by Lexi Ostrow
“Even in our aristocracy new order, if I had demanded your body, you would have had to give it.”
“What a pleasant reminder of my true status. Thank you.”
He winced, knowing full well his words had been the worst thing to say. “Raven, I am sorry.”
“I believe that, Benjamin. I look into your eyes, and I see how destroyed you are before me. I assure you, I am as torn asunder as you. I can still feel your kiss on my lips, your arms holding me close.” She blinked, and a tear fell to the floor. “I turned you away and thought you would use your wonderful mind to take shelter. When you didn’t leave . . . when I heard the electricity in the air . . . my heart stopped.”
“I am here.”
“Yes, and with no help from me. I could have killed you, Benjamin!” Her voice rose to a near hysterical pitch, and she looked down. “I let my personal entanglements nearly lead you to your death. It did end the lives of two guards as well.”
He heard the erratic way she breathed and knew her to be as confused as he. His heart pounded in chest far harder than when he’d been outside.
“All I hear you say is that you agree with me that we need to enter courtship properly and bring our guilds together that way, not by Order of the King.”
He was so close to her Benjamin could feel the heat radiating from her body. He was too scared to move and touch her once more, too aware of the delicate balance of power between them. Raven Nightingale had control over him because he cared for her. One day that would have sent him ranting about a woman’s place. This day it merely made him realize how quickly he had grown to care for her and how deeply.
“Benjamin Abbott, I will forever be in your debt for saving my life. I will forever owe you for telling me the secret my family kept from me. It will not be a union betwixt us that will mend our guilds. It will be this device we seek to create.”
Her eyes were downcast as she stepped away from him, turning her back on his proposal of courtship. It was only when she reached the lift that she turned to him. “There is a guest level of my guild. You may retire there, and I will instruct Levi to take you there while I find and dispatch a physician for your hand, do not think I did not notice the way you tend to it. You may borrow a steammobile to go before the king when the sun is shining.” Her hand tugged the lever down and threw the lift doors open. “Find me when the time comes to take a mage’s magic. I would like to be present to honor whichever man gives his life so that others may live.”
The door closed behind her, leaving him alone in an unfamiliar guild with nothing but his guilt to keep him on his feet.
***
“I must see the king.” Benjamin did his best to ensure his voice commanded authority as he stood outside the throne room.
As Master of the Electric Guild, he was granted access to the palace without request from the king. Once upon a time, all with noble blood could come and go as they pleased, now very few could.
The guard looked at him but did not step aside or pull open the heavy door.
“This is not a request. King Clearance sought me out just more than a week prior. He came to me, and I am coming to him with a bloody solution!” His composure dropped, and his voice roared in the open space, drawing more than one person to a halt. “Please.” The word was under his breath, but it was there.
“Do your position. Go and speak with the king. Validate my brother’s claims.” Stella hissed from beside him.
“Very well. Only because the lady asks it.” The guard moved two steps to the side, opened the door, and disappeared inside.
“Aren’t you pleased you brought me along?” Stella winked.
“I am pleased to not be going before the ruler of our country alone. I think I should have reached out to a member of the council to keep my temper intact.”
She grinned at him, an action that typically would have calmed him were the stakes not so high. “You are going to have to stop being a prick at some moment, brother. You played with fire, and it is apt that you were burned.”
“I did not request commentary on my situation with Raven Nightingale.”
Stella let out a bark of laughter that drew more eyes to them. “I do not care what you requested, Brother. I never have, and I never will. I am a woman who lies with women, a man’s opinion is of little interest to me.” Smirking, she put her hands on her hips. “Besides, I warned you how reckless your plan was. This is why you listen to your baby sister.”
Again, her antics would have brought a smile to his lips under different circumstances. “Stella, I understand I did not heed your warning. I am not an imbecile. I just never expected she would not accept my apology.”
His sister’s dramatic scoff followed. “You are not that good in bed, Brother. No one is.”
He opened his mouth to tell her to return to her home when the door opened, and the guard stepped out.
“My apologies. Please, the king will see you now.”
Straightening his cravat, he lifted his chin and did his best not to give the man an indigent look. Benjamin had never rested on society’s predispositions of the wealthy, but he certainly wanted to at that moment.
“Benjamin Abbott, appearing before me as Benjamin Abbott. It is a wonderful start.” The words boomed at him as he entered.
Benjamin halted in his tracks, bowing before his king. Stella, however, continued to walk and did not courtesy until she stood before the man.
“Yes, my dullard of a brother did do something foolish. Which is why I am here this time. Lady Stella Abbott, your majesty.”
Benjamin was shocked when King Clearance chuckled at his younger kin. Bloody hell, Stella, you are not that charming.
“I enjoy your sister, Benjamin.”
“She is a true delight.” He spoke through clenched teeth before blowing out a breath. “Your Highness, I come to beseech you for your assistance. When you called me here, it appeared you would do anything to rid the city of the sick. Did you truly mean that?”
The king’s nails dug into this throne, his hands going white from the pressure of it. “Have you found a way?”
“The mages have agreed a device I have thought of is producible and spellable. I have spoken with the Steam Guild. Their leader has offered their assistance if you grant me what I request.”
“Tell me of this device.”
His hands shook as he blew out a breath. Working on his heat bulb had been the better part of a year, but sharing it with the king made him feel as if he did not know the simple mechanics behind it.
“We know the vampires die in the sun. We know it to be a combination of the heated rays and the intensity of the brightness. I have sought to create such a bulb that could be given to all people to defend themselves. While that was not admissible to the mages, creating a set number was.”
“And what have you come to ask of me?”
“Permission to halt transport to and from the city, just for one night to work. The train stations are secure, and both myself and Lady Nightingale know it is quite a task to ask. However, the only way to do this is to attach the bulbs to trains. Every train will have one to three, and the mages can create enough of the spelled filament to ensure all major cities have enough. In time, we would not need them as my next task would be to create a way to purify the air and rid us of the disease entirely.”
“Those are large tasks, Benjamin Abbott. I am uncertain I believe the claims of magic, but if you need but one night to do so, it is yours. Begin at once.”
He swallowed hard, not knowing if telling a king no was advisable. “We are not yet ready. It will take a day or so to ensure the train the Steam Guild is sharing is set for a trial run.”
“Your guilds will ensure things are ready in three night’s time, and then I will halt all other rail transport. You may leave.”
He was frozen in place, stunned at the simplicity of the situation, and the utter terror of making certain things are set to go on time.
“I said you may take your l
eave.”
He shook his head and sputtered. “Yes, Your Majesty. At once.” He bowed and saw Stella courtesy before they turned to leave.
Once the door closed behind him, he heard his sister’s shriek of joy.
“Benjamin Abbott, you might have done it! You well and truly might be saving the city – no the world!”
“Keep your voice down.” A smile lit his face, even though the concern they had to move quickly still weighed on him. “I’ve worked so long on this. Come, let us return to the guild and send funds to the Steam Guild so they might work quickly. I will send word to Raven to meet us on the morrow. We will honor whichever mage will give his life as it is only right to do so.”
Saying the words left a horribly bitter taste on his tongue. It seemed so awful one would die so others may have a better life. They knew what they were offering when they did so. You did not seek the mages out, and the mages came to your guild.
The thought was pretty, but it did nothing to remove the blanket of sorrow that balanced upon his soul.
“Come then, Stella. I have news to deliver.”
His footstep wavered slightly, and for the first time since knowing there was magic he could use, he felt the consequence of it.
Chapter Nineteen
“You came.”
Benjamin’s shocked words greeted her the moment she stepped from the chamber. Though her disinterest in seeing him had been made clear, it miffed her that he thought she would not come to something of this nature.
“I was the one who requested to be present. The mage who gives his life deserves honor at this moment. As I am aware of his life, I would like to be a part of his death.” She pulled the mask from her face and passed it to Benjamin. “I pray you have a ceremony of sorts.”
“I do not. I was assured they would conduct everything necessary.” He set her mask inside one of the small spaces. “We will be on this level today. We have a large dining hall, and all have been invited to attend this. To wish Samuel on his way to the next life.”
Her breath caught in her throat at finally having a name. It took a moment to take in another breath of air as she thought of the delightfully lovely man she had met not so long ago. She knew only of his powers and of his testament to help, yet it was all she needed to feel the profound loss that was coming.
“How did they select themselves?”
Benjamin cleared his throat before guiding her to the right and stopping his guidance when she was before two large wooden doors. “It was selected based on the level of magic necessary to complete the task. Herald is too young, and he has too much energy to spend on such a small process. Thomas and Samuel decided amongst themselves. I do not know what was said, only that this morning, they informed me of who it would be.”
His voice was soft, likely already mourning the loss of a profound member of his guild.
“We’re asking a man to die for us this day.” Her voice wavered as she admitted the sin out loud.
“He has offered it so that others may survive.” The words were callous despite the somber way he spoke them, and he turned away from her as he pushed on the left door, swinging it inward.
“Oh my, it’s beautiful.” She held her breath as an aroma of floral scents rushed to her upon entering the dining area.
Shimmering fabric, what appeared to be burlap weaved with a silver thread, hung from the walls in arches – as if a wedding processional might walk beneath it. Blooms in a variety of hues from white to purple adorned small pots on every table. At the front of the chamber, the three mages stood, dressed in what she could only assume were ceremonial garb. All three stood with their heads cloaked and bowed over an altar dressed in white silk.
A book lay in the center, opened to a page she assumed would guide Samuel to cast his spell. Green ivy was draped on all sides of the alter, curled around golden poles with glass orbs atop them.
“This was all done so fast?”
Benjamin nodded, his attention focused on the three men on the makeshift altar. “Yes. I spoke with them first to ensure they had all the accouterments they needed.” The tension in his voice was impossible to miss, and for the first time since his lie was uncovered, she truly wanted to comfort him.
“May I speak with him? Samuel, I mean.” She added when he cocked his head at her.
“I see no harm in it. If you do not mind, I fear I must stay behind. I am struggling to maintain the face of calm and authority as we face this situation. I have said my goodbyes.”
A splinter broke off the thorns she’d built around her attraction to him. Letting her focus linger on him for just a moment, she took in the slight tremble in his lower lip and the way his body shook ever so slightly. He’s broken over this as well.
It was a small comfort as she made her way to the front of the chambers, the full skirt on her dark chocolate gown dragging over the floor as she did. So many had already taken seats that she worried she would not have the time she needed.
How does one address a mage? “Mage Samuel?” She didn’t reach to touch him, but when he turned, she honored him with a courtesy. “Is it against your ceremony if I speak with you for just a moment?”
When he finished turning, she noted he bore a smile on his lips that reached his wise eyes. There was no indication that he was moments away from sacrificing himself.
“Lady Nightingale, I am pleased to see you.”
She tried to force her mouth into a beaming grin, but her lips twitched as sadness threatened to drown her. “I would be nowhere else.” Closing her eyes, she prayed the tears that lurked did not fall. “I needed to honor you for your sacrifice.”
“It is a pleasure. When the illness first took hold of the world, we did what we could to fight it off. When we realized it was an impossibility without powers greater than our own, we took an oath to do this. In truth, I am saddened so much time has passed without a change.”
“May I, may I offer you a hug?” Her words were broken up as the sorrow continued to squeeze her.
“I would find that lovely, yes.”
She flew to him, wrapping her arms around his slender build. Tears fell and wet his chest, darkening the light robe. Pulling back, she wiped at her tears. “I am terribly sorry.”
“It is nothing. I will wear it as a badge of honor showing I will be missed for more than my magic.” He smiled softly at her. “Even if it is by a woman, I did not have the pleasure of knowing better.”
The thud of doors pulling closed drew her attention away from the mage and toward the entrance.
“It has been an honor to have met you, Lady Raven Nightingale. I wish you and the world the best of everything.” Samuel squeezed one of her hands in both of his and stepped away.
“Raven,” Benjamin’s hand came from then and wrapped around hers, and she had no reason to shove him off. Instead, she allowed him to lead her down the three steps and to a seat in the first row of chairs.
She did her best to regulate her breathing to slow the tears and the pain. Samuel must have been a wonderful man and knowing he would not see the efforts of his gift was painful.
“Thank you for gathering,” Benjamin tugged on his cravat and then his waistcoat as he walked up the short set of steps. “As you know, it has been many years since the gift of spell craft was granted to the Electric Guild. We have spent that time working to generate anything they could help with, all whilst knowing it would mean they would expend the last of their magic, and therefore their life.”
As Benjamin spoke, Raven found her eyes blurring over, but more importantly, she found her mind wandering. Samuel had a family somewhere, and he had too. What must they think of his decision? What must they worry over?
Benjamin could be giving his life. He nearly died twice to reach you. Although she was uncertain if he was in danger the first time he rescued her, he had been the last visit.
“It is at this time that we will honor the traditions these three men abide by. This is not a matter of religious treason, and if
you see it that way, you are kindly removed from the services of the Electric Guild.”
Though she did not look, she heard no sounds of rustling after Benjamin’s words.
“Then, I will say this.” He turned his head toward the trio. “My life has been a tumultuous experience. There will never be a way to honor the gift these men, and all mages, give to us. To see the world without fear and full of life – there is little more we could ask for.” He choked, and she noticed he wiped his hands over his face. “Samuel, your gift is far more generous than anyone deserves, and I thank you for being the companion you have been to me.”
Raven had not realized Benjamin considered the men mate or kin. When he took his seat, in the empty one beside her, she nearly forgot herself and slipped her hand in his.
“Samuel Bryn, I ask that you place your hand upon the glass orb of your choosing.” Thomas’ words quivered, and he sounded so much older than the man she had met.
When Samuel complied, placing his hand upon orb on the pillar nearest where she sat, she sat up straighter.
“Samuel Bryn, we ask that you give you magic to the orb, to the people,” Herald spoke, his voice loud and clear.
“B'fhéidir go mbeadh mo chumhacht agat go mbainfidh sé bláth cosúil le bláthanna, mar sin déan é.” Samuel’s Irish tumbled out beautifully, though she had no idea the words he spoke.
A glowing white light emanated from the tips of his fingers. The light swirled for a brief moment and then began to drip, with the thickness of syrup and the pearlescence of an opal. Her breath held in her throat as the streaming brilliance tapered and then stopped.
Thomas was there, his arms extending to catch Samuel as he stumbled. Together, with Herald, they laid him upon the altar. Herald murmured something that she could not hear, and the ivy curled around Samuel as he sat, gentle like a lover. It did not entrap him, merely curled the tips of its vines around his wrists and ankles.
“Samuel will sleep now, and with that sleep, he will pass onto the next part of his life. Our ancestors will welcome him with open arms after a long life. Herald and I will use his magic to create the spelled filament necessary to ward off the evil that has taken this land.”