Page 353 of Alchemised
“You will not come back?”
Helena used the mortar and pestle to grind obsidian into micro-shards. “Of course I’m going to come back. I told Kaine I’d be waiting for him. It’s just—”
She paused and blinked back tears. “I made a deal to leave, and I have to keep it.” She swallowed hard. “He’ll be—he’ll be alone here. I have to make sure he’s safe before I go.”
She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs made that awful whistling sound, and she doubled over, clutching at her chest, trying to get her fingers under the chest brace.
Shiseo took the mortar and pestle from her.
“Your wrist motion still needs practice,” he said as he ground up the obsidian for her. “Like this, see?”
She watched, the sedative taking effect. Her chest slowly stopped convulsing. She let him finish before straightening with a wince.
When he was done with the obsidian, he helped her transmute metal bars into the various shapes she needed. He was better at delicate transmutation work than she was; he made beautifully delicate pins that would be removed to allow the carbon disulfide to evaporate and ignite the white phosphorus.
Helena made as many bombs as she could. The Hevgotian ambassador had a very large, sturdy rucksack that Helena filled with them, hoping that all the spheres were even and wouldn’t break during the journey. She took her knives from her satchel, shoving them into the pockets of a tasselled jacket, along with the few remaining supplies from her emergency kit, and pulled a cap down low to hide her face and dark hair.
After hesitating, she lay one of the obsidian knives on top of the note she’d written. Kaine should have one, if he didn’t already.
She slung the rucksack onto her back, careful not to jostle it, and then went over and unlatched the window, leaning out. There was a red haze rising from the north end of the city, but the beacon of the Eternal Flame, which had burned for centuries, visible for miles, was gone. Extinguished.
She was about to climb out the window when Shiseo spoke up.
“Wait.”
She looked at him.
“You will come back?”
She pressed her lips together and nodded, slipping one leg over the sill.
“Wait,” Shiseo said again. He drew a deep breath. “I am not in the habit of holding on to—things. People.” He shook his head. “I was very young when my father regretted his marriage. I was a disappointment. My mother’s family did not rise as expected, so he put us aside and began again. When my half brother became Emperor, I was seen as a threat, but he sent me to oversee the imperial mines, and I thought perhaps he did not want to kill me. But when I was accused of stealing imperial metals, I realised I must always wander.”
Helena knew he was trying to communicate something important, but she was too stuck on one point. “Your brother is the Emperor?”
Shiseo waved the question off and seemed very focused on the story he was telling her.
“I always thought it better to let life flow by quietly. For many years, I did.”
Helena was not sure if she was touched or exasperated by his sudden need to tell her this.
“When they said you had died, I—I regretted that I did not know you well. I do not like to presume. To ask questions. But I—enjoyed our lab.” He smiled at her.
Helena exhaled, smiling back. “Me too. I wish we could have worked on other things.” She slid through the window onto the metal balcony.
“Wait.”
She tensed with frustration.
He reached after her. “I should go. If I am caught, I will tell them about my brother. They will not kill me. You see?”
He held out his hand for the rucksack, the urgency visible in his face.
Helena looked at him for a moment and then pushed his hand away. “I’m going to use necromancy to plant the bombs. It has to be me.”
His hand dropped.
“Take care, Shiseo,” she said. She started to turn, then paused. “If I don’t come back—if you ever see Kaine, tell him—tell him that I—”
