Chapter Thirty~five

Strange Times Indeed

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Kazia rode to the University in the big carriage with a few younger Alchemists, none of her acquaintance, who were also attending.

They only spoke to her to make polite exchanges of greeting, and on arrival at the University, the group of them went their own way, chatting amongst themselves and giving Kazia no further acknowledgment.

While she was never disappointed to avoid interaction, she had hoped that they might make her entrance less conspicuous. As it was, she entered the main building of the University alone and was shown to a reception hall on the ground floor by an attendant.

The hall was of a modest grandeur, an open room with tall windows along one wall, elegantly draped in heavy ivory fabric and festooned with glittering decorations for the upcoming Winter Solstice festival.

There were gas lamps along the walls, but a beautiful old chandelier hung from the ceiling, and its candles had been lit for the occasion. Beneath each gas lamp stood a pedestal holding an exhibit item, each with a small placard on the wall next to it.

Tables covered in white linen were placed throughout the room, some holding bowls of punch and glasses of wine. There was no arranged seating, and the guests mingled freely.

Aside from the few Alchemists in attendance, the other guests appeared to be some of the wealthier denizens of Elisaen, probably donors to the University invited to see the exhibit before it was opened to the public.

Kazia admired the colorful and well-made dresses of the women in styles from all corners of the Five Nations, happy to note that she hadn't gotten the formality of the event wrong.

She could see no one she recognized though. A waiter handed her a glass of wine, and she began to make her way around the perimeter of the hall to view the items on the pedestals.

“Lady Devratha!”

Kazia turned to see Eaphan approaching, a broad smile lighting his face and a feeling of the utmost joy emanating from him.

“I am so pleased that you have come! How does the evening find you?”

“Very well,” Kazia answered. “I finished my project sooner than expected. How are you this evening, Sir Palanaida?”

“So far all is going better than expected,” he said. “But please, if you don't find it too familiar, do call me Eaphan. We new academics don't stand much on the old proprieties.”

“Very well, then, Eaphan, I shall,” Kazia replied.

She began to ask him about the display item they stood near when they were interrupted by the approach of a couple strolling arm in arm.

The older man seemed as if he were hiding a bored impatience.

The younger woman gave Eaphan an overt glance up and down, and Kazia felt some rather improper feelings from her toward him.

The man didn't seem to mind.

“Sir Palanaida, the exhibit is splendid!” the woman said.

“Indeed, Sir,” her escort added. “Very nice to see what use the University makes of our money.”

“Lady Devratha,” Eaphan said, “may I introduce Mr. Haldon Thryn and Mrs. Isilma Thryn. Mr. Thryn has just launched a company to build a network for the new locomotive trains. Mr. and Mrs. Thryn, please meet Lady Kazia Devratha.”

“I'm very pleased to meet you,” Kazia said.

“Oh, my,” said Mrs. Thryn. “Yes, a pleasure indeed, Lady Devratha. We had heard that you were here in Elisaen, of course.”

“The daughter of Prince Gorvan himself, one of Her Majesty's Alchemists,” Mr. Thryn said gruffly. “These are strange times indeed.”

“Come now,” Eaphan said. “Lady Devratha is an Alchemist, and they are always going hither and yon. Why, the Mistress of Alchemists herself is from Loranar, is she not?”

“We are not about to go to war with Loranar,” Mr. Thryn replied.

“Well, with any luck, and with Lady Devratha's assistance, we shall not be going to war with Valesk either.”

“Oh, look, here comes the other one,” Mrs. Thryn said.

Kazia turned in the direction of her gaze to see Kelvaran approaching. She caught her breath and turned back again.

Mrs. Thryn was leaning to peer around Kazia.

“Such a disagreeable fellow,” she continued, “but certainly not hard to look at.”

“Kel!” Eaphan said, grasping Kelvaran's hand in greeting.

“Eaphan,” Kelvaran replied. “Lady Devratha.”

Kazia could feel his growing irritation with just her presence.

“Lord Meratha,” she said. “I had not thought to see you here tonight, although I suppose I should have.”

“I was just going to take Lady Devratha below stairs to the exhibit,” Eaphan told Kelvaran.

“I thought this was the exhibit,” Kazia said.

“Oh, no,” he replied. “This is only a foretaste. The bulk of the display is downstairs in the Archive, where we keep our most valuable holdings. It is secured with measures against theft and damage, which I am certain Mr. Thryn and our other patrons appreciate.”

“Indeed,” said Mr. Thryn.

“Shall we?” Eaphan asked, “and will you join us, Kel?”

Kazia felt that Kelvaran was reluctant to follow them, but that he couldn't think how to politely decline.

“Mr. and Mrs. Thryn,” Eaphan said to gracious bows all around.

He offered his arm to Kazia, which she took, feeling Kelvaran bristle momentarily as she did, and they turned toward a door in the end of the hall.

“Come, my dear,” Mr. Thryn said. “There are many more young men here tonight awaiting your admiration.”

Kazia looked back to see Mrs. Thryn intently watching Eaphan and Kelvaran walking away, her head cocked to the side and her licentious gaze much lower than it ought to be.

“My apologies for that, Lady Devratha,” Eaphan said as they descended the stairs, Kelvaran walking some distance ahead of them. “Some of these people can be a bit full of themselves.”

“Not to worry,” she replied, “and... Kazia, please.”

He smiled sweetly at that.

“I also don't like to stand on the old proprieties,” she assured him. “They are a relic of a life I have tried to leave behind.”

“I think it can't be an easy thing to be the daughter of Prince Gorvan. I hope I don't offend, but I hear tell that he is a dreadful man.”

“You do not offend at all,” Kazia answered. “You have heard accurately.”

“While I am being so bold,” Eaphan said, lowering his voice, “there seems to be some contention between you and Kel.”

Kazia smiled, considering how to most politely answer.

“He and I have... a difficult rapport, I'm afraid,” she said finally. “It really is nothing terribly concerning though.”

They had arrived at the Archive in the basement of the University. Its entrance was a pair of heavy metal doors sporting several wheeled locking mechanisms. They were held open tonight, but the doorway was still covered with a sliding gate of metal mesh, which was opened now to admit them.

Kazia was still smiling at Eaphan when she stepped through and the gate slid shut behind them, and everything around her went dead.

Kazia froze and drew in a sharp breath.

It was like that very strong tincture that Amelys had given her in Essyl. Her ability to feel the emotional aura of others was instantly switched off, and everyone seemed to Kazia to have been drained of life.

She stayed very still. She was aware of all the people around her and did not want to make a scene, but the panic was rising by the moment, and she began to take her breath in slow deep gasps.

“Kazia, are you quite well?” Eaphan asked.

Kelvaran turned around and came back to where they stood.

“I'm sorry, Eaphan, but I'm not certain that I am. It just came on quite suddenly, as we entered.”

“It couldn't be the dampers, could it, Kel?” Eaphan asked.

“The Archive is enclosed in a dampening cage,” he told Kazia, “one of the security measures I spoke of. It denies the movement of any ethereal energy. That does sometimes have an ill effect on Alchemists.”

She looked about and saw what he meant. The walls were ringed in that same metal mesh as the sliding gate, supported in the corners with the pillars that generated the dampening field.

“Usually only Alchemists of a certain age, though,” Kelvaran said. “Those who have built up a large degree of ethereal energy over a lifetime. I shouldn't think that someone who can barely manage an orb would miss the energy so much.”

He was peering at her through narrowed eyes, perhaps skeptically, but Kazia could not tell what he felt.

She tried not to look at either him or Eaphan. They seemed shells of themselves to her and it was mortifying.

“Shall we go out again?” Eaphan asked.

“No,” she said, doing all she could to calm herself. After all, she had felt this before with the tincture and it had passed. “I came to see the exhibit, and I will do so.”

“If you are certain,” Eaphan said. “We may leave at any time if you find it too difficult.”

Kazia nodded and they walked to the first display. It was an ancient poppet doll, used in some of the earliest folk magic, and Eaphan had just begun expounding upon its finding in Brinland when they felt a tremor in the floor.

This was followed a moment later by a thunderous crash, and people began to scream and run for the gate.

Another series of concussive blasts sounded.

Kazia thought she should feel frightened, but all she did feel was cold and numb.

“Kazia!”

She wasn't certain which had called to her, but Eaphan and Kelvaran both threw their arms over her as something sharp struck the side of her head.

 

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