“You pay?”
She gave him another look. “I’d heard that Mages— Alain, when you’re with me, we pay for things. All right?”
“All right.”
“Right now I need more data to solve this problem. Come on. We need to look at as many places as we can where these supposed dragons have torn things up.”
Alain got up more slowly. “In the rain? And the dark? Those will not hinder your work?”
Mari gave him a startled look, then glanced out the window again. “Oh. Yeah. Maybe we ought to wait until morning. Are you free?”
“Unfortunately, yes, since my Guild elders believe I am not yet suited for anything but studying.”
Mari gave him a sympathetic look, then unexpectedly reached out and gave his wrist a squeeze. Instead of letting go after that, Mari kept her hand on his wrist, and Alain realized after a moment that both of them were looking at where her hand rested.
She pulled it back slowly, her expression worried. “Alain…no. This isn’t working the way I thought it would. Are you sure you want to do this together?”
He could not tell from her tone of voice or her expression what answer she wanted, so he simply replied with what he felt. “Yes.”
Mari took a long time to answer. “Me, too. All right, then. Tomorrow we’ll set about proving your and my ‘elders’ wrong.”
They paused in the doorway, looking out at the rain. “I don’t suppose,” Mari asked, “that there’s some, uh, spell that keeps someone dry in the rain?”
The question surprised him. But then, how could she know? “No. A Mage has to concentrate on the piece of the world illusion he or she wishes to change.” Alain waved at the rainfall. “That would mean concentrating on each individual raindrop as it falls toward you. It is possible but very difficult.”
“And I thought advanced calculus was hard. So you couldn’t stop a storm?”
It was not surprising that Mari would ask for reassurance on that count. “I said it would be difficult,” Alain said. “Not impossible. It must be possible.”
She gave him an appraising look. “Difficult isn’t the same as impossible. That’s true. Mages are supposed to be able to call up storms like this, though.”
“That is not so. I have never known a Mage to create a storm such as this. And I do not know of any Mage who has tried to stop rain or snow. Why would a Mage do so?” Alain added. “We are not supposed to worry about rain, or cold, or other hardship. It is all illusion.”
“I would have made a lousy Mage. See you tomorrow. Where do you want to meet?”
“I can find you wherever you are.”
“You can?” He could see her thinking. “That thread thing? It’s still there?”
“Yes. And no.”
She was looking down at herself, her face troubled. “Am I doing that?”
“The thread? I do not know. It is and it is not, and it remains.”
“Sort of an imaginary number. No, an irrational number. That’s more appropriate, I guess.” Mari seemed to be talking to herself, not to him. “Is it not affected by distance? I mean, is it always the same no matter how far apart we are?”
Alain shook his head. “When enough distance separates us, it grows weaker. I suspect that if we were far enough apart it would grow so weak I could no longer sense it.”
Mari gazed at him. “But it would still be there?”
“I believe so,” Alain said slowly. “I do not know if too much distance would break the thread. It is possible. Can something that does not exist be able to break? It is an interesting question.”
“More like the sort of question that drives an engineer crazy.” Mari looked troubled, then shook her head and gave him a quick glance, her eyes locking on his for a moment. “Well…good night. Be careful.” The worry in her voice was now not about herself, but clearly directed at him. With a wave she dashed out into the storm, pulling her Mechanics jacket out and donning it as she ran. Alain watched until she disappeared from sight, but the thread remained, invisibly revealing the way to her.
Chapter Fourteen
Mari had spent a good part of the night tossing and turning, trying to decide whether she should get on the next train out of the city.
What are you doing, girl?
You need to stop seeing that guy, for his sake and for yours. He’s a Mage. Remember? If any other Mechanic knew that I’d been seeing him, I’d be dead. Not literally dead, I think, but something close. If other Mechanics knew how I keep feeling about him…what’s worse than death? There’s got to be something. I’m sure the Senior Mechanics have figured something out, and they’ll do it to me if they find out about Alain.
What does he see in me? Why do I like him so much? It doesn’t make sense. Nothing makes sense. That doesn’t seem to bother Alain. Nothing seems to bother him because he never shows any feelings. But I’m used to equations that balance and things that work in predictable ways. Not threads that aren't there even though they are. He said if I went far enough from him the thread would get too weak and he wouldn't able to find me again. Maybe. Wouldn't I be doing him a favor if I did that?
He wanted to talk about it last night. About him and me and the future. How awkward would that have been? Even I could see how tense he was when he brought it up. At least he listened when I told him it wasn’t the right time. I mean, it’s not easy to tell what Alain is thinking, but he must have wanted to talk about us getting serious. Why did he mention me to some elder? I’m sure he didn’t say I was a Mechanic, but still…
What will happen to Alain if his other elders learn that he’s been seeing me? That’s even more scary. Those elders torture their apprentices, or acolytes I guess Alain calls them. What would they do to a Mage who is… how does he feel about me? He talked about love once, but he has no idea what it is. How can I talk to him about his feelings, how can I explain that… stars above, I do care about him. No. Don’t even think it. I do not want to see him hurt because of me. I don’t want to see anyone hurt because of me, but especially not him.
Everything is upside down. I can’t trust any of my fellow Mechanics here since Talis was sent back to Dorcastle. And that just leaves me Alain to trust. If only some of the Mechanics here were people I had apprenticed with. Like Alli. It’s been years. Why did she stop writing to me? Is Alli still my friend? I know what she would tell me about Alain. “Run away, Mari! Run as fast as you can! You promised me that you’d only get with the right guy!” But Alli, he feels so right.
Focus, Mari. There’s only one way out of this with my fellow Mechanics. If I can solve this dragon problem, I’ll prove my competence and my loyalty, and then the Mechanics here will listen to me. There have got to be plenty of decent Mechanics here, decent people like Talis. Maybe they’ll explain things once they trust me. Even the Senior Mechanics will have to listen to me if I help the Guild with this. And the only person who will help me solve the dragon thing is Alain. I’ll get my fellow Mechanics to trust me by working with a Mage.
That sounds crazy even to me.
What are you doing, girl?
You need to stop seeing that guy, for his sake and for yours…
Now Mari sat near the base of one of the walls of Dorcastle, the rising sun shining down through the ragged remnants of morning mist. She knew she looked haggard from lack of sleep, and her breakfast formed a hard lump in her gut. Her Mechanics jacket and her pistol were hidden in her bag. She had decided that investigating this openly would only produce orders from the Senior Mechanics to butt out, so she would do the thing undercover, just one more common to whom no Mechanic would pay any attention.