Hearthglen

by Daniel Schinhofen

  Magical water filtration, Sean blinked. “Your family focuses on this one task?”

  “Yes. I deal with these channels, others deal with the wells, and so on,” Watercaller replied as he set the first pipe aside. “It will be interesting to test this. We’ll need to before we sink the pipes into the earth.”

  “I have the buckets you asked for next to the building,” Silvertouch said from the porch.

  “Might as well test the first pipe and see if we’re on a fool’s errand. No offense, MacDougal.”

  “None taken,” Sean said as he went to get the buckets. “Let’s see if it works.” He carried the buckets to Watercaller, one empty and the other full of water.

  Frowning, Watercaller looked from the buckets to the pipe. “I need to be able to pour water through the pipe into the other bucket.”

  Putting his hands on the full bucket, Sean shaped the top into a spout that could fit the pipe. “There you go.”

  Lips pursed, Watercaller nodded. “I was not misled that your ability to Shape is amongst the best. Next, we need some contaminants for the full bucket.”

  “I can supply some,” Ida said, pulling her belt knife to cut some hair.

  “That will work.” Watercaller said, taking the hairs. Tossing them into the full bucket, he motioned to Sean to pick up the pipe and place it over the empty bucket. “I’ll pour. When I’m done, we’ll check the bucket for the hair.”

  “Got it,” Sean said, positioning the pipe to make the job easy for Watercaller.

  Once the empty bucket had been filled, Sean set it next to Watercaller. After a long moment, Watercaller nodded. “The rune did well, half the hair was converted. If I etch a rune onto each pipe, it will do the job... and better than our old channels. The test then becomes how long will they withstand the wear?”

  “A question. Does the rune have to be visible?” Sean asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “If I took a little bit of extra copper and made a shell over the rune, would it still function?”

  Watercaller looked a little stunned, then began to chuckle before laughing outright. “You misunderstand, MacDougal. I mean the wear of being used constantly. Every enchanted item has a finite lifespan before it breaks or the enchantment wears off.”

  “Oh. The rune is just an enchantment, then?”

  “It is one of the ways to enchant,” Watercaller replied. “The others take more energy to set, or require components to keep them active longer, which is normally only used with the strongest materials so they can withstand the strain of the magic in them.”

  “I’m learning a lot today,” Sean chuckled.

  “You’ve never enchanted an item before, I take it?”

  “Never,” Sean said with a straight face.

  “It’s difficult to learn, and only a few of the truly powerful can try to master it.”

  “You do enchanting, though?”

  “Only this single rune, which my ancestor learned so he could take this duty for the city.”

  “Ah,” Sean said, clearly disappointed.

  “Dame Mageeyes is an enchanter, or at least she has been known to dabble in it,” Watercaller said as he picked up the next section of pipe to start inscribing.

  “Well, she is a Dame,” Sean chuckled.

  “Truth,” Watercaller conceded.

  “This will take some time,” Stoneeyes said. “Could you fetch me a drink, please?”

  “I’ll handle it,” Ida said, heading for the porch.

  “I’m curious, Watercaller… do you need to be the one to inscribe the rune?”

  “It takes someone of my Talent to empower them. The rune is merely a conduit to make my job easier. Go ahead and try Shaping one; you can easily fix the pipe if needed.”

  Taking a seat next to Watercaller, Sean picked up a pipe. He shifted the completed one over so he could study the rune, then began to Shape a copy of it onto the pipe he held. It took a few tries because he missed some of the lines, but when Watercaller finished with the second pipe, Sean held out the one he had worked on.

  Taking a moment to study the rune, Watercaller’s brow knit as he nodded slowly. “Yes, this will work. Is the metal still as solid as the others?”

  “More. I didn’t want to tamper with the completed one, just in case it might have ruined the rune,” Sean said.

  “Hmm. Very well, fix the other two, and I’ll re-enchant them. If you’re capable of doing more, you can Shape and I can enchant.”

  “Deal,” Sean grinned as he picked up the two finished pipes.

  Extending his senses into the pipe as he opened Mage Sight, Sean could see small flaws all around the rune. The rune itself glowed with a deep blue energy. Glancing at Watercaller, he saw a strong core of that same energy and a decent sized cloud of it floating inside his body. Encompassing the rune with his own energy, Sean felt it running through the engraved symbol like a river following its course.

  The energy felt welcoming, and Sean touched it with his own. A surge of understanding entered his brain the moment they touched. Someone would need this exact energy type to empower the runes. Pulling back, Sean frowned when he noticed the energy in the rune was gone. Shaking his head, he fixed the pipe, and was about to hand it back to Watercaller when the urge to try empowering it came to him. Wanting to see what would happen, Sean tried to replicate the same energy that had been in the rune before. A moment later, pure white energy filled the rune, flowing through it like the previous energy had. After a couple of laps around the rune, the energy began to shift to the blue he had seen originally. Another long moment passed and it became identical to what it had been, but stronger than it had been before.

  Pulling the energy back out with a smile on his face, Sean handed the pipe to Watercaller. “Okay, this one is fixed.”

  Taking the pipe, Watercaller nodded and set it aside. “This will go much faster with you making the runes. Until you need to rest, that is.”

  “Fair point,” Sean nodded.

  “Here’s some tea, Miss Stoneeyes,” Ida said, handing the cup to the Shaper.

  “Thank you.”

  “Ida, come over here,” Sean called to her. “I want you to try and make this rune on one of the pipes. Just go slow and take your time.”

  “Of course, sir,” Ida smiled.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  It was hours later before all the pipes had runes inscribed into them and were ready to go. Sean had stopped for a half-hour to preserve the idea that he needed to rest, and Ida had to stop several times to recover.

  Watercaller had paused when they had, and even though he had only been imbuing the enchantment, he still looked worn by the time they finished. Stoneeyes had taken a number of breaks as well, even taking time to eat.

  “We’re ready to start putting the pipes in place,” Stoneeyes said. “I’m not sure our normal work will do, though.”

  “We don’t have an easy way to move stones this time,” Watercaller nodded. “We need to meld the pipes together and sink them as a single unit. That will be even harder on you, Italice.”

  Grimacing, Stoneeyes nodded, “I’m not sure I can do it. Creating the channel was hard enough.”

  “If the channel is already made, can we just feed the pipe into it?” Sean asked.

  “The straight down bit yes, but... the turn…?” Stoneeyes trailed off with a shake of her head.

  “If I can get the pipe to bend, would that work?”

  “You can’t bend the runes without breaking them,” Watercaller said.

  “Hmm,” Sean frowned. “Can you give me a gentle arc in the channel instead of a sharp bend?”

  “I can, but how are you going to Shape it that far down?” Stoneeyes asked. “No metal Shaper can manipulate that far from themselves.”

  “It’ll be a single piece of metal,” Sean replied. “As long as I can touch a part of it, I should be able to Shape it, even if it does tax me.”

  Stoneeyes and Watercaller stared at Sean for a lo
ng moment, before Watercaller shook his head in disbelief. “You’re going to meld the pipes together and Shape them?”

  “Ida will meld the pipes together,” Sean said. “Ryann, I could use your help, as well.”

  “As you command, Sean.” Ryann said, getting to her feet. “I was getting bored just sitting here.”

  “Your guard is going to help?” Silvertouch voiced the question, but both Stoneeyes and Watercaller were looking skeptical.

  “She can Shape,” Sean said.

  All three blinked at his announcement, but again Silvertouch spoke up, “You gave your guard the Talent of Shaping?”

  “Why shouldn’t I? She’s my Bonded.”

  “If she stays with you long enough, she’ll be able to Shape on her own,” Silvertouch said. “That’s why Shapers are so hesitant to take apprentices without getting a lot in return.”

  “I’m not your usual Shaper, as I’ve proven a number of times,” Sean shrugged. “In this case, she’ll be able to help Ida and we’ll be able to get this done today. As it is, she doesn’t have enough energy on her own to do more than check that the metal is solid.”

  “Ah,” Stoneeyes nodded. “I see. She’ll never be a full Shaper, but just have a trace of Talent. That makes much more sense. I’ll start on changing the bend to an arc.”

  “Nothing left for me to do until the pipes are in place,” Watercaller said as he headed for the porch.

  “Thank you for your work today,” Silvertouch told him. “I’m looking forward to trying out my new bath.”

  “It has to be in place first,” he chuckled as he took a seat and some tea. Lowering his voice, he continued, “I’m not sure MacDougal can do what he thinks he can.”

  Sean’s lips turned up at the corners when he overheard Watercaller. He nodded to Ida and said, “Go slow. Make sure they’re as close to perfect as possible.”

  “Of course, sir.”

  “Okay,” Stoneeyes croaked as she slumped to her back. “It’s ready.”

  Sean knelt and picked her up, carrying the woman to the porch. “I’ll take it from here, Stoneeyes.”

  Watercaller looked a little peeved, but gave Sean a nod as Stoneeyes settled into a chair. “I’ll tend to her. You have a daunting task ahead of you.”

  Nodding, Sean went back to Ryann and Ida. Someone has feelings... I wonder if Stoneeyes knows? He motioned the two women to follow him into the bathing room, because the pipe would need to be fed straight down from the tub.

  Out of sight from the others, Sean grinned. “Okay, Ryann. Bring in the pipes one at a time once we get started, but don’t hurry. You’re still going to check that each meld is good, and Ida will be melding them. We can work at our speed while the others rest. I’ll be holding the pipe as it feeds down.”

  “Yes sir,” Ryann said, going out to collect the first two lengths of pipe.

  “Thank you for trusting us in this, sir,” Ida said.

  “I know you can do it,” Sean told her. “It’s easy to trust when you’re certain.”

  Ida blushed, her smile bright, “I won’t let you down.” Her smile faltered slightly, “Are you sure you can manage what you say you can, sir?”

  “Yeah, won’t be a problem,” Sean told her.

  “Here you go, Ida,” Ryann said, handing off the first two sections.

  Sean shifted the giant copper tub off to the side so they could see down the hole. Sitting down next to it, he motioned Ida to sit across from him. “I’ll be holding each section, just meld the next one on top of it. Once Ryann gives it the all clear, I’ll feed it down.”

  The three of them soon fell into a rhythm. Ryann came back with the last section and handed it off to Ida. “That’s the last piece.”

  Ida nodded, her eyes dark and her breathing slow, “Good... Even with Sean helping me, I still feel like I’m about to pass out.”

  “I would give you more, but this is taking a lot of my focus,” Sean murmured, “and we need to look exhausted.”

  “I am more than just looking it,” Ida muttered as she got the last section melded.

  “It’s good, Sean,” Ryann said after a moment.

  Feeding the last bit of the pipe down, Sean left an inch of the pipe sticking out of the hole. Standing, he grabbed the tub and moved it back over the pipe. “Ida, one last thing? Spread the last inch out to help guide the water into the pipe.”

  Ida let out a groan as she lay down and touched the copper pipe. After a minute, she sighed, “Done.”

  Standing up, Sean let out a deep breath. “Okay. Ryann come here and give me your shoulder. Ida, you need to take her other shoulder. She’ll be supporting us.”

  “Don’t want to stand,” Ida grumbled as she pushed herself upright.

  “Come on, grumble-butt,” Sean said as he pulled her to her feet. “You get to rest while I dicker with Silvertouch.”

  “Rather you dicker with me,” Ida mumbled under her breath, but Sean still heard her and his cheeks went red. Seeing his blush, Ida matched him, turning crimson. “Umm.”

  “What?” Ryann asked, seeing both of them looking like awkward teens.

  “Later,” Ida blurted as she grabbed Ryann. “Get me out, please,” she said in a hissed whisper.

  Ryann propped Ida up and helped her out of the bathing room, leaving Sean alone and giving him a moment to process what had happened. “Fuck me,” Sean sighed as he waited for his cheeks to cool. “I already have two women who love me, for fuck’s sake.” Rubbing at his face, Sean hunched his shoulders and followed Ida and Ryann, slowly shuffling his feet as if he was exhausted.

  Exiting the building, he saw the other three Shapers watching him with raised eyebrows. “We’re done,” Sean said before tripping and falling to his knees. “Oh. More tired than I had thought.”

  “We’ll check to see if the channel is good and working as intended,” Stoneeyes said, getting to her feet.

  “Yes,” Watercaller said, going to her side in case she needed help.

  Ryann went back to Sean, helping him to his feet and over to a seat. “Are you okay, Sean?”

  “Need to rest,” Sean murmured as he let his eyes close.

  “Not surprising. None of us thought you’d manage it today, let alone before sunset,” Silvertouch said. “You do love surprising people, though.”

  “It’s a hobby,” Sean croaked.

  “Here, Sean, have some tea,” Ryann pressed a cup into his hand.

  “Thank you, Ryann. I’ll be fine after I rest, no need for worry.”

  “I don’t blame her,” Silvertouch said. “Worrying for her Holder is natural.”

  “I haven’t thanked you for the other items yet, either,” Silvertouch said, motioning to the chest still sitting off to the side. “You’ve held up your end of the arrangement, so here’s the gold to complete our Agreement.”

  “Ryann, take that please,” Sean said, not opening his eyes.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I must say, MacDougal, I didn’t expect you to do so much for me,” Silvertouch said.

  “Ulterior motive,” Sean chuckled. “I need this to work so I can have my own bath house.”

  “Fair, but they would have done so, anyway. You’ve given them a new challenge, and they’re eager to try new things. Considering that just a year ago they were both set in their ways, it’s refreshing to see them change.”

  “A nexus, a changer…” Morrigan’s voice echoed in Sean’s ears briefly.

  “Huh… glad to see them embrace change,” Sean said as he drained his tea, opening his eyes. “Speaking of change, I have a business proposal for you, if you’re interested.”

  A delicate eyebrow rose, a smile creasing her lips, “Oh. Is it going to change me?”

  “It’ll change things in the city,” Sean said, growing uncomfortable with her eager look. “I want to sell you the right to use the hair clip patent, to make them out of silver.”

  A small frown of disappointment flickered across her face, but her smile was quickly back.
“Oh, and what would that cost me?”

  “Thirty percent of your profit on the hair clips you sell, plus some silver stock for myself, and an introduction to the person who supplies your gems. The deal will last for a year, with the chance to extend it if we both agree.”

  Silvertouch’s light, tinkling laugh echoed in the air for a moment. “My goodness, is that all? Are you sure you don’t want half my shop as well?”

  “I don’t think you understand,” Sean said. “I’ll agree to not make any silver hair clips for sale, so you’ll be the only one who can make them.”