The woman in dusty coveralls, with a pair of elaborate goggles pushed on top of her head, crossed the laboratory floor to meet them as the bay door was winched shut. She was older than Wyatt but younger than Samuel, with blonde curls trimmed short around a thin face. Terilyn didn’t notice the mechanical prosthetic until she was closer, thinking at first it was a glove.
Her right hand was made out of metal rods and clockwork gears. The contraption was strapped to her forearm, powered by chips of clarion crystal, the metal engraved with a spell. The fingers moved easily enough when she planted that hand on one hip, tendrils of magic coiling in the gears.
“I wasn’t expecting you for another day,” she said to Samuel.
“So quick to berate, Poppy. It shouldn’t matter if I’m a day early or a day late. I’m here, and I expect an update,” Samuel said with all the haughtiness of a man used to being obeyed.
“We both do,” Terilyn added, prompting Samuel to snap his mouth shut.
Poppy made a clicking sound with her tongue, not cowed by Samuel’s presence at all. She turned her attention to Terilyn, rightly inferring who was in charge. “I take it you’re our rich benefactor?”
“I represent them.”
“I’m in the middle of a transmutation process right now. I can’t power down the machine for your upgrade until it’s finished.”
“I was told the upgrade will take several days. I’d like to see the results of this batch before we get started.”
Poppy pursed her lips. “You and your guests will all need to put on some safety gear when it’s time to open the chamber doors.”
“We are no guests. Mr. Fletcher works for my benefactor, and his apprentice will be our liaison here. He will be in charge of applying any further upgrades to this particular death-defying machine.”
Poppy stiffened at her words. “I need no oversight, especially not from someone half my age.”
Terilyn bared her teeth in a smile. “What you want doesn’t matter. You’re being paid handsomely to do a job that my benefactor oversees. I am here to ensure you do it correctly.”
Her tone was mild enough, but whatever threat Poppy saw in Terilyn’s eyes was enough to make the other woman swallow nervously. “Of course.”
“Mr. Fletcher’s presence is required in Daijal and he cannot keep making trips down here while we are in transition. Wyatt will report back to him personally regarding the progress of fine-tuning the death-defying machine’s applications while you continue doing the job you are being paid so handsomely for.”
Poppy pursed her lips before nodding grudgingly. “As you say.”
She wasn’t savvy enough when it came to politics to hide her annoyance. Terilyn could see it in her face, the way she clenched her jaw. Unlike Samuel, she didn’t press the issue, though she still seemed displeased when she stalked back to her work area.
Terilyn trailed after her, allowing Samuel to overtake her to the control panel. Wyatt, she noticed, remained hovering on the outskirts of their little group, ever watchful but not intruding. He’d need to learn to make his presence known if he was going to be working at the quarry.
She turned her attention back to the analytical engine the control panel was erected around. Terilyn wasn’t gifted with knowing the intricacies of engineering. She was an assassin, not an inventor. But even without that knowledge, it was interesting to see what the design she and Eimarille had gone over some years ago had ultimately become.
“How has production been?” Terilyn asked.
“Well within initial output.” Poppy stared at the control panel before pressing a few buttons. “We’ve found it best if the product is newly dead before initiating the transmutation process. The spores’ activation period works better that way.”
“How long does the transmutation process currently take?”
“We’ve cut it down from three days to one and a half days. I started this latest batch yesterday.”
Samuel curled his fingers over the lapels of his day jacket, glancing at Terilyn. “The upgrade should shorten that timeframe. We’ve discovered a new pattern cut for clarion crystals that speeds up the spores’ propagation period when a magician applies the aether to the device. We’ve been implementing it up north with spectacular results. I’m eager to duplicate it here.”
“We’re a little short on magicians. The last one you sent got bitten when he failed to adhere to the safety protocols in place and a revenant escaped the pen.”
Terilyn frowned. “What happened to him?”
“He ended up becoming part of the experiment rather than assisting with it,” Poppy said dryly before glancing over her shoulder at Wyatt, gaze cool. “I do hope you listen better than your predecessor.”
“Of course,” Wyatt replied evenly.
“What of wardens? Have you had to deal with many?” Terilyn asked.
Poppy shrugged, flipping a couple of toggles and twisting a dial. “Here and there. The ones that demand the right to come inside our walls end up in the chamber.”
