6
A KING
The summoning stone glowed hot in Temple’s pocket.He was late, and the king would be most displeased.The guard who escorted him to the king’s private chamber lumbered too slowly, like a big bear shuffling toward his cave for hibernation.He wore a glamour that made him appear huge and heavily muscled.But that unreality shimmered over a rather tall bean pole of a man with a tiny nose, and when the familiar doors rose up before him at the end of the large hallway, Temple rushed past the slender guard and pressed through on his own.
“Hey now!”the guard cried, pushing him back, trying to.
Temple was big, but he could be quick, pouring himself like molten iron into the narrow space between guard and doorframe.
“Baron Knightly,” the guard yelled out.An imperfect announcement, and Temple could feel the man’s displeased glare on the back of his neck as he bowed low.
“Apologies, Your Majesty,” Temple said.“I was in the middle of something when the stone glowed.”Thank Juno his hair was no longer dripping, though his cravat still clung to his neck, damp from his bathwater.Or from sweat.Both, likely.
King William did not respond.He stood at the window, looking out, his thick, white hair brushed back neatly, his hands clasped behind his back.His broad shoulders were pulled back, and his spine straight and strong despite his two and seventy years.But that image flickered.A glamour.A good one, but still unreal.Beyond the illusion stood the real man—white hair thinning, shoulders stooped, back curved.More wide than tall.A shadow of the former military man.He was like this old, crumbling room, glamoured into opulence.Every single thing: un-fucking-real.
“Lord Knightly, I have a question for you.”The king turned and unclasped his hands, producing the second summoning stone between fore finger and thumb.“You know I like to understand the details.”He nodded at a configuration of nearby chairs and sofas.If the king knew how easily Temple saw through glamours, he’d likely not welcome him so closely.There were reasons alchemists kept their secrets.
Temple waited for the king to sit before sitting himself, crossing one ankle over the other knee.“I shall do my best to enlighten you.”
The king leaned forward with a groan to brace his elbows on his knees.A servant who had been hovering across the room wandered closer, but he did not notice.Still, he held the stone, studied its smooth, gray surface.“The stone absorbs the body heat of two people, yes?”
“That is correct.”
“And its pair glows when the other is held?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Do you think… it might work even after death?”
“I… do not take your meaning.”Temple shifted forward, too, bracing his elbows on his knees.“The stones can be transferred to two new individuals or one new individual if either of the original pair dies.”
“But… if the stone is buried with one of the original pair, will the other…” He held the stone flat on his palm, his eyes sad.“Glow?Will either of them glow?Could a body have some light in the darkness?”
Did he think of his daughter, in the world so short a time before leaving it?Or did he think about his own mortality?
Temple swallowed a lump in his throat.“Yes, I suppose a body could have some light in the darkness.”
“Good.”The king pocketed the stone, cleared his throat, and leaned back with a forced grin.“How is the wife hunt going?”
“Perfectly fine.”Not at all, really.In the week since the love drugging, he’d been to every social event the king had sent him an invitation to.And found absolutely no one even a little bit interesting.Every time a lady so much as grinned at him—a good sign, considering—he’d heard his mother’s voice in his head.
It feels like when you find the metal that’s most yours.It sort of sings along every inch of your skin and tingles in your very bones.
None of the ladies had felt…most his.“It is a decision that must be made with some delicacy.I’m sure you will agree.”
The king nodded, though his attention had shifted.“Your entire situation is a matter of some delicacy.Your people do not look kindly on what you did.Sharing alchemical secrets?”He shook his head.“A cardinal sin.You have been ousted from the Guild.Your matrimonial prospects among alchemists is miniscule now.They consider you a traitor.They’ll never have you back.”
And all because he’d used a secret alchemist invention to save lives.Absurd.His family was better off without such misers in their lives.Yet… they weren’t.The Guild controlled every aspect of an alchemist’s career, provided every social connection.
No more.Now the Grants had no connections at all.He swallowed a sigh.
“My people, however,” the king said, “have nothing but prejudice in their way.”
Oh yes, such an insignificant roadblock.
“But,” the king continued, “they know you helped save lives.Your betrayal, to their minds, is heroic.”
Temple very much doubted that.He’d read the papers.
