelei) and “Agent Johnson” (Alex) might be a reference to the agents of the Matrix movies. An alternative source for “Johnson” could be the agents Johnson of the Die Hard movie.

## Publication history

“Amends” was first published on Elliott Kay’s Patreon on July 7, 2022. It was re-published in *Low-Key Calamities* on February 21, 2023.