Beggar Magic

by Burke, H. L.

  Zeb took a handkerchief out of her pocket, held it forth, then drew back. Her bottom lip trembled. Brash’s burning eyes softened.

  “I trusted you,” she said.

  The Strains swirled about them like buzzing bees, tense and angry.

  Brash cleared his throat. “This isn’t how it looks.”

  “You said you would investigate the dead spots when you were causing them in the first place.” Leilani crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s how it looks.”

  “Well, that is . . . the dead spots are a momentary inconvenience. What we will gain through this work is immeasurable.”

  Zeb strode past him to a table. She picked up one piece of paper, scanned it, and selected another. Her brow furrowed.

  Leilani came to stand beside her. “What is it?”

  “Not what I expected. These look like medical devices.” Zeb turned back to Brash. “These schematics show how to use the amplifiers to restore the Strains to the Wordless. Why would you be investigating that?”

  Brash dropped his eyes. “I just wanted to hear them again.”

  The paper fell from Zeb’s hand and fluttered to the floor. “But I saw you use the Strains.”

  “There is a tension wire in my watch chain. Tightening it makes it rigid and--”

  “And it looks like it is floating,” Zeb whispered. “Oh, I should’ve seen that.”

  “It has fooled dozens of folk before you, Miss Brightly. Cogg was the only one to see through it. He let me keep my fellowship, but I have paid through the nose for his silence.”

  “How long have you been Wordless?” Leilani asked. She disliked the sympathy creeping into her heart. Perhaps Brash had lied, but the loss of the Strains could drive a man mad.

  “Almost five years. I had a . . . It was an accident, I swear, a fight between friends that got out of hand. I told the guards he slipped and fell. They never questioned, never guessed that I shoved him. I tried to make amends–”

  “Who was he?” Leilani interrupted.

  “My first aide, Vern Morgan.”

  “Kasan’s brother?”

  “Aye, that’s why I hired the lad. Vern’s parents died, and Kasan needed someone to provide for him.”

  “Someone like his brother’s murderer?” Leilani’s lips curled into a sneer.

  “Oh, he never knew. He’s even helping me with this, doesn’t realize it's for me. Things were going so well. Cogg even agreed to my experiments, saw the potential for greatness in them. Then the dead spots popped up, and he wanted to stop everything. When I was so close!”

  “So you killed him?” Leilani raised her eyebrows.

  “Our argument grew heated. It was a moment of passion and weakness.”

  “You seem to have a lot of those.”

  Brash winced and fell silent.

  “What you are doing harms the Strains.” Zeb’s face grew red. “It's unnatural and cruel. You’ve made them into weapons!”

  “You nearly killed me!” Leilani added.

  “No, I intentionally missed you.” He motioned towards the table with his head. On it sat the cylinder he'd been carrying the night before. “It's a portable collector, but when it gets full I use it to fill up the . . . well, I call them grenades because they explode when you throw them, but they are extremely short ranged. I knew unless you were standing right on top of it, you wouldn't be seriously injured. Making weapons was not my intent, simply a byproduct of the bottling process.” Brash shifted from one foot to the other.

  Zeb’s eyebrows hit her hairline. “Bottling process? They’re Strains, not blackberry wine. I should bottle you, you lying, worthless, murderous . . .” She burst into tears. “I trusted you.”

  “I am so sorry, Miss Brightly. I am such a wretch.” He hung his head.

  “At least you’re self-aware,” Leilani muttered.

  Brick shrugged, raised two fingers, and pointed to Brash.

  Leilani glared at Brash. “He’s right, you killed two . . . no, three! Three people! I hope you hang!”

  Brash tilted his head to the side, his mouth slightly open. “Three? Two is the correct number. That’s not the sort of thing a man miscounts.”

  “No,” Zeb sniffed back tears. “Kasan’s brother, Cogg, and Straight: three.”

  Brash drew a staggering breath. “Straight? Calia Straight? No. What happened to her? We . . . she . . . I would never hurt Calia! She isn’t part of this. Why did you say Straight?”

  Leilani and Zeb exchanged a glance.

  “She was dead in your workshop this morning,” Leilani said.

  Brash stumbled back against the wall. “No, I never . . . I would never hurt Calia.”

  “No,” said an icy voice behind them. “But I would.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Leilani turned. In the doorway, cloaked in shadow, stood a slight figure. She squinted.

  “Kasan?” Brash stammered.

  The boy raised a light vial, flooding a face filled with malice. He sneered.

  “You killed Calia?” Brash breathed.

  “You took something I loved. It was only fair that I returned the favor.” Kasan drew a small, metal canister from under his cloak and tossed it lazily up and down.

  Brash fell to his knees. “How could you know? You didn’t know.”

  “Obviously, he did,” Leilani snapped.

  Brick’s hand encircled her arm. She eyed the object in Kasan’s fingers. Her breath caught in her throat. It was the same as the projectile lobbed at her the day before.

  “Kasan, we’ve caught him,” Zeb said. “He’ll be punished. You don’t have to . . . Everything will be all right. This is over.”

  Kasan’s fist clenched around the Strains grenade. “No, this is just beginning. You Highmost think you can control everything. You act as if you are above us all. No one cared when my brother died, because he was Common. You took my brother’s life and nothing happened. Cogg covered it up, for money! As if money could pay for . . .” The aide’s shoulders shook. “I have bit my tongue and listened to your hypocrisy for the last time. The manors will fall, all of them, and you, Brash, you gave me the tools to achieve it.”

  Brash raised his head. “My collectors? What did you do to them?”

  “Enough.”

  “You have more collectors?” Zeb shrieked.

  “A grouping under every manor.” Kasan grinned. “Brash has always been greedy.”

  Brick reached towards his holstered pistol.

  “I see that,” Kasan snarled. He waved his grenade, one finger extended. Brick froze.

  “Let them go,” Brash said. “What I did to your brother was wrong. I can never make that right, and I am sorry, but these girls had nothing to do with it.”

  A ripple of rage crossed Kasan's face. “This isn't about Vern any more. No, his death may have started it, but it was a symptom, not the disease itself. The disease is you Highmost.” He spat out the word. “You isolate yourselves in your manors with no concern for how your playing about affects those beneath you. And why are we beneath you? Not because you work harder, or even smarter, as your constant state of bewilderment has exhibited, but because of the Strains.”

  The Strains shrieked like a cold wind. Leilani covered her ears against the blast. Zeb let out a sob.

  “The Strains divide us. The Strains created the Highmost, created this blight on our entire city. I will take the manors down and the Strains with them. I have the schematics for your collectors now. Once the manors have fallen, I will set them up all over Gelia until the Strains are sucked away entirely.”

  Leilani's jaw dropped, and Zeb whimpered.

  Zeb took a step towards Kasan, but Brash put out a hand to hold her back.

  “You can't do this. The Strains are alive. You can't do this to them. They are begging you not to do this. Can't you hear them?” Zeb pleaded.

  Kasan shrugged. “Not any longer, and I'm loving the silence.” He took a step back, just outside the door. “Sorry girls, nothing personal.
Can’t have you getting in the way.” With a fluid movement, he tossed the grenade and slammed the door shut.

  “No!” Brash shouted. He dove towards the projectile. Brick’s body slammed into the girls, knocking them both under the table. The Strains exploded. Leilani felt it bounce off her, deflected by her wristlet. The shrieking of the Strains blended with Zeb’s screams. Then silence, terrible, total silence.

  Leilani struggled to her feet. Zeb’s whimper fought through the ringing in Leilani’s ears. Brick’s arm moved, though he didn’t rise. Her friends accounted for, she knelt by Brash. Blood trickled from the fellow’s ears and mouth. His eyes stared blankly up at her, and the shattered remnants of the grenade lay about him.

  Zeb sat up, her hands over her ears. Tears ran down her face. Brick rolled over, rubbing his eyes.

  Zeb rushed to the door and shook it. “It won’t open. What is he doing out there?” She banged on the door. “It’s locked from the outside. That blast . . . I can’t use the Strains.” She slid to the floor, hand resting on her silver cuff. “At least these protected us.” She exhaled. “Thanks, Brick.”

  Brick stared forward. Leilani tapped her chest, remembering the sign. Brick touched his face and reached forward. His hand shook. Leilani’s heart chilled.

  “What’s the matter?” Zeb asked. “He looks stricken.”

  Leilani knelt at Brick’s side. His eyes focused forward, not following her. She touched his shoulder. He jumped and flailed out. Blindly. His hand found hers then felt up her arm to her face.

  “Brick,” she whispered.

  “Let me see him.” Zeb came to them. She passed her hand in front of his eyes. He didn’t react. “Oh no.” Zeb stood, wringing her hands. “He . . . he can’t see.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Brick huddled in the corner, his head against Leilani’s shoulder. She stroked his hair and kissed his forehead. He no longer shook, but his smile had died. She could not coax it forth.

  “You should’ve kept your bracelets, at least one. It would’ve protected you. You wouldn’t . . .” Her voice cracked.

  Zeb twisted her cuff about her wrist, staring at Leilani and the blinded guard. “It doesn’t matter. We’re running out of time.”

  Leilani looked up. “What?”

  “Kasan.” Zeb stood, unfastened her cloak, and laid it over Brash’s corpse. “He turned on the collectors. That’s why the Strains haven’t come back, what he meant when he said the manors would fall.” She pressed her body into the door and banged her forehead on the wood. “When the pressure in those canisters builds up, they’ll blast a hole through the manor above. The whole building will come down on our heads. We’re going to die here, and soon, a few hours at most.”

  Leilani tightened her grasp on Brick. His warmth gave her strength. Right now he needed her. She couldn’t let herself be afraid.

  “It must be nice to have him right now.” Zeb didn’t turn around. “I would’ve liked that. I’m not scared, you know. Just lonely. My parents will never know what happened to me. Other than you and them . . . I would’ve liked a chance to love someone. Really, really love. . . like he loves you.” She sat crosslegged, her chin in her hands. “I’m so sorry for everything I said about him. He deserves you, and that’s the best thing I could imagine saying about anyone. Anyway, I only wish . . . I could say the same about me.”

  Leilani swallowed and kissed Brick's forehead.

  He raised his head. Tears glistened on his cheeks.

  “Just pretend I’m not here,” Zeb said. “He needs you.”

  Brick pulled his arms away from Leilani and touched her chin. He waved his hand in a circle about his face, over a broken smile.

  “Beautiful,” Leilani whispered.

  Her heart shattered.

  She kissed his lips and rubbed her nose into his cheek.

  Zeb stood. “If I had the Strains, I could do something to help him.” She slammed her palm against the door frame. “Of course, if I had the Strains I’d rip this from its hinges and get us out of here. Oh, I am so useless without the Strains.”

  “Zeb, shut up,” Leilani said.

  Zeb froze.

  Leilani laughed half-heartedly. “You are my best friend, and there are a myriad of reasons for that, not one of which involves the Strains. You’re smart and vibrant, and in spite of your clueless nature, your heart is in the right place. Even when you’re wrong, like you were about Brick or Brash . . . or Vickers.”

  “I don’t want to think about Vickers right now. The funny thing is, though, if I had heard back from him in time, it might’ve been him and me down here instead of you and me.” Zeb snorted. “Now that would've been interesting.” She fell silent.

  Leilani entwined her fingers with Brick’s. “How long . . . what is Kasan’s plan? To knock down Research?”

  “More than just Research. Brash set up multiple collection sites, disguising them as part of his sensor project, most likely. If he has one under every manor, Kasan could bring them all down one at a time.”

  Leilani shook her head. “Hundreds will die.”

  “Thousands, more accurately. He's obviously gone quite mad.”

  Living with the Highmost can do that to a person, Leilani thought, though she didn't say it. Yes, the Highmost could be frustrating and intolerant, but they didn't deserve to die for it.

  Leilani pried herself from Brick’s embrace.

  He adjusted his arms to hug himself and bent forward.

  “This is ridiculous,” she said “I’m not going to just sit here. There must be something we can do.”

  She pulled a crate from the shelves. Canisters, copper tubes, glass jars . . . She pushed it aside and went for another.

  Zeb joined her. “What are we looking for?”

  “A crowbar, a hammer, anything to open that door.” Leilani threw a box of parchment across the floor. It bumped into the table Brick leaned against, and he jumped. Leilani almost went to him, but the screech of rusty nails made her glance back at Zeb.

  Zeb pried the lid off another container. “A gross of quill pens. These supplies are ancient. The manors have only stocked fountain pens for the last two decades.”

  Leilani rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the history lesson.” She climbed up onto the second shelf to reach the top. The wooden shelf swayed beneath her.

  “Whoa!” Zeb pushed it back against the wall.

  Leilani glanced down the line of crates. All appeared to be nailed shut. On the top of the last, however, coated with dust and cobwebs, sat a rusty hammer. She cried out for joy and batted at it with her fingertips. It clattered to the floor, and she jumped down after it.

  Zeb’s eyes brightened. “Yes! Yes!”

  Leilani grasped the wooden handle of the pitted, metal tool. She wedged the claw in between the door and the frame and pulled. A chunk of wood flew out of the frame, and she fell backwards onto her tailbone. Grunting, she stood and attacked the door again. Once more she chipped the frame, but the door stayed shut.

  “Maybe turn the hammer around,” Zeb said.

  “How would that make a difference. Here you try.” Leilani handed her the tool. “You weigh more than me. You’ll get better leverage.”

  Zeb wrinkled her nose. “I don't weigh that much more than you.” She wedged the claw end of the hammer in place and pushed with her whole body.

  Snap!

  She toppled, the handle of the hammer still in her hand and the head stuck the door. She whimpered, shrieked, and raised the metal tipped handle like a blade, hacking into the door. Splinters flew.

  “Zeb! Zeb!” Leilani gasped, afraid to step closer.

  Her friend continued the assault on the wood, sobbing uncontrollably.

  A piece of wood arched across the room and hit Brick. He inhaled sharply, and Leilani hurried to comfort him. He clutched her hand and scrambled to his feet, feeling forward.

  “No, sit.” She tried to push him back down, worried he’d stumble into Zeb’s rampage. He shook his head a
nd pointed towards the door. She couldn’t explain that they were trapped . . . and about to die . . . or anything. She collapsed into him with a long suppressed sob. His fingers trailed across her damp cheek, and he shook his head. His arms surrounded her. She clutched his shirt and closed her eyes, wishing once more he had kept the wristlets, and she had been the one who had been blinded.

  “Zebedy?” a muffled voice called.

  The frantic sounds of Zeb’s assault on the door stopped. Leilani’s eyes widened, and she turned. Brick’s arms stayed around her waist like a belt.

  “We’re in here!” Zeb called. “It’s locked. We can’t get out.”

  Leilani heard the grating of a rusty deadbolt, and the door swung open.

  Vickers stepped into the room, a lantern in one hand. He set it down and put his hands on Zeb’s shaking shoulders. “Are you all right?”

  “How?” She gaped at him.

  He glanced at the body on the floor, grimaced, then cleared his throat. “Your letter. When I got it, I came right away to see you, and Goodly was spouting some nonsense that you killed someone and locked him in a room and disappeared into thin air.” He wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. “They were putting together a search team, when all hell broke loose. Those dead spots you mentioned are everywhere. They’ve consumed the entirety of Research Manor. They started evacuating, and that gave me the chance to come look for you. I knew you were somewhere in the tunnels. I’ve been looking for almost an hour now.”

  Zeb gasped and pulled away from him. “The collectors!”

  She rushed out into the middle of the room. Vickers took up his lamp and followed. Leilani urged Brick forward, her arm hooked into his.

  “Zeb,” she called out. “If it is going to explode we need to get out of here, now.”

  “Explode?” Vickers staggered back a step. “What are these things?”

  “I can fix them,” Zeb growled. “The pressure needs to be evened out. It’s just an issue of . . .” She opened a valve, and Strains escaped with a whistle like a teapot.

  Vickers covered his ears.

  “Everyone, look for valves. Open the valves!” Zeb ordered.