by Gin Hollan
“That's step one. If I'm going up against Howard, I need to learn how to interfere with those automatons. I suspect a radio transmitter would do the job, but to be effective, it has to be either large or elevated,” Arabeth said, thinking out loud.
“Are we going with the theory that Howard and Tamden intend war in the end?”
Arabeth hated the idea, but it fit all the clues. “We might have to.”
An elevated method of distributing radio signals would be simple enough. Not easy. Just simple. She just needed a small ship. Not as small as a boat. She had the metal to make it hover.
“I need to talk to Nate,” she said.
“The highway man still works in your lab?”
Arabeth shook her head. “You know that was desperation.”
“Yes, Yes. And he was bad at it,” Sam still frowned.
“Right, but what he's not bad at is tinkering. In fact, he's really quite talented. He could transition to gadgeteering if he wanted.” She'd have to trust him with possibly the second largest secret of her life. Maybe this was a good chance to explain to Sam as well. She glanced down and recognized the saddle. If Maralise had put a listening device in, it would have to be quite spectacular to still hear this far away.
She also needed another copy of the Sage's book. It was their main advantage against her, and if they saw her as a viable threat, then she needed to think that way too. That meant she had to get back into the library that was under the fake lyar.
“Isn't your sister a few years older than Andun?” Sam asked, startling her out of that train of thought.
“Five years, I think. That's not a bad gap. I just wish it were the other way around. She's far too world-wise.”
“He's not easily intimidated or pushed around.”
“You've seen them interacting?”
“Yes, and they seem well-suited. Their personalities mesh well enough.”
“Maralise is probably forming herself to what she knows Andun needs,” Arabeth muttered. “She has an agenda I don't quite understand. Part of me wonders if she'll go through with the marriage.”
“If that's the case, we're in more trouble than a simple wedding could bring. Backing out of a royal wedding involves substantial penalties, one of which is the potential for execution.”
“She's subconsciously drawn to the most powerful person in the room. Right now that's Andun, but if Howard and Tamden achieve their objective, it would be them.”
“I doubt she'll ever be married, then. Power shifts happen all the time,” Sam said. He stepped his horse close and leaned over. “So, why are we discussing your sister?” he said in a low voice.
“She's back in our lives again, and I'm not sure how this will play out.”
Arabeth pulled her mare to a stop and dismounted. Holding the furthest end of the reins, she stood as far as she could from the saddle. Sam followed her lead.
“Call me paranoid, but I haven't checked this saddle yet for crystals yet,” she continued, in low tones.
“Crystals? You think she's listening?”
“There is a reason she's the best spy my mother has. I wonder what Mother thinks about this engagement.”
“I have a knife. We could strip it down right now.”
“No, I don't want to tip her off. Also, this is a chance to misinform her.”
“Remember to rub your ear anytime you're telling me something that I shouldn't take seriously,” Sam nodded.
“Right, right.” She rubbed the top of her ear with two fingers and winked.
He laughed as they climbed back on their horses.
The lyar sat straight ahead, within ten minutes of easy riding. Arabeth knew exactly what she wanted to do, unintentionally urging her mount to walk a little faster. The sun would be down soon. She'd go to her parents first.
She swallowed hard at the thought. The dynamics of their relationship had shifted in the past few months, with her learning things they'd hidden and a few they'd never known. Her news this time could complete her shift out of safe daughter mode. She needed help getting a ship, and that meant telling them about her rare metal.
Her father, Eldon, had agreed to help her get the mineral rights to the mountain range without asking any questions. He might regret that when he learnt she planned to take to the skies in an untested contraption into a fight.
Of the two daughters, he had to wonder if either would outlive him. One was a spy, the other took what others called unreasonable risks. He'd often said they both seemed to carry a lucky rabbit's foot, but there was no way to tell when that would run out. Superstitions. Arabeth sighed. Luck was preparation meeting opportunity, that's all.
She looked over at Sam. He sat well in the saddle, comfortable. He'd become a good rider, she realized. When had that happened? He caught her smiling at him and raised an eyebrow. Abashed, she looked away.
Stealing a glance, she saw he watched her with a gentle smile and soft expression. Her heart fluttered a moment and this time she let it. Could she trust the feeling that she was actually loved this time, or was it wishful thinking?
// Chapter 18 //
STANDING ON THE Blastborn side of the lyar, Arabeth stared into the centre. She had to reach into a mountain and hope to find living, breathing people. That it happened through some sort of matter vortex was almost unbelievable.
Sam stood back, arms crossed, at the front of a row of constables. This would alter their perception of the world and of Arabeth, irrevocably. That was part of why she hadn't started yet.
Kate stood to one side, happily trimming the green edges inside the confines of the lyar. Sam had gone and returned with help and carriages for transporting the prisoners into Blastborn. Many came, but not many took it seriously, joking about magic and mystics as they loitered around the horse-drawn carriages that stood waiting. That part had been Arabeth's job. At some expense, she convinced six cabby's to come. each could seat six passengers, and it was a rough guess as to how many they would need in transit at a time. She presumed two constables would be in each cab, one guarding the door on each side. The constables who weren't waiting outside stood not far away, still cracking jokes.
“Maybe you all could wait on the other side of the opening, with the others,” she said, not really suggesting.
Sam nodded and turned, shooing them all out. Ten constables looked irritated, but one of them did not go. Former Constable Dawson's partner stood, refusing to budge.
“She caught the one who killed Dawson. I don't know what she's up to, but I'm with her. If she needs constables, she gets constables.”
“All right Murphy, all right.” Sam said, moving the others to a line just outside the lyar and instructing them to hold that position.
Harbertrope did not come out, nor any of the detectives. Sam hadn't said why. Maybe prisoner transport was beneath them, or they didn't think Arabeth was thinking straight. That seemed the most likely choice. Who pulled people who were buried in a mountain out and expected them to be alive, really?
Most of the constables came out of curiosity or out of loyalty to Sam.
Arabeth shook her head, forcing the musing out. She had dreams … nightmares about this mountain. About pulling Howard out, and the attack. What if any of the others were violent? Well, that's what Sam and Murphy would be watching for. She'd pull the captives out one at a time, and they'd be escorted to Harbertrope for assessment and confinement.
She looked back at Sam. He stood resolved and stoic. Confident. How did he do that? She blinked a few times and turned back to face the centre of the lyar.
The correct crystals were sitting in the middle and Sam had somehow obtained a list of the people confined in there. Arabeth raised her arms, starting the motion that Tamden had taught her. A finite list, but did that mean could she finish before nightfall?
Arabeth used the motions taught her by Tamden, and this time a bone-thin middle-aged woman with long grey hair came out, laying on her back and unconscious. When Arabeth dropped her arms,
the woman fell the final six inches to the ground.
There was no rise and fall of her chest from breathing. Sam put two fingers under her nose, testing for breath. A moment later the woman drew in a series of long breaths, forcing air out after each one. Coughing, she sat up and rubbed her eyes.
Murphy stood a few feet away, watching, then turned to leave the lyar.
“Are you alright, Ma'am?” Sam asked, standing to give her room to move and stand, if possible.
“I'm not sure it's safe to just pull them out like this,” Arabeth said.
“Let's take her back and see what the physician says, before Howard finds out what we've done. I don't want to risk their lives,” Sam said.
“Howard would be here already if he knew we were doing this,” Arabeth said, bending down to rest a hand on one of the woman's shoulders. “Excuse me, Ma'am? Can you stand? Will you be able to travel? We have a carriage waiting.”
The woman nodded and stood. “I am Martha Glengarry. Why have you brought me here?”
Sam and Arabeth exchanged a look. They hadn't discussed how to explain this to the prisoners. They didn't want them trying to escape. Arabeth pointed to a breadbox. “The restraints are in there.”
“We can explain everything once you've been checked by a doctor,” Sam said. “Come with me.”
She swayed in place slightly. “Yes, that would be good.”
Sam took hold of her upper arm to steady her.
Murphy returned with a constable who took Sam's place assisting the woman.
“She seems like she'll be fine,” Murphy said. “Let's get this done. I have a weird feeling about all this.”
“Agreed,” Arabeth said, turning and going back to her spot.
As each person was freed from that prison, they were restrained using Arabeth's wrist devices, ready to be taken into town.
It went quickly, with one after the other being pulled through a simple gateway, narrow and only as tall as needed. Most fell out to the ground unconscious. The surprise was that as she went, each person was shorter than the one before, and younger, until the last person. She wasn't sure why, but each person was severely thin and she noticed a slight tan anytime fabric shifted to show the skin beneath. Why did they all have long hair, reaching their waist in most cases. Were these side effects of stasis?
After 28 people came out, Sam tapped the list. “That looks like all of them.”
When she didn't respond, he walked over and rested a hand on her shoulder. “You can stop. They're all here.”
“No, there's one more,” Arabeth said. “Just give me a minute.”
“How can you tell?”
She motioned again and this time a seven year old boy came forward and collapsed at her feet, fighting tears.
Kneeling down, Arabeth urged the boy to stand.
“What is your name?” she asked softly.
He didn't answer, looking at her with a puzzled expression before he fell unconscious.
“Did they not list the underage ones?” Murphy asked.
“Who does that to a child?” Sam snarled. He walked over and lifted the boy up.
Arabeth was too tired to stand. Who indeed?
“Arabeth, we're going to borrow your horse,” he said, lifting the child onto Kate's back.
“Of course,” she nodded, watching them walk away.
Exhausted, she sat back and curled her legs up in front of her, wrapping her arms around them. She had to trust that all the prisoners would soon be safely locked up or getting any needed medical attention. She rested her forehead on her knees.
Was this kind of prison common, historically? She imagined the ripple effect of locking away Sages and Seers, users of this strange silver blood technology. Was that why Andun's country suffered? Were they linked to him because he was linked to the land?
Odd thoughts ran through her mind but she was too tired to fight them. Not quite a lucid dream, she knew this was the back of her mind finally sorting and processing the past three months’ worth of shock.
This prison had to be one of a kind, right? She glanced up at the crystals in the middle of the lyar. There must be a way to find out. It had worked, but was this a prototype, or common prison from that era? And only 28 people … 29, she corrected. That was a lot fewer than she would have expected. An entire mountain range had been built so they could be put in it. Were they individually so powerful that corporately they were unstoppable?
They'd find out now, she supposed. Hopefully this wasn't her walking into another trap, setting free people who should have been executed instead. No, that prison was inhumane. Howard talked about brief moments of blind consciousness, feeling time pass, but unable to do more than wander around in his own mind.
Howard definitely came across as a threat. He'd been able to open the odd gateway and do a stunt or two, but nothing on the scale history told. He'd been changing weather patterns, fixing the perpetual rain she'd left going in Vensay. That part was benevolent. But still, the threat was there. There was nothing … except for the rock to her head, which made her think ill of him. And what he'd said. Take down the mountain … well, now everyone was out, and it would cause disruption to lives and patterns, but if he wanted it gone, she wouldn't stop him.
It was cold and dark now. Arabeth stood up. Home was still a long walk away. Marble would be waiting. Now it didn't matter if someone relocated the mountain, if that could even really happen. Blastborn would still be where it was, borders would still exist. Honestly, she needed that mountain range, until she learned how to replicate the process that made the lighter than air metal, but the miners had been stockpiling it in a storage shed near the large workshop. She'd have lots to work with and experiment on.
She forced herself to stand, going to retrieve the crystals from the middle. As she wrapped her hands around the final yellow one, it vibrated violently, dislodging her hand.
Startled, Arabeth stepped back. What was happening now?
A tingling sensation flitted up her spine as the awareness of another person filled her mind - there was someone else in there. Someone not on Sam's list.
Stepping back into position, she reached out and started another gateway. Pushing further into the mountain, into a darker space, she felt metal. Solid. Smooth. Alive? She eased her hand back and the metal moved forward, following her as the people had. It was hard to guide, but she felt it compelling her, urging her. As it did, she stepped backwards, feeling something not quite human, something large was coming out this time.
'Where is Sam?' she swallowed, then pushed her fear back. He'd left with the boy, she knew, but what if she needed him here, now?
She shook her head. This was no time to be timid.
A moment later a tall, metal form filled the centre of the lyar. Twenty feet tall, shining gold and silver, the human-like shape was more refined than any automaton she'd even imagined. It stepped up, looming over her. The flawless metal machine moved a hand to slowly tap against the hilt of a long sword at it's hip as it seemed to consider her. Arabeth took a step back, bumping into a barrier. She looked back and recognized the same sort of yellow barrier that was between her and the scientists before.
When had that gone up? Now she was trapped on the same side as an automaton … but this one was different. Suddenly the automaton stepped back with one foot and knelt on the other knee, facing her in a sort of surrender, she guessed. Sentient? It knelt, but at who's command?
She had to be imagining that. She was exhausted and had fallen asleep. That was the only explanation.
She retrieved the yellow crystal easily this time and stowed them in her satchel. There was no point in being sloppy, even in a dream. She sat down roughly and winced as she did, then sighing as the rest of her strength faded. If she was sleeping, that would be good.
“Barrier down,” she whispered, running her hand in downward motion toward it. If this was her dream, the machine was no threat. The barrier dissipated and Arabeth smiled as she scooted back to sit pr
opped up against a tree. Sam would come back for her. She'd just close her eyes and rest until then.
// Chapter 19 //
ARABETH AWOKE TO find herself sitting in her backyard with her back up against the wall of her house. How had she gotten home? Standing, she rubbed the stiffness out of her limbs.
The sun had set and it was hard to see, but there was an immense human-like shape laying prone in her crystal field blocking 80 percent of the glow from their residual light. Moving closer, she pulled out her crystal light and shone it forward.
“Greetings, Sage,” said a man's voice not far to her right, startling her. The resonance of his tone sent a shiver up her spine.
Turning to face him, she stared. He was about her age and within inches of her own height, with straight grey hair that hung long down his back. The full-body jumpsuit he wore made it hard to tell, but by his face he looked thin—almost starvation-thin.
As their eyes met, he gave a deep bow.
“Greetings. May I enquire as to your identity?” she asked, smiling.
“I am Rorigard. You withdrew me from the mountain, I assume to help recapture the others,” he replied, his voice was unexpectedly resonant, but not deep.
“Our constabulary are highly competent. I have no doubt that your compatriots are, by now, safely ensconced in a more humane prison than the one you came from,” she said, a little irritated that he had propped her up against the house instead of taking her inside to the chesterfield and deeply annoyed that he seemed to bring out the formal language she was raised with. “I should thank you for bringing me home, but hopefully you didn't have to ask many people where I live.” That would start a series of rumours she wasn't sure she was ready for.
“You talk in your sleep.” He smiled. “And I could sense your fledgling ferendor. I'm just glad it was strong enough to get me out of the serenthex.”
“What is a ferendor? And a serenthex?”
“The crystals are called ferendor when tended as a crop.” He frowned. “The serenthex is my armour. It won't open unless it is in a ferendor or there is an emergency where it is a threat to my life.” He indicated the field behind him with a thumb.
