how could she even be alive?
'You saw something in me too, didn't you?' the blonde woman asked, curiously. Melissa nodded, and replied: 'You have the same organs as normal people, but they seem to be wired differently. I'm amazed your are even alive, yet here you are, stronger than anyone except maybe your own house mate.
I'm stunned.'
That also seemed to explain a lot to them, though not to Melissa. So she posed the important question: 'Might I have a look around your practice?
Lukas is thinking of opening one to treat the poor and the destitute, those who could never afford your services, but it needs to look real.'
That also caused them to look at her strangely. She explained: 'He heals with magic, but magic-use is forbidden, so he needs to fool his patients into believing he uses medicine.'
That got a sarcastic look from Victor, who said: 'So many quacks trying to make people think they can heal by magic, and your friend can really do it and wants to hide it. It is the world upside down. But be my guest, I'll give you a tour myself.'
'Where is the little girl?' Melissa asked.
'She's having a nap,' Adison explained, 'she always comes to the theatre with us to watch her dad play, so we let her nap before it starts.'
'I guess she is safe with all of you,' Melissa said, 'most black mages seduce young talents with promises of education or power. But with the three of you around she cannot be seized by anything less than an army. Still, she would be safer with her talent hidden, as mine is.'
'If I have talent, as you call it, shouldn't I be able to see it in others as well?' Adison asked.
'You should, maybe you've just never tried. It is like looking at something with other eyes. Let me show you my talent.' Melissa gathered power and shaped a tiny ball of fire in her right hand.
'Did you see a light within me?' she asked Adison, ignoring the look of surprise on the doctor's face. Mina did not seem surprised to see magic happen in front of her.
'I did see you light up, yes,' Adison observed.
'That is sight. Try look around you with those eyes, and you will probably see green lines running to
green balls. We call them ley-lines and nodes, they contain raw magic power. Don't touch them without someone present who knows magic, they
can be dangerous.'
She checked Adison's power and found her in possession of an impressive stash of personal power. 'I'm amazed you have been able to develop so much power without guidance.'
'Oh, but I had guidance, I studied under a Chinese master,' Adison said,
'but apparently they work intuitively, whereas your tradition works scientifically. Still I want to learn, we're not in China, and if mages exists, we need to be able to spot them in time. We've been fighting blind for more than a year.'
Adison decided they had talked enough, they needed to think this over first, then get more information, preferably with Vincent present.
She offered: 'Let me show you the practice, we've only just had it built, we used to make house calls only, but it was a little dangerous at times.'
As they entered the practice, Melissa was amazed at its simplicity. There were cupboards with drawers, all marked in a neat hand. And a long table for a patient to lie on. And a desk with a chair for the doctor to sit down and write or draw.
There was a little sink, and a tap, but apparently no hot water. That would be very handy though, hot water could be used to clean a lot of things, and Melissa suspected they had a lot of rich patients, well able to afford a practice with the latest innovations.
'Thank you for showing me, it looks very professional, it must make things a lot easier for you.'
'It does, we used to spend hours walking around in the city, and especially in the dark that wasn't always safe. Which is why we learned how to defend ourselves.'
Melissa nodded, if she hadn't discovered magic, she would have wanted to learn how to fence or shoot.
'Shall we check on the boiler?' she said, 'it is possible they are done.'
And they were, everything had been installed and checked for leaks. Paul had filled up the chute, and was at that very moment using magic to light it evenly.
'Is he doing it? Are you using magic right now?' Adison asked intently.
Looking caught, Paul admitted: 'I am, it is so much faster than using tinder and matches. So you've discovered sight, that is good. I guess Melissa has told you not to touch the ley-lines, the green lines? They're dangerous,
you need guidance to do that. Will you get the rest? I'm going to explain how to work this baby.'
And as everyone gathered around, Paul explained how to stoke the boiler, and how to keep it filled with water, how to check the pressure. 'It will take an hour to heat up, but it can stay lighted day and night, even in summer, on the same amount of coal you'd use to stoke that beast once a week.'
They went into the kitchen, where Victor paid Paul, and mentioned a very low price for the old boiler, to be delivered to their door. Paul objected: 'That is too little, Victor, that bronze is worth a lot more. I can afford a fair price, I could hook your kitchen up to the boiler for what it is worth, and make a profit as well.'
'Done,' Victor said, 'you pay for the delivery of that beast, and if we decide to do the kitchen and the practice, you do the kitchen for free and we'll pay for the practice.'
They shook hands on that, and they left their address and a very modest payment for the delivery, and Paul urged Victor to send word if something didn't work as it should.
Then they took leave and unlocked their bicycles, and Melissa saw instant comprehension in Adison's eyes, that was the way of the future, fast and simple, no stables, no manure.
Victor looked positively envious, he was going to buy a bicycle within the year, Melissa was sure of that.
They took a different road back, and got lost in one of the most dismal neighbourhoods they had ever seen. It was a cramped quarter, with row upon row of cheap brick houses, tiny structures with holes for windows and little gardens filled with trash, some of the gardens even had hovels in them that people clearly lived in.
There were no roads, just muddy tracks that smelled of refuse and human waste, and there were ragged children everywhere, begging or just sitting in the few dry spots, on this cold afternoon. They clearly had nowhere to go.
Besides being muddy and stinky, the path was covered in trash, they had to force the bicycles through it, and Melissa had a stun-bolt ready all the time.
Finally Paul gave a boy a few pennies to lead them out, and the boy readily did. As they crossed the river over a solid stone bridge to a part of town they knew, he handed the boy a few more pennies, and told him to share those with his family.
They hoped he would manage to hold on to them.
Lukas was distraught, he probably felt pain and despair from every corner of that place, and when they got home he wanted to sit with Melissa, his head in her bosom. She stroked him softly, whilst Paul prepared a quick dinner.
After ten minutes of quiet loving, Lukas asked: 'Do I detach that?'
Melissa answered: 'Yes, Lukas, remember what you told me my father said? If you don't, you'll go mad, and they'll have lost their only chance at medical attention. You need to be happy to do them any good.
Maybe we should go to that guy's show, I think he may be a good actor and it will be fun.
And we will all accompany you on regular trips to that neighbourhood, and you can find a few people to heal each time, carefully detaching yourself from their pain afterwards, to stay sane, and useful to them.
And you can always think of the baby, Lukas.'
That got a smile out of him, and then Paul said that dinner was ready.
Food always made Lukas happy, and as they sat at the table he said laughing:
'That little girl just now, she could hardly talk, yet she asked me: Are you a man?
That is when I checked her for talent. Do you think I was wrong to tell them?'
'No Lukas
, it was a dangerous thing to do, but that little girl had been in danger before, no doubt because of her talent,' Melissa replied.
Paul nodded, and observed: 'They will not tell anyone, they have too many secrets themselves. The pale man, he was something very strange, and the large blonde woman as well, she seemed put together all wrong. It was a miracle she could live.'
Here, Lukas contradicted him, saying: 'Actually, Paul, it was not. She did not live, she had no pulse,
she was a dead person walking. How I'd love to have a really good look at her. Some of the sailors used to tell stories about undead people drinking other people's blood, they called them Varkolak. Maybe this woman drinks blood too.'
'That is very scary, Lukas, a dead person walking,' Paul observed, then laughed and said 'you know people here still think that if you scare a pregnant woman she will have an ugly baby, so be warned. Whatever that lady is, her man is very generous, for that boiler contains so much bronze of an excellent quality, I will not have to buy any for months.
And I will do my very best to help them protect that girl, she was cute.
What did you tell her anyway, when she asked you that question?'
'I couldn't lie to her,' Lukas said, 'so I admitted I wasn't exactly, and asked her to not tell anyone. I also promised to tell her what I was if we had the time, which we hadn't. But she's probably forgotten by now, and even if she does tell her parents, they have an undead woman living with them, so what do they care?'
It had been a weird afternoon, but very profitable, and kind of entertaining, so they didn't make much of it. Paul did hope they'd deliver the boiler as promised, he usually trusted people and had not been disappointed yet.
Chapter 24
And indeed, a few days later they were hard at work in the workshop when there was a knock on the door. Lukas opened it and found the strange-looking actor and his blonde lady standing in front of it.
He said: 'We've thought we might bring the boiler as well, I suppose you'll need help to lift that brute inside.' And he pointed behind him, where a Chinese man was keeping an eye on a mule-cart, laden with the large boiler.
Lukas called Paul, and together they decided where to put the monster, out of the way, though they could melt it to smaller pieces quite easily with their newly found magic skills. Then they lifted the thing together, the guys realizing the other man only let them help to look less conspicuous. One man lifting that massive thing would be a sight no-one in the street would forget, better not give suspicion a breeding ground.
The Chinese man had unhitched the mule and tied it to a fence-post, but Lukas offered to put it in the back-yard to graze, and he accepted with a grin.
He introduced himself as Bruce, and said: 'I'm not going to let Vincent try out a whole new kind of sword all by himself, but I cannot let the mule wander either, my dad would kill me. Or try to.'
Lukas took an instant liking to this fellow, he had always heard the Chinese in London were close-knit, but Bruce had very easy manners. He invited him into the workshop, where Adison was looking around in wonder, and Vincent was looking over the swords Paul and Lukas had made together.
Lukas thought they were beautiful, and Vincent clearly thought so too, but as fighter it was not the beauty of a sword that mattered. Bruce introduced himself to Paul and Melissa, too, and was handed one of the swords by his friend.
Vincent observed: 'I've felt free to invite a friend, for if we're to try these weapons it is best to have a real opponent. Do you have a space that is a bit higher, maybe?'
As they all looked up, Lukas thought the workshop was high enough to spar in, but Paul offered his living-room, somehow certain that these guys
would not damage the panelling. It was clear Paul was looking forward to seeing a good fight with their beautiful handiwork.
Taking the swords upstairs, Adison said: 'The boiler is working perfectly, Paul, and Lukas of course. And I am under orders of Victor to ask what one of those vehicles you used will cost him, bicycles he says they are called.
You'll want one too, Vincent, it's a long way to St James', and it would pay itself back within six months. Wait until you see it.'
Paul opened the door to his apartment, and all three of their guests uttered the expected gasps of surprise and admiration on beholding the little palace.
Adison took her time admiring everything, but the men were clearly eager to try those swords, they had no time to spend on perfect beauty unless it was that of the weapon in their hands.
Helping Paul to push the furniture to the lower part of the room, Lukas saw both men warm up from the corner of his eye.
Then they stood opposite one another, and exchange a greeting, clearly a well-established ritual amongst English swordsmen. Suddenly, Vincent lunged at Bruce with lightning speed, and the reason for wanting a higher space to fight in became clear, for the Chinese man seemed to fly away from the sword, landing a few feet behind from where he started.
But the goal of their spar was to try the swords, so Bruce immediately retaliated, attacking the larger man heads-on, and Vincent caught the blow on the sword. Steel rang on steel, and an exchange of blows resulted, that left Lukas wondering if it was safe for these fighters to spar without protective clothing.
He heard Adison say: 'They always spar without, they say if they can't keep from getting hurt they're not much of a swordsman. Something doesn't ring true in that statement, but since they never really hurt each other we leave it that way.'
Galan had been impressive, but this was a wholly different level of sword-play. Paul was thrilled to see their work put to such good use, and at the same time he was really glad he was not standing on the wrong side of these guys' swords.
The pale man exceeded his expectation of speed and strength, and he knew the man was holding back strength, for if he were to unleash all his strength the other guy would only have his agility to save him. Paul supposed Vincent did have to use all his speed to keep Bruce on his toes, for the
Chinese man moved like lightning
Blades tested, they put on an acrobatics show with swords, using the stairs to land on, and only refraining from using the chandelier out of politeness, Paul guessed, for he knew they'd trust his craft to know it would be well-secured to the ceiling.
After half an hour of intense enjoyment, the men greeted again, and inspected the blades for damage. There was none, of course, and the edges were still keen.
'That was great fun, Bruce,' Vincent observed, 'we should spar more often.'
'I'm sure you think so, friend,' Bruce replied, 'but to me this is getting hard work. You're better than me, if this was for real I'd be a dead man. You're holding back.
I wonder if I can still beat you unarmed, I hope so. Though every master wants one pupil to eclipse him, and you're mine. But this sword, it is unmatched. How was yours?'
'Outstanding, I've never held a better either, the balance is somehow different, and it is lighter than usual. You told me it is steel, crafts-master?'
Paul answered proudly: 'It is, I've found a way to make steel in small quantities, and it has more regularity inside than the usual iron that blades are made of. It will keep the edge longer and it won't break.'
'But the main question is, how did you know how to balance a sword at all, let alone a tiny bit differently, so that it fits our specific style so much better than the usual?' That man really was an actor, his face was incredibly expressive, and right now it showed astonishment.
'I designed it together with a swordsman, also a smith, who uses a style much like yours. The rest is coincidence.'
The actor laughed with an edge of sarcasm, and observed: 'I don't know if I believe in coincidence anymore, still, I want this sword, and I want Victor to have one, too.'
'Not this one, for this one is mine,' Bruce said, 'who'd have thought I'd ever own a sword.'
'All right then, what if I buy this one, and order one extra, slightly longer and slightly heavier, I'd like it even better then,
I think. How long would that take to make?'
Paul thought of the commissions they had in the running, and estimated: 'I guess I can have it ready in a week, depending on the ornamentation.'
'Done, I'll have those two then, I will pay what you ask, this sword is worth it.'
Bruce interjected: 'But I want to know how much it will set me back, I am not the lead player of the company, I've only a tiny salary.'
Of course Paul had set a price on the swords already, counting the cost of the material and the hours they had put into making them, plus a little something for exclusivity, but he suspected it would be a very reasonable price. The material was much cheaper after all, since he didn't have to buy expensive steel but could make do with cheap pig-iron. And working iron with magic was a much faster process, saving on working hours.
He mentioned the price to Bruce, who looked positively happy, as Vincent exclaimed: 'That is way too cheap for such quality! I know Bruce has a large family to keep, but I'm not going to let you murder your own business.
You need to ask at least double that, that is the normal price for a sword of that quality.'
Having expected this, Paul explained: 'I value your honesty, Vincent, but we will make money on the swords. Besides, you have already brought me some good business, buying a boiler. The doctor has given me a lot of good bronze at a very good price, and you have saved me the hire of a few strong men to take it inside.
Plus, I'm going to let you try a bicycle later, and you will want one, and those are a lot of work and they will cost you very, very dearly. So please take the swords for the price I ask. Throw in a set of free tickets to your show to relieve your conscience.'
The large man gave in, and said: 'All right, you win. You know best, it's your craft. But promise me to raise the price substantially for your next customers, or no-one will believe their quality. And I'll get you the tickets, do you have many friends?'
'I do have quite some friends,' Paul realized, and of course he had no problem promising to raise the price to what was normal, and they proceeded to the cellar to view the heart of Paul's boiler system, the large boiler that could be stoked.
Past Lives Page 40