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Story: A Forbidden Alchemy

Aunt Francis stared at it with distaste. “Yes,” she said. “I read about it.”

“There was a boy at my siphoning ceremony. He came from the North.”

Her head tilted curiously.

“He… well… he was with me that day. When we found the vials. Except he—”

“He went home,” Aunt Francis guessed. “To the North, you said?”

I nodded glumly. I thought of Patrick Colson’s face, of his gentle hands and tormented eyes. There was rarely a day where I didn’t. I’d taken to drawing his face obsessively, scared I would forget it. I remembered him slipping those vials into my pocket, kissing my cheek, whispering in my ear that I had a mind of my own.

“Do you think…” I stumbled, my heart pounding. “Is it possible thathestarted these rumors?”

Aunt Francis had her thumb between her teeth. She chewed on it subconsciously as she stared out at her kitchen, drawn into her own turbulent thoughts.

“This boy,” she said eventually. “What was his name?”

There was something about the way she said it. The forced casualness of it. It made me lock away the name in my middle. “I didn’t know his name.” I was a better actress than Aunt Francis, it seemed. I frowned, modulated my voice.

She looked slightly mollified, as though I’d just taken a task out of her hands. “Well, even if it was this boy, he is just a boy. Rumors pass.”

But these rumors are true, I thought.Doesn’t truth find its foothold eventually?

“As for a union,” Aunt Francis continued. She said the wordunionas though it were absurd. “No such group unsanctioned by the House of Lords will make much headway. If one exists, I’m sure the culprits will be quickly flushed out.”

I said nothing. Patrick Colson’s face swam around my mind, refusing to fade.

CHAPTER 11

THE TRENCH TRIBUNE

TANNER REFUSES MINERS UNION DEMANDS

A demonstration in Baymouth last month leaves little doubt of dissenters in the Northeastern provinces who dub themselves the “Miners Union.” This, after the House of Lords flagrantly denied the existence of such a movement for more than a year.

Crafters of all trades lined the streets of Baymouth, halting all works for several hours in the town, marking the first promised strike from the Miners Union in a long list provided to this esteemed reporter.

The police house in Baymouth did not submit to questioning, with speculation arising that the officers in charge willingly stepped aside for the demonstration.

“All actions taken in aid of or aligned with any criminal organization will be met with the fullest penalty from Belavere’s High House,” said the Right Honorable Lord Tanner in his latest address.

When asked of the allegations of idium corruption, Lord Tanner made no statement except to remind this reporter that accusations against the House were considered an act of treason. No doubt, the strikes come at a grave time for the governing lord, with the sourcing of terranium at record lows.

Lord Tanner made no statement regarding the ongoing terranium scarcity.

The Miners Union promises more strikes ahead of the House’s refusal of their demands, which included salary increases and a referendum on the siphoning ceremonies.

As to the time and place of these strikes, they remain as elusive as the Miners Union itself, whose leaders and headquarters are still yet to be discovered.

TRIBUTE TO FALLEN ALCHEMIST

Famed Alchemist Lester Brickem died peacefully in his sleep late last week, report his wife and five children, who farewelled their beloved in a funeral attended by the full House of Lords.

Brickem, aged 78, was one of three surviving Alchemists in Belavere Trench. His death has sent a ripple of concern across the nation, as the House reports that no new Alchemists have arisen in the latest siphoning.

The newspaper was left strewn across the table of Professor Dumley’s drawing room. The fire was roaring. Sweat was collecting in my collar. The headmaster was humming to himself as he poured out barely steeped tea.

“I imagine the House of Lords must be becoming anxious,” I said out loud, and when Dumley looked at me questioningly, I gestured toward the newspaper.

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