Coldmaker

by Daniel A. Cohen

  Leroi didn’t return for three days.

  When he showed up he didn’t come through the main door, instead appearing from somewhere in the back of the workshop. I’d already assumed there were secret passages in and out of this place, but now there was proof.

  I was working on my Decoy Box when Leroi cleared his throat softly behind me.

  I spun around and found a different man than the one who’d left.

  His cheeks had filled out again, and his arms didn’t seem so frail. His clothes were free of oil stains, his goatee was groomed, and his eyes were alive. He had sunburns all over his face and neck, his light skin baked crisp and red, although it was nothing next to the pain.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said.

  I got up from my chair and went to the vial cabinet, picking out one of the few that I recognized. ‘You don’t have to be sorry for anything.’

  Leroi took the groan salve with a little nod, uncorking it and spreading a layer over his burns. ‘At least it’s over with.’

  I watched him cover his burns, wanting to flinch as he pressed against some of the spots. Matty and I could have had a heck of a game of whatsit looking over all that red. ‘Where did you go?’

  Leroi kept spreading the salve.

  I nodded, deciding not to pry any further.

  ‘I see you’ve been working on something,’ Leroi said, gesturing to my boxes and putting the stopper back on the salve.

  ‘I think it’s pretty good.’

  ‘We’ll see about that.’ He smiled. ‘Has the Crier told you anything else?’

  ‘Nothing,’ I replied. ‘Maybe He’s forgotten about me.’

  Leroi sat down in a chair, looking over the designs on my parchment. I’d never seen anyone’s eyes move so fast, study so intently. Finally, he gave a nod. ‘Well then, let’s build something to make Him remember.’

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  ‘It’s called a Cold Charge,’ Leroi said, dumping another scoop of the salt into the water tub. ‘And it’s the most important discovery about Cold you can learn. If you’re even going to figure out the secret to flying, then I would suggest this is the best place to start.’

  My heart thundered as I watched him work. Over the past few days the man had proven himself to be every bit the genius I was hoping for when Cam had first introduced him to me. Since his return, he’d finished teaching me the basics, and we’d moved on to the more complicated stuff: the beauty of Golem Gears, how to decode a Belisk Puzzle-Box, Esaw’s Descent technique when soldering metals, and how to tell the difference between Hacock’s Sleeping Powder from Hacock’s Purging Powder; but this Cold display was what I’d been yearning to see most.

  ‘If we are going to figure it out,’ I corrected. I was having trouble sitting still, the excitement hard to contain. I’d made it a habit of pointing out that we were a team as much as I could, hoping that if I could make him see me as his assistant, he’d want to keep me around for as long as possible. At this stage, I had no intention of ever leaving.

  Leroi dipped a finger into the water and tasted it, shaking his head. ‘This needs more salt.’

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘Because it doesn’t hurt yet,’ he said simply, scooping in more salt. Eventually he seemed satisfied, taking another taste and grimacing.

  ‘Okay,’ he said, picking up one of the Drafts he had placed on the nearby table. ‘Let’s talk about Cold. What do you know about it?’

  I shifted in my seat, impatient for him to toss in the Draft and make something exciting happen. ‘Falls from the sky. It’s the enemy of the Sun. There are five different kinds. It’s sort of important.’

  Leroi chuckled. ‘Think about your invention,’ he prodded. ‘The Saffir. What did you call it again?’

  ‘Cold Wrap,’ I replied with a sheepish grin.

  ‘Promise me one thing?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘If you figure out a machine that lets you scoop Cold out of the sky, you’ll try to be a little less literal in the name.’

  Since he had returned from delivering the anklets, he had slowly begun to open up, and I’d met a whole different man.

  ‘Noted. It will not be called the Sky Scoop.’ I wiggled my fingers under the table, itching to know more. ‘And to answer your first question, Cold also seems to be more potent in air than in water.’

  Leroi rolled the Draft around in his palm, admiring the sheen. ‘That’s because water has a lot more of Sun in it. Sun’s light passes through air with ease, so air can get cooler quickly and easily, but Sun gets caught in water’ – his fingers clenched around the Draft – ‘sucked in and hoarded.’

  ‘That makes sense I guess.’

  ‘And salt has the most Sun in it,’ Leroi said, rapping his knuckles against the wooden barrel, ‘since salt is what happens when the growlands get left at Sun’s mercy for too long. Salt doesn’t take to Cold at all.’

  I looked deep into the Draft’s surface. I hadn’t thought much about the properties of Cold so far. I wondered if that made me a bad Inventor, but then I remembered this was the first time I’d ever been in the position to experiment with something as precious as Cold.

  Leroi manoeuvred the Draft over the tub and let it fall in. I knew what to expect, but I still couldn’t help my mouth from dropping open in awe.

  Instead of dissolving or dropping to the bottom as nature usually demanded, the Draft hung on the surface of the water, submerged halfway in, bobbing gently.

  ‘In a tub this size’ – Leroi dragged his finger through the air, counting – ‘the Draft should be gone in two weeks and six days.’

  ‘Gone?’ I asked, leaning forward in my chair.

  Leroi stuck a finger on top of the Draft and pressed it down, but it refused to go quietly, rebounding against his touch. ‘The tub is not all salt. There’s still some water that will take the Cold. But—’ Leroi walked over to one of his trinket cabinets ‘—Here’s the interesting part.’ Thrusting a hand into the back of the top shelf, he returned with a pair of black gloves and a long metal pole. The pole had a small glass dome on the end, and inside was a bit of wirework that I couldn’t see properly. ‘The solution doesn’t change temperatures. The salt gets angry that it has to share water with its enemy, and so they fight. And the solution takes advantage of the battle.’

  Leroi snapped on the gloves and dipped the end of the pole into the water. I expected something explosive – probably all the rampant energy running through my body – but the water remained still.

  ‘Give it time,’ Leroi said, reading my face. ‘It’s only just begun.’

  I got up from my seat, inching closer to the tub. After a few quiet moments, the small dome began to light up. The shine was dim, but it was there.

  ‘What is it?’ I asked.

  Leroi shrugged. ‘Energy. Motion. Light. It’s a lot of different things.’ He pointed to the pond of moving gears, and the domes of light – which I’d learned were called ‘Sinai’ – and even the giant fans that needed no crank to spin on their own. ‘I’m still figuring it out myself. It’s a relatively new discovery.’

  I pointed to the dim light on the pole, and then to the nearest Sinai, my eyebrows raised.

  ‘Those had Shivers dissolved in their solution, not Drafts,’ Leroi said, anticipating my next question. ‘The bigger the Cold, the bigger the fight, and the more charge collected. The Sinai last months before they need more Cold.’

  Then my finger went to the clay pots.

  ‘Sharp mind. You can dissolve more than one piece of Cold in the solution. It compounds, getting even stronger than it should. Those are concentrated charges for bigger experiments.’ Leroi gave a bashful chuckle. ‘I once had grand ideas as well.’

  A question popped into my mind among the flurry of new information. ‘Does that mean Cold is alive?’

  Leroi tapped his lip, which was still sunburned so he stopped straight away. ‘That’s a good question, but I wouldn’t say it’s alive. It’s more representa
tive. Salt is a product of death, and Cold is a product of life. Without each other they are nothing, but together they have power.’

  ‘Why isn’t this common knowledge?’ I asked, my heart still fluttering. ‘This discovery alone could change the way the world works.’

  Leroi took the pole out, letting the tiny light subside. ‘Because it’s illegal.’

  I looked up at him astonished. ‘Illegal?’

  Leroi sucked his teeth. ‘The Khat’s orders.’

  ‘But think of all the things it could do,’ I protested. ‘If we can harness this charge from Cold, we could ch …’

  Seeing the obvious look in his eyes, I let my words trail off.

  ‘Sun damn,’ I said. ‘Change.’

  ‘Change is a big no-no for the Khat. Hope too. Lord Tavor, my illustrious cousin, knows I experiment with this charge, but he turns a blind eye to my activities, if in return I make him,’ Leroi’s lips pinched briefly, ‘certain things he requests.’

  ‘But what about—’

  Four rapid knocks at the main door and I shut my mouth. It was the signal that Cam was there, but that he wasn’t alone.

  Leroi snapped his fingers and pointed at the grate in the floor. I dashed over, pulling up the oily metal as quietly as I could, and slipping into the crawl-space underneath. We’d lined the dark area with plenty of boilweed so the nook was relatively dry for me, but its musk was still potent, and the floor was soggy from all the saltwater drainage. Leroi had felt guilty when I suggested it as my designated hiding spot, but my nose and body had experienced much worse on the streets. Leroi gently rolled the closest table over the top of the grate so as to cover me completely, yet I still had enough line of sight to make out feet.

  I heard Leroi pad up the stairs, and I held my breath, praying. I’d not strayed from the tinkershop, and other than Cam and Leroi, no one knew I was here.

  Breathing in deeply to try to keep calm, I made myself focus on all the things the Cold Charge could mean for my future. If the Charge could make things move, and fill them with light, then maybe it could even make them fly. Leroi was right, this could be the key to my quest.

  Sweat beaded on my forehead as I waited. The sound of a closing chain reached the bars. My stomach clenched so hard I could have turned sand to glass. The sounds moved down to the main floor of the shop and closer to my table.

  ‘It’s okay, Spout,’ Cam said from above, knocking the grate with his velvet sandal. ‘You can come out.’

  Opening the lid and looking up, my breath caught in my throat as I clocked braided hair and the straightest back in Paphos.

  ‘Shilah!’

  ‘So you do know her.’ Cam gave a sigh of relief, lending a hand to help me out. ‘I’m glad, because she knew you were here. Thank the Crier I got to the gates before my father did. He’s been extra paranoid lately. Please tell her to have some water, Spout. She’s refused my offer three times now.’

  ‘I need to talk to Spout in private,’ Shilah said in a way that answered at least one of my questions – I’d been wondering if she’d overheard my nickname while following me around the city. Her voice was quiet but serious as she added begrudgingly, ‘Sir.’

  She looked as if she’d just waded through a pit of Sobek lizards. Her robes were torn and bloodstained, and her eyes were bleary. She looked even worse than I had when I’d showed up at the Manor, which explained why Cam had been so ready to give up my hiding place to a stranger.

  ‘Of course.’ Cam bowed respectfully, his face flooded with concern.

  He backed away, gesturing for Leroi to do the same. The Tinkerer seemed transfixed by Shilah, fixing her with an unwavering stare, but eventually he pulled away, crossing the tinkershop and joining Cam at the top of the stairs.

  I took a small step back, worried about why Shilah might be standing in my new home, rather than halfway to the Great Divide as she’d sworn to be by now.

  Shilah surveyed the tinkershop. Her eyes flicked from the rotating gear-pool, to the glass pyramids, to the magnet-clocks then back to me. ‘You look good,’ she said, at last. Her arms twitched out awkwardly, and for a moment I thought maybe she was having some sort of spasm until I realized what she was doing.

  I stepped close and drew her into a quick embrace, breathing in deeply while we hugged. I inhaled the lingering scent of fire.

  ‘What happened?’ I asked, my heart in my throat as we parted. ‘Is Abb okay?’

  ‘Yes.’ Shilah straightened up. ‘And I am too, thanks.’

  ‘Sorry. It’s just …’ My hand went over my chest, my pulse desperate. ‘You scared me.’

  Her hand went to her pocket, revealing a handful of black ash. ‘How’s that for scary?’

  ‘What is it?’

  She paused, clenching her jaw tightly. ‘Little Langria.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘They followed me that night, from Arch Road,’ Shilah said, her eyes full of so much anger that there was no room for tears. ‘I thought I’d lost them, but that Sun-blackened pustule called a Vicaress followed me to the outskirts. She brought dozens of taskmasters and they searched the southern sands for days, from the barracks to the Kiln. I kept ahead of them for a while, smoothing out the tracks from the Rope Shoes, but she knew I was out there. It was only a matter of time.’

  I swallowed hard. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  ‘I don’t have anywhere else to go now.’ She let some of the ash fall from her fingers into the grate. ‘It’s all gone. Everything I built. All so I could save you.’

  The accusation struck a nerve. ‘I don’t know what to say. I’m really sorry.’

  She met my eyes with a fierce look. ‘Say you’ll go with me. To Langria. Today. Now.’

  ‘But I’m happy here.’

  Shilah tossed the rest of the ash into the grate. ‘Happy in a place where they keep you in the floor?’

  ‘They don’t keep me down there,’ I said, smoothing my clothes. ‘That’s just where I hide in case anyone comes.’ I hesitated, but felt compelled to ask, ‘Weren’t you supposed to be on the way to Langria already? Why did you stay in Paphos?’

  Shilah glanced sideways, her eyes going to the tub with the Draft bobbing on top. ‘Why are you staying here?’

  ‘Leroi’s teaching me. I’m creating things. Better than the Rope Shoes.’ I could barely believe what I was saying out loud. ‘Cam treats me like a brother. Better than a brother.’ I reached out to touch her arm, but she pulled away. The heat of her skin lingered on my finger. I’d almost forgotten how scorching the world was outside the tinkershop. ‘It’s safe. Stay with me. There’s room for two assistants. There’s food, and as much Cold water as we want, and clean clothes, and—’

  Shilah gave a scornful huff, cutting me short. ‘Listen to yourself, talking like this. You’re just a slave in a different uniform.’

  ‘I don’t want to have this argument again,’ I said. I actually liked the robes Leroi had given me. They were thin and clean, and the dark colour didn’t show any oil. ‘I’m useful here.’

  Shilah’s jaw tightened, its angles smooth and beautiful, and I suddenly feared this might be the last time I would ever see her. She didn’t say another word, just turned her shoulder and returned to the stairs, her back like a blade as she climbed to where Leroi and Cam were standing. She moved quickly and quietly, and I couldn’t understand how the Vicaress had been able to follow her into the sands. I trailed after her, trying to think of the words that would make her stay. She was the loneliest person I’d ever met. Part of me wondered if she’d burned down Little Langria herself, just to try to convince me to accompany her.

  For an instant, an image of a Jadan paradise flashed through my mind, the way she’d described it before, but I knew deep down that it couldn’t be possible. If we wanted freedom, we had to make it.

  ‘Please let me out,’ Shilah said, standing in front of the door, hands clenched at her sides.

  Cam had his hand on the chain, eyeing her warily. ‘All good?’

>   I nodded. ‘She won’t say anything. You can let her out.’

  Shilah stood tall and defiant, her hands still filmed in black ash. ‘Sir,’ she said, her voice a sandstorm, ‘may I go now?’

  I looked up at Leroi but he didn’t meet my eyes. He was studying her as he often studied me, a pensive look on his face. After a few moments, he looked her straight in the eyes, and said, ‘Stay. Please.’

  Cam and I both looked up, confused.

  ‘As another assistant,’ Leroi added. ‘We’ll keep you safe here. Shilah, is it?’ he asked carefully.

  Shilah tilted her head suspiciously, staring back into Leroi’s face. ‘What will I have to do?’ She took a few steps away, her back resting on the railing.

  Cam looked to me in puzzlement, but a High Noble wouldn’t know true desperation like we would. It shocked me to see Shilah so vulnerable, and not completely fearless.

  ‘This and that. Nothing difficult.’ Leroi gestured to the tinkershop, his voice softening. ‘There’s plenty to be done here. Cleaning. Stocking. You can help to build things if you wish.’

  Shilah’s eyes narrowed, searching Leroi’s face. ‘What were those anklets that I saw on the other Jadans here? The guards and the Domestics.’

  Leroi faltered, his voice narrowing to a hiss. ‘You’ll never wear one. I promise. I’ll keep you secret.’

  ‘And if I want to leave?’ she asked.

  Leroi took a deep breath. I couldn’t understand why he seemed so set on getting her to stay. ‘Course you can. Any time. I swear it on my honour. I have a passage in my study that leads outside the walls. I can show you. Right now, if you want. Just stay.’

  I felt a tad slighted, considering Leroi had made me prove myself to stay on as an assistant, yet here he was offering the same thing to Shilah without question. Also, Leroi had never offered to show me the secret passage.