Eyes turned to him, one of the nearest commons giving Alain a challenging look. “How do you know she means it?”
“Because I am her friend,” Alain replied. “Listen to Lady Mari. Another time will come.”
“Lady Mari?” another common said. “I heard the Mechanics call her Mari.”
“That was the name she used,” a woman called. “In the Northern Ramparts! You’re really her friend?”
“I saw him with her earlier,” another woman said. “Side by side along the railing. They were talking.”
“If you’re really her friend then you know that we have to do something,” another common insisted, her eyes blazing. “We can’t let them just take her!”
Alain looked across the water toward the metal monster which was the Mechanic ship. Mari was already climbing down the access ladder on this ship into a boat which would leave at any moment. The Senior Mechanic had followed, leaving another Mechanic in charge of those still on deck. Little time remained to act, and while he was on this ship he could not help Mari. I need to get over to that strange ship with her. I cannot get over there on my own. An idea finally came to him. But perhaps I can convince these Mechanics to take me there. They are looking for a friend of Mari’s. I will create an illusion that will give them what they seek. “I will do something, convincing them to take me to that ship. If the rest of you wish to help her, then listen to what she said and trust that we will find a way to escape. Another day will come.”
“What can you do alone?” the most belligerent common demanded.
“I am her friend,” Alain repeated. He could tell that wasn’t enough. Too many of the commons were beginning to turn back to face the Mechanics, their expressions fixed with anger and determination. “I have traveled far with her. We have been through great perils together.”
Another common stared at Alain. “She was traveling with a Mage. The people who saw her up north said she was traveling with a Mage.”
Everyone nearby froze, their startled eyes on Alain. He hesitated only a moment, knowing that he had to keep these commons from rioting against the Mechanics, and to do that he had to convince them that he could do something they could not. Alain nodded once, then for a moment let his expression go into the emotionless state of a Mage. “I am her friend and her Mage and I will help her,” Alain said in a very low voice, letting his tones take on the impassive tones of a Mage. “Did you not know that of the prophecy? The daughter will unite Mages, Mechanics, and the common folk into one force which will overthrow the Great Guilds and free the world. Wait for her, as she commanded. Her day will soon come.”
Even though commons sometimes tried to mimic the emotionless expression and voice of a Mage, none of them could drive feeling from their face or tone as a Mage could. Convinced by Alain’s demonstration, the commons made way for him, their expressions ranging from disbelief to amazement, but visible above all on their faces was a dawning and joyous hope. One man began crying, tears running down his face as he whispered the same words over and over. “She’s really come. She’s really come…”
The other commons shushed the man, blocking him from being seen and heard by the Mechanics.
Alain relaxed to let some emotion show again, then stepped out of the crowd. The weapons of the Mechanics still on deck instantly swung to point at him. Alain held up his hands as he had seen Mari do. “You were looking for Mari’s friend,” he said, trying to mimic the arrogant tones of a Mechanic.
One of the Mechanics beckoned Alain closer. “That’s you?”
Alain came closer, lowering his voice so that only the Mechanics could hear it over the growing murmuring from the crowd of commons behind Alain. “That is me,” he confirmed, trying to put a sneer into it such as the member of the Order had used at Pandin. He thought it came out sounding pretty good, or rather bad.
The Mechanic flushed with anger and raised his weapon. “Watch how you talk to your betters, common.”
“I am not a common,” Alain replied in the exact same tones.
Sudden interest flared in the Mechanic’s eyes. “Another Mechanic, eh? They thought Mari had one with her. Prove it! What’s your specialty and where are you from?”
He had to convince them. Alain kept trying to mimic the manner of the member of the Order as he answered, using information he had heard while traveling with Mari during their journey south to Marandur. “Umburan. That is where I used to work.” Specialty. What did that mean again? Alain used the name for one of Mari’s Mechanic devices. “Far-talkers. My specialty is far-talkers.” The biggest lies he had ever told, and no one he knew was here to see how well he had done it. What a shame.
“In Umburan?” the Mechanic pressed with skepticism Alain could easily see.
He needed something to make the illusion complete. Details. Those mattered in forming an illusion. Mechanic Calu had told Mari something which she had then told Alain. That might provide the detail needed right now. “Yes. Umburan,” Alain replied. “The big far-talker there could not be fixed.”
“He’s right,” another Mechanic said to the first. “Umburan was down for a long time. Besides, who knows about far-talkers except Mechanics? If he was a common he wouldn’t have heard of them.”
“All right, then.” The Mechanic grinned unpleasantly. The crowd of commons had gone silent, listening intently to what Alain and the Mechanics were saying. “Dumb enough to join Mari but smart enough to throw yourself on the mercy of the Guild now, huh?”
Perhaps one of these Mechanics was like Calu. “You should listen to Master Mechanic Mari. She was betrayed by her own Guild when she—”
“Shut up! None of us want to hear any treason. And for your information, it’s just Mari now. Her Guild title has been revoked by order of the Guild Master.”
Alain felt anger, balanced by a calm confidence he could not understand. It allowed him to maintain the cool arrogance he wanted to project. “She remains a Master Mechanic beyond any ability of anyone to deny her that status.”
He could hear the commons behind him muttering, passing along what they had heard and commenting on it. “The daughter used to be a Mechanic, too, but she’s revolted against them to help us.”
“Just like Jules worked for the Empire before she struck out on her own for freedom.”
“A Mechanic, and she told us not to risk helping her so we wouldn’t be hurt. She is the daughter.”
And one worried voice in low tones. “But maybe she’s Mara.”
That statement was followed by grumbles about Imperials, then the Mechanics were gesturing to Alain. As he took the final steps to reach them, he could no longer make out the murmuring among the commons.
Alain’s pack was pulled off, then another Mechanic seized his arms and pulled him toward the access ladder. “Wait, you idiot,” the first Mechanic growled. “Search him!”
Having a Mechanic, or any stranger, run hands over him was hard for Alain to endure. As a Mage he had been taught to avoid human contact, and his time with Mari had only dented that teaching, not overcome it. He managed to stand still, even when the Mechanic doing the search paused, then reached inside Alain’s coat to surface with the long Mage knife. “Where the blazes did you get this?” he demanded of Alain.
“I got it from a Mage,” Alain said, which was exactly what had happened. He had been presented with the knife by a fellow Mage on the day Alain had been granted Mage status.
“You took it off a Mage?” The Mechanic grinned as he stuck the knife into one of the outside pockets on Alain’s pack. “You and that Mari have more guts than you do common sense. Did you kill the Mage?”