It took some effort to access the building holding the steam plant. Time and the elements had swollen the wood of the door so that it had to be pried loose from the frame. The heating plant was set in a building surrounded by a cleared area, roughly centered between the main offices and living spaces of the university. She knew that was intended to provide a little safety if there was an accident in the heating plant, but even eyeballing it told her the offset was too small, that a boiler explosion would cause serious damage to the other buildings. Someone had sidestepped the safety requirements when they located this steam plant here, but that would be in keeping with what she had seen of Senior Mechanics so far. For all of their avowed devotion to following the rules, Senior Mechanics somehow always found justification for doing whatever they wanted.
Mari braced herself for what she might see inside the building, then strode in like she owned the place.
Although, as the only representative of the Mechanics Guild in the city of Marandur, she actually did own the place, Mari told herself.
The windows, heavily grimed by time and the elements, didn’t let in enough light. Mari flicked on her hand light, drawing exclamations of awe from the students, and began examining the equipment. To her surprise, the steam plant looked to be in decent shape under a coating of dust. “Do any of you know anything about this? Did it just stop working or did someone shut it down?”
The students exchanged baffled looks. “All we know is that it used to provide heat a long time ago, ma’am. We were told never to enter this building.”
Ma’am. They had her feeling like an ancient with at least, oh, thirty years of life behind her. “The proper title is Lady Mechanic. Or just Lady.” They mumbled quick apologies. “I’m going to need a lot of hands in here. People to get this dust wiped up and the windows cleaned so I have enough light to work by. Can you get me some more help?”
Before she could say another word they had all dashed off in different directions, their threadbare hand-me-down garments flapping behind them.
Sighing, Mari turned back to the steam plant and started inspecting it. To her pleasant surprise, the tool lockers were all still stocked. She had been wondering how she would cope if the big wrenches were missing. Even better, the tools had been carefully stored away, wrapped in oiled cloth. The boiler appeared to be intact, with no signs of corrosion, meaning all of the water had been drained from the system before it was abandoned. Everywhere, the plant showed signs of having been carefully shut down and prepared for a long-term period of hibernation. Who did that? Why would the Mechanics who presumably left this place in a big hurry have bothered? But somebody did it, and it’ll make my job a lot easier. If there had been water left in the boiler to corrode the insides for the last century I probably wouldn’t have been able to fix this thing at all.
Her helpers returned with large numbers of others in tow. Mari had estimated that roughly five hundred survivors inhabited the university, and more than half of them seemed to be here, itching to help. Fortunately, she had plenty of experience directing apprentices. Breaking the students into teams, she soon had them working at various tasks, removing the grime of more than a hundred years of disuse from the steam plant and the building it rested in.
“You should eat.” She turned to see Alain standing near, a water flask in one hand and some food in the other. “It is past noon.”
“It is?” Mari blinked up at the sun. “I guess I got lost in my work.”
He sat next to her as she wolfed down the food. “The professors have been complaining that all of their students are gone,” Alain said. “Even those who are supposed to be working on preserving food for the winter or repairing the wall are in here. Only the wall sentries have remained on duty.”
“That’s not my fault.” She gave him a glance, wondering if Alain was just passing on the information or if he found it amusing. “What’ve you been doing?”
Alain shrugged, then gestured around. “Observing. I have walked around to see what I can see of the area inside these walls. I could find no evidence of what we seek. Also, I did some tests on my Mage skills, which is why I am resting again.”
“Tests?” Mari asked around a mouthful of food. “What kind of tests?”
“I was trying to see if I am losing specific spell abilities, or having spells lose power. I could not do this when I might be detected by other Mages, but within this city I am as safe from that as I can be, short of being far out at sea.”
She swallowed, feeling the food sticking in her throat at Alain’s words, and took a long drink to clear it. “I thought you told me that you weren’t getting weaker.”
“I did, but I wanted to see how strong my skills are now, and whether every skill I once had is still present,” Alain said. “Though I had to use my powers to the utmost yesterday, I have not been able to practice my skills to determine their limits since we met in the Northern Ramparts, and my attachment to you has grown since then.”
Mari stared down at her food. “I can’t imagine losing my ability to do my work. I’d feel terrible if your falling in love with me caused you to lose some of your abilities.”
“You did not make me fall in love with you, unless this is some power of yours over men which you have not told me of.”
“Not to my knowledge,” Mari replied with a grin. “I have no idea why you fell in love with me.”
“Your modesty is surely one of the reasons,” Alain said.
Mari snorted. “You did think I’d placed some spell on you, remember? Back in Ringhmon?”
“It seemed the only reasonable explanation,” Alain said. “How could this female Mechanic have wrought such changes in me? She must, I thought, have more power than any Mage. I was right.”
Mari felt her face warming again and laughed to cover up her embarrassment.
“I have not become weaker,” Alain continued. “In Ringhmon, you showed me how to find that place inside where strength may be found when none remains.”
“I…what?”
“You know of it,” Alain insisted. “You have used it. Back in Ringhmon to save me, later during the blizzard, and on the river yesterday, and other times. But more than this, being near you has not weakened me. I have never been stronger. A few months ago I could not have cast all of the spells I did yesterday. I would not have had the ability or the spell strength.”
“Being in love with me is making you stronger?” she asked, disbelieving. “That’s sort of every girl’s dream come true, but I didn’t expect it to actually happen with anyone.”
“I think, yes, you are making me stronger. I still know the world is false. What I believe to be real is you. Another person. That alone is supposed to cripple my ability to view everything as false.” Alain’s frown was obvious enough that anyone could have seen it. “I am thinking about this. About what it may mean. There is something false about the teachings of my Guild, something completely flawed. I must learn what it is. And then I must discover actual wisdom.”
Something really hit her then for the first time. “Any Mage would expect to lose their powers if they fell in love? You thought being in love with me would cause you to completely lose your Mage powers? You believed that would happen?”
“Yes. Why did you ask the same question three times?” Alain wondered.
“Because…it wasn’t the exact same question! You thought you’d lose all your powers, and you still kept caring for me?”