Flame of War (Binding Words Book 5), page 27
part #5 of Binding Words Series
“Pretty much. It’s also a stepping stone to help the smiths in case the Blackhand family doesn’t start being nice.”
“Do you think Augustus can help?” Lilly asked.
“He’s a shrewd one,” Fiona said. “I have hope.”
“If not, we’ll work another way around it,” Sean said. “I swear, getting the steam engine going is taking way longer than I had thought it would.”
“Other fires to put out first,” Myna said.
“Yeah.” Sean turned the water jets on behind him and relaxed into them.
Chapter Thirty-two
Sean sat on the floor, his mind below him where the pipes directed the water to the reservoir. Fiona, Myna, and Ida were finishing the newly-created room while he made a channel for the steam to come up; the pipes he’d runed earlier were ready to be sunk.
“Okay, Ryann, hand me the pipes, please?” Sean asked once he finally had the channel ready for them.
Feeding them down one by one, he Shaped them together. When the new set of pipes touched the old, Sean smiled. He focused on connecting the two and felt them became a solid single piece. Taking a copper ball from Ryann, he put it on the tube and slowly lowered it down via Shaping. It had to reach the bottom and stay in place long enough for him to work.
Once everything was set, he peeled the ball open, allowing the meshwork-lattice of copper, mithril, and ruby to be revealed and attached to the water tube. Everything in place, he triggered the rune and buttoned up the exhaust pipe he had in hand.
“Okay, it can start producing steam,” Sean sighed as he connected the pipe to the strips of embedded metal a few inches under the wood floor. “Switches are connected now. Go ahead and flip them, and let’s see if we have a winner.”
Ryann touched the ruby set in the wall. “Done.”
A few moments ticked by with nothing happening. Sean wondered if he’d missed something when steam began to leak up out of the pipe. “There we go. Give it a bit and this room will be nice and heated. Lock the control box and we’re good to go.”
“It’ll take us longer, but we can do it,” Fiona said. “You’re good to go and create new things.”
Sean got to his feet and kissed her. “Have a good day. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Of course. Ryann, keep him safe.”
“It’s my job,” Ryann smiled.
Sean gave Marjorie a smile as they passed her in the front room. “Give it an hour and it should be perfect.”
“Thank you, sir.”
~*~*~
“You left them the carriage because of the supplies?”
“Not like we needed it with just us on foot.”
“I know that, Sean. Ida will be all giggly about it, though,” Ryann said. “Anytime you do anything nice for her, she becomes a smiling goof.”
Sean chuckled, “She’s amazing.”
“Yeah, she is. I’m surprised at how easily I can see that now. When you Bonded both of us, it was so clear to see.”
“According to Myna and Fiona, my Bonds meld faster and stronger now. Might be why.”
“No... I cared for her because she was so sweet before that. When you saved me, I thought maybe it would be good if she joined us. I felt horrible for holding her back, being indecisive like I was. I did feel those emotions get stronger when you Bonded her, but I know it’s my love of her that’s making it happen.”
“Only happens if you both care for each other,” Sean agreed.
“That’s the thing,” Ryann said slowly. “I can see Fiona and Myna the same way as I do you— they saved me with you. Chastity and Andrea have been sweet, and the growing affection for them makes sense. The thing I don’t understand is the interest I have been having for Lilly and Felora.”
Sean gave her a soft smile. “Ry, do you not want to like them?”
“Well... no. But I hated them not too long ago.”
“You felt threatened by them,” Sean corrected her gently. “There’s a difference. Have Felora walk you through those memories and see if you can find your answer.”
“She can do that?”
“I don’t know, but she has remarkable control over dreams. It doesn’t hurt to ask our new wife for help.”
Ryann fell silent as they kept walking, clearly thinking over what he had said.
~*~*~
Entering the workshop, Sean grinned at Giralt. “How are you doing today?”
“I’m a bit vexed, actually,” Giralt grumbled. “The forge rune is a problem... getting it hot enough means the mithril is starting to go molten, as well.”
“They don’t work with mithril, so we can back off that temp,” Sean said. “They use copper and bronze, mostly. Lower temp to heat, too, so you have already surpassed the goal.”
“For the smiths here, yes,” Giralt agreed, taking a draw on his cigar, “but if I can get it to work on the more expensive metals, then it can be sold to the smiths in the Quaditals.”
Sean chuckled. “I see you’ve caught the bug.”
“It does appear to be that way,” Giralt joined in the laughter. “I almost feel a century younger. By the way, I did find out what extra Talent I had been given.”
“Oh?”
Giralt looked at Sean before closing his eyes. “Goodness, you do shine, don’t you?”
“Picked up Mage Sight?”
“Yes. It is a bit taxing, but now I can see how you do everything you do.”
“This is after adding the sauna to the first bathhouse, too,” Sean chuckled.
“Speaking of, I was hoping to see if I could get a private bath installed here.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Sean said. “Need to get the room set first. After that, I can do the work. Just need the material to work with. Since you’re part of the association, we can do it at cost.”
Giralt’s already large smile grew wider. “Oh, she’ll be so happy.”
“Wife?”
“Of course,” Giralt replied. “Now, if I have the idea of the smithing rune correct, I’m done. The problem is going to be the price. For the association, even at cost, it’s a bit expensive.”
“It’s okay. We take care of our own. We’re even losing a couple of them to care for the bathhouses. I don’t want to go forward with it until we have word on the Blackhand family, as well. No reason to push this out into the public view if they will cooperate.”
“I’m still going to register it and give the association the right to use it,” Giralt said.
“Don’t blame you. We’re moving onto the idea of cooling today.”
Setting his cigar down, Giralt got up and started to pace. “I’ve given it some thought. The idea of cooling requires pulling heat from the air. I’ve never tried it before, but in theory, it should be possible.”
“That is possibly the easiest way to do it, if it can be done. Where would you like to start?”
“I think we should study the basic heating rune and see if there is a way to reverse the process.”
“Solid idea,” Sean grinned. “Do you want to set it up?”
Giralt nodded. “Might be for the best. We just want ambient heat, not an inferno.”
~*~*~
“It’s time, you two,” Clara said, entering the workshop with Ryann in tow.
Sean sighed and sat back. “I feel it. We’re so close.”
“Indeed,” Giralt agreed, wiping at his brow with a handkerchief. “This is the agreed-upon stopping point, though. A break might help us see the thing we’re missing?”
“Fair enough,” Sean said, standing from where he had been crouched near a rune on the floor.
“It’s good to see him so excited again,” Clara smiled. “I knew having him join your association was the right thing to do. If he had just listened to me sooner…” Clara trailed off and gave Giralt a firm look.
“Yes, yes. I’ve already admitted you were right.”
“I am always right,” Clara said primly. “Sean, it was nice of you to come over and keep him company. Ryann, I’ll see you tomorrow. Feel free to bring another wife or two with you. It’s always good to speak to others.”
“I’ll see who I can bring with us,” Ryann said.
“We’ll stop cluttering up the area,” Sean said, moving over to stand beside Ryann. “Thank you, Clara.”
Clara gave him a smile. “Of course. You know the way— go ahead. I need to speak with my husband for a few moments.”
Sean nodded. “See you tonight, Winston.”
“Yes, of course,” Giralt said absently.
Sean shut the door behind him and Ryann, catching only a bit of their conversation.
“Now, husband, you will thank me again, right here on this benc—”
Sean shook his head, his cheeks burning, as he started walking to the gate. “Don’t think I was meant to hear that.”
“What?” Ryann asked.
“Someone is as bad as Felora,” Sean said.
Ryann’s face turned crimson. “Really? But she seems so... proper.”
“Some of the most straight-laced are like that,” Sean muttered. “Let’s get home. Sparring and dinner before the Oaken Glen.”
“Sean, about that,” Ryann said as they left the manor, “I was thinking of staying home tonight.”
“Dream?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Myna will probably go with. Ida might want to stay home with you, too.”
“There is that,” Ryann smiled softly. “You should ask Fiona to go with you. You rarely ask any of them.”
“You’re right,” Sean said softly. “I don’t, do I?”
“No. You never tell us no, but you don’t ask, either.”
“Thanks, Ry.”
“We all know you miss things, Sean.”
Snorting, Sean grabbed her and pulled her to his side. “Understatement, much?”
Giggling, Ryann nodded. “It really is.”
“Sir,” Ven said, landing on his shoulder, “you should turn on the next street.”
“Okay,” Sean said, the moment between them dropping away. “What’s going on?”
“Two men have been loitering ahead of you. The detour will stop them from intercepting you. It might be nothing, but we are being cautious. I will have them followed when they leave, just to be safe.”
Ryann had stepped away from Sean when Ven had mentioned the possible ambush. “Just two?”
“Yes. They might be spotters,” Ven replied. “From this point forward, I think alternate routes should be taken when going to or from the Magus’ manor.”
“What about the others?”
“Nothing to report at this time. They have the carriage, though.”
“True. Okay,” Sean said as he and Ryann turned down the street Ven told them to take. “We’ll have to see what happens now.”
The rest of the way home was without incident. Ven reported that the men had walked off about an hour after Sean had gotten home. Both of the men wandered around the town before returning to a boarding house.
When sparring time came, Sean informed everyone what had happened. The staff members didn’t seem to be worried, but his wives all looked grim. “It might be nothing, or it could be reconnaissance for something to come. The Messenger Fairies are our eyes and ears. They did great today and will continue to do that same job.” Sean paused and looked at the place he was sure the hidden home for the Fairy clan was. “Thank you, from all of us.”
“We are doing our job,” Ven said, landing on his shoulder. “We appreciate the thanks, as we know you mean it. I have boosted the number of guards each of you has. Venn is upset that they are not able to help right now.”
“Tell Venn that they need to focus on having your child. That’s just as, if not more, important,” Sean said. “Same for Omin.”
“They’ve been told,” Onim said from nearby. “They both still feel like they might have decided on children too soon.”
“No,” Sean said softly. “It makes me happy that we’re bringing new lives in, even with this idiocy surrounding us. I look forward to meeting your children.”
“We should always make sure we are in pairs at least, too,” Myna said. “It will make it harder if they try abduction.”
“Good point,” Aria nodded.
“Forewarned is forearmed,” Fiona said. “Ladies, keep your weapons with you. A couple of small throwing knives, at least.”
Everyone nodded, and Sean felt a warmth in his chest, seeing them all ready to take on the world if needed. “Okay, Ryann is staying home tonight. Fiona, Myna, would you two like to come with me to the Oaken Glen tonight?”
Both of them smiled broadly. Fiona was the one who answered, “We’d love to, husband.”
“Great. Now that we’re all caught up, let’s get to sparring. It’s more important now than ever.”
“Are you going to warn the others?” Myna asked as the groups started to split off to spar.
“Yes. Just so they know, too. I doubt they’ll be the ones targeted, though.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Myna said.
Chapter Thirty-three
“Yes!” Sean shouted with a fist-pump. “We’re on the right track!”
“Indeed, we are,” Giralt smiled as he sat back. “That will pull heat from the air, but I doubt it’s what you really want.”
“Baby steps,” Sean grinned. “This by itself would make some rooms better in the sweltering heat of summer.”
“It would, but it is impractical for all but the wealthiest,” Giralt added, looking at the mithril and ruby rune on the table.
“For now. Bet we can refine it a lot. Table that for now, because cooling the air isn’t what I want. I want a way to take water and freeze it within the confines of a one-meter cube.”
“Hmm... makes me wish Viggo was still alive,” Giralt sighed. “Best ice mage I ever knew.”
“What happened to him?”
“Blasted fool went off into the wilds decades ago. Pity,” Giralt said. “He’d have been invaluable here.”
“Ice magi are a thing?” Sean asked.
“Very rare, not like fire mages,” Giralt said. “I don’t know of any in the city.”
“Missed opportunity,” Sean said. “Since it’s not an option, we’ll just have to focus on what we can do. Okay, let me fashion a small tub and fill it with water. We’ll try the chilling rune on it and see if it works at all.”
Giralt lit a new cigar. “I’ll give you a moment. If we do manage it, then what?”
“Hook it to a rotating pulley system,” Sean said as he began Shaping. “Power it with one of our steam runes, and the system will take the boxes into the reservoir. Once the box is filled, the water in it will freeze as it gets pulled back to the surface. Replace that box with an empty one and let it repeat. Someone pulls the ice from the box and gets ready to switch to the next one. Ice is constantly being made.”
Taking a deep puff to get the cigar started, Giralt nodded. “I see. What are we going to do if the reservoir starts to fall, or if we have too much ice?”
“Too much ice is easy: lower the cost. Not like it’ll really cost much to produce beyond the initial set up. Even a plain wooden icebox for the general public would make the demand high. As for the reservoir, that is a different matter. We can always just pour more water into it with my runes. At the moment, this is the counter to the fears of the reservoir overflowing.”
“Huh, you certainly think ahead.”
“Have to, otherwise you end up with more problems than you had to start with. Which is what we are solving with this. My faucets and showers are causing the fear of overflow.”
Giralt laughed, “Good to know you’re not infallible.”
“My wives would tell you I’m not,” Sean said.
“That is the providence of our spouses. To keep us grounded and humble.”
“Ain’t that the truth? Not that I mind. I’ve told them repeatedly to let me know if I’m making mistakes. Rather be told right away and fix it as quickly as possible than get an earful days later.”
“Hmm, I should be concerned if Clara is talking to Ryann and Ida today. They might tell her the same thing,” Giralt laughed.
“Should I be concerned, as well?” Sean asked as he started to fill the small tub with water. “Is Clara going to teach them things?”
