by Andrew Rowe
“Well, yes, but I might have read slightly ahead.” She reached up and adjusted her glasses. “I just love finding new sources for enchantment ideas, and our first-year books were, well, sadly insufficient in that regard.”
“Sure, but aren’t most of the ones in that book Carnelian-level?”
She let out a sigh. “Yes, of course. I can’t actually use most of them yet. But I have so many ideas...”
I laughed. “That’s good. I bet you’d get a lot more out of seeing what they do here, if they’ll give us a tour.”
“Oh...I certainly hope so. I don’t have anything special like you and Sera do. I have a feeling they’ll just send me away.”
“Maybe, but we’ll see what we can do. I’m sure there’s a place at a facility like this for talented Enchanters, too.”
Cecily blushed. “I...thank you, Corin. I’ll hope so.”
We sat down with books after that, but I didn’t get much reading done. We weren’t waiting long before someone came to fetch us.
He was a tall man in an immaculate suit with the black skin of a Caelford native. His head was shaved bald and he had a spiked goatee on his chin. More importantly, he had one of the strangest auras I’d ever seen. As I watched, it flickered rapidly between red, orange, and yellow, with different sections of the aura changing at different rates. The rapidly shifting patterns were difficult to even look at.
What’s going on there? Multiple attunements interfering with each other, maybe?
That was strange enough, but as he walked closer, I felt something in the air. There was a field of pressure around him, like the world itself was suddenly pulling down on me harder. It wasn’t enough to actually force me to the ground, just enough to make my body feel heavier and more sluggish.
I’d felt something like before, with far greater intensity — from Katashi himself, the Visage of Valor. Getting that feeling again just from being near someone was more than a little terrifying.
And that wasn’t the end of the strangeness.
When he turned to look at me, I thought I saw a symbol of some kind briefly flash in his eyes. I’d never seen anything like it.
He briefly turned toward Sera and Cecily, then turned back to me. “Miss Farren will see you now.”
Sera set down her food and stepped up next to me. “Thank you, please lead the way.”
He gave her a strangely intense look, like his eyes were searching for something, then turned back toward the doorway. “This way.”
Cecily frowned, making a pointing gesture toward herself.
I nodded to her. “Come on.”
Together, the three of us followed the heavy aura out of the room. He led us down a hallway with several more doors. After that, we passed two areas with glass — or maybe crystal — walls. Glancing through them as we passed, I barely stopped myself from freezing in awe.
The rooms beyond the glass walls were filled with golems. Dozens, maybe hundreds of them, standing in rows. Workers milled about them, working on both assembly and enchanting different parts. I saw work tables where people were drawing runes that I didn’t recognize on individual limbs, as well as areas where people seemed to be speaking to inactive golems. I wasn’t sure what the reason for that could have been, but I was intrigued.
I’d known Farren Labs worked on more than just artificial attunements, but golem creation wasn’t really something I’d looked into in any detail. That was something I’d have to learn about another time, though. The man leading the way didn’t slow down to give us time to gawk or ask any questions.
We passed more sections of the building, including a few more with windows where we could see into labs. Most of these were less surprising, including labs where I saw people working on more traditional enchanting and alchemy.
I briefly paused as I saw a group of people standing around a suit of armor as someone pressed a hand against a rune — and the armor glowed for an instant before slowly floating and hovering above the ground.
I heard a series of cheers as the armor lifted off, followed by a chorus of applause.
And, for just a moment, my heart warmed at the sight.
I’d spent my whole childhood thinking of Enchanters as being less than other attuned. I’d been raised to think that, because they didn’t have immediate combat ability, they were useless as duelists — and thus, useless to the glorious House Cadence.
When I’d stood before my father and shown him my attunement, I’d been filled with shame.
But seeing that suit of armor lifting from the ground, and seeing the people cheering for the success, I felt something entirely new. A sense of pride for the accomplishment of those Enchanters, and more than that, a sense of longing to be a part of it.
Perhaps here, for the first time, I could find some measure of acceptance. A chance to be a part of a place where my attunement would be respected, not reviled.
I had to briefly remind myself that Tristan had asked me to infiltrate this place, not try to find myself a career.
“Come on.” Sera walked back to me, reaching to grab me, then stopping herself short. “There’ll be plenty of time to gawk later.”
I nodded, moving on, but I didn’t take my eyes off that group of celebrating Enchanters until the glass was out of view.
***
The man with the strange aura stopped in front of a standard door toward the very rear of the building, then knocked on the door. “Miss Farren, I have your guests.”
“Send them in, Nakht,” came a woman’s voice from the other side of the door.
I felt a brief and familiar surge of nervousness, but I suppressed it to the best of my ability.
Nakht moved to the door, but paused before opening the handle. “I will not disarm you before you enter. I do not need to. Do not make any mistakes.”
Without giving us a chance to reply, he opened the door and stepped aside.
Sera smiled sweetly at him. “You have nothing to worry about.” With that, she stepped inside.
Nakht’s eyes narrowed at her, but he said nothing further.
Cecily and I followed Sera inside with substantially less confidence.
The door shut behind us.
Inside was what seemed like a perfectly ordinary office room. I didn’t sense a single hint of enchanted material from the walls, the floors, or the door.
Nor did I sense even the slightest bit of power from the young-looking black-skinned woman who sat at a desk across from us.
Anabelle Farren — or, at least the woman who I assumed to be Anabelle Farren — looked very much like any ordinary woman in her twenties who hadn’t slept in about a week.
Her shoulder-length hair was tangled and uneven. Her silver-framed glasses were smudged. Her gray tailored suit was a little darker than it should have been right at the cuffs, like she’d spilled something on the sleeves and hadn’t bothered to change.
It was the type of look that might have made her seem less than intimidating, or even sympathetic, if her absolute lack of an aura hadn’t set off every alarm bell in my head. I could see absolutely no chance that the owner of a laboratory that created artificial attunements didn’t have any herself. That meant she was hiding her power completely, to an extent that I couldn’t even guess at what she was capable of.
It was, in some respects, even more intimidating than if she had shined bright green or blue. In those cases, at least I would have had some idea of what I was dealing with. With no aura at all, I was left with only nervous uncertainty.
Anabelle set down her pen and pushed aside a series of papers that had been on the desk in front of her, adding them to a haphazard stack on her left side. As she gestured for us to approach, I noted that her fingers were ungloved and splotched with ink. The dark marks were a sharp contrast against the glistening silver nib of her strangely elaborate pen, which I noted to have a crescent-shaped refilling mechanics in the tip. No attunement marks were visible on her hands. “I’m so sorry about the mess! I knew you were comin
g, but, ah, I must have lost track of time. Or you’re early. What day is it?”
“Tensday?” Sera tried, raising an eyebrow.
Farren visibly recoiled in her chair. “It...is? It’s...uh, hm. That’s bad. Okay. Right. Sit down?” She waved vaguely at the opposite side of the table where she was sitting. There were only two chairs.
The three of us walked closer, exchanging uncertain looks.
“I’ll stand,” Sera offered. “Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Miss Farren. Although, you mentioned that you were expecting us already?”
Sera glanced back at me, giving me a questioning look. I shook my head at her. I hadn’t sent a message ahead.
Cecily and I took seats, as Farren had asked. I was more than happy to let Sera continue to guide the conversation for the moment. Not only was she generally better with people than I was, she genuinely enjoyed talking to them. For me, meeting new people was generally an unfortunate necessity, not an interest.
Annabelle Farren might have actually been an exception for me, if I hadn’t been absolutely confident that she — or Nakht — was about fifty percent likely to obliterate me if I said the wrong thing. That sort of thing made it hard for me to be enthusiastic, even if I truly did want to know all about her research.
“Right, right. Of course. Yes, I was informed. You’re late, then. Or I’m late. Never mind.” Farren blinked, then wiped at her face, smearing a trail of ink. “Ah. I’m sorry. Tea, anyone? Yes? Everyone? Everyone likes tea, don’t they?”
“I’d...like some tea.” Cecily’s reply was tentative, her tone tinged with obvious discomfort.
“Yes, of course. Tea. Right away, Miss Lambert.” Farren snapped her fingers. Or, tried to, anyway. They were slick with ink, and didn’t make much of a sound. She stared at them for a moment, looking vaguely flustered, then clapped her hands instead.
Nothing seemed to happen, at least at first. That was odd, but it wasn’t the most concerning thing.
I was more worried about something she’d said. I was reasonably confident that we hadn’t given Cecily’s name anywhere in the building. Someone had told Farren we were coming in advance, then. And someone who knew Cecily was with us. That was a pretty short list, as far as I knew.
Before I could think about that overmuch, someone opened the door behind us. Nakht was still standing to the side of the door, but another man — in what appeared to be a traditional butler’s outfit — was in the doorway itself. He had a tray in one hand with a teapot and four cups.
“Good. Set it down.” Farren waved a hand, and the oddly stereotypical butler set down the tray on her desk. He then sniffed the air, shook his head with an expression that looked something like regret, and left the room.
“Tea!” Farren declared. She grasped the pot’s handle, wetting it with ink, and then incautiously poured four cups. She slipped one toward her, then gestured toward the rest.
We graciously, if cautiously, accepted our tea cups. Mine was roughly half-full, with a good portion of the tea that had been aimed for it spilled on the tray instead.
It smelled delicious, though. I took a sip, only to find it was still scalding hot, and very nearly had to spit it out.
After a moment of silence while we sat and sampled our teas, Farren reclined in her chair and let out a sigh. “So, you’re all here. What shall we begin with?”
Sera set her tea down, smiling. “Miss Farren, thank you again for seeing us, and for your hospitality. If you don’t mind, we have some questions for you, and perhaps some boons to ask for.”
“Boons?” Farren’s eyes widened. “I don’t give those. Why would I give those? That sounds like a goddess thing. I don’t look like a goddess, do I? Of course not!”
Farren laughed awkwardly.
We just sort of stared at her for a second, then made the world’s most unconvincing laughter in reply.
Fortunately, Sera was quick to correct herself. “Ah, sorry. I meant ‘boon’ in a more colloquial sense. Just some small favors.”
“Oh! Favors. Yes, of course that’s what you would have meant. Right, right. Of course.” Farren chuckled, giving us a look like we were all in on the same joke. “So, what sort of favors were you thinking, young Invoker?”
We had almost definitely not told anyone that Sera was, in specific, an Invoker. Perhaps the person at the door had recognized her attunement and written it down, but it was growing progressively clearer that Farren knew more than she should...and that she was trying to hide that fact.
Badly. Comedically badly.
Maybe she was just pretending to hide things badly, as another layer of trickery? That sounded a little absurd, but Keras had warned me about Farren using obfuscating eccentricity to her advantage.
Sera gave a strained smile. “I believe each of us has something to ask you, but the main reason for our visit is in regards to your research.”
“It’s all perfectly legal, I assure you, in spite of what my siblings...” Farren winced, shook her head, then continued. “Sorry, sorry, tangent. I do that sometimes. Tea? Did we have tea? Yes, of course.” She reached for her teacup, sipped, and set the cup down. “Where were we?”
“As you likely know, we’re students from Valia that are here on our winter vacation between semesters. While we’re in Caelford, we were thinking that we could, perhaps, learn a bit about the work you’re doing here. Perhaps you could consider giving Corin and Cecily a bit of training, as a way of incentivizing them to come work here after they graduate and finish their service.”
Farren looked at Sera, tilting her head to the side in confusion, and nearly spilling her tea in the process. “Why wait that long? They can just come work for me now.”
I had to respond to that. “What do you mean?”
Farren blinked. “I meant what I said, obviously.”
I took a breath. “We’re legally mandated to finish our last year at school and do our years of service. It’s not optional.”
“Oh, that? I already signed the paperwork. You’re fine, I just need to put it in the mail. Unless I already did.” Farren nodded, more to herself than to us. “I might have.”
“You might have mailed away...what exactly?” Sera asked.
“Oh, just papers to get you out of all that school and military nonsense. You’re here now, no need to go back. I’ll take care of it. Unless I already did.”
My mouth opened, then shut again.
I sincerely did not know how to respond to that, or to this person in general.
Sera was, it seemed, at least somewhat less flustered. Perhaps her time working with summoned monsters had acclimated her to dealing with people with unusual mindsets. “That’s very kind of you, but I don’t believe we’ve agreed to anything yet. Those papers you may have sent...they wouldn’t get us discharged without our own involvement, would they?”
“Oh, I suppose you could say ‘no’, if you wanted to. I don’t see why you would.” Farren set down her tea again, looking Sera straight in the eyes. “After all, now that you’ve had a taste of real power and knowledge, why would you settle for mediocrity?”
Sera’s eyes narrowed. “Our friends and family are back in Valia. And our teachers are not mediocre.”
Farren shrugged. “If you say so. And I suppose if you don’t want my help, you don’t need to accept it. I won’t waste time on you if you don’t want me to.”
Sera made a forced smile. “We’ll have to consider your...generous offer. Perhaps we could just spend a little time here to see the place before making any longer-term decisions?”
“Oh, yes, of course.” Farren nodded. “I suppose that would be the proper sequence of events. Yes. You may tour the facility. For…let’s say one work week? You can show up on the weekend if you want an extra day. And hm. Your scarring.”
Sera frowned. “What about it?”
“You want it fixed, right? We’ll make a trade, later. Visit me in a few days. Or less. Or more. Try to surprise me.”
“I..
.will do my best.” Sera turned to me. “Corin, did you have anything to ask her?”
I nodded.
Before I had a chance to speak, however, Farren turned to me. “Right. Yes, I’ll teach you.”
“You’ll...teach me?”
“Yes, I already said that, I think. Try to keep up, it’s very distracting when you fail to.” She shook her head. “Anyway, I believe that’s...no.” Farren turned to Cecily. “Go take your next Judgment, you’ll be fine. We’ll talk after that.”
Cecily stared at her. “I...will?”
“Yes, of course. I said so. Now, go ahead. I’m waiting for you.”
Cecily gave me a helpless look.
I wasn’t quite sure what to say, either. “We’ll, uh, consider your offer. When should I come back about...teaching?”
“Whenever you get here is fine. But not now.” Farren shook her head. “Definitely not now.”
I took a breath. “Right. Thank you.”
“No, don’t thank me. Not until we’ve started, which we definitely haven’t yet, I think.” Farren frowned, tried to sip tea that was no longer in her hand, and then stared into space for a moment.
Sera and I exchanged glances.
“Miss Farren, thank you for your time.”
“Never thank me for that, Sera.” Farren gave her a sharp look. “I didn’t give you any. It doesn’t belong to me.”
That was apparently enough strangeness even for Sera, so she bowed at the waist. “We’ll be going now.”
Farren stared at her without acknowledging that statement.
We silently rose and left the room.
Nakht opened the door as we approached it, and we stepped outside.
“This way.” Nakht began walking, presumably toward the entrance.
I gave one more backward glance toward Farren as the door closed on its own.
...or, I tried to, at least.
When I looked back through the open doorway, I saw only an empty and unfurnished white room.
***
Later that night, I sat down on my bed in my hotel room. Cecily and Sera had a separate room, but they were temporarily visiting mine to strategize, so they sat across from me.