I had everything set up before me on the central worktable. Since it had been a complicated experiment to prepare, I was pleased with that alone. Within a large glass case were the enchanted items I requested, carefully labeled, and the steel box I had collected that morning. Holes in one side of the glass case, fitted with leather gloves, allowed me to reach inside the case while keeping the environment contained.
“What do you expect to happen?” King Falken stood to my left. He'd been with me through most of the case's construction, even helping when needed.
“I expect the silver rot inside that box to infect the items with resonant enchantment loops, but stay away from the others.”
“Do you think it's targeting a specific type of enchantment?” His eyes widened.
“Yes, and layered enchantments. However, my theory will be disproved if it doesn't target those items alone.” I slipped my hands into the gloves and opened the steel box.
Inside the box were several bottles tucked into a wooden grid to keep them secure. The bottles were completely silver, and silver had spread from them to the wood. When I pushed back the lid to rest it against the glass case, one bottle exploded into silver dust.
The King made a surprised sound and drew closer. “What's inside those bottles?”
“Spells and items reinforced with resonant enchantment loops.” I glanced at him, but my focus was on the dust.
I withdrew my hands, bringing the gloves against the glass and out of the way of the glittering cloud. Focus intent, I watched the silver hover in the air above the steel box. But then it vanished.
“Where did it go?” Falken asked.
“Just wait.” I narrowed my eyes at the air inside the glass box.
A shimmer was barely visible. I pointed at it, following its path to the enchanted items. I had mixed the items together to rule out proximity as a reason for infection. The shimmer lowered and settled into every item labeled as holding a resonant enchantment loop. It left the others alone.
“Did it go into the resonant enchantment loop items?” Falken narrowed his eyes at the objects. “Only them?”
The collection was random. Everything from pens to pots lay inside the glass. But the dust settled only on the items with resonant enchantment loops.
“Yes, but we need to be sure they've been infected.”
“Nothing's happening.”
“Patience, Your Majesty.”
“Remember our contract.”
“Huh?” I looked at him. “Oh! Yes, you're right. My apologies,Falken.”
Grinning, he took my hand, and we waited together, watching the items for any sign of silver. It took so long that Falken let go of me to pull some chairs over for us. After almost an hour spent in the chair, a glimmer caught my eye.
I lurched to my feet. “Look!”
Falken joined me, a sigh leaving him. “You were right.”
Nodding, I looked up from the infected items. It wasn't just one or two, but all the items with resonant enchantment loops. Little lines of silver covered every one of them.
“Sconheit's greatest innovation is killing our magic?” Falken whispered.
“Yes, but at least we know what type of magic it targets.”
“What do I do? Destroy everything with that type of enchantment? Many buildings have wards linked with resonant enchantment loops.”
“You must dismantle them, purge the enchantment, and rebuild.”
Falken went silent. He turned away from the glass box and paced across the room. After a few laps, he stopped and turned to face me. “If we do that, we will be weak, open for attack.”
“If you don't, all the magic in Eberein will be dead.”
He strode back to me. “All of it?”
