by Eric Vall
“Mason,” she hissed. “Wake up.”
I shot up in the bed as an image of Nemris flooded my mind, and I remembered everything that had happened the night before. Someone was knocking on Deya’s door, and the beautiful elf’s face was pale with panic.
I quickly jumped out of the bed and yanked my clothes on as sweat beaded my brow, and Deya pulled the velvet blanket around her until she was fully covered. By the time she opened the door by a sliver, I had my back against the wall, and Ruela’s low growl began near the fireplace.
“Yes?” Deya asked sweetly.
“Good morning, Miss Deya,” Aeris said in his most gracious tone. “You seem to glow more with each day you spend here. I came to inform you breakfast is prepared, but we will of course wait to begin until you are ready to join us.”
“Oh,” she said blankly. “Yes, of course. I’ll be down shortly.”
Aeris must have bowed his consent, because Deya offered the smallest bow before she quickly closed the door and looked at me with wide eyes.
I smirked. “That went okay,” I offered.
Then the beautiful elf sent me a pointed look and let the velvet blanket drop to the floor. My heart slammed in my throat at the sight of her creamy figure in the morning light, and I couldn’t help but take in the full view with a lopsided grin on my face.
“You are glowing,” I pointed out as I gestured to her pink cheeks.
Deya glared, though. Then she pointed to the pink teeth marks dotting her slender neck on both sides and understanding dawned in my mind.
“Shhhhhit.”
“Yes,” she hissed. “Not to mention … ” Deya walked to the bed and pulled the scraps of her dress from the floor to hold them up for me to see.
“Shit!” I cursed. “Okay, don’t worry, and don’t leave this room, okay?”
“That’s easy enough to remember,” she replied with a smirk.
I chuckled, and my eyes slid along her slender figure as she cocked her hip to the side. I couldn’t resist pulling her into my arms once more with her standing there like that.
I caught her by the waist and lifted her easily against me, and Deya wove her fingers in my hair and passionately returned my kiss.
Then she let out a soft moan. “I don’t want breakfast,” Deya sighed against my lips. “I want more of you.”
I grinned and bit lightly at her lip. “Don’t worry, you’re stuck with me now,” I informed her.
Deya’s violet eyes sparked, and she blushed a beautiful pink. “Really?”
I raised my brows. “Absolutely,” I said point blank. “But if Aeris catches us, we’re definitely going to die today, so let me get Shoshanne.”
Deya giggled and released her hold on my hair, and I took one last appreciative look at the naked elf before I quickly slipped out of the suite and into the blue halls of House Aelin.
I took off at a sprint, and I’d made it halfway to my room when I turned a corner and slammed into two broad backs.
Aeris’ sons were nearly thrown to the floor, and they turned with their serpentine eyes narrowed into furious slits.
I cleared my throat. “Pardon me,” I muttered, and I pushed between the two of them to continue on my way, but my chest was already palpitating in panic.
When I burst through the door of my suite, all three of my women jumped from where they stood around getting dressed, and I hastily scanned the room for Shoshanne’s healer’s bag.
“You need to go to Deya’s room,” I told the healer as I grabbed the bag and handed it to her.
Shoshanne’s eyes widened with alarm. “Is she ok?” she demanded.
I stared blankly for a moment. “She’s fine … ” I finally said, “but there’s about a dozen bite marks on her that I don’t think any elf in this House should probably know about.”
Shoshanne dropped her jaw, and Cayla let out a giggle.
“You dog … ” Aurora teased with a coy smile.
“Hey,” I cut in, “she wanted it. Also … it turns out I’m into it.”
“Hmmm,” Shoshanne teased. “Next time you’re biting me then, I want some, too.”
“You got it,” I sighed and shook my head. “Aeris is expecting her at breakfast any minute,” I told the healer, and she raised her brows as she swiftly headed for the door.
Then I remembered the other issue. “Oh! And there may have been a glitch with her dress, and now she doesn’t have any clothes to wear either.”
I grimaced, and the three women burst out laughing, so all I could do was stand there and let them have their fun until Shoshanne finally stumbled out of the room between giggles.
“You’re going to do well with this,” Cayla laughed. “Everyone in Nalnora will know about you two within the week.”
“It’s not funny,” I groaned and dropped to the seat at the desk to plant my face in my palms. “You have no idea how bad that would be.”
“Yeah,” Aurora snorted, “but you did before you left your teeth marks all over her.”
“I couldn’t even think straight at the moment,” I muttered into my hands. “She was … there are no words.”
Cayla perched herself on the desk, and I looked up to find an eager glint in her blue eyes. “I want to know,” she said. “How did it happen?”
I chuckled and shook my head. “As much as I’d like to get into details with you, there’s something huge I have to talk to you guys about.”
Cayla grinned and glanced toward my lap. “You actually have the energy for that?”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” I said wryly, “but you need to get your mind out of my pants for a second. This is serious.”
“What’s wrong?” Aurora asked, and the two women finally sobered up a bit.
“I talked to Nemris last night,” I told them. “It’s about Deya.”
After I’d carefully explained what the goddess had shared with me the night before, the two women stared at me for what felt like ages before either of them blinked. Then another minute or so passed before they spoke.
“I’m sorry,” Aurora said. “I think I’m still sleeping and probably dreaming. Are you telling us that Deya is descended from … the gods?”
“Not from the gods. From Nemris,” I clarified. “She was her great grandmother’s mother in this realm.”
Cayla nodded. “Somehow, this makes sense to me.”
I smirked. “Me too,” I agreed, “but you can see why I have to be careful. I promised Nemris I would do this. I have to protect her and keep her from being locked to the fate the elves have decided on. Getting caught and killed would definitely be a failure on my part.”
Aurora let out a low whistle. “This is going to be tricky,” she muttered. “You better hope those bite marks don’t bruise.”
“I didn’t even think of that … ” I admitted.
Cayla sighed. “Well, now we will begin to act more carefully,” she said with a decided nod. “Deya must not be left alone with the elves, either. We’ll watch her at all times as we’ve done and get out of Lyralus as soon as we can.”
“Thank you,” I said with a grateful smile. “I knew you two would understand.”
“Of course,” Aurora replied, and the half-elf brushed her hand down my arm. “Deya is part of our family, now. We’ll all help to protect her, Mason. Don’t worry about that.”
Cayla furrowed her brow. “Did you tell Deya?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think I should,” I admitted. “I mean … she’s worshipped Nemris all her life. How would you react to finding out you’re the descendant of a goddess and are going to ascend from this world to fulfill your fate to help govern the very cosmos one day?”
Aurora snorted. “Intimidated.”
“Numb,” Cayla added. “I wouldn’t be able to do anything, I think. I’d probably sit and stare at the walls. Or go mad with wondering over it all.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Plus, Nemris didn’t say anything about sharing all of this with Deya. She made m
e promise to protect her and change her fate. If she wanted Deya to know, she would have woken her up and introduced herself, right?”
Aurora nodded. “We shouldn’t tell Deya about this,” she decided. “Not yet, anyways. At least until we can get away from all these murdering elves.”
I nodded my agreement, and Cayla smirked. “Now that that’s settled,” the princess said coyly, “I want details.”
I chuckled and scruffed at my hair as I tried to sort through the images of Deya that flashed through my mind. I couldn’t decide which was my favorite moment from the night before, but before I could settle on where to begin, the door opened at my back, and we turned around.
Shoshanne peeked her head in. “So … Deya’s dress is irreparably shredded,” she said and sent me an amused grin. “Now we’ve had to summon a tailor, and Deya insisted he make all of us something fresh to wear, if you two ladies are interested.”
Cayla immediately hopped from her perch on the desk, but Aurora cocked a brow.
“There’s no way an elven tailor is going to agree to dress me,” she pointed out.
Shoshanne reached in and took the half-elf’s hand in hers. “Oh, that’s already been settled,” she assured her. “Deya’s feeling very sassy today.”
Aurora grinned and glanced at me. “You must have that effect on all women,” she said with a wink.
I sent her a roguish grin before I turned to the healer. “How is her neck looking?”
“Impressive,” she replied. “You weren’t kidding, you are into it. Although I think the one on her shoulder is my favorite.”
I rolled my eyes. “I meant were you able to cover it all up?”
“Of course,” the healer said with a little shrug. “That’s nothing compared to your dagger wound.”
“Thank you,” I sighed, and I left a kiss in Shoshanne’s copper curls. “We’d be lost without you, by the way.”
“No, you’d be dead,” she corrected.
“You’re not wrong,” I chuckled, and we all headed for the hall. “You guys enjoy yourselves. I’m gonna make sure we can be ready to head out as soon as possible.”
We parted ways at the top of the stairs, but I caught Cayla’s arm just before the three women turned to make their way toward Deya’s room.
“Stan,” I said sternly.
The little metal man popped his head out of her breast pocket, and the princess rolled her eyes.
“Fine,” Cayla sighed. “Take Stan, but if he’s bored you have to promise to bring him right back to me.”
I cocked a brow. “Stan would never be bored with me,” I countered. “Would you, little guy?”
Stan gave an enthusiastic nod as he hoisted himself up to the edge of the pocket, and I held out my palm so he could hop aboard. I sent Cayla a haughty nod, and then I turned to descend the stairs as Stan clambered up my arm and settled on my shoulder. He sent a little wave up to Cayla, and I grinned.
“You two make a good team,” I admitted, “but you’re gonna love what I’ve got going on in the workshop.”
Several servants stared in awe as Stan sent each of them friendly waves while we passed through the halls, but eventually we made it to the courtyard and out into the morning sun. The day was already blistering with heat, and the stonework of the courtyard was bleached a blaring white. When I got to the iron door of the workshop, the cool interior sifted over me, and I was actually happy to be back.
After my talk with Nemris, my confusion and frustration seemed to have fallen away. I felt like every choice I’d made up to this point didn’t need to be second guessed for another minute, and I settled in at the worktable to finish what I’d started.
Stan hopped to the table and took a little tour of the scraps piled here and there, but when he turned toward the shop, he halted.
I could sense his shock and let out a sigh.
“I know,” I muttered, but I couldn’t bring myself to glance toward the place where Bobbie’s rear tire stuck out from her hiding place. “I’m trying to do the right thing, though.”
Stan’s head lowered solemnly, and he came over to rest his metal arm on mine.
I sent him a small smile. “Thanks buddy. I appreciate that.” Then I turned to pull the assembled differential and axle systems from under the table and plunked them down for Stan to admire. “This is going to make up for all of it. I hope.”
I gave Stan a run down of my idea and showed him the sketch I’d made of the modified chassis, and as he pointed to the steering column, I clapped my hands together decisively.
“That’s where we’re headed, but we’re not there yet,” I told him, and I turned to pull three hefty chunks of steel from the shelf against the wall. “We need the frame built in order to secure the components for the chassis first.”
I shuffled a few things aside to clear a large enough space on the floor of the shop, and then I placed the three chunks of steel down side-by-side. As I summoned my magic to the surface of my palms, the lumps of metal lifted from the floor, and once they floated a few feet in the air, I closed my eyes and focused on softening the steel completely.
For the frame, I started with two long side beams that stretched the length of the Mustang and swept slightly upward at the front and rear to allow space for any springing of the tires as we drove. Once these were formed, I cinched my hand into a fist and tapered the side bars inward at the front end to make sure the wheels would have room to turn. I kept the rest of the steel floating at the ready, and when the side beams had settled back into a solid state, I lowered them to the floor before I carefully constructed six cross beams from the remaining steel. I welded them down to connect the side beams next and made sure to bend the frontmost beams and back beams downward so the wheels would mount at the proper height. This finished the basic shape of the frame which would support the structural weight of the entire body.
Next, I wanted to mount the wheel hubs, but these couldn’t just be connected directly to the frame. I needed to sketch out the full control arm suspension assembly first and take everything step by step. Two control arms would sandwich a spring coil and shock absorber, and then connect to the top and bottom of a steering knuckle at their outer end. The inner end of the arms would bolt to the frame itself.
I began by creating two control arms shaped a lot like two wishbones, but the top control arm needed to be slightly shorter than the bottom to account for the roll of the body on turns. If they were the same length, the tires wouldn’t keep full contact with the surface, but with the size of each arm at a slight disparity, the wheels could shift and maintain full contact.
I filled out the lower control arm to make it a bit stouter with a bracket across the wishbone prongs that formed an A-shape. This would give the spring coil and shock absorber a place to mount, while also ensuring the weight of the body was well supported.
Both control arms needed ball joints where their prongs converged in order to attach to a steering knuckle. The ball joints were crucial because they’d absorb the shifting of the wheels from any direction without allowing anything to snap loose. Normally, ball joints had an outer metal case with an inner plastic bushing that was lubricated for the steel ball to sit inside of. Without any plastic, I decided to form this part with steel, but I left the steel slightly malleable, though not so much as the boots on the axles had been.
I focused on nudging the steel between its solid and liquid states while tending more toward the liquid side so the final product was spongy enough to reduce friction, but not so soft it couldn’t fit snuggly and hold its shape between the two pieces of regular steel.
Stan’s metal touch on my arm startled me out of my concentration, and I turned to find him leaning forward in awe as he watched what I worked on.
I chuckled. “See what I mean?” I said with a grin. “You’re missing all the action in here.” I picked up a bit of spongy steel and handed it over to Stan, and he hesitated only a moment before he eagerly snatched it up. “I don’t wanna brag, but I fu
cking invented that stuff.”
Stan tested the spongy factor a bit, and then he just stared at the material for a long moment before he placed a hand down on my arm and looked up at me.
“Thanks, buddy,” I said as my grin broadened. “I’m actually super proud of that.”
The metal man nodded his approval as he gave my arm a little pat, and then he wandered off and took the bit of bushing with him as he turned it over in his arms and studied it more closely. I let him keep it.
When I’d made ten fully assembled ball bearings to attach as I went along, I set them aside to continue creating the other connectors I needed.
I would need at least ten separate cylindrical bushings to mount the inner end of the control arms to the frame, so I used the same approach to mold slightly spongy steel rings about an inch wide and a quarter inch thick. Once I had all of my bushings created, I replicated my first two control arms to form a pair for each wheel.
Then I fused a ball joint to each control arm where the wishbone prongs converged. The cylindrical bushings needed to be inserted at the other end where the metal was forged into cylinder mounts as well. With my magic, I was able to secure a bushing into each cylinder without needing a press by softening the metal just enough to insert the bushing, and then tightening it once more to keep the spongy metal secure.
The last thing the suspension system needed was a coil spring and shock absorber to fit between the control arms. My adoptive father had taken apart the shock absorber of the suspension system on his Honda once, so I already knew this mechanism involved a transfer of fluid by a piston within a chamber. This fluid transfer, usually oil, controlled how quickly the piston rebounded from the shock it absorbed.
This part caught me up because I had no oil to work with for this project, but the channeling gem managed to make the model car function perfectly fine without any. With this in mind, I decided to take the risk and form the shock absorber without oil in the chamber by modifying the design to work with my supplies.
Instead, I created a pair of small but stoutly wound springs that fit inside one another to take the place of the fluid. The shock absorber required two tubes to construct the hull, one reserve tube and one pressure tube. Once I had each tube formed, I sealed the base of the pressure tube with a base valve and dropped the two-spring mechanism into the chamber. Then I used a tendril of magic to weld the base coils of the springs directly to the valve beneath them.
