The Fae Artifactor

by Honor Raconteur

  “Of course,” he agreed equably.

  With a hum, she rose from the bed and drifted out again to her own guest quarters. Arandur tracked her with his ears more than his eyes. With her safely gone, Arandur fetched his bedding from the other room. If he were to be on vigil for the next several hours, there was no reason why he should be uncomfortable doing it. He fetched his journal while he was at it. Sevana had been making her own notes about the transformation process (as expected from one in her field), but her senses were still skewed, still human, and because of that, she missed a great deal. Arandur recorded everything he could observe with the hopes that when she was completely herself again, she could combine his observations with hers and leave an informative record for future generations.

  Sevana didn’t really know that he was doing this. Picturing her future response brought a smile on his face. She did love her data. Settling in a nest of blankets on the floor, he braced his back against the wall, the journal balanced on a knee. The smile lingered as he wrote, glancing up every page or so to check on her.

  She’d be fine. They just had to weather the storm.

  “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad to taste colors this morning,” Sevana announced over breakfast. Well, somewhat breakfast. After being drugged to sleep eight hours solid, it was more like an early lunch. Words cannot express how relieved she was to wake up and have all of her senses functioning again. Perhaps not functioning correctly, but at least they were working. Sevana would take it as an improvement for now.

  Aran had dark circles bruising under his eyes—the poor man really hadn’t gotten much sleep in the past week because of her—but even so, he had a smile stretched from ear to ear. “You have no idea how happy I am about that too. Everything’s still functioning?”

  “Not correctly, but at least working,” she confirmed, dashing salt along her shrimp. Sevana liked seafood fine, but she wasn’t really accustomed to having it every meal. Khan did his best to supplement it by offering some land food, but apparently that was in short quantity down here, and he wasn’t conversant enough with it to know what to buy. Having nothing but seafood and kelp, for days and at every meal, convinced her as nothing else had: she absolutely did not want to be Unda. Although it worried her that if she was already growing tired of fish at every meal now, only six days in, what would it be like in another five weeks? “In fact, I’m feeling well enough that I want to go out to the tubes today. I have a hunch.”

  Aran’s hands paused as he dipped the shrimp into a small dish of sauce. “Another one?”

  “Yes, well, I think this one will actually answer the question.” Sevana’d had measured the tunnel for cracks. Not because she actually believed that air was seeping out—the pressure gauges at the engine station would have registered that problem—but because she had to rule it out as a possibility. The tubes were old, so ancient that no one in living memory remembered their construction, and among the Unda? Who could live hundreds of years? That was saying something.

  Nothing built remained perfect, as time wore away at it. Especially underwater, as water was one of the most corrosive substances; it was natural for things to become porous over time. Even though Sevana didn’t think that was the problem, she’d not been able to completely rule it out. It was a necessary first step to get the possibility out of the way, which Loman had done even while she’d been flat on her back, bless him.

  Now, of course, she was well-rested, if not back to her normal self, and would much rather focus on theories than on the interesting twists and turns her body was undergoing.

  Swallowing the bite in her mouth, she continued, “Remember the trouble we had with Nanashi Isle after the volcano blew? How the seafloor shifted and parts of it had moved, while other parts had tilted upwards?”

  “Yes, certainly, it caused Nia Reign to nearly pull her hair out several times,” Aran agreed, brows twisting upwards in confusion. “But we don’t have a volcano here. Well, the ones at Kesly Isle, but they’re too far away from here…” he trailed off, understanding slowly dawning over his face. “Kesly Station was the first to experience trouble.”

  “You’re quick,” she approved, waggling her eyebrows mischievously at him. “I’m not sure if this is part of Fae teaching, but you do know that the landmasses of the world are in a constant state of movement, right? It’s ridiculously slow, takes centuries to even shift an inch, but they do move. With certain events—volcanoes, for example—the world experiences more dramatic shifts.”

  Aran leaned in, his breakfast completely forgotten. “But the Kesly Isles are in a constant state of eruption. You told me that at Nanashi.”

  “I was not wrong. They are in a constant state of eruption. But that just adds fuel to my theory.” Her hands rose to illustrate her point, gesturing to the world beyond their breakfast table. “Think of it this way. If something had happened—an earthquake, for instance—it wouldn’t have been a burning question, would it? After the system became unusable, someone would have linked the two together and come to the right hypothesis. They would have expected the earthquake to have something to do with it. But the Kesly volcanoes? Those have been going off for eighty years, at least, why think of them? But that’s the very reason I suspect them. They’re steadily releasing pressure on a daily basis.”

  “And slowly changing the movements of the seafloor in the process,” Arandur finished slowly, tone ruminative. “You think that’s what happened. The tubes are out of joint?”

  “At least some of them. Why would a passenger pod be merrily blazing along its intended tube, only to be sucked into a branch tube? Either it was forcefully drawn there, or the slope of the tube was such that it tipped it over. The passengers would have felt it if it was something forceful. My bet’s on the latter.”

  “How do you even begin to prove that? Is there a way to measure the slope?”

  “Sure. I can’t use my tools, but I guarantee Loman has some that will do the trick. The question that I’m still puzzled over,” she reached for her water glass idly, “is why the pods are getting stuck mid-tunnel. Nothing has given me any clues on that. Every test we ran that first day came back normal.”

  Arandur shook his head in fond amusement as he returned to his breakfast. “You say that but you’re practically bouncing in your chair. You don’t want to fix this problem quickly.”

  “And leave me bored while stuck down here for another five weeks? Of course I don’t.” Sevana thought that rather obvious, really. Right now, she could only theoretically solve the problem. She couldn’t actually apply her magic or skills to physically put that fix into practice. It was perhaps not nice of her, to want to delay solving the riddle, but when was she ever nice?

  “Would the slope change the tunnels enough to explain why the pods get stuck sometimes?”

  “Sure, but only with a dramatic shift. If it goes down a foot, or up a foot, it would be enough to cause problems. But I think someone would have noticed that by now, wouldn’t you? They’ve walked the tunnels multiple times, and anything that obvious would have been pointed out.” Shaking her head, she went back to her shrimp porridge. “No, this is something very subtle, something that the naked eye alone cannot perceive. Which is why you need to hurry and eat, there’s a lot of measuring I need to do.”

  “Do I get a nap today?” he asked drily, as if fully prepared for the answer to be ‘no.’

  “Certainly, I won’t stop you.” With mock sweetness she gestured to his cot. “You can stay here and nap while I go.”

  “You know very well that I will never, in a hundred years, leave your side when you’re in a vulnerable state.”

  “Yup.” Sevana nodded, not even bothering to tamp down her smirk. “Which was why I didn’t suggest it.”

  Shaking his head, he went back to eating.

  Aran really was setting himself up for this, in her opinion. It was his fault that he liked her so much that he was willing to stay up all night and tramp after her today. Sevana, perh
aps, should have made allowances, but in truth she had no idea how long it would take for her to solve this problem, and the idea of being stuck under the sea past her transformation? Completely shudder-worthy. Arandur likely agreed with her on this point, hence why he didn’t try to slow her down where work was concerned. Better to have the problem solved before it was time for her to leave than the reverse.

  Besides, she still had to gather materials for Sarsen and Master, and that list was hefty enough that it couldn’t possibly be done in a single day. She needed to allot time for that as well. It was actually quite a bit of work to shoehorn into five weeks’ time, if one factored in her questionable health and energy levels.

  They pulled on shoes and left shortly after that, walking the streets toward the station. Of course, luck dictated that they only get some dozen paces from the house before being accosted by Rane.

  The queen had her dark hair piled up on her head in an elaborate coiffure of combs and pearls, her slender form moving fluidly in a dark blue dress that looked like the deepest sections of the ocean, which set off her pale skin. An effect she obviously knew to be pretty, judging from that regal tilt of her head. Anyone who passed by her gave a bow automatically, then whispered to each other on how lively their queen looked today.

  Sevana could only take so much of the woman’s internal preening before cutting it short. “Rane. I suppose you’re here for an update.”

  “I wanted to see how you were doing, too,” she responded with an open pout, as if this statement was somehow an accusation against her empathy.

  “I thought Kira was keeping an eye on me and giving updates?”

  Soundly ignoring that, Rane made a show of looking her up and down. “You’re certainly changing quickly, much faster than our children do. Ursilla thinks this wise?”

  “A more gradual transformation would actually be harder on me, as it gives my magical core more wiggle room to battle things out,” Sevana explained, not entirely patiently. “And a decade of this would drive me and everyone around me mad.”

  “Ah. A point I should have considered.” No skin off her nose, Rane waved this away as inconsequential. “I will walk with you as you tell me what progress you’ve made.”

  In order to better show off to her subjects? Sevana heaved a gusty sigh and resigned herself to a pointless few minutes of conversation. Setting off at a ground-eating stride, she tried to make this a shining example of brevity. “In short, I have eliminated what it cannot be.”

  Rane turned her head just so in order to frown down at the shorter woman. “Loman reported to me that you have only been at the station once. You determined all of that in a day?”

  “Not really. I mean, Loman and his crew have been testing every possible way for years, all I had to do was ask what they’d tried. Loman ran a few tests for me so I could see the results myself and get a better feel for matters. But basically, we’ve ruled out the possibilities.” Sevana ticked them off on her fingers. “Your station engine is working fine. The tubes are holding pressure fine. There’s nothing wrong with the pods. All of this is important information for us, as we can focus on what’s remaining.”

  “Indeed?” Rane’s expression said quite clearly that she had no idea what could possibly be remaining.

  Loathe as she was to repeat herself, Sevana found herself doing just that and relating exactly what she’d just told Aran over breakfast. This task was particularly odorous, as Aran had moved to walk behind her when Rane joined them. It made sense for him to show decorous behavior with the queen of Living Waters, but in Sevana’s eyes he was every bit on her level. And she was getting increasingly irritated that no one else shared that opinion.

  What was wrong with these people? The Fae had levels of formality and different ranks, but they also didn’t hang every decision on it. Aran could go directly to Aranhil and speak with him if he wanted to. If he tried something similar with the Unda, they’d be horrified. Despite being cousin races, they were clearly different when it came to protocol.

  Not for the first time, Sevana patted herself on the back for a decision well made. She would have gone mad if she were Unda.

  Because of her peregrinations she missed the first half of Rane’s question.

  “—not seen any difference anywhere else, so how can you be sure?” Rane’s face scrunched up in a doubtful frown.

  Inferring what she’d missed, Sevana stated confidently, “I’m not sure. That’s why we’re measuring things this morning. Frankly, it’s the only thing that makes sense to me, though. A subtle enough rise or tilt of the sea floor would do this, I believe, and it wouldn’t be obvious to an observer.”

  “So if this isn’t the problem?” Rane challenged.

  Shrugging, Sevana admitted, “I go back to the drawing board. Granted, I don’t think this is the reason for both problems. I’m just reasonably sure that it’s the cause for the pods that are sometimes sucked into different tunnels. I need detailed specifications and blueprints of the tunnels, measurements, and more time to figure out why the pods get stuck halfway to their destination. I know it’s not a pressure problem, but that’s all I can say for sure at this point.”

  That did not satisfy Rane but she nodded, accepting it. “Keep me updated. I want to know what progress you make. If you wish to go to our sister clan and test their engines, inform me of that as well. I will send an escort with you.”

  “I will,” Sevana promised. So she didn’t have to ask for that? Good. It saved her a little trouble. “In fact, I likely will need to. They experienced trouble first, but that doesn’t mean they have the same problem that we do. It could be coincidence that both stations developed problems one right after the other. It could be it’s interconnected. I won’t know until I take a look.”

  “I understand.” Rane let out a gusty sigh. “I’d hoped for a quick resolution, but I suppose that was naïve of me. You’re not at your best, after all.”

  “That will slow me down,” Sevana agreed with saccharine sweetness.

  Hearing the acid in her tone, Rane waved her down impatiently. “Oh stop, Sellion. I don’t mean it that way. We’re all very excited to be able to travel again, is all. We all have perfect faith that you’ll manage to solve it. It’s just, well, we’re all tired of braving the waters and swimming for long distances to reach our destinations. You can understand, I’m sure.”

  Considering Sevana had multiple vehicles to help her reach destinations more quickly, she could completely sympathize. “I can only work so fast, so be patient. My senses are not trustworthy at the moment, but that’s part of why Aran is with me.”

  “Yes, in regards to that.” Rane paused at the crossroads and half-turned to regard Aran. Her opinion was scrawled all over her face. “I believe that I can appoint others who are more beneficial to you.”

  Sevana’s mouth opened on a hot retort, because queen or not, Rane had just crossed an unforgiveable line.

  She never got a syllable out before Aran was right in the queen’s face, staring her down. “There is no one who understands her methods or needs more than me. I will not leave her side.”

  “You are here to help her rebirth,” Rane argued coolly. “Do not think that gives you the right to determine your place here.”

  “I am here because Aranhil appointed me here,” Aran riposted, each word clipped and blunt. “I am here because Sellion requested it. I am not here at your sufferance, nor under your authority.”

  Rane’s eyebrows shot straight up into her hairline in surprise. The whole scene froze, as the pedestrians around them caught part of the exchange and stared at Aran as if he were begging for his head to get chopped off. Rane’s mouth dropped in shock before she snapped it closed again. Sevana nearly said something, but paused and waited to see how Rane would respond first.

  To everyone’s surprise, Rane’s mouth stretched into a shark-like grin, her head tipping as she gave Aran a look, like a bomb politely asking if it could join the party and blow everything to kingdom co
me. “I’d wondered at the quality of the man at Sellion’s side. She is not one to suffer fools, after all, but you follow her lead so amiably I took you as one.”

  Aran quirked a brow at her, just the slightest arch, and returned her stare levelly.

  “I am glad to be mistaken.” True amusement finally sparked in her eyes and she gave him the slightest dip of the chin, a silent approval. “You have my permission to stay with her, Arandur of South Woods, whether you require it or not. Sellion, keep me informed.”

  With that, Rane drifted off, continuing her own way.

  The curious onlookers were slower to disburse. Sevana watched Aran’s face, saw the way his jaw clenched, his hands flexing into almost fists at his side. Had he, too, hit his limit with how he was treated down here? No, that didn’t seem quite right. He’d known before coming, had accepted it, and Aran’s patience was nearly limitless. Something else was going on here.

  “Do I need to apologize?” he asked her quietly, still staring after Rane’s retreating back.

  The question didn’t make sense to Sevana for a moment. Apologize for what, standing up for himself? Sevana was frankly relieved he’d finally done so, surely he knew that. It took a moment for the obvious to dawn on her. It wasn’t that—Aran had no care for what Rane thought of him—rather, he was asking if Sevana thought his behavior inappropriate (yes, but Sevana adored inappropriate), or something that she would later regret (no, never).

  Delighted, Sevana linked her arm with his and pulled him along. “The next person who challenges you, smack ’em. I have no patience with this nonsense. If I had a problem with you, that would be between me and you. Not them.”

  “Even if it’s the Queen of Living Waters?” Relieved, he matched her stride, eyes soft with affection as he watched her.

  Sevana grinned in a way that never spoke well for innocent bystanders. “Especially if it’s her.”