Page 17

Chapter 17

Argos

A fter questioning his entire staff and finding nothing, Cyrus joins me in his pub’s kitchen. We’ll do some more inquiries as soon as possible in this wild weather.

Right now, we’re putting together a small, simplified steam distillation system. I hold the thin bar of tin and lead alloy against the tubing and the pot which will hold the water and steam. We already assembled the piece that will hold the plant material and the tubing that runs into the collection jar.

“If you don’t mind?” I say.

He nods and releases a small stream of his dragon fire, melting the alloy. The solder is drawn into the seam and the contraption is nearly finished.

“Thanks.” I look up and he is wiping a bit of something from his cheek. “You all right?”

“Aye. Shilia had a little too much rouge on. I think I’m wearing half of it now.”

I grin and he laughs as he watches me ready more rosin to use as a flux. It cleans the surfaces of the next pieces to be soldered.

“Just tell me when to blow,” he says, a teasing note in his voice.

I shake my head. “I’m guessing more than one person has called you incorrigible in your life.”

“Oh yes. It might as well be my given name.”

“Have you ever been serious about someone? As in, finding a potential mate? I mean, no judgment; I’m just curious. Tell me to shut it if you don’t care to answer.”

“No, it’s fine.”

He crosses his arms and shuffles his wings as he leans back on the countertop. The oven behind him flickers with the coals that heated the alloy for me earlier. I hope he doesn’t get upset about me using his ladle to hammer the solder flat.

“I have actually,” Cyrus says, “but it didn’t work out.”

“Someone said no to you?”

He snorts and a bit of dark smoke curls from his nostrils. “She didn’t exactly give me a no , but I could tell she wasn’t interested, so I backed off. I don’t blame her, I suppose.” He jabs a finger at his chest. “Incorrigible, remember?”

I smile and hold the resin in place. “A little heat, please?” I wonder who the female in question is.

Obliging, he helps me clean the last of the pieces for fitting. Once we have that done, we solder them together and then the distiller is complete. I fetch the pot of dill I’ve been soaking and put the plant material into the condenser while Cyrus fills the boiler with water. He lights the small oil lamp burner sitting below the boiler, and the process begins.

As the water bubbles and the steam hisses through the tubing, we enjoy some cider that tastes a little different from the usual.

“I like it, but what’s in this?”

Cyrus’s face lights up. “It’s Kaya’s new cider recipe. I think it has thyme or something in it.”

Perhaps it’s the baker. The way his eyes light up talking about her is telling. “Kaya is close to Tully, isn’t she?”

“As close as someone can be to our witch.” Cyrus elbows me lightly. “But you like them prickly, eh?”

I laugh and take another sip of the cinnamon, apple, and slightly herbal-tasting drink. “I guess I do.”

“I’ve never seen her like this with someone,” the dragon shifter says. “What’s your secret to wooing a witch?”

Cyrus is obviously changing the subject from Kaya, but I don’t fight it.

“No secret,” I reply. “I don’t think I’ve wooed her. Not really.”

“I disagree.” He clinks his cup against mine. “I think she’s smitten.”

“I know I am.”

“Can’t blame you. She’s a heartbreaker, that one. Oh, don’t look like that, Argos. I’ve never enjoyed her company behind closed doors or in front of them.”

I didn’t realize I showed my feelings so openly with my features. I try to clear my face of any telling mannerisms. I just nod and finish my cider.

“If you hurt her, I’ll warn you, sweet Kaya and sensible Laini will lose their minds and rip you limb from limb.”

“I have no doubt.”

“And that’s after Tully eviscerates you.”

I chuckle. “I didn’t expect disembowelment to come up this early in the day.”

Cyrus claps me on the shoulder and takes my empty cup. “Never know what you’ll hear in my pub, Master Minotaur!”

He strides out of the room, his spiked tail and broad wings swishing behind him.

I turn to check the distiller. Steam continues to shush through the piping. The water in the boiler gurgles and the cold water inlet drips into the vapor chamber. A bit of excess water drips from the waste pipe attached to the vapor chamber.

The familiar sounds of a makeshift lab soothe my nerves. I spent most of my youth avoiding my literature tutors and sneaking into the workroom my father and mother created for me. Sometimes, they even joined me in experimenting. Once, we grew soybeans without soil. Another time, I blew a hole in the wall trying out new fertilizers. They grounded me from the lab for a month. Longest month in my life. I grin, recalling my parents back when they were well and happy together. I rub a spot over my chest. There will always be a hole there. At least I have my memories and nothing can take them away. I whisper a quick prayer for my mother.

“I’ll try to be home soon,” I say to her even though she is far away.

I can’t return until I have the money though. She is safe enough, for now, staying with Hamish, our estate manager. She won’t be herself until we can move forward though, with or without the estate. But Mother wouldn’t have wanted me to leave Tully and Leafshire Cove without fixing the mess I stirred up with the khymeia.

I check the collection jar. No oil yet. It’ll take patience. An hour. Maybe two. I hope this dill oil works the way Delixian—the healer—assumes it will. I can’t let Tully sacrifice herself, even if it is for her dearest friends and this town she loves so much. I only met the witch, but I’m already head over heels. I wish I weren’t, but it is what it is. She deserves someone with a future, not a male drowning in debt.

But first things first. I will do what I can to help her protect her people and protect herself. I might not have magic, but I have my mind and my predisposition to tinkering with science.