Biomancy

by Desdemona Gunn

  “Oh? And what might that be?”

  “Poor gal’s got two busted back legs. Found her out back, probably dropped by a hawk or somein’.” The thick East-Antra drawl bugged Ani, but she said nothing.

  “Well break my damn heart, why don’t you? Poor guy. I’ll take him.”

  “Her. It’s a girl rabbit.”

  “Her, then.” She smirked and plopped down a small coin purse. Exact change. Ani had a flair for the dramatic. Sure, this meant the added trouble of sending in someone to scope out prices and setting aside precisely the gold necessary, but it was worth it. It made her feel important; like her life was part of a grand stage play. Also, for the look on people’s faces. She liked to think it made them feel the same way.

  She walked out of the shop, rabbit and cage in hand, some feed in the other. Lea’s pastime and studies were no secret to Ani at this point. She knew full well that her sister was delving into twisted magics that may or may not be safe... or ethical... or moral... or legal, for that matter.

  This was no concern. She had skirted the law before numerous times, not counting fighting in the rebellion. Lea wasn’t privy to her political misdemeanors, and Ani was determined to keep it that way. She was a role model for her poor, crippled sister. She was everything Lea wanted to be, and she knew it. So she supported her studies, despite the possible consequences. After all, she knew what Lea’s arts could entail.

  She’d read a few of Lea’s research notes. They talked of anatomy, physiology, psychology, arcane studies, enchantment, transmutation, fusion, mutation, raw physics, both theoretical and known. Lea was breaking into a new field, something undiscovered. It was a marvel to watch, though she could see the backlash coming. If these scribbled notes went anywhere, the public would have none of it. They’d condemn her for “playing god,” for “messing with the natural order,” for “taking it too far.”

  As far as she was concerned, they’d taken it too far after the Second Great War when arcane enchantments weaseled their way into societal norms. When streetlamps switched from oil to arcane flame, when trained swordsmen were replaced by civilians with enchanted blades, when pottery started to float for sheer aesthetic. The line was crossed a long time ago, and in her mind, there was no stopping it at that point. And that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

  Lea’s good, she’s got good intentions. The poor girl has a terminal disease, and she just wants to fix it. Why not let her? If she could cure this ungodly virus, think of all the people that could be saved. How much longer we could live. How many other diseases could be conquered? How many lives could be saved...

  “And it could all start with you,” she said aloud as she patted the cage. The rabbit inside wiggled its nose in disapproval. Or was it hunger? Apathy? She didn’t know. How do you read a fuckin’ rabbit? Anixemeter was no druid by any stretch of the means, nor did she particularly care to be.

  “Hey, Incubore!” A civilian smacked her on her back as she passed, a man Ani came nowhere close to recognizing.

  “Hey! How fare you?”

  “Hah! ‘Nother dess in paradise, right?” The man bellowed laughter straight from his gut as Anixemeter walked away.

  She was happy being a politician, though she wondered if her title was still valid. She left her duties at city hall to help her sister a number of turns ago. At this point, she was more of a silver-tongued socialite. Luckily, she raked in enough money at the time that she could afford to take a couple dozen turns off. It was rough living as sparingly as she and Lea did, but they managed. She would have to pick up a job again sometime soon if she was to pay for these experiments, though.

  The grass was a brilliant green along the path she walked home. Voorhaven was a gorgeous little town; little by Antrian standards, anyway. In Runnir, forty thousand could be considered a metropolis, but in Antra, it served as, at the very most, a town that merited marking on a continent map.

  Ani’s place was on the edge of town, far away from any unwanted visitors. She didn’t mind the walk to town. It was twenty-five minutes each way of clean, fresh air, and she knew a half cent of total walking was something she needed anyway. Sure, the house got stuffy, but she mostly just loved to stop and chat with old friends, new acquaintances, and popular town socialites. She did love people, it’s why she got into politics in the first place. She figured the world needed more leaders that want to help the people, not just themselves.

  “Scopin’ out trouble, eh boss?” Another man Ani has no hope of knowing.

  “You know it.” They both laughed as she slapped the man on his back, sending him on his merry way.

  Lots of unfamiliar faces. It can’t be helped in a town this size. You just can’t learn forty thousand names and faces. Memories of working in city hall washed over her with nearly every face. It made her nostalgic. Sure, they were hard, unforgiving times, but somehow it was rewarding to help her people. Her people. How she missed it.

  Her house came into view. Not much to look at, but it worked. It was one story, wooden with basic roof tiles, a few windows, some nice curtains, and a little porch out front with a roof. It rained a lot in Voorhaven, and Ani did like her cigars. She didn’t smoke inside; it wasn’t good for Lea’s lungs and the smell got into the walls.

  It was something she picked up as a politician. The mayor smoked several a dess, so a natural portion of her sycophantic phase was to join her. Locally grown Antrian cigars made her look better in public, but her heart laid with Milakrians. Those guys know how to roll leaf. She lamented that it was so difficult to find a true Milaric-rolled cigar in the area.

  She walked up the porch stairs, and entered the building. The first room was a mudroom of sorts, littered with shoes, hanging coats, etc. She kicked off her shiny black boots and walked in. The living room was small, but roomy enough to be open and relaxing. Three shelves packed full of books, a fireplace, a low table, and three smoking chairs (one for company) adorned the room. Lea was in none of them.

  She glanced in the adjoining kitchen, a smaller room with a range, chimney vent, long counter, a table, and just enough room to allow for movement. She ignored the kitchen, went back to the living room and went into the back hallway, connecting the bathroom and two bedrooms.

  Ani gently opened the study door to find Lea at her desk poring over a book to some gentle violin/flute music. Leana’s music always weirded her out; a tiny little magic stone shouldn’t be able to perfectly mimic the sounds and acoustics of a real instrument, let alone more than one. She heard one of her stones that had a full symphony orchestra in it. Shit’s just not right.

  “Lea!” She casually waltzed into the study. It was about the size of the kitchen with a large desk in the middle, walls consisting of nothing but bookshelves or other shelving. The desk was covered in books, scrawled notes, and some paperweights. The shelves held potions, herbs, magic things Ani didn’t understand, and books, both for studying and notes.

  Leana looked up causally from her book, a mildly annoyed look on her face that quickly faded into amusement. “’T’s’at?” Every word her sister spoke made her own throat itch. She didn’t so much speak as reach inside, grab words coated in barbs, and wrench them through her gullet. She could hear the pain behind every sound.

  She gently put the cage on an open space of desk and opened the door from behind it. Lea gently reached in and grabbed the rabbit. “Careful, sis. Her back legs are busted.” She carefully lifted the rabbit and set her on her desk. As Lea gently petted the rabbit, it wiggled its nose in satisfaction. Or was it fear? Hunger? Apathy? Fuckin’ rabbits and their fuckin’ noses.

  Ani smiled. “Just like you, huh sis?”

  Lea smirked for the first time in a long, long while. “Yeah... Just like me...”

  The air was as brisk and clean as ever, and the heat suited her well. The sun sat high in the sky, barely dipping towards the horizo
n. A soft breeze made her hair flit about her head, and she smiled. Ani enjoyed the daylight. The sunset was a week away, and she knew the heat of summer wasn’t at its peak yet, but it never got bad enough in Voorhaven to complain. They were far enough north, though, that when night fell, she was ready with an armament of firewood. It wasn’t as bad as Olinar or Unim, but it got frosty at night.

  When she left the house, Lea was in the study working on notes with her new rabbit whom she had affectionately dubbed Amber, assumedly after her eyes. While the two bonded over research and studies, Ani was meeting with the editor of the local Voorhaven Chronicle, Mister Cobus Caine. The two had known each other for quite a while and were drinking buddies back when he was just a regular reporter. When the old editor retired and Cobus took over, their relationship changed a bit.

  They still went out for drinks and would chat about their ups and downs, but she knew that every word she said was being carefully monitored and that he wouldn’t hesitate to whip out a notepad and start writing things down. He never needed to, though; he had the memory of a... thing with good memory. Words didn’t come easily to her just after waking up.

  Before the meeting, though, was breakfast. The local bakery was perfect, as she could get a strong black tea, a hearty bread with some cheese and eggs, and a calm environment to prepare for her interview. The man behind the counter knew her well, as did half the people in the shop. Another quarter knew her by name, not face, and the remainder either didn’t know or didn’t care.

  The black tea was brewed strong and smoked with a hearty Antrian wood, just like she needed it. Pine, as was common for Milakrian tea, wasn’t hearty enough for Ani. The bakery carried mesquite-smoked leaf that always gave her the necessary perk. The thick-brewed sludge creeping down her throat kicked her body into gear and the caffeine put that kick into use. It was the closest thing she could find to the nectar of the gods themselves.

  Sooner than she would have liked, a man walked in with a short military cut, a nice mostly-well-fit Antrian suit, rimmed glasses, and a mug Ani could probably fit her entire fist into. He slid it onto the counter and said in a smooth, sultry voice, “Fill ‘er up, my man.”

  “Right away, Cobus. Two shots?”

  “Three.” The bakery had started experimenting with shots of tea, only half a decilitre of tea with extra leaf ground fine, steeped to the extreme, then dumped into a normal cup. The intense caffeine dose helped people like Cobus get going after waking up, or in his case, after not sleeping.

  “Happy waking, Co.” Ani stood up and he whirled around to meet her with a friendly grin and eyes that screamed, tea, I need tea. Dear gods, I’ve been editing all night and I need my goddamn tea.

  “Why hello, Ani!” The two hugged and she offered him a seat beside hers, opting for two plush chairs by a squat wooden table. “How are you this wake, beautiful?”

  “Oh, I’m doing as well as ever. How’s the most handsome editor in town doing?”

  “Flatterer. I look like shit. I’ve been up two desses proofing articles and preparing for going to the scribes anon and dear gods, Ani, couldn’t you have let us do an interview yesterdess?”

  “I was busy yesterdess. Sorry, Co.” She wasn’t, as she was only doing finances and grabbing a rabbit, but her time was precious to her and she needed time to prepare.

  “Well, we have time. It’s no trouble.” It was, but he’d never show it. At least not until you got a few drinks in him.

  “Here ya go, Cobus. Black, thick as sludge, and with a special shot of somethin’ to get you going.”

  “You’re a godsend, Emery.” He rose, took his viscous black drink, sipped it, and smiled. “So, Ani, I assume you know why I asked you for an interview?”

  “Doing profiles on past politicians again?”

  “Well,” he almost sung while grabbing a carafe of goat’s milk, “I’m doing a piece on the state of Voorhaven, past and present, so I have both personal bio questions for you, mostly fact-checking, and some opinion questions on the current state of things.”

  “Okay... I hope you’re not trying to get me badmouthing anyone. I won’t disparage my previous co-workers, who still remain friends.”

  “How fast you go into politician mode.”

  “As fast as you go into journalist mode.”

  “Fair enough.” He smirked, sipping his tea. “Perfect,” he sat the carafe back in its place. “So just to make sure, you don’t talk about it much, but you were in the military.”

  A sigh escaped her throat. I knew he’d ask about this. “Yes I was.”

  “And specifically, you fought in Octavian’s Rebellion, seating our current ruler.”

  “Yes I did.”

  “What role did you take in the war?”

  “I was front-lines by choice, but moved to special forces by request of the queen.”

  “Queen Octavian herself requested to promote you?”

  Shit. That sentence should have been five words shorter. “Yes. I knew Queen Octavian before the rebellion.”

  “How did you know her?” His pitch rose slightly and an eyebrow cocked as he stared expectantly.

  Another heavy sigh. “She was just an acquaintance of mine I met in school through another friend. My good friend from university, current secundus of Arghan’Sul, Alasdair Torbanson, introduced me to her. I had beers with her a number of times before the war.”

  “So she was a friend of yours?”

  “By the end of the Rebellion, I called her a close friend.”

  “How close are we talking, Ani?” His eyebrows rose slightly.

  “I’m not at liberty to say.”

  “Ooh. That sounds... intriguing.”

  “It shouldn’t. I just don’t divulge personal details about the Queen’s life.”

  His head tilted down, still locking eyes with eyebrows raised. You’re avoiding the question, he seemed to say. Ani lowered her brow, as if to say, yes, yes I am. Drop it.

  “So you joined her side for personal reasons?”

  “Everyone joined a side for personal reasons. Anyone that had a side in the rebellion chose it for personal reasons. Yes, I did choose her personally because I personally believed she was best suited to rule the realm.”

  “Do you still believe that?”

  “Of course I do. Queen Octavian’s done a great job with the realm.”

  “Many would disagree with you.”

  “And they have every right to,” she stated bluntly, forcefully, and finally. A short silence befell them before she spoke up again.

  “Did the war and subsequent successful takeover lead you to politics?”

  “Sort of. After the rebellion, I returned home to be with family and found myself bored without a job. I’ve always been a people person and since all my old friends seemed to be going into politics, I figured I’d try my hand.”

  “Which went well, as you sat on the city council for many turns before leaving nine turns ago.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why did you leave your position?”

  “As I told you in my previous interviews, personal reasons regarding family.”

  “Are you not at liberty to discuss those either?”

  “I’m not.”

  “Does it have to do with your sister with the unknown disease?”

  “I don’t discuss my personal or family life with the press.” Her eyes shot a glaring ‘drop it now’ look at Cobus, one that he took reluctantly.

  “What do you think of the men currently running the city council?”

  “Well, I think the men and women currently running Voorhaven are doing a fantastic job, including our mayor. Mayor Urion has been doing great these past twenty turns or so, and she’s bound for success.”

  “So you’re happy with the current power?
”

  “I am.”

  “Many residents of Voorhaven are asking for you to return and perhaps run for mayor in the next election.”

  “That’s most likely out of the question.”

  “May I ask why?”

  “Personal and family reasons. I left my position previously for a reason, and I’m sticking to it.” Cobus gave her the most pleading look possible laced with ‘Oh come on, really?’ Ani’s face held a stern and proper, ‘sorry, but yes, really.’ “Anything else for me, Mr. Caine?”

  “That’ll be all, Ani. I suppose I’ve got enough to run with here, since I know you won’t give me anything more.”

  “Sorry, Co. But hey, you’re on a half-dess shift schedule, right?”

  “I am, like most of the civilized world.”

  “What’s your sleep schedule like this time of turn?”

  “Why Miss Incubore, why-ever would you want to know when I’m in bed?” His smile was liquid seduction, and Ani tried to ignore it. She failed.

  “Because I’d like to know if you’ll be available for a drink at the end of this one.”

  His smile held; Ani could only imagine what was running through his head. It was probably something similar to what was running through hers. “You know what? I’m gonna be frantically moving into press here soon, so no, not this dess. By the end of twodess, however, it’ll be in the hands of scribes, and pickup of the duplicates isn’t ‘til the following halfway through threedess, so I’m free between those two.”