Page 69 of Destroyer

“How can a man be charismatic without trying?” reasoned Gwyneth, loyally taking Ru’s side even though she had never met the lord before in her life.

Ru smiled at Gwyneth, grateful for her support.

“I say he sounds like a stand-up fellow,” said Archie, joining in.

Fen gave him a long, withering look.

“Archie, you’re only agreeing with me because you don’t like Fen,” Ru said. “A fact which had better not affect your research, by the way. And Fen… don’t hold back on my account. I know my brother told you everything he said to me at the palace.”

Gwyneth and Archie shared a look, and Fen grinned. “I should know better than to hide anything from you,” he said, watching Ru intently as if everything else in the room was suddenly nonexistent. “You’re right, Simon did have a lot to say on the subject of Hugon D’Luc. He warned me that he wasn’t to be trusted.”

Ru made a sound of impatience. She didn’t like the idea of Fen and her brother deciding things together, as if they couldn’t trust her judgment. “Simon has a superfluity of opinions on everything,” she said, “from fashion to music theory to political intrigue to the facial hair trends of the day. I’ve never known him to form an opinion in his life that wasn’t based solely on his own senseless tastes.”

“You think so little of your brother?” Fen asked, but he was still smiling. Ru got the distinct sense that he was enjoying her frustration.

“Simon’s wonderful,” said Gwyneth, “but he’s… Simon. If you knew him better, you’d understand.”

“Trust me,” said Ru, directing this at Fen alone.

Fen’s smile faded, but he nodded slightly, and the heavy energy in the air seemed to dissipate. “I trust you.”

“Good,” said Ru, “because I have more to share before the Children get here.”

She told them in a hurry everything she knew that could pertain to the artifact, everything that she didn’t want to say in front of their new guests. She explained the situation at the palace, and how the regent claimed the traitors had been put down. She even told them about her uncertainty regarding the regent’s motivation to fund the Shattered City dig site, and her decision to send the Children here to oversee them.

Fen, though, was unconvinced. “Why blame the regent when it’s Hugon’s lackeys who have come to keep tabs on our progress?” he said, leaning forward so that his elbows were braced on the table where he stood, hands folded under his darkly stubbled chin.

“I spoke to him directly,” Ru replied, “and I trust him. Enough, at least, to know he has this project’s best interests at heart. I saw his eyes light up when I spoke of the artifact, the possibility of a convergence of science and magic. The Children are a formality to keep the project above board. That’s all. I don’t believe Lord D’Luc would truly stifle us, not like this.”

“I see,” said Fen, raising one eyebrow slightly.

There was a spark in his gaze, something dark and unexpected, and with it, the memory of her dream came rushing back, the vivid recollection of his mouth on her neck. His breath on her skin, his fingers… She glanced away quickly, her cheeks burning.It was just a dream, she chided herself.

“Lord D’Luc sounds like a man of contradictions,” Archie said airily, his hair fiery in the lamplight, his jaw even sharper than usual in the contrast of shadows. “But if Ru says he’s on the up and up, then that’s all there is to it.”

Fen shot Archie a look but shrugged acquiescence.

The group was far more subdued now than they had been when Ru arrived. Yet there remained a hum of anticipation in the air, an excitement that came from the fact that they were about to begin research of a completely new, wholly mysterious item. To prove the existence of magic.

Even the arrival of the Children gave the project a sense of something like adventure, as though the four of them were embarking on a secret mission under their jailers’ noses.

That energy carried them through to the end of the day, organizing tools into categories, ensuring reading materials were on hand, laying out notebooks and pencils, and confirming that there was enough oil for the lamps. They assembled and cleaned the remainder of the regent’s gifted devices, and laid them out. Each researcher claimed a table, a workspace where they might take notes and conduct individual measurements, or observe the artifact from afar.

It was late by the time they finished, and Ru couldn’t stop yawning.

“Meet here after breakfast tomorrow?” said Archie, rubbing his eyes.

They stumbled upstairs and mumbled goodnights to the guards, who were still stationed at the top of the stairs. And for a moment, laughing and walking through the Tower halls with her friends, Ru felt the heaviness of everything begin to lift, as though looking up through a thick cloud and finally seeing a touch of blue sky.

At that moment, Fen turned to look at her, smiling, as if he felt it too.

The artifact thrummed warmly.

* * *

It wasn’tuntil Ru was back in her room, settled comfortably in her bed, that she remembered the letter from the palace. How could she have forgotten? Springing up at the recollection, she went to the wardrobe and fished the letter out of her skirt pocket.

There was no return name or address, only her own name scrawled across the front of the envelope. She read the missive in a rush: