Chapter 15

I t had to be a milestone of some kind that she could go from eating lunch to collecting dead bugs for analysis without batting an eye. Dae reflected with wry humor that she’d leveled up. Even the smell of scorched plague soil rarely tickled her gag reflex. Though, credit where it was due, Ezzyn was much better about airing out the lab after he went on a rampage setting fire to the samples.

She went through the row of jars on the shelf, notebook in hand to record her findings. The detritivores had survived the longest under this most recent configuration of soil treatment, with measurable levels of biodegradation of the poison. Not large levels, but Dae leaned into the positive. The bioremediation efforts didn’t have enough impact in the end when the poison was merely put into a brief remission. It still recurred, undoing any restorative work achieved.

Dae perused her notes. Ice was also effective at dealing with the poison in that it aided containment, slowing the creep of the blight, though it couldn’t fully eradicate it, nor was keeping vast swathes of Rhell frozen a viable option. It also required much colder temperatures than merely reaching the freezing point, and while she was playing with the idea of layering spells to save herself some energy, the technique was still new to her and thus slow-going.

The sound of Ezzyn entering his office drew her from her thoughts. He came into the lab, perking up when he saw her. It sent a gleeful bubble of emotions through Dae to know that she had that effect. A reaction she was careful to keep under wraps. They were finally comfortable working around one another; she couldn’t jeopardize it by having feelings. She’d been the one to insist that they move on from the masquerade night. Whatever had passed between them at the lake, that tiny moment and the things the memory of it did to her insides, all of it was best left alone.

Didn’t mean she couldn’t get a little rush from him being pleased to see her. She just wouldn’t make a fool of herself about it.

“It might be too soon for these bugs,” she said. “They work, just not fast enough.”

Ezzyn stopped beside her, leaning down as she offered up the logbook. “Damn. I’ll see if the Grove can do anything for building up their heat tolerances.”

Dae set the logbook back in its place at the end of the shelf. “Did you have anything else for me? I’m sorry to run off, but my sister is coming by for the evening.”

She thought there was a flicker of disappointment in his eyes upon hearing of her plans, but it was too brief for her to be sure.

“No, I can take care of the rest of this. If you can wait just a moment, I’ll have the note for you to drop by the Grove.” He began digging through his drawers for a spare piece of paper. “I want to start the slow-release trials next week.”

“I’m happy to take the note, but have you considered waiting?” she said, leaning against the edge of his workstation. At his defensive look, she held up her hands to placate him. “I’m not against the delayed release—it’s the next logical step for your research. But you could wait a little while and maybe consult with the grovetenders about mutual changes that best suit the work.”

Ezzyn scoffed. “I feel like you’re trying to imply something here.”

“Collaboration, Ez. You can actually work well with others when you make the effort.” Her mouth twisted up in thought. “Or rather, your work plays well with others. Can’t really speak for you.”

He looked back at his records, his expression dubious. “I guess I can hold off for another week or so. You think that’ll be enough time for the Grove to work something up?” He drummed his fingers against the top of his desk. “Maybe I should work on new—”

“I think you don’t need to do everything yourself,” Dae said in a dry tone. “We may not all be from Rhell, but a lot of people here are committed to the work, too.”

Ezzyn inhaled, poised to counter. Instead, he let the breath out in a sigh, something like chagrin on his face. “I know. I do know that, it’s just … difficult, sometimes.”

“I can only imagine.” Dae relented, humor filtering back into her tone as she straightened from his desk. “Let me draft the memo for the trial.” She grabbed the assortment of notes scattered across two notebooks and a cluster of random paper scraps clipped together that comprised his thought process.

“I can—it’s your weekend, Anadae.” Ezzyn made a failed attempt to reclaim his notes.

Dae stepped beyond reach. “I hate to tell you this, but your handwriting is atrocious.”

“The notes, yes, but I clean it up for the records.”

Dae sucked on her teeth and shook her head. “You really don’t.”

He scoffed, arms crossing over his chest. “Somehow, I managed before you came along.”

“Truly, a miracle.” Dae forced her eyes away from the line of muscle on his exposed forearms. The man was allergic to wearing his sleeves unrolled.

His head tilted as he noticed her struggle, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

Dae busied herself tucking the notes into her bag. “Your energy is better spent on the materials and spells. I’m good at this part. I like it. It’s good practice for me.”

“Practice?”

She nodded, eyes still on her bag. “Describing a trial. Figuring out the theories being tested, the applications. We didn’t study this at Grae U, and I like seeing how your mind works.”

A beat of silence followed her admission. Heat rose in her cheeks as she realized what she’d said.

“Because it’s informative,” she blurted out. “For me.”

His lopsided smile had turned into a full-blown smirk. “You like my mind,” he teased.

Dae groaned. “I take it back.”

“You think I’m brilliant.”

“Arrogance isn’t a good look on you.”

His smirk somehow widened. “Confidence in my convictions. And yes, it is.” He shrugged one shoulder.

Gods all … shit. She wouldn’t tell him, but he was kind of right. Confidence suited him, unlike Brint, whose charm was all surface, no substance and gave him a grating air. Ezzyn had an ineffable believability—when he wasn’t looking at her with such a smug expression. It tempted her to do something foolish to wipe it off his face.

“I’ll see you next week,” Dae said before hurrying for the door.

His amused words followed her out. “My regards to your sister.”

Calya was late. Hopefully on account of a productive meeting with Brint and not a result of him wasting time. Dae settled into her booth at the Mighty Leaf and took out the collection of Ezzyn’s notes for the upcoming experiment. Him and his brilliant mind. She scowled, teacup hovering in front of her mouth. That was a stretch. Professor Vaadt was brilliant. Dae suspected that her advisor could find a way to utilize water magic in anything. Ezzyn was tenacious. Tracing his scattered thoughts was like assembling a puzzle. Parsing his ideas and forming them into a whole taught more than any textbook. That was all, the only reason to explain her eagerness.

His next work investigated a delayed release of fire magic, intended to neutralize the soil followed by a cooling period, then another dose of heat to destroy the poison as it began to creep back. Containment only, but so far, they hadn’t found a permanent solution even for that. The poison continued its slow assault, edging ever closer to the wellspring at the heart of Rhell’s capital.

While Ezzyn favored fire as the main driver of the experiment, it utilized the other elements. Dae noted that she’d need to obtain more soil samples and amendments from the Grove. Water applications, too, and she hoped to be able to contribute to the frost ones. Vaadt’s lecture on evaporative properties of water spells when used offensively had been rattling around in Dae’s head. It hadn’t resulted in anything yet, but the notion refused to quit. It was there, dancing around the corners of her subconscious, an answer just out of reach. Perhaps alternating fire and ice, though earlier trials had failed. If they could just land on the right measurements.

Calya threw herself into the seat across from Dae. She made a noise somewhere between a sigh and an annoyed growl.

Caution in every word, Dae said, “Everything go well with Brint?”

“How did you put up with him for so many years?”

“Not very well,” Dae said, sipping her tea. “I was unhappy for a long time.”

Calya winced. “Sorry. I should’ve seen that one coming.”

Dae poured her a cup. “We’re past it. I’m here now, and you appreciate me more with every minute you spend dealing with him.”

Calya’s lip curled. “Do I ever. He just talks, and none of it actually answers my questions half the time. I’d be impressed if it wasn’t fucking with the project so much. He keeps quoting different figures and contracts that aren’t even involved! And then he just laughs and smiles and says it was an accident.”

“His assistant can’t help?”

“They’re a godsdamned gift. Helped out a bunch with the other projects, since Brint decided to transfer up here without any warning. It’s just this new protection deal that he’s insisting on handling himself.” Calya sipped her tea. “I’m convinced he’s trying to fuck us on this deal, and honestly, I don’t even care anymore. I just want it over. I’ll take the loss. What are you working on?” She pointed at Dae’s notes.

Regular contact with her sister had prepared Dae for her penchant for abrupt topic changes. Dae gathered the papers in her hands. “Memo for an experiment. I assist on upper-level research projects.” She set them off to the side.

“For your advisor?”

“No, they already had assistants lined up when I started here.” Dae hesitated, fought the urge to smile. “Ezzyn Sor’vahl.”

“Prince Sor’vahl? Your old tutor?” Calya’s nose scrunched in thought. “That must be intense.”

“Why do you say that?”

Calya shrugged, helping herself to one of Dae’s teacakes. “He’s always proper when he presents at the capital, but he’s … cold. Doesn’t think much of the Councils. Probably not of Graelynders at all.”

“His homeland’s being consumed by poison, and aid hasn’t been very forthcoming since everyone else thinks they’re safe.”

“I don’t deny any of that.” Calya leaned closer, arms coming to rest on the table. “You’re quick to defend him.”

“I’ve been working a lot on environmental restoration spells. It makes one sympathetic to the cause,” Dae said. “He cares. Too much, sometimes. It’ll be the death of him.” She gripped the sides of her teacup, made herself take a deep breath and gently set it back down.

“Are you sleeping with him?”

Dae blanched. “What? Why would you— I’m— I work for him.”

Calya sat back, fingers tapping her lips. “That wasn’t an immediate no.”

“No,” Dae said. “I’m not seeing anyone.”

“Okay.” Calya’s head tilted from side to side. “But you should. Maybe not with him, but you’re not chained to Brint anymore. Don’t need to be so buttoned up.”

Dae’s eyes closed. Perhaps others could discuss their sex lives flippantly with their siblings, but she wasn’t one such person. More troubling was how a contrary sliver of her brain woke at Calya’s dismissive Maybe not him . Made her want to protest, to question why. Even though she already knew the answers, having already made it through such an ill-advised dalliance.

With her eyes shut, it was too easy for Ezzyn’s smug grin to form in her mind. How pleased he’d looked upon hearing her admit to liking a part of him. And not just his forearms.

“You know, if you keep ignoring me, I’m going to assume you’re picturing Sor’vahl naked.”

Dae startled, bumping the table as Calya attempted to pour herself more tea.

Amber liquid poured across the table toward the edge, Dae’s bag and Ezzyn’s notes directly underneath.

Dae didn’t think. Her hand shot out, light flaring between her fingertips. A shower of sparks landed on the tea, turning it instantly to ice. A twitch of her fingers sent out another spark to freeze a drip that had spilled over the edge. It glanced off the top of the notebook peeking out of her bag and rolled harmlessly onto the floor.

“Wow,” Calya said. She poked at the frozen tea spread across the table. “You didn’t even blink. What else can you do?”

With tentative fingers, Dae pried the ice from the table and set it on the tea tray. “I didn’t know I could work a frost spell that fast.”

Calya tapped the sheet of frozen tea, breaking it into shards. “If you get bored with saving the environment, you should look into combat magic. This has got to be useful.”

“I don’t have the fortitude.” Dae poured Calya the last of the tea. “Learning a few tricks just to show off doesn’t seem like a good reason to study it.”

“Depends. Optics matter sometimes.” Calya made an exasperated sound in the back of her throat. “Why do you think we all put up with Brint pretending he’s a lightwrath and not just some hack who can put on a light show? He’ll never serve a day in his life. Shit his pants if he had to be in a real fight.”

“It does get him connections amongst the military folk,” Dae mused.

“He’s useful to trot out and have him do a pretty show. Exploding inanimate objects impresses the investors back home, and I’ll give him that he knows how to work the magic.” Calya gave a conceding nod. “As long as we don’t ask him to use it against a real person. The security deals are carried by others anyway.”

Calya arranged crumbles of teacake on the tray, tapping them to make her points. “The mercs from that guild in North? Only signed on with us when they saw the offensive enchants Brint drew up for the ships. The funding for all the ships the Borders div ordered a few years ago for official transport? Only took Brint’s meeting because—well, actually, that’s probably more because his brother’s a Central representative.” Calya popped a crumble into her mouth. “Daddy Avenor being a big donor doesn’t hurt. But still. Look, I can’t wait to be done with him, but having a good visual is powerful.”

Dae listened, marveling as Calya launched into her plans for Helm Naval over the next three years. She’d always known that Calya loved the family’s business, that she had plans to make it even better, that she itched at the restraining hold their parents placed upon her ambitions. Though Andrin Helm had stepped down as acting director to fulfill his new role in Graelynd’s Transportation division, he’d named someone else as trustee until his daughters were deemed ready to take over. Dae’s break from Brint had pushed that timeline further into murky waters, yet Calya hadn’t lost her zeal. For all Dae knew, she’d still be trying to pass Adept One in three years’ time.

“You’re really good at this,” Dae said.

“What? Making plans I don’t have the power to implement?”

“Steering HNE. Planning its future. Just being a businesswoman.” Dae laughed softly. “You have the mind for it more than I ever did.”

Calya’s cheeks went pink. She made a dismissive gesture with her hand. “You were the design mage. That’s why we were going to rule together.” She grimaced, rushing to add, “Not that I’m still expecting that! You’re happy here. It’s where you should be, and I respect that.”

“I wasn’t that good at design, though, not for anything that benefited the company. I was just good at managing the projects.” Dae gave a rueful shake of her head.

“Really?” Calya said, then softer, “But then, I guess we both know how out of touch our family was with what each other was actually doing.”

“Maybe,” Dae said. “Except you were always all about HNE. Anyone could see how you belong there.”

“I could say the same for you and this place.”

“I love it here, but I don’t know if I really fit. Sometimes I feel so far behind.”

“Excuse me, you’re in your element,” Calya said, voice firm. “You belong here.”

Dae smiled. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“I’m serious.” Calya tapped the table where Dae had frozen the tea. “You didn’t even damage the wood. Targeted magic like that is expert level, isn’t it? Gods know those kinds of enchants are priced like it.”

“We don’t have ‘expert’ levels here. Most of the standard enchantments are general use because they’re sold at market and—” The nebulous thought on ice applications and Ezzyn’s experiment that had been bubbling away finally fell into place.

Calya prodded her. “Dae? You kind of stopped talking.”

“Sorry, I just … what you said. It gave me an idea for an experiment.”

Calya gave a mock bow. “I am inspirational.” She yawned. “I’m also exhausted. Windrunner in and another first thing tomorrow, so I’m going to find my bed.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to be an intermediary with Brint? I don’t mind, and it’s ridiculous for you to be making the trips.”

“No. This should be the last. The rest can wait till he’s back for Winterfest.” Calya held her gaze. “You wanted to step back. I’m honoring that.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am. And I’m going to bed. Pretty sure the Valley doesn’t like me.”

Dae hugged her. “Thank you.”

“Yes, well, let’s not get emotional,” Calya grumped, though she squeezed Dae back.

After bidding her sister goodnight, Dae walked back toward Sylveren. She paused at the main gate, glancing in the direction of the Towers. The night was still young. Maybe—

She went in search of Ezzyn.