Chiathil. The answer, when it presented itself, had been so obvious that both she and Cor had been embarrassed. Rare and hard to find, the metal was found scattered across Braevis in small deposits where meteorites had landed after streaking brilliantly through the sky. The Celestium had made several very wise investments in groups that specialized in its retrieval, and so they had a small store to share for experimentation. A small, neat pile of pale green shavings sat at one corner of the table. It had taken nearly a full day to carefully carve the runes into the small canister that would hold the stardust.

Lise pulled her goggles down and slid her gloves on. Her heart seemed to go from racing to positively thundering in her ears as the canister was settled inside the generator. She was so engrossed she didn’t even register the general’s good-natured complaining about all the safety gear being too small for someone his size. Her eyes were fixed on the crystalline orb affixed to the small generator by a series of small wires. As Cor counted down, her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth, breath quickening slightly. First came the familiar hum and whir. Half of her tensed for the inevitable explosion of gears and shards of metal that came when the hum and whir increased to a near screeching pitch. Slowly, so slowly Lise was certain her heart was going to explode from her chest before she even saw the results, the globe started to brighten. It took about a minute to warm up before attaining a steady brilliance, lighting the whole workshop. The light held for about two further minutes before the familiar whine of overworked gears started to register. She stood on her toes and pushed her hand into Terioc’s shoulder.

“DUCK!” She shouted as she dove for the floor and covered her head to prevent injury by flying bits.

He looked at her confused for a split second and then dove head-first himself after seeing Orrian do the same. It was a surprisingly loud explosion for such a small machine. When the sounds of falling debris finished, he dared to look up. Lise and Cor were already on their feet, practically crowing. The back and forth went a mile a second in Marinnan, leaving him dazed as he pushed himself up, surveying the wreckage. He thought he understood their excitement, however. It might not have worked for long, but it had worked, meaning they were on the right track with their thoughts.

“My most sincere congratulations to the both of you. I’ll admit that I understood what you were working on was important and possibly of enormous import, but I don’t think I realized exactly how big it was until this demonstration.” He found himself unprepared for the gleeful half-tackle hug he found himself tangled in.

“It worked! It worked! Did you see? It’s workable!” Lise was practically jumping up and down even while she held him in a vise-like grip.

“Lise, you’re going to crush him if you keep up like that.”

“Oh! Oh. Uh. RIght.” She pulled back, clearing her throat and blushing ferociously. She pulled off her goggles and immediately found anywhere but the enormous Draivite to look. Which, given his height and build and the size of the shop, was a fairly impressive feat in itself. “Anyway,” she squeaked and blushed again at the break in her voice, “it works.”

“It’s quite an achievement.” Terioc opted to be a gentleman while Cor snickered faintly in the background, already reaching for the broom. “Can I assist in the clean up at all?” Cor shook his head and waved them off.

“It’s faster if I just do it myself. You two go on up to the house and share the good news. I think Seirye and Tamek are staying for dinner. I’ll be up shortly.” He grinned crookedly and Lise almost seemed to give him a look that screamed betrayal, but she pulled off her gloves and goggles, leaving them on the table.

“General?” An elbow was proffered as she straightened her shoulders, clearly regaining some of her poise.

Cornaith snickered again as he accepted it politely, settling a hand in the crook of the said elbow. “My pleasure, Miss Izel.” Lise shot a look over her shoulder and if he wasn’t mistaken, she actually stuck her tongue out at Cornaith before turning back to him.

She didn’t say much until they were out of earshot of the workshop. “You’ll have to forgive me- Cor reminds me immensely of my brother, and so our relationship proceeds according to the resemblance.” Her expression softened slightly. “I haven’t seen my family in…skies and stars, probably not since First Moon. Last winter.” Late summer insects and birds made themselves quite audible around them. “I…actually…there was a question I had for you.” Her brows furrowed and her expression turned troubled.

He did his best to sound gently encouraging. “I’m glad to answer, if I can.”

“Are they safe? Does she know about them, who they are, where they live?” When she turned her face up to ask him, the abject horror and terror that her work might have put them in danger was clear to read. While he’d never been one to sugarcoat things, he was startled by the intense urge to tell her that everything was fine, if only to ease her mind. Some men might have, he supposed. But he liked her far too well to do that to her, and any ally worth anything was best apprised of all the forces arrayed against them so that they could better work in partnership.

“I spoke at length with the queen last we were in Dovleigh, when you obtained your mineral.” He was hedging and he kicked himself for it. “Cadan has some idea about your family, although from what I understand, your home village is a remote place- a week or more from here, and small? It would be a long distance even for her minions to travel unnoticed.” He gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “Still, Aven agreed to dispatch a small detachment for their protection, as we’re fairly certain Cadan knows about my defection in full now.”

She remained silent for several minutes. Finally, Terioc stopped them both and turned her to face him. “We are doing everything in our power to keep them safe, Malise.” He nudged her chin up gently. “No one can guarantee the future, but I can guarantee that your family is incredibly proud of you and the work you do. Cadan’s madness put them in danger, not you. Understood?”

Her nostrils flared slightly before she offered a ghostly smile. “I”ll try to keep that in mind when terror is ripping my sleep to shreds, Terioc.” It felt surprisingly comfortable to use his familiar name in return for his use of hers. “I can’t even tell them what I do, except that it’s all connected to the Celestium and the astromancers.” She snorted and turned, tucking her hand in his elbow, this time. “You’re right about Pomovaara, although you’re off by a week. It’s two weeks, and that’s steady. It was a little longer to get here by caravan, at first. The name is bigger than the population- or it was, when I left.”

“It lies on the coast, yes?” He tried not to think about Malise and sleeping in the same sentence while she chatted. Actually, sleeping was the last thing that came to mind and he forced himself to return his focus to her replies.

“Nearly kissing Marinna, for all intents and purposes. There’s a fairly large shipyard there that Aven’s been investing in. Papa and Leif work together on the designs for some of them.” She smiled softly again, distracted from the fear. “I miss the water. Not just the smell or the sound. But at night…at night it comes alive. It’s nearly as bright as the sky, with even more colors. The Triminn Abyss is barely understood, beyond some species of fish and that it exists.” There was a light to her eyes as she described it. “They’re crazy- my father and brother, that is- they want to design some kind of…submersible ship to explore it.”

“I see that an adventurous and creative spark is a family trait, then.” He chuckled as they came to the end of the field path toward the barnyard proper, the workshop set back a safe distance, just in case of accident. Detangling her fingers from his arm, he opened the gate and gestured her through first.

She snorted, shaking her head. “My mother never understood how she had a child so bent on looking up instead of at the water.”

“Well, she is from Marinna, correct?” He tucked her hand back into his elbow. The walk seemed enchanted by her high spirits, and so he allowed the spell to linger at least until they got to the front door of the house, exchanging tidbits about themselves.

Next Chapter: Unveiling Viverra