“Tomorrow morning, then, before we leave,” said Alison.
“What did you have in mind for tonight?” Leo whispered once she’d left.
Ceri pulled the torn journal pages from her pocket. “Something like this,” she said, and pulled him by the arm towards the dormitory.
Chapter Thirty-Two
ENDURING MAGIC
Alison
In the morning, after they’d shown Leo the inscribed power-savers and gone through all of the numbers with him, Alison and Keir said their goodbyes before their journey home.
“I’m glad you enjoyed your stay here with us,” said Dean Whittaker as he helped them to their carriage, which they had to meet on the other side of the river due to the bridge construction. “It’s been…eventful.”
“Thank you for having us,” said Alison. “We gave our regards to Professor Marin last evening, but I hope you’ll reiterate them for us when you see her next.”
“We’ll be back at Herot’s Hollow as soon as the term has finished,” said Rinka, pulling Alison into a tight hug. “Idris says there’s a chance King Derkomai will come to see how the ‘lectrics are coming along, but it’s the peak of the flagball season, so he might accept Idris and Ceri going in his stead.”
“We’ll make sure the cottage is ready for visitors,” said Alison. “Not that you have to only visit. There’s still a room there for you if you want it.”
Rinka looked at Idris. “He’s had an idea about that. I don’t want to say too much too soon because a lot will depend on the king, and you know how he is. But there was an abandoned porttown we went through in the summer where the Burning Ash pirates hide out in the off season. The king is very interested in both stopping them and developing Wilderise, and Idris thinks there’s a chance he'd support Idris investing in the area. There’s a ruined monastery nearby he thinks would make for a nice college.”
“A college in Wilderise?” asked Alison. “How far is it from Herot’s Hollow?”
“Ten, twenty miles maybe.”
It was still a good distance, but it would be nice to have Rinka closer again. “How long would it take to build?”
“Years, I’d guess,” said Rinka. “Although you know what the king is like. If they come to him and say it’ll take five years, he’ll give them six months.”
They were just past the three-month deadline he’d given them themselves, but the good news was that the bulk of the work had been done. With any luck, Alison and Keir would be making the voyage home with the first solar generator shipment.
“Give my love to Gwenla,” said Rinka, hugging Alison one more time. “And Lady Sibba and Weyland and Charlotte and Strelka—”
“And everyone, got it,” said Alison.
The saddest goodbye of all was between Willow and Barney. “You make sure that tarasque doesn’t eat him,” Willow told Leo. “He’s a good boy. He’s not dinner.”
Alison had seen Barney and the tarasque playing together, but she didn’t mention it. “We’ll come back and visit,” promised Alison.
“We’d better,” said Willow. “Or you could bring Barney to visit us. I’d love for him to meet my friend Dinah.”
Alison couldn’t imagine Groundskeeper Tomasar leaving his beloved yew, but she told him he was always welcome nonetheless.
Riding the rail-wheeler back to Rodaz Mountain was a bit like traveling through time. The elevation change meant the autumn leaves, which were nearly gone by the time they left High House, were right at their peak in the valley where Gwenla’s people lived.
It was lovely, like having a second autumn, and Keir told her they’d have a third when they returned to Herot’s Hollow, which was much further north but also much nearer to sea level and likely had leaves just beginning to change.
The dwarves of the Rodaz Mountain Industrial Corporation were seeing the same success as Alison and the others had seen in the lab, but there with a small additional step required to replicate the spell Alison had cast.
“My uncle Dorrik is one of the oldest dwarves in our clan,” said Gwenla, showing Alison into a cavern that opened to the surface they were using to test the generator. “He remembered that the runes must be imbued with the dust of diamonds to endure. That’s supposing you don’t intend to stick around and enchant every power-saver that comes off the assembly line.”
“I don’t,” said Alison. The home of the dwarves was nice and cozier than she had originally expected, but she missed her cottage in Herot’s Hollow. “Diamonds? Are they very expensive?”
“Oh, not at all,” said Gwenla. “Diamonds aren’t rare, and they don’t have to use gem quality ones anyway. Yordin said the cost savings from not having to replace the entire power-saver will be substantial. He’s already had two more orders come in for the power-savers. Alison.” The elderly dwarf held Alison’s arm and pulled her close. “We’re going to be rich!”
Alison thought about Idris’s idea for the coastal town and the college in Wilderise. “Have you ever thought about investing?” she asked.
