by M. D. Laird
After returning to the guild from her horse ride, Eve and her guards then travelled to Lycea to attend the wedding of a family friend. Eve had barely had a chance to visit Lycea recently save for a few hours on Christmas Day, but she had promised her mother that she would try to make the wedding. The timing couldn’t have been worse but the opportunity to get away from Anaxagoras and spend some time with her family was very welcome.
Eve had felt some anxiety about attending the wedding. The bride and groom were also friends of her childhood friend and ex-boyfriend William Farley, the guardian who had introduced her to Anaxagoras, and she expected him to be there. Eve was nervous about seeing him after they abruptly ended their relationship and she exiled him from Arkazatinia, but she had missed him terribly. Despite everything that happened in her life, there was rarely a day when she did not think of him.
Eve was disappointed to learn that Will had been unable to attend the wedding. She felt almost teary having rehearsed an apology and a speech to regain his friendship.
“You could write to him,” said Cassiell.
Eve nodded slightly not wishing to be seen communicating with the guards who were invisible to the other guests. Eve was wrenched from her thoughts by a feral growl from Raum. She whipped her head around to see what had caught his attention and she saw her ex-fiancé, Jason, striding towards her. Eve sucked in a breath. She had not expected Jason to be here. He knew her friends through her but they weren’t close and it hadn’t occurred to her that he might be invited.
“We can’t protect you from humans,” Raum said. “We need to leave…now.”
“I can deal with him,” she muttered.
“You can’t use your magic,” said Cassiell anxiously.
“I won’t.”
“Eve,” said Jason, he plastered a smile on his face, though he seemed to be masking anger. “I can’t believe it’s you. What… I don’t even know what to say to you after everything you’ve done. How could you just leave me like that?”
“You hit me,” said Eve quietly.
“What? Eve, you know not to wind me up when I’m tired. You didn’t need to leave,” he said, exasperated. “You didn’t even say anything. I didn’t even know you’d left until those goons showed up, I thought I just kept missing you. You didn’t take any of your stuff or your car. It was like you’d disappeared from the face of the earth. Everyone at work was asking me where you were and I didn’t know what to say. I’m sure they thought I’d murdered you.”
“I got the chance for a fresh start, and I took it. I had to leave straight away.”
“A fresh start doing what? I don’t understand, Eve. Your mum wouldn’t tell me anything, but I got the impression that she didn’t know anyway. You at least owe me an explanation.”
“I don’t owe you anything, Jason.”
“Eve… I…I’ve missed you.”
“You were a terrible boyfriend, Jason. You had me spending my life in fear.”
Things haven’t changed much.
“I’m sorry,” he said, frowning.
“I was always terrified of what mood you would be in when you got home.”
“I can get help. I have before, but I can do it right this time,” Jason pleaded.
“I hope you do, Jason. I really hope you do and you don’t hurt anyone else,” she said, recalling the story Calab had told her of Jason condemning himself to Hell. He appeared puzzled. “I heard about the girl you lived with who you put in hospital.”
His brows furrowed. “So that’s why you left? Whatever that bitch told you, she is lying,” he said, trying to contain his anger.
“You’ve hit me enough times for me to know it is possible.”
“I tried.” He snarled. “I tried to apologise, but you’ve never known when to let things drop. It’s no wonder I hit you, Eve.” He balled his fists and Eve willed him to try something. It had been a while since she had put her combat training to good use and she knew she could wipe the floor with him. She could get revenge on him for every bruise he had ever given her.
“You’re better than this, Your Majesty,” said Cassiell. “Don’t do this.”
He deserves it.
“You need to control your temper, Your Majesty,” said Raum. “Revenge is not good for the soul.”
Revenge is just what my soul wants right now. She sighed. They’re right…as usual.
“I don’t want to argue, Jason,” she said calmly.
He frowned. “I don’t either,” he said. “Will you have a drink with me?”
“I’m sorry. I’m leaving soon.”
He nodded though his irritation was evident. “Did you leave me for someone else? Was it one of those men who told me you had left?”
“No,” she said. “I left because we weren’t right for each other. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“I’m sorry I hit you,” he muttered.
“You should get help with your temper, Jason,” she said. She felt like a hypocrite. Her temper was growing foul. “I hope you can, and you do meet someone else.”
“I have met someone else,” he said. “I’ve been trying. I haven’t lost it with her.”
“I hope it works out.”
Eve said her goodbyes to her friends and family before climbing on board the outrider and making her way back to Arkazatinia.
“Can he change?” she asked her guards. “Could Jason change his fate? Can he ever control his temper?”
“His fate?” asked Cassiell, puzzled.
“He’s going to Hell. Is it too late for him to change that?”
“Your Majesty, you’re not supposed to know that. Mr Hallward should never have told you.”
“I know. Is it, though?”
“Please don’t ask about our decree, Your Majesty.”
She nodded and cast her eyes to the floor. “I’m sorry.”
“Is it the boy you are worried about or are you concerned for your own fate? I know you worry about your temper and about what High Prince Asmodeus told you.”
Asmodeus had told her that her temper would be her undoing. She cringed at the memory. “I suppose I am. I just get so angry, and I’m afraid that I will seriously hurt someone, maybe even kill them.”
“It’s not too late for you, Your Majesty.”
Eleanor spent the afternoon in Thomas’ office waiting for Thomas and Mr Hallward to return from visiting Nathaniel. She was not sure if she had stumbled upon anything conclusive, but she had certainly found something suspicious. Most of the documents Mr Hallward had captured copies of had been records and had not seemed important. There was a lot of personal correspondence from lords making various requests. Eleanor could see from the letters that her father often played the lords off against one another to get the highest payment towards the Crown. She felt enraged when she saw a letter from James’ father apologising for his son’s betrayal and thanking the king for his generous offer of lands and a title. Eleanor tried to put her anger aside and look through the other documents.
More personal correspondence pertaining to the farmlands and the cost of flour. A lord reported a record harvest from the king’s lands which would typically lower the price of flour; however, the lord suggested that the haul was stored away so they could charge more for it. Eleanor hissed. No doubt the king had agreed to that.
There were other administrative documents about the guild staff and the king’s army detailing their posting and salaries. It was in this paper that Eleanor had found something of interest. She turned to look at it again as Calab and Thomas returned.
“Nathaniel has assured us that he has given no adamantine to the king,” said Thomas. “He has also given us every key he has. Did you find anything?”
“Perhaps,” she said. “I found a letter from James’ father apologising for James’ betrayal and thanking him for his duchy.”
Thomas frowned. “Anything…relevant.”
“Something a little odd,” sh
e said, indicating to the document. “There is a small team of men who work on rotation at some kind of outpost on the coast a few miles south of Rexalis.”
“So?”
“Well, it is out of place. There is nothing there that I can think of, and there are no other outposts that I can see from these documents. If it was for defence, you expect they would at least have one north of Rexalis. Surely it is worthy of investigation.”
Thomas nodded. “Hallward and I will visit tonight after we have investigated the guild and the bookkeepers. We will leave for Arkazatinia early in the morning. We’ll try and visit all three guilds tomorrow and head for Vernasia the following day. Hallward is going to stick around and try to spy on the king and his associates.”
“I have to ask, Mr Hallward,” said Eleanor. “I just want to rule it out. Was it you who gave the king adamantine? Did you lose your princeship because you breached your decree?”
Thomas laughed loudly.
Calab shook his head. “I promise you I did not.”
“I love that you asked him that, Princess,” said Thomas. “But if anyone did breach decree, then we would know about it—an example would be made of them. If the king has adamantine given to him by a demon, then it is because he has indeed found a loophole.”
“Which reminds me. There are a few hours before supper,” said Mr Hallward. “I should study the Michælis.”
Eve had felt awkward arriving in the fae realm. Orrla seemed perturbed when Eve had asked for her to provide rooms for her guards who usually left once they had delivered her safely to the realm and returned to collect her at the end of her trip. Eve had kept it to herself that she felt at some risk from Orrla and assured her that security had just been increased wherever she was.
Eve could not help feeling pained by Orrla’s opinions. She knew she was probably just agreeing with Ezra who was notoriously pragmatic, but still, she had thought they were friends and Eve could not imagine ever wanting a friend to end their life because things were becoming difficult.
Orrla seemed a little strained with Eve, though she maintained her professionalism. “I wonder if your instruction may be better coming from an alchemist now,” she said. “I can still help, of course, but an alchemist will help you to understand equivalent exchange better than I could.”
Eve agreed and said that she would try to arrange instruction. Orrla continued to teach her what she could. Orrla had essentially been working with Eve on control and accuracy. Eve hadn’t explored her powers in any great depth and had no idea what she was capable of or what limits she had. Her power terrified her, but knowing she was an alchemist had helped put it into some perspective. Eve had learned that she could break things, torture people and shield herself on her own, but understanding that she was using alchemy helped her to understand why.
She thought back to her early conversations with Calab when he had tried to explain it to her. He had said that it was rearranging atoms. The explanation was simplistic, of course, but it helped give her a foundation for what she was doing and what she may be able to do. When she broke something it was because she was rearranging an object from its current form to another form—usually a mangled mess. When she shielded herself, Orrla had explained, she was rearranging the air around her to protect her by creating a vacuumed space that nothing—not even other magic—could pass through. Demon claws and angel blades could tear through this air wall eventually destroying the vacuum, but she tried to ignore that fact. Thankfully the angels and demons had no choice but to be on her side and while they could make things difficult, they could not attack her.
She had not managed to understand why she could torture people with magic and had not wanted to ask Orrla.
I’ll figure it out.
She did not want to use that aspect of her power again—she felt nauseous every time she pictured herself attacking Thomas—but she did need to understand it.
Calab’s explanation hadn’t been wholly accurate. He had suggested that equivalent exchange was not required to alter shape. This appeared to be untrue. Orrla informed her that she would need less energy to fuel her magic as she became more accomplished but she would always need to exchange something. Nothing, even walking, could be accomplished without expending energy—a fact she was all too aware of as a biochemist.
Orrla had given her the protection stone, as promised. The aegerine was a thin, fibrous, black stone, which Orrla advised would protect her magic from the influence of other alchemists. She suggested Eve wear it beneath her skin. After consulting Leliel, Eve agreed and made a small incision in her stomach, her magic’s centre, and inserted the stone before sealing the wound with a balm. Eve felt no different. Only time would tell if the stone would protect her.
Eve spent the time with Orrla trying to make things with her magic rather than destroy them as she had previously. It had meant she had to eat a feast's worth of food but Eve managed to build a shelter from stone and craft a blade from some iron-like metal she had found when pulling the stone from beneath the ground. Rather than moving atoms around as Calab had said, Eve felt as though she was playing with psychic playdough. The Anaxagorean fluid-like rock and metal was made more pliable, almost viscous, with her magic, and she had to use ribbons of her magic to mould the shapes she wanted. Some things were easy. Returning something to its original state after she had changed it seemed easy. She had barely thought about repairing the adamantine shackles. Materials seemed to want to be in that arrangement. Creating a new shape was difficult. She had to use her magic to force the material into a different confirmation, and that took a lot of energy. Throwing energy at something to break it, to force the atoms out of their existing arrangement was, again, quite easy. Manipulating the material to form shapes and structures took precision and finesse and was much more challenging.
She was exhausted when she was finished at the end of the day and was on her way to her room when she spotted Lord Tharazan.
“Good evening, Your Majesty.” He smiled and eyed her blade. “Where on earth did you find such a tragic-looking sword?”
Eve grinned. “I made it myself with alchemy.”
“In that case, I rephrase my question: where on earth did you find such a magnificent-looking sword?” he asked sheepishly, holding his hand out for the blade. She handed it to him for his inspection. “It’s actually a good, solid blade, though it needs sharpening and balancing. It would stand up in a fight.”
She smiled, taking back the blade. “Why don’t you have supper with me, I will tidy it up while we eat, and then you can have it to display in your guild as punishment for insulting my handiwork.”
“It would be my honour, Your Majesty.” He grinned before looking around him. Her guards told him there was no one within earshot. “I am here at Son Jacob’s request. He is worried about you. He is concerned that Queene Orrla had agreed with Avalon’s suggestions that you fade out and worries about you being here.”
“Lord Ezra agreed also,” sighed Eve. “By that reasoning, I am not even safe from my own people. I am being as careful as I can—my guard has doubled, and they are checking everything I eat and drink. I don’t know what else I can do.”
“I would invite you to stay at my guild, but there are those who are angry amongst my people,” he said sadly. “Why don’t you ask Jacob or Nakhiel if you can stay at their guilds?”
She nodded. “Hopefully it won’t come to that, and I will be safe in my home.”
“I hope so, Your Majesty,” he said, smiling softly. “I mean that as your friend as well as a member of your quorum. We will get through this.”
Calab had tried the last of the keys from Nathaniel and Thomas’ dungeons, and none of them had fit. He had tried picking the lock and succeeded only in burning himself. He sat back in the king’s chair.
The key has got to be here somewhere.
He had looked everywhere he could think of before trying the keys a second time.
This would be
so much easier if keys were made of adamantine.
All he would have to do in that case would be to wander around the midspace, passing his hand or body through furniture and walls until he met resistance. But Hell had never made the keys from adamantine—they were made from a hellish metal but it wasn’t—
Calab drew his thoughts sharply to a close and leapt from the seat.
Thomas had managed to locate the king’s old records amongst the crates in the bookkeeper's store room. The records went back hundreds of years. Even when he found the files containing the last sixty years, there was still a lot of information to go through. He could find no evidence of the king paying any alchemists he recognised, if the king had paid any then the information was not obvious. He yawned. It was going to take hours to go through.
I’ll bring them back when I’m done.
He picked up ledgers, replaced the crates where he had found them and midspaced out of the book keeper’s shop. Thomas hid the ledgers in the midspace inside a large oak tree before heading to the beach to meet Hallward.
Thomas had still not returned when Eleanor had fallen asleep. She had tried to wait up for him, but sleep had won. He was still not beside her when she woke in the morning. It was early—only five o’clock.
They’re probably still investigating.
It was too early to ring for tea without waking one of the demons, so she wandered into the kitchen to fetch her own tray.
Eleanor was beginning to ascend the stairs with her tea tray when Thomas and Mr Hallward returned.
“Is that the first time you have ever done any work, Princess?” Thomas chuckled.
“What do you do?” she asked sarcastically.
“I decanted our wine that time in the hotel, remember?”
“I remember. I’ve heard men working the lands complain less. Are you going to your office? I will make this for three.”
“What did you find?” Eleanor asked once they were seated in Thomas’ office sipping tea.