Chapter 16
I’m wasting time. Blaze clenched his jaw and pushed his anxiety to the back of his mind.
He’d removed the steel mechanism that needed to be replaced with the copper and etched the basics of the enchantments into the new piece.
A couple more hours of work would see the ship finally completed, but he was sitting at the workbench at the cart shop.
Off to one side, he had a fresh change of clothes from Kidd’s cousin’s stall. It was another set of loaner clothing.
Blaze hadn’t lied when he said he didn’t have the coin to pay for the copper.
He still owed the merchant for the enchanter’s paint.
That bill was going to come due very soon.
Instead of saving his coin for that, he’d bought two rings.
It was a stupid idea, but he’d done it. And when he should have been taking the copper mechanisms to his ship, he was fiddling with the rings and lacing them with an enchantment.
Originally, he’d intended to craft a singular ring after the Innovation Awards.
With a regular ship, one could hire another and hurry after it.
It could, eventually, be caught. However, his ship could take off into the air, and short of destroying it, there would be no catching thieves if they didn’t wish to be caught.
Yes, they’d have to land at some point, but Blaze didn’t have the resources for a continent-wide ship hunt.
Far easier to lay a little more enchantment and make it so that the ship could not operate without a keyed ring.
Picking up two instead of one had been pure instinct.
Even when he walked away from the stall, he’d known he hadn’t done it for practical reasons.
Durae had shared so much with him over the last week and a half.
Blaze wanted to share everything with him.
He had planned on spending the day crafting Durae’s ring so he could offer it to him at the dance.
Then they’d discovered the flaw, and he’d had to scramble.
Yet, he’d turned his focus to the rings.
He’s not expecting me. I can finish this tomorrow and present it to him on the ship.
It will be just as romantic. Except going to the events and being introspective rather than talkative meant overhearing all the plans others were making to woo or propose.
Because Durae was worried he’d been born under the wrong stars, Blaze wanted to sweep him off his feet during the Dun Steorran celebration and make tonight’s stars their stars.
He would finish the ring, change his clothes, and head to the dance. With one more day before the competition, he had plenty of time to place the copper component and harmonize it with the engine. What if I’m wrong? What if I can’t finish?
He pursed his lips. Then I will figure out what to do when that happens. I don’t want to miss this night.
One more flick of the wrist, and there, the magic snapped into place.
He hurried to clean himself up and change his clothes.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t the neatest in his presentation, but short of throwing himself in the river and then dressing, he couldn’t do better.
He placed Durae’s ring in his pocket and headed toward the Ceremonial Pavilion.
Oh gods, what was he going to say? He couldn’t shove a ring at Durae without uttering a word.
How would he even bring up the topic? “The best mornings I wake up are the ones with you beside me. The greatest days are the ones when I know I’ll see you.
” That was too sappy. Too … fast for something so new in their lives.
Blaze had seen others throwing themselves at Durae.
They said the same sort of things. His words needed to matter.
The walk to the Ceremonial Pavilion was not an exceptionally long one.
Blaze discarded a hundred opening lines before reaching the last turn.
The street was busy with the sort of idle traffic that made walking quicker than taking a carriage or hackney.
Blaze could swear that some of the nobles simply wanted to be seen riding with someone else in order to generate rumors.
He prepared to dodge the horse-drawn conveyances when a carriage carrying Durae passed him.
Durae wasn’t alone. Lord Gustus Stelen was with him.
Had Durae mentioned Lord Gustus was one of his suitors?
As Blaze pivoted to discreetly follow, he ran through everything he could recall Durae talking about.
Often, he avoided the topic of suitors altogether.
A knot tightened in Blaze’s throat. He’d told Lord Gustus that he could be ready by the Innovation Awards.
Was Durae a plant to keep him from winning so whatever Lord Gustus introduced would win this year?
Impossible. Lord Gustus had no way of knowing Blaze would make his way to the Everend Market, much less come so close to finishing his prototype. Besides that, Durae wasn’t capable of such malice. He was too genuine. Too wholesome. The way they were with each other couldn’t be built on lies.
So what was he doing with Lord Gustus, and where were they going?
Their carriage took them east, toward the islands on the Glaesflod. Upon reaching the first island, it turned northward. It began to slip out of sight, but it was garishly out of place. If Blaze lost it, he’d find Mack and beg them to locate the carriage.
However, he soon spotted it at the end of the larger dock. He’d seen the ships the entire time he’d been at the market but never made much note of them. There hadn’t been a reason. What were they doing here?
With the sun long set and celebrations ongoing, the workers had all left. Sneaking past the carriage proved not to be difficult as the driver had left their seat to relieve themselves.
Voices lured Blaze onward, but he had to tiptoe around a few more stacks of crates before he could make them out.
“After living isolated in those mountains, I know what you crave,” Lord Gustus was saying. “I would gladly be your greatest adventure, and we would have the whole world at our feet. Marry me, Durae.”
The silence stretched. And stretched. From this distance, they could be kissing. Blaze’s heart hammered. Leaning out might reveal him, but if Lord Gustus had captured Durae’s affections, then Blaze needed to know. The weight of the ring in his pocket was heavy and insignificant at the same time.
Durae and Lord Gustus were close to each other, but they weren’t kissing. Unfortunately, from Blaze’s angle, he only saw Durae’s back. Lord Gustus had a smooth, detached smile on his lips. He said, “Don’t keep an elf waiting, beloved.”
“You don’t have the right to call me that,” Durae said with an ice in his voice that Blaze had never heard.
Lord Gustus scowled. “I have been patient, but you are testing my limits.”
“Your limits?” Durae demanded. “You gave your stolen invention my sister’s childhood name for me!”
They were standing among a number of ships. With a quick glance, Blaze took in several names. One bore the words The Soaring Raerae in large gold lettering.
Numbness seeped into Blaze’s lips and fingers. His feet moved of their own accord as he abandoned his hiding place altogether. He drifted closer to them, but his eyes were on the ship.
It was his design. The masts, the details, every piece that he could see from this distance was how he’d put it on paper.
“You should feel honored,” Lord Gustus said smugly. “This is the first ship that will truly take to the air to explore the world. It will be remembered throughout history, and so will your name.”
“How did you steal his plans?” Durae continued.
“Whose?” Lord Gustus asked.
“Mine,” Blaze said.
Durae whirled, dark blue robe with golden embroideries flaring around him. His leggings were a buttery tan, and his tunic shimmered like pure gold. He was enchanting and beautiful as always, but Blaze hardly saw his charms. His gaze remained on the ship.
“Blaze!” Durae exclaimed. “How are you here?”
“I was heading to the dance. Saw you leave. Followed you. I … I made this.” Fumbling, Blaze reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring.
It glinted in the dull light of the glowing orbs on The Soaring Raerae.
The knot in Blaze’s throat was a dam, and water clouded his eyes.
Why had he thought such a cheap ring could capture Durae’s attention?
Suddenly, Durae’s hand was on top of his, holding him, and Blaze blinked the tears clear from his eyes.
Any lingering doubt that threatened to take root in his heart was demolished in the fierce light blazing in Durae’s blue eyes.
Durae cupped his cheek. “I want to talk about this, but not here. Let’s go. ”
“You cannot leave with him,” Lord Gustus snapped. He stamped his foot on the dock like an elfling demanding a treat. “You are promised to me!”
“Promised?” Durae echoed, and his voice reverberated off their surroundings. “I choose my own way.”
“Your father and I have an arrangement!”
“You should have done your research, my lord. My father has no say in who I wed and cannot make any arrangements about my life!” Durae returned. He began to lead Blaze away.
One step became a second, became a run, and no longer was Blaze behind Durae but ahead of him.
Their hands were locked together; every swish of fabric, slam of foot, and panting breath was a tether attempting to bring Blaze back to reality, but his mind raced on how his schematics had been replicated.
He could only trace the last few weeks. His schematics had never been out of his hands. He had used them to construct the enchantments. Had Lord Gustus reconstructed them? Were he and Durae wrong? Was the engine completely different?
They reached his ship, and Blaze hauled himself and Durae over the railing. As Durae’s feet touched the deck, the ring slipped out from between their hands and landed on the shining wood.
So much work to make his unnamed airship look beautiful, and it was utter crap compared to the one Lord Gustus had made.
Durae bent and picked up the ring. “What’s this?”