Light and Power
Rinka
The demonstration took place at the last festival of summer. The day was hot and humid, the cooler weather of fall still weeks away, but with the royal family leaving, it felt like an ending.
Rinka and Idris still hadn’t discussed what would happen next. He wasn’t due back at the University for a few more weeks, and Rinka was looking forward to spending time with him away from the watchful eyes of the nobility. She hoped that by the time he was due to return to Loegria, they’d have a better idea of what to do about the distance.
The festival was much the same as the one at the beginning of summer, with a great feast, a bonfire, and a number of activities and competitions taking place around the manor grounds. There were also a number of celebrations for the first harvest, a process Rinka had been removed from in her previous city life: a ceremonial reaping of the first grain from a field behind the manor; the baking of bread in a clay oven, which was then thrown onto the bonfire as an offering to the Gods; and the crafting of dolls from hay and garlands from dried herbs to ward off evil spirits and protect the remainder of the harvest yet to come.
“Of course, the dolls do little for true agricultural curses,” said Idris, walking arm in arm with Rinka. “In most cases, you’d be better off hunting down the originator of the curse and burying them in the field instead.”
“Would that work?” asked Rinka.
“No,” said Idris, “but it would be deeply satisfying.”
At midday, they joined a crowd gathered for the ‘lectric demonstration. Idris joined the king and Princess Ceri, but Rinka slipped away to join Alison, who was standing off to the side, trying her best to appear natural.
“Are you ready?” asked Rinka. She had heard from Alison earlier in the day that there was a chance if the weather held that her powers wouldn’t be needed at all, and she hoped that would be the case.
“I’m ready as I can be,” said Alison. Her face was pale, and Rinka could see that despite her words, she was frightened of what might happen.
Keir came up to join them then, gently rubbing Alison’s shoulder before taking her hand. “We’ve got this,” he said, but when he smiled at Rinka, his brows were furrowed.
Gwenla stood next to the king, and on his signal, she moved forward to address the crowd. “Lords and ladies and gentlemen,” she began. “Er. Lords and ladies, and ladies and gentlemen,” she tried again. There was scattered laughter from the crowd. “Oh, forget it,” said Gwenla. “All of you lot listen up. I’m Gwenla, originally of the Rodaz Mountain industrialists, and I’m here to demonstrate a most miraculous new technology: the power of the sun harnessed to run ‘lectrics. It’s the wave of the future, a new hope for Wilderise and Loegria, and you get to see it here first.”
There were a few claps, mostly from the villagers from Herot’s Hollow come to support Gwenla.
“Get on with it,” said the king.
“Right away, your majesty,” said Gwenla. She looked nervously at the sky, and Rinka understood her concern.
An enormous group of clouds was rapidly approaching. The wind picked up, sending a few of the ladies’ hats into the air, including Gwenla’s.
“Oh,” she cried, reaching for it. “Just a moment, sir,” she said, chasing it down. “Perhaps it would be best to wait—”
The wind picked up again, and this time it lifted the great maroon sheet they’d draped over the dish.
Light hit the dish then as Gwenla scrambled with the sheet, her eyes on the clouds that would be over the sun in moments.
“What are you doing?” asked the king. “Is it ready to work or not?”
“Just another quick adjustment—” started Gwenla, but it was too late. There was a sound of boiling water and the flowing of steam, and the ‘lectric candelabra began to glow, its light illuminating the black sheet they’d placed behind it to better demonstrate the effect.
“Oh,” said Princess Chloe from the crowd. “It’s working!”
It was working, at least at that moment.
“Behold!” shouted Gwenla, finally getting her hat back on. “The power of the sun!”
“Not bad,” said the king. “Tell me about the construction. How many of these will be needed to power the manor?”
“Your majesty, I have a paper with the figures right here,” said Gwenla, thrusting a chart Alison had number-crunched based on the original research towards the king, hoping to take his attention away from the prototype before the clouds passed overhead.
“Just give me the gist of it,” said the king.
“Of course, your majesty,” said Gwenla, squinting at the paper without her spectacles. “One apparatus can generate the power of approximately eight horses—no, sorry, three—over the course of a normal day, which should be enough to fully power several ordinary homes, although the manor is much larger—”
“What’s happening?” asked the king. “Why isn’t it working?”
The clouds had arrived, casting a cool shadow on the manor grounds. The prototype continued to work for a moment as the water continued to boil, but it was slowing down, causing the candelabra to flicker.
“Ah, just a little issue with the water,” said Gwenla. “The apparatus will continue working even in the sun’s absence because of the inherent storage mechanism. Let me just make an adjustment.” She ran around to the back, shooting a glance at Alison as she went.
Alison tensed and began to concentrate on the water. Keir’s eyes focused on the king, sweat dripping from his brow.
“Wait!” whispered Rinka. “Let me try.”
“What?” asked Alison.
“Idris channeled magic with me, and I was able to do something to help him.”
“I didn’t think orcs could do magic,” said Keir.
“I bet the king doesn’t think so either,” said Rinka. “Perhaps he won’t recognize it.”
“Alright,” said Alison. “But hurry. We’ve got to get it working again.”
Rinka took Alison’s hand and felt the surge of power within her. It felt different than Idris’s power had, and Rinka panicked for a moment that this wouldn’t work.
“Are you alright?” asked Alison, feeling her fear through the connection.
“Give me just a moment,” said Rinka.
She remembered what Idris had said—magic was a negotiation. She did not try to take Alison’s power from her. She simply asked it if she could borrow it for a moment.
It traveled between them slowly, begrudgingly.
Gwenla banged a wrench against the prototype uselessly. “Almost there!” she shouted.
“I can feel it,” Rinka said to Alison.
She felt Idris’s eyes on her as she focused on the water vessel. She smiled at him, trying to affect a casual air that said she wasn’t doing anything suspicious. Just enjoying the show.
The water had slowed to a simmer in the vessel. With Alison’s power, she could sense it, could feel it across the lawn.
“Just a little warmer,” she murmured. She asked it nicely. Wouldn’t you like to be just a tiny bit warmer? Isn’t the heat nice?
It did not respond.
“It’s not working,” said Alison. “I’m just going to have to—”
Rinka felt something else then. More power joining Alison’s—Keir’s. And then further still—Idris’s, who had clearly worked out what they were up to. His power was weaker over the distance but still present, and the familiarity of it felt like a warm hug.
“Come on,” begged Rinka of the water vessel. “Just a couple of little bubbles.”
Nothing, nothing…
And then, there it was.
One little bubble rising up the window of the vessel. And then a couple more.
“That’s it!” cried Gwenla. “Give it just a moment to boil again.”
The bubbles continued, one by one, until the vessel was boiling wildly. The steam whistled through the pipes, sending the fan whirring and the generator turning until at last the candelabra was lit once more.
“Very good,” said the king. If he noticed anything amiss, he gave no sign. “Now, how many did you say the manor would need?”
“I’d guess twenty or so for the manor alone,” said Gwenla. “We’ll need to run water to them, of course, your majesty, just like any other steam engine—”
“That’s well underway,” said the king. “Lord Ainsley assures me the manor will have its plumbing up to snuff as soon as the guests are gone. How long to get fifty up and running?”
“Fifty?” asked Gwenla.
“For the entire Hill Country,” said the king.
“Well,” said Gwenla, looking at Alison for help before realizing they were still preoccupied maintaining the power, “if we start them straight away, I’d suspect we can have them within a year.” Gwenla raised her grey eyebrows in question to Lady Sibba when the king turned his back. Lady Sibba shrugged.
“You have three months,” said the king. “Come, Ceri. Let’s see this pedal-cycle you’ve been raving about.”
The king led Ceri away, and the crowd began to disperse. Rinka, Alison, and Idris were finally able to let go of the magic as the sun returned overhead.
Alison turned to Rinka, her face exhausted from the effort. “Three months?”