Barbarian Alchemist (Princesses of the Ironbound Book 3)

by Aaron Crash

  Brandmunli worked with Form magic on minor repairs around the campus. He was the one who rebuilt the sea alley archway after it came crashing down. He had also helped keep the showers hot and running well. For the most part, Brand was happy with his life at the college. He was thrilled that Ibeliah had become the Studia Dux at the most prestigious university on Thera.

  And his wife was taking care of her Inconvenience, most of the time alone, though Buck Minefinder helped when their passions hit at the same time.

  Brand thought that little Inconvenience seemed way too convenient until Ibeliah told him that the Amora Xoca worked wonders for Buck. When Ibeliah needed him, Buck could be there for her thanks to the aphrodisiac. That probably explained why Buck was rubbing noses with Gluck and probably Kacky as well.

  Brand wasn’t about to end his streak from his Inconvenience. His wife had her partner, that was fine, and he could concentrate on his real work: keeping the school together, reading up on current events, and keeping watch on the world of the uppergrounders. He read the news from the town criers obsessively. The world needed protecting.

  Tori was out of time, and yet, she was close to getting to current events. She saw into the Ironcoats’ room in the Imperial Palace. This was after the merfolk attack, and the two were talking. Brand was in his night shirt and cap, his beard braided and fixed so it wouldn’t disturb his sleep. Ibeliah was combing out both her long auburn hair and her beard. She’d be going out that night for Buck because he had his Inconvenience. The bearded dwab would eat some of the Amora Xoca to get herself in the mood for the young dwarf.

  “You know, husband,” Ibeliah was saying, “this xocalati could change everything. If we could find a way to reverse engineer the magic, we might have an antidote for the Inconvenience.”

  Brand had harrumphed. “Dearest wife, that kind of talk is exactly why we’re at this school. Change is dangerous and must be managed. Like this barbarian problem.”

  The dwab came over to kiss her husband on his cheek. “You’re right. May the night never end.”

  “May the day never begin,” Brand said.

  Tori felt shock at their words. The Ironcoats were members of the Midnight Guild. She couldn’t believe it.

  An awful pain filled Tori’s head, and she yanked off the ring. The hellhound chomped in the air not an inch from her body. She’d hurried through her vision, and yet, it had taken twenty-nine seconds, and the devil dog had come inches from biting off her head.

  His scent lingered in the air, but that shit smell wasn’t as bad as the pain in her head. She tried to remember her vision of Brandmunli, but she couldn’t quite get there. She knew the basics, that his wife had a high sex drive and he didn’t, and he was happy about that. He’d worked in the sea alley, however, in both the shower and the archway.

  Tori found herself on the floor, pressing her temples with her fists. There had been a man in their lives, in Four Roads, only he wasn’t a man. He smelled differently. Her vision felt ragged now, like a crumbled piece of paper that someone had tried to smooth out, only the sides were torn. Holes in the paper, however, were replaced with something else, a knowing.

  Unger, that was the name of Ibeliah’s Inconvenience Partner in Four Roads, but he was dead if he was a human. That was fifty years ago.

  Only he might not be a man. A fairy? No, all the fairies were women. Her head ached terribly whenever she tried to remember the mystery man and what she’d seen. However, the Morbuskor had become her prime suspects. She’d wait, get more feet, and then try scrying Ibeliah.

  The pain receded, and she managed to get to her feet. She didn’t want to go back into that room, though. She was feeling weak. However, both her ahmer and oober said that a Morbuskor finished the tasks they started. Feelings weren’t rocks, and you had to build your destiny on stone.

  She got through the night. She did keep a close eye on Ibeliah and Brandmunli. They were so nice to each other, to her, and to the other dwarves. No, they had to be innocent.

  To think, Ibeliah and Buck both used the Amora Xoca to get themselves interested in nose rubbing. It did make one think.

  Then Tori had an idea. It was quite the idea, and it might fix things with Gatha.

  Yes, the red-haired dwab might have to get sweaty, but it would be worth it. Ymir had his princesses. Gatha thought she didn’t have anyone, but she did, and Tori was going to prove it to her.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  TORI HAD TO WAIT UNTIL Saturday night, the first night of the Lover Moons, to get to Gatha. The she-orc was working hard in the Librarium as scholars studied for their Third Exam. However, that Friday had Tori working hard in her own little secret laboratory—her room was now just one big Alchemist’s Rack with potions all over. She was going to alchemy the heck out of her hellhound problem so she had more time in her visions.

  That weekend, the taverns on the Sea Stair Market were closed. Everyone had been evacuated to the Form housing. The Flow apartments were empty, as were Moons, just in case the merfolk attacked. However, the Princept had kept a lid on the reason. She said there might be an emergency, and she was preparing for the worst. She also gave every scholar the choice to fight against an unknown enemy. Many did agree to stand with their school. They’d come with spells and swords ready.

  In the end, other than Ymir and his friends, none of the scholars knew that the merfolk might come marching out of the sea at any minute. The clansman, Jenny, and Lillee would be sleeping in the Amora Annex, and the she-orc would bed down there as well. Gatha might not like Ymir anymore, but she still liked to fight.

  Also, Gharam had stationed some of his Gruul security guards down in the Flow housing as well, in secret buildings. They’d join Ymir and his forces when the time came...if the time came.

  Sure, the moons were right, but would all the drama happen that night? Or would it happen later in the week? No one knew, and Tori couldn’t use the Veil Tear Ring to find out. Not yet.

  After their Friday class with Brodor, Tori had quickly told Ymir all about her visions from the night before. Linnylynn had her obsession with the orishas after her experiences with the white roses in her midnight garden as a young maiden.

  As far as the Ironcoats? Tori’s head ached every time she tried to remember the end of her vision. She thought the Ironcoats had to be innocent, and they probably were, only Brandmunli had fixed the shower and he’d worked on the archway. Then there was this Unger person, and the fairy tavern in Four Roads. It all smelled funny.

  Ymir took what she said seriously. He tried to push her for more. Tori had smiled, patted his hand, and basically run from him back to the kitchens, where she worked, feeding hungry scholars.

  Jenny came to the dwab Friday night and Lillee came Saturday morning, and the dwab evaded them with cheery, hasty answers. They’d eventually give up on her. Of course they would. They were vibrant people, overtoppers, uppergrounders, bigguns, with more to worry about than some ugly little dwab with dreams of a world she could never have.

  It was fine. At least Tori wasn’t Charibda. Good ol’ Ribrib had issues.

  Saturday night, after dinner, Tori took her satchel, which contained some wine and a little black package wrapped in red ribbon down the Sea Stair to the Librarium Annex. That was where Gatha was. She’d finished studying and readied a little place to sleep down there, and now she could organize the latest dirty books she’d received from printers in Kreenn.

  Tori had a key, but she thought it was more polite to knock. She wasn’t there on official Amora Xoca business, only as a hopefully helpful friend. Tori didn’t know if Ymir and his girls were already up on the second floor, and she was feeling so nervous, she promptly forgot about them.

  Gatha opened the door. Her face was blank. Those red eyes were guarded. “Yes, hello, Toriah. Can I help you?”

  Tori sighed. “Look, I gave you your space. For a month now. And I know, what I did was wrong, only I couldn’t control what I saw. It was my first time, mind you, using the Veil
Tear Ring. Anyhow, I’m here to say sorry. And I’m here to say if you want to put on the ring and take a trip back through my life, you’d be welcome to. Lastly? If you don’t want to use the ring, I’ll tell you my secrets. Though I basically have. Sorry, I have one last lastly. I brought some Amora Xoca. If you’re feeling sexy, or if you want some company, I’d be willing to eat a little, have a little wine, maybe light a candle, and we can see where it goes from there. This place is special for us. It’s where you helped me that one time.”

  It was a long speech, and Tori held her breath. She might’ve winced. This was awkward and terrible, but it was the right thing to do, and Tori liked doing the right thing, when the world let her do it.

  Gatha stepped back, turned, and walked away. “Come in.” She was in her normal rough-spun tunic and sandals. The spring was going to be a warm one. That was a kindness.

  Tori pushed open the door. She hadn’t been there for a bit. In the middle of the room, Gatha had set up a little reading nook next to a window that gave her a view of the Flow apartments above, including the balcony of Jenny’s apartment, if the dwab wasn’t mistaken. She’d stowed her sword, a buckler, and her armor nearby next to a little bed.

  More books lined the shelves, and Tori might be risking her sanity with this magical xoca, but she wasn’t going to chance losing all of her morality by perusing the titles. Or the covers. Both were scandalous.

  “Pour the wine,” Gatha said, sitting in her nook.

  Tori thought she’d be too shaky to do any kind of pouring. Turned out, she could, but just barely. She got the wine poured in glasses she’d brought, kind of nice glasses too. They were from a cupboard in the Zoo, and some roommate would be pissed.

  Tori thought to sit in a comfy chair there, but she felt too nervous, so she paced. “I said all that, Gatha, and you haven’t said anything back. You didn’t send me packing, which I think is a good sign, but I don’t know. Your kind can hold a grudge. My kind can too. And we can be stubborn. I’m the perfect example.”

  “How?” Gatha asked, sipping the wine. A Sunfire candle flickered on an end table next to her. This one had the old-fashioned wax that created a drippy sculpture, which was pretty. It was clear the she-orc spent a lot of time in the room, reading. And probably doing other, nastier stuff that Tori didn’t want to think about. She’d be crazy to trigger her own Inconvenience. Yet she was also so very curious what it would do, how it would feel, and if anything would happen with Gatha at all.

  Maybe the two would sit down, pull out a river deck, and throw cards. Unlikely, but a dwab could dream.

  For now, Gatha wanted to talk. Which was fine. And Tori would give her an earful. Fair was fair. She’d leapt into the tragic truth of the Gruul woman’s past.

  “How am I stubborn?” the dwab asked. “Ymir and his princesses offered me love and a home. You know us Morbuskor have Inconvenience Partners. You offered to be mine. And you were. Only, with you, it could be different, but not with Ymir. I’m a girl who likes boys, mostly, though when I’m Inconvenient, any tunnel will work for my cart. That was a bad pun. But you understand my meaning.”

  “In a battle, any sharp blade will do,” Gatha murmured. “Go on.”

  Tori gulped in a breath. “Bless my stone bits, but this is hard. Before, when I first used the ring, I felt what Jenny was feeling. She doesn’t mind Ymir sleeping around a bit. Lillee doesn’t either, even when she has her cuff on. The Ohlyrra don’t have dreams about one man and one woman together. I have that dream, though. And I think you do too a bit. It’s why it’s hard for us with Ymir.”

  Gatha wasn’t saying anything, but she was listening hard to Tori.

  The dwab sighed. “When I realized that Jenny would never be jealous, and I always would be, I had to run far away. Not that I actually ran, but I put up my walls. Like you, I can be a castle, and I can trick myself into thinking that castle isn’t a lonely place. I can have a hundred friends, but if I don’t let them know me, and if I don’t reach out to them, I might as well be alone. My ahmer told me that. She knew I’d struggle because I have a cheery face and a scared soul.”

  While Tori talked, Gatha’s eyes shimmered. A single tear ran down her face. She set her wine down and cleared her throat. “You used that fucking ring to break through my walls. You saw my awful truth. I was angry, hurt, scared. I have a warrior’s soul, but my heart has broken maybe once too often. Can you still love me even though you saw what I did to my own sister?”

  Tori fought her tears and lost. She couldn’t keep her voice from wavering. “That wasn’t your worst, Gatha. That was your ahmer’s worst, and your sister’s too. I saw your sorrow, and you didn’t have any kind of choice that mattered. It was your life or theirs. If you need someone to forgive you, I can. I was there. I saw. That means I can do the forgiving better than probably anyone alive.”

  The she-orc dropped from the chair, hit her knees, and fell forward, her arms going around Tori. Gatha pressed her head against Tori’s shoulder. Then that strong Gruul girl cried her heart out because the dwab had seen the horror of that day. They could carry the burden together.

  Tori combed her fingers through the soft white hair, and she let the she-orc cry until there were no more tears.

  When the little woman sat in a chair, she wasn’t surprised when Gatha climbed into her lap, which was a tad awkward, given the she-orc was nearly twice was tall as the dwab, though Tori was wide—with a lap as big as her heart.

  Stairs squeaked behind her, and Tori turned, and there was Ymir coming down. Above, there were more sounds, and Tori realized Ymir and the other princesses had been up on the second floor the entire time.

  Gatha pulled herself out of Tori’s lap. She didn’t leave, though, but stayed near the window, her back turned to Ymir. So far, neither Jenny nor Lillee had come down.

  Ymir sat on the steps.

  Tori winced and nodded. “I forgot you were up there. You probably heard all of that, huh? Even about the Amora Xoca?”

  The clansman shrugged. “We tried not to listen, but your voices did travel. I about came down here earlier but thought against it. You both have made it clear you wanted your distance. I gave it to you.”

  Tori slid off the chair, and she stood between Gatha, still looking out the window, and Ymir sitting on the stairs.

  Tori had come to help Gatha, who needed a friend, not Ymir, who was fine the way he was—well, other than being famous and the target of a secret assassin.

  The little woman went with her best and usual option. She put on a happy face. “What do you mean distance? We’re friends, right? I mean, with Gatha, there was that thing, and I wanted to fix it. You know me, Ymir. I like to fix things.”

  The big man stood, walked down the rest of the way, and padded across the room. He didn’t have his boots on, and his feet slapped the wooden floor. He folded his arms across his chest. He still wasn’t saying anything.

  Tori tried to change the subject. “You know, it’s been two days since I used the ring. I have less than ten seconds, sure, but if I got close to Ibeliah Ironcoat, I might get more of her story. Though it’s strange that I can’t remember more from that vision.”

  Ymir’s eyes changed from brown to blue, which meant he was getting mad. The bluer they got, the madder he was. Oops, they weren’t getting any less blue.

  That wasn’t working, so Tori tried a new topic. “I’m hoping, though, the merfolk don’t attack. I mean, the deals they made are holding. Everyone has been evacuated to the Form housing. Ribrib is refusing to leave the Zoo, so I don’t know what they’re gonna do about her. The Princept is on high alert. That’s nice. It does make me feel better.”

  Gatha had turned to face them. Ymir continued his silence. And Tori knew she wasn’t going to be able to talk and smile her way out of this one. She thought to just run away. That didn’t seem very feasible at the moment.

  Tori found herself without a single word to say. She closed her eyes to avoid Ymir’s gaze. “You heard us, then. An
d you heard what I was saying, about you and the girls, and how Jenny won’t ever be jealous, but I will. Not jealous, maybe, but sad that I can’t have you for my own.”

  Gatha spoke up. “No one has anyone for long.”

  The dwab opened her eyes. The she-orc had her tusks out, and she was standing there, head up, her fine white hair parted back. She looked like a warrior princess. Well, she was.

  “We only have today and this breath,” Ymir agreed.

  Tori was so glad the Gruul woman had said something. It took the heat off her for a second. But she wasn’t out of the ruby mine just yet.

  “You think I’m weak for running away from you all,” the she-orc spat. “You are tired of me, and my games, are you not?”

  The clansman shrugged. “If I’m not, I would imagine you are. What I think doesn’t matter. It’s what you think of yourself. What kind of future do you want? And can you let go of your past?”

  “Like you have,” Gatha whispered. “You’ve let go of the Ax Tundra and the life you had there. You have embraced this new life...this new sorcery.”

  “And alchemy it seems.” Ymir’s grin was kind. His eyes had mellowed back to brown. “But yes. I found a new family here, a new home.”

  The tears were still on Gatha’s face. Her eyes were clear. She kept her chin held high. “You know my sins now. You know my family was never kind to me. I’ve seen others enjoy the laughter and closeness of their kin. I thought such happiness could never be mine.”

  “It can,” Ymir said. “Everything you want is on the other side of your fear.”

  “So I’m weak and fearful,” the she-orc whispered.

  “Maybe,” Ymir said. “But my grandfather would say true bravery is walking through your fear. True strength is seeing your weaknesses but not giving in to despair. Despair is easy. It’s the hope we can improve that’s risky.” He smiled. “That last part came from my grandmother.”

  “I never knew my grandparents.” Gatha swallowed.

  “You can borrow mine,” the big man replied.