Chapter Thirty

I Want Nothing From You

Part One

~*~

 

 

It had taken almost two weeks, but Tamyn was finally satisfied that they'd done all they could, and the party returned to Caedra.

The Artifacts they had chosen were carefully packed onto carriages and would take some time to arrive in Elisaen, but Kazia had kept Mistress Jennade's notebooks that Tamyn had given her.

After catching up with work that had been left before the trip, Kazia spent several days perusing the notebooks and found several interesting theories therein which could indeed be applied to Kelvaran's transmitter.

She really would need a more thorough grounding in principles of sound, however, and decided that she should retrieve the books she had gone to the library for after all.

Late one evening, she ventured up.

She hadn't been back to the library since that incident, and she climbed the first flight of steps with some trepidation. There were still several Alchemists about on the staircase up to the library, so it must still be open in the evening hours.

She began to climb the next flight of stairs up, when Kelvaran appeared above her, skipping down the steps ahead.

She froze.

He met her gaze for a moment, but she looked away as quickly as she could make herself.

He only quickened his pace and passed her by swiftly.

She released the breath she'd been holding and continued on her way, feeling her resolve begin to waver.

It was difficult not to look back, but she forced herself ahead until she reached the library.

It was much busier tonight than it had been on her last visit. Alchemists did tend toward night-owlishness. When she entered, she found the Librarian deep in very animated conversation with another Alchemist, and she waited patiently beside his desk for his attention.

When the Alchemist took her leave, the Librarian turned to Kazia with a delighted expression on his friendly face.

“Lady Devratha, welcome back! What can I do for you this evening?”

“Good evening, Mister Cardil,” Kazia said. “I suppose I should apologize for my hasty exit last time. I'm dreadfully sorry. And I really did need those books after all if you still have them about.”

“Oh, not to worry, my Lady, not to worry, and yes. I saved them all aside for you here.”

He retrieved a stack of books from beneath the desk and placed them on the counter.

“I thought perhaps you might return for them, and Lord Meratha did turn in a few of the good ones. Right here.”

“Thank you,” she replied, “that was most kind of you.”

“Not at all. So,” he leaned across the desk, regarding Kazia with a gleam in his eye, “anything good in the works?”

“I don't know yet,” she said, bundling the stack of books into her arms. “I'll have to see if anything in here can help answer that.”

Another Alchemist was waiting for Mister Cardil's attention, so Kazia turned to leave.

“Good night, Mister Cardil, and thank you again.”

“Good night to you, Lady Devratha, and the best of luck to you!”

~~~*~~~

Kazia loved Neiphi, but her favorite times now were the night hours when she could be alone in the laboratory, with no one around to cause her any emotional disturbance. She could forego the Seamist, which could upset her stomach if she took too much, and just work on the Artifacts in peaceful quiet.

She was still unable to sleep well, anyway.

She sat at a table, perusing the books she'd taken from the Library, taking in various theories of the physics of sound waves.

Coupled with Mistress Jennade's notes on sending ethereal energy long distances, they were giving her some ideas, and when she felt she had a grasp of the concept developing in her mind, she went to the corner of the room where the transmitter had been put aside.

The wheeled monstrosity that Neiphi and Edwis had brought out was there as well, and she took a moment to give it a quick look. It was quite beautiful. The way the copper wires were woven about the mirror frame was almost artistic.

She glanced at the documentation and saw the name of Master Giao. Kazia didn't like to play favorites, but she thought that it would be nice to complete a project for him. He was always very kind to her.

Turning to the transmitter, she picked up the watch first, opening it and tweezing out the little fiber cartridge to see that the potion in it wasn't dry. It was well sealed inside, and still looked plenty enough to work.

The sense of Kelvaran emanating from the watch became a distraction, though and as she replaced the cartridge she smeared it across her thumb.

She popped the cartridge back into the watch and idly rubbed her thumb and forefinger together to dry the mess.

She turned to the receiver and placed a hand on the housing, mentally feeling around its workings, now keeping in mind the information she'd just read.

But the longer she kept her hand on the Artifact, the more it felt like her hand upon Kelvaran's when he'd handed her the battery, and then the Library leaped unbidden to her memory again.

Her chest tightened, she shuddered, and put her other hand out for support on the mirror frame behind her.

The floor seemed to fall out from under her.

For a few seconds her vision went dark, and there was a dreadful sensation of nothingness.

Then she landed hard on her back, and a sharp pain shot through her elbow.

She had squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them now, Kelvaran stood over her, his face red with rage.

“What do you mean by this?” he shouted.

She just stared him, dazed from her fall.

“What happened?” she asked. “Did I faint?”

She sat up and rubbed at her elbow, then at her dazed forehead, but Kelvaran gripped her shoulders and hauled her up to her feet.

“What do you mean casting a portal into my chambers?” he demanded.

Her arms were hurting now from his tightening grip around them.

“I... portal?”

Kazia looked about, dumbfounded.

She was not in her laboratory, but in a sitting room similar to her own.

“However did I get here?” she asked.

She looked at Kelvaran in confusion.

“I didn't cast a portal. I can't do that kind of magic.”

“So Mistress Amelys believes, but I've just seen it. I told her you couldn't be trusted. What else have you lied to her about?”

“Lord Meratha,” Kazia said quietly but firmly, her head spinning. “Could you please just... shut up for one minute and let me get my bearings? I don't know what is happening here.”

“Could you please stop lying to everyone for one minute?” he retorted. “You know, I was beginning to think I was wrong about you, but what do you call this?”

He still held her by both arms, and she stared at a button on his shirt to focus herself, ignoring his accusation.

“I was in my laboratory, examining your transmitter,” she said in a low, bemused voice, talking more to herself than to him. “I put my hand out... There is an Artifact in my laboratory that looks like... it could be meant to make a portal.”

“Impossible,” Kelvaran said. “There's never been a successful mechanical portal.”

“Master Giao,” Kazia replied. “It's his Artifact.”

“Well then, shall we go see him, or would that expose your lies?”

Kazia pushed at him, trying to free herself from his grasp, but he held her arms tightly.

“Very well,” she agreed. “Let's go see him, if that would satisfy you. I'd like to get to the bottom of this as well.”

 

~~~*~~~