Page 127 of Fortress of Ambrose
As appetizers are passed around, no one speaks.
“How has your research been, Ube?” Quell asks as the olives and spiced nuts from the aperitif are cleaned up. His eyes dart to me. I lean closer to Quell, our arms brushing.
“We have to secure something for the magic to go into,” I say. “Ube, why don’t you tell her your bright idea?”
“I thought you may have some kind of ancient relic here in this grand House we could use.”
He just wants to snoop. Why? Quell’s face scrunches, and she shifts in her seat. Maybe now she understands my skepticism about Ube. I won’tgivepower to people with questionable motives.
“I’m not sure about that.” Quell rubs the heel of her hand back and forth on her legs.
Yani doesn’t look up when she speaks. “You don’t have to explain yourself to him.”
I set my fork down beside my plate, and after chewing my gristly meat, I break the rigid silence again. “How did the afternoon extraction trials go?” I shove around the food on my plate, with eyes only for Ube.
He slides a shaky knife along his meat and takes a bite before answering, which grates my nerves, stirring my toushana.
“We need to run it a few more times.”
I almost force Ube to tell Quell how terrible this morning went but decide it’s better she isn’t worried about the extraction procedure.
“How do you think it’s going, Erla?” Quell asks.
“We will be working through the night.” She sets a bite of cantaloupe and smoked meat into her mouth. “I am optimistic.” She turns to her brother. “Did you try calibrating the last stonebeforeinfusing it?”
“What, do you think I’m inept?” He stabs his food and shoves another bite in his mouth.
Erla is the conundrum. Her quietness feels more calculating than timid. By the time the third course has been laid out, my second hasn’t been touched. The tension at the table is more pungent than the rind cheese on my plate.
“May I take this, sir?” a servant asks before whisking the plate away, and the third course is set down before me: a salad with greens, beets, and more cheese.
“Yani, you are quiet. Ube says you’ve been a good help to their team.”
She bats her long, dark lashes at me. “I’m glad. They seem to need all the help they can get.”
“We have things under control,” Ube says.
Erla slips a bite of food into her mouth.
“They’re going to cut each other’s throats out,” Quell whispers. “You are working through the night, then, too?” she asks Ube.
“Even if there is a stone we can use, there is no guarantee they are findable in the quantity and precise density we need.”
Yani plays with her napkin instead of eating. “That’s funny,” she says. “Isn’t it, Erla?”
Erla stills, her grip frozen on her fork. “I have been busy with density analysis. As I told you earlier, whatever your issues are with my brother, leave me out of it.”
“Tell them what you told me earlier, Yani,” Ube snaps.
She flinches. A look of guilt I know well.
“I think a more interesting topic of conversation would be why you told your sister Triveyna has the stones we need. You’ve even mapped the route and location.”
“Triveyna?” Quell squeezes my arm beneath the table. This was a battle of who would out who first, and Yani’s decided to take the first strike.
“It’s one of the Order’s mining caves, like Aronya,” I tell Quell.
Ube dabs his mouth with a napkin before pulling out a sketched map from a satchel beneath his chair. “This is a map to assess the area, not to pinpoint travel. I wanted to be sure a trip to Triveyna was needed before mentioning it. I assume we have time constraints.”
