Page 58 of War Bound

Jalissa nodded. “That is acceptable.”

When they returned to the market’s entrance, their horses and patient guards were waiting. A small crowd had also gathered. They waved, and Essie waved back as regally as she could manage.

It took nearly half an hour to reach the far side of Aldon to the stretch of rolling hills perfect for running the horses. The guards they’d sent ahead met them, letting them know it was safe.

Essie tightened her grip on Ashenifela’s reins and grinned at Farrendel. “Ready?”

Farrendel flashed a quick smile before he kicked his horse into a gallop.

“Hey! That’s cheating!” Essie laughed and urged Ashenifela forward. The mare leapt into a gallop.

The wind tore fingers through Essie’s hair. She laughed harder and leaned low over Ashenifela’s neck. By Farrendel’s grin when he glanced over his shoulder, his hair whipping around him, this was his favorite part of the day.

After spending overan hour riding, they needed to return. The shadows lengthened across the hills. The breeze swept cool from the west.

At the edge of town, they split their group in two. Edmund and Jalissa took half the guards to return straight to Winstead Palace. Essie and Farrendel, surrounded by the rest of the guards, headed for Lance Marion’s workshop.

Lance’s workshop was a large, brick building near the outskirts of town, at the edge of the manufacturing district. The rolling door was thrown wide open.

Essie dismounted and handed Ashenifela’s reins to a guard. “Wait out here for us, please.”

The guard nodded as Farrendel dismounted and entrusted the reins of his horse to another guard.

Essie took Farrendel’s hand and strode toward the open door. “You’ll like this place. There is always so much to look at. Lance is part master magician, part inventor. He’s a bit eccentric, to be honest. But nice.”

Farrendel eyed her but followed.

As they stepped into the building, they had to dodge around tables with various metal devices laid out in different states of completion. Essie could only guess at what all the items were. Along the wall, tools hung from a peg board.

As they took another step into the building, a piercing shriek split the air. Farrendel flinched, a blue light flickering along his palms. A crackle of magic tingled against Essie’s skin.

The shriek just wailed louder. Deeper in the building, falling metal clattered, followed by a man’s voice muttering.

Footsteps pounded a moment before a young man with goggles pushed into his light brown hair raced around a stack of metal barrels. He clutched some kind of device in his hands. The wailing buzz came from the device while a needle set in some kind of dial was pressed all the way into the red zone.

“I have never seen readings like this.” The young man circled the two of them, the device pointed in their direction. “Do you have a magical device in your pocket? But I can’t think of any device that could contain this much power.”

“Lance. It’s me. Princess Essie.”

Lance flapped his hand vaguely in her direction as he narrowed his circle around Farrendel. “No, it’s not in your pocket. The magic is radiating from you. How is that even possible? I’ve never seen a person with this much magic.”

Farrendel stayed stock still, hands pressed over his ears. He glanced at Essie, as if begging for help.

“Lance.” Essie snapped her fingers in front of his face. “He’s an elf. He has magic.”

Lance started and glanced up. He blinked at Farrendel, cocking his head. “Oh, right. I should have noticed the ears. I guess that explains it. I have never used my magic sensor on elves before. Tell me. Do you have an average amount of magic for an elf or more than the average amount? Stand still while I perform a few tests.”

“Lance, you can study my husband’s magic later. Can you please turn off that device? You’re hurting our ears.” Essie reached over and tugged on the device.

“Oh, of course.” Lance flipped a switch. The shrieking mercifully cut off. “It wasn’t doing any good anyway. I will need to build a sensor with a larger range to properly study your magic. Do you know its extent? Some direction would help me know how large a range to build into the detector.”

“Lance.” Essie clenched her fingers to keep from shaking him. He was usually absent-minded, but this was more than normal. She should have guessed Farrendel’s magic would distract him.

Lance blinked at her. “Princess Essie! When did you get here?”

“Several minutes ago. This is Prince Farrendel, my husband. And, no, he’s not going to be turned into one of your lab subjects.” Essie wrapped her arm around Farrendel’s, tugging him closer to her. He didn’t resist, as if this young scientist with his shrieking device scared him far more than a pack of trolls.

“Oh, sorry about that. I can get a little carried away at times.” Lance set the device on a nearby table, then gave a bow to Farrendel. “Though, if you ever wish to study your magic more in depth, please consider me an option. I would be greatly interested to learn more about how elven magic works. We humans have some theories, but without studying elven magic directly, all we can do is hypothesize.”

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