"Power and skill are different things." His hands flexed at his sides. That tell she was learning meant he was uncomfortable. "Continue."
She raised an eyebrow at the dismissal. "Well, lucky for you, I apparently have the skills.”
The shadows around his feet shifted restlessly at her tone, but he didn't respond.
Touchy. He hated this.
She turned back to the mechanism, running her eyes along the pathways she could see, but he couldn't. "There are foreign elements blocking the flow. They don't belong here."
"Foreign elements?"
"Little bits of something that aren't part of the original mechanism. They're wedged into points where the energy tries to flow." Shetraced the pattern with her finger, not quite touching the crystal. "If I can remove them, the pathways should clear."
He was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was flat. "Can you do it safely?"
She studied the obstructions more closely. They resembled shards of something foreign. Darker than the surrounding crystal, angular where everything else was smooth.
"Maybe. But I need to understand how these tools work first."
He moved behind her, close enough that she could feel the weight of his power pressing against her back. In the cramped chamber, his presence was overwhelming. Shadows curling at the edges of her vision, cold radiating from him like winter.
"The tools respond to intent as much as technique," he said, his voice low and rough. "Hold one and focus on what you want to achieve."
She selected one of the needle-thin implements, trying to ignore the way her pulse had quickened. The moment her fingers closed around it, warmth spread up her arm, and the tool seemed to wake up.
The metal hummed faintly, and suddenly she could sense the mechanism's structure more clearly than before.
"Interesting," he said quietly, still standing close behind her.
She barely heard him. The tool was showing her things. Where to apply pressure, which components could be safely manipulated, how the flows wanted to move if given the chance.
It was like having a conversation with the mechanism.
"I think I can fix this," she murmured, already reaching for a second tool.
"You're sure?"
She looked up at him over her shoulder, surprised by the question. His dark eyes were fixed on her with an intensity that made her pulse jump. In the blue light of the ward-lock, he looked less like a court politician and more like something ancient. Something that had been here as long as the foundations themselves.
"Are you doubting my abilities?" she asked, keeping her voice light.
"No." The word came out rougher than usual. "I'm concerned about what might happen if we destabilize it further."
Fair point. But as she studied the mechanism, she felt that same certainty she'd experienced when unlocking the impossible. This was simply a more complex version of the same principle. Finding the pressure points. Understanding how the pieces wanted to move.
"I can do this," she said, straightening her shoulders.
He held her gaze, and whatever flickered in his eyes was gone before she could name it. The chamber seemed to hold its breath around them. Or perhaps that was just her imagination.
Then he stepped back to give her room.
"Tell me what you need."
XIV.
BRYNN
She started with the smallest obstruction, holding the tool steady between her fingers. The element looked like a splinter of glass wedged between two crystal components.
