The old man took a deep breath and turned the small blue crystal in his hand. His calloused fingers moved over the rough surface. If it was removed from the pale stone still connected to it and polished, it would be a brilliant blue, not inferior to a sapphire. In crystal use, sapphires were blue, but didnt resonate with water.
Master Ramos said this was because usually the clearer the natural crystal, the more the energy resonated with a persons body and mind.
That is likely one of the reasons Alexander and Layla are so smart, he had once told her.
Tori liked to think that her cat and horse were just geniuses.
After another weekend of experints with charms, Old Sulfae, and crystals, they had a decent amount of information as to the effectiveness of the watermoon crystal, including how it amplified crystals nearby charged with similar energy. Tori had been the one to make her brothers safety talisman, so what she wrote on his hand amplified it, too.
However, aside from Tori, no one else was able to charge the crystal or channel energy through it.
Is it perhaps the nature of this specific crystal? she asked Master Ramos as they walked to Anahatas transport dock. She had to return to Lyce the next day, but was hesitant to leave the delta.
Not only due to her crystal, but her brother was still recovering. Their hope that the Old Sulfae she wrote on Instructor Ignatius would increase the duration of heliotrope use ca to fruition. Instructor Ignatius managed to facilitate flesh and skin growth over Kasens wound hours faster than expected.
What was more, Dr. Cooper-Fontaine ca to check and the healed skin was very healthy. Hed seen wounds healed with crystal before, but was surprised that Kasens wound was healed so well and so quickly. Instructor Ignatius noted that while it felt that the energy the crystal released was the sa, it was more effective. He noticed the quickened healing almost imdiately when he started using it.
Once more, Tori had questions.
Jean-Franois has many more foreign crystal master contacts than I do, Master Ramos said with a serious look. I will contact him for assistance.
Master Monde? The imperial jeweler?
Master Ramos nodded his head once. He works closely with various rchants and crystal masters in order to procure crystals for pieces for the imperial family. The old bastard has a surprising amount of clout. Tori wasnt sure if Master Ramos was sneering or bragging about his friend. Im sure he knows soone from the region where this crystal is from. A crystal master from the West Sphere will likely have a better idea than us, as this crystal is not native to the East Sphere.
Tori nodded. Understood. Ill await a call from you, then.
Master Ramos patted her shoulder. Keep the crystal safe. There is only one here that we know of and we dont know all its properties yet.
The two of them boarded a small transport vessel to take them one island over, to the newly constructed buildings on the aptly nad Naval Experint Center. In Soleils common language, the acronym didnt flow into a decent word, but Tori still referred to it as NEC.
There were six naval engineers and another six naval ship builders sent over by Marquess OTuagh. To house them in such a short period of ti, Tori had another u shaped building built with rooms for each individual and shared living facilities. The main work area was still being built.
It was a relatively large barn right by the water and an elevated water table was being completed just beside it for smaller experints.
Master Ramos introduced her to the staff that had followed him, and she was surprised that they were so excited to et her. Part of her felt a bit guilty for having a part in uprooting them from Anlar and dragging them to her still under construction village. And placing them on a random island.
The weather was still fine, but in the winter, there would be wind and rain.
When she brought it up, they laughed.
My lady, we are from the coasts of Anlar. Wind and rain in the winter is a good day! the head engineer laughed.
What were not used to is the heat, but the cold dampness is not a problem, one of the builders assured her.
If there is anything needed to make your move here more bearable, please let know, Tori told them. My cousin has said that this is a very important project, and you cant live in ruins. Also, youre not prisoners on the island. The transport dock is still being built, but by tomorrow, the boat beacon will be installed. All you have to do is touch the crystal on the post and the crystal at the top will blink. This will call a nearby transport vessel. While construction is going on, please feel free to go to the mainland and visit our village.
She watched their faces light up with interest. They had spent the last two days getting used to the island and unloading their things. With the commotion and construction, they didnt seem to have a chance to see the village.
My pupil has to return to the mainland today, so I only brought her here to introduce you to her, Master Ramos said in a stern voice. He almost lood behind her as he looked over the staff with a critical glare. Do not forget that you are here to work. Not to vacation.
The staff seed to shrink back, and Tori gave them a wry smile.
When there is ti, Id love to see the work youve done so far. Im not very familiar with ships or building them, but Im curious, she said, hoping to refocus their attention.
Get the plans to show the Countess! The head engineer ordered two of his people and they ran towards one of the rooms. Tori was led to a large worktable that doubled as a dining area in the center courtyard of the building.
The two engineers carried out several rolled-up tubes of plans and laid them out before Tori.
With the fervor of Instructor Ignatius about crystals, they began showing her diagrams, explaining theories, and even showing her miniature parts. Tori didnt know what half the terms were, but gathered that the main problem was that in order to move a vessel, a crystals energy would be used, but it was used up so quickly that the crystals were drained in less than a day, sotis even in a few hours, and theyd just beco dead weight on the ship.
Crystals could only be charged when they had so solid connection to land. Water greatly interfered with charging them, so charging them while on a boat was useless. Even using a selenite plate to try to harness lunar energy had weak results while on the water.
The energy source was simply too inefficient.
This is one of our working models, the head ship builder showed her. She rolled over a wooden model ship that was about as long as Tori was tall. At this size, a crystal about as large as your hand will only move it for a quarter of a day.
Tori furrowed her brows. Umm...my water hammock uses a rather unorthodox way to move in that the crystal is below the surface and it manipulates the water around it to move the hammock. This was a very simple thod and Tori was able to get it to move in any direction because water could be manipulated all around it the actual crystal. It also didnt have a rudder, so Tori had to steer with crystals. However, that wasnt necessary for large ships. She looked over the diagrams on the table. What other thods have you tried?
We tried to carve a crystal into this corkscrew to displace water and push a vessel forward, assisting in the propulsion, but once more, the crystal runs out of energy far too quickly. The head engineer let out a tired, frustrated sigh. After a few hours, it will simply stop working.
Tori squinted her eyes. Why did you use the crystal to make a corkscrew? Thats difficult to carve and large, complete pieces are even more difficult to find. Even if that thod worked, we simply wouldnt have enough parts.
But the crystal can be programd to turn and displace water, another engineer said.
The crystal is an energy source. Clear quartz can be programd to do almost anything, but simple programs use much less energy, Tori said. Only use the crystal as an energy source and use other materials to propel the ship....
Tori looked back at the model ship and knelt down to look at the corkscrew below the models stern. Shed been to enough mariti museums in her original world to know that a corkscrew propulsion system was not efficient. She frowned.
Is sothing wrong, my lady?
Why arent you using propellers? Why is this so long? Thats a lot of drag, Tori said, motioning to the corkscrew. Give a piece of paper.
She sketched out what she could rember of ship propellers from her original world. Shed shown the design to local shipbuilders before while doing her own tests, but as most of the boats were small sailboats, they werent really used.
As Tori drew the propellers, she amused herself with thoughts of when she had a brief Titantic phase after the movie ca out when she was a teenager. Shed watched so many docuntaries and specials about it, she could still even rember the nas of the two sister steam ships.
Her hand paused over the paper.
Holy shit, Im an idiot.
My lady? soone asked, when she didnt move.
Tori lifted her head and took a deep breath. Is it possible to use steam to turn a modified version of this corkscrew? I ask because carnelian is a very common crystal that heats up when activated without any programming, so it will use very little energy to boil water and create steam, which when under pressure can move...things.
Carnelian also didnt need to be one large piece; oftentis it was both cheaper and more efficient to use small pieces of the crystal put together, so scrap crystal could be used. In addition, carnelians could be charged with energy from the even more abundant clear quartz.
She looked around at the people around her and wondered if she made any sense. She only had a vague mory of how steam ships worked and, unfortunately, couldnt draw everything out herself. All she rembered were tiny bits and pieces here and there.
You want to use steam? the head engineer asked.
Tori bit her lips. The issue is energy use, isnt it? Using a crystal to push a vessel by itself is inefficient, so why not have the crystal exert little energy to create a different source of energy to power a propeller to push the ship? I an, wind would move a windmill to grind grains or pump water, so.... When no one answered she let out a small, awkward laugh and looked back at her drawing. Anyway, instead of the corkscrew, try this and see if its more efficient.
She slid her sketch towards the head engineer and turned back to Master Ramos. He had a thoughtful expression on his face. He lifted his eyes and barely held back a smile.
I made the right decision coming back.
Tori chuckled. I need to get back to the mainland-
My lady, are you leaving so soon? This is an interesting concept. Id like to discuss more with you, the head engineer narrowed his eyes and moved closer. How does steam move a propeller? Can you elaborate?
No, Tori said in a confident voice. Its just a thought since were trying to work around energy insufficiency with crystals. She lifted her hand and patted the middle-aged mans shoulder. Good luck figuring this out. I have to go to class.
She turned on her heel and marched back to the transport dock. Master Ramos remained on the island and Tori returned to the mainland. Two imperial knights were waiting for her and escorted her back to the encampnt as she called Ilyana.
Your ergency has been taken care of? Ilyana asked. Tori held her comcry up, close to her mouth.
It has. Kasey is fine-
Sothing happened to Lord Kasen? Ilyanas voice shot up and Tori scrunched her face. Is he all right?
Yes, it wasnt as serious as I thought. Hes just resting after work here and will return to Presidio soon, Tori said. As soon as he was healed and felt well rested, Kasen had imdiately begun to write out his mission report for submission. If he was well enough to do paperwork, he was fine. I didnt have a chance to ask. How did it go with Axton?
He doesnt seem to suspect a thing, although after we went through the Three Queens, hes unsure about the layout, as it isnt very open to allow for guests to mingle, Ilyana said.
Tori furrowed his brows. How many people does he want to invite? Piers had helped her with the initial guest list, but they knew they had to sohow pry more nas from Axton.
Im not sure. He hasnt gotten back to us. Also, he says that the nu at the Three Queens is limited.
Tori nearly threw her comcry on the ground as she frowned. What does he an limited? The Three Queen is the best restaurant in the city!
I know, but he didnt say it was bad. Only that he wanted more options. Ilyana lowered her voice. To tell the truth, I didnt think hed be so demanding....
Tori scoffed. This is my fault. Ive spoiled him.
He did ntion that he wanted to talk to you about food options.
Of course, he did.... Tori turned into the walkway that led to her tent. If he asks, well just play along. Im going to get so rest. I spent most of the day on the islands.
Okay, Ill see you tomorrow.
Tori slid her finger across her comcry and looked towards her tent that had four imperial knights flanking its door. She gave them a nod as she slipped inside and found Piers, as expected, inside.
He was seated at her desk, on her chair, reading over a thick portfolio with a look of concentration on his face.
Your tent is identical to my tent, you know, she said as she walked in.
Your tent is better, Piers replied without looking up from the page he was reading. Tori approached him and craned her neck to look over the papers in front of him.
Another escape room? As she said it, she saw an unfamiliar map marked up with various xs and ticks. She narrowed her eyes, making out the general shape of Soleil and the continent it was attached to. Whats this?
Piers eyes drifted to the map and he lowered the folio he was holding. A map.
I know its a map, Piers. She shot him a glare. But what is it for? It didnt have many roads, just a few lines and dashes.
Piers moved his hand over Horizon and then began to trace a line leading out of it without touching the paper. This is the route the barrels went...this is where they were separated from the wagon and horses. Tori furrowed her brows and leaned closer.
Where did they go?
On a ship. They were followed to Pargath, but nothing was unloaded or loaded into the ship when they arrived. This is likely because of the chaos at the ti with the two princes, Piers said. The ship only stayed at port a few hours and then left. They were followed to Ostgrat.
That was the port furthest southeast and one of two main ports of Osten. So, the barrels werent unloaded in Pargath and just ca back?
Piers tapped his finger over the port. They were unloaded in Ostgrat and from the last report, they were put on a carriage headed north, into the march.
But the barrels are still empty.
It appears so.
Tori pursed her lips. Did they return because they couldnt disembark in Pargath?
With Prince Cyrus and his people in control, trade ships are being checked carefully. The process is a bit delaying as they are being thorough, but they have returned to the original fees and taxes. Goods that had been seized when the First Prince was in control were returned, if possible, so for the most part, rchants arent too unhappy about the delay. Prince Cyrus is checking to make sure nothing on departing ships will be of use or aid to his brother or his brothers allies abroad.
What happened to the First Prince?
Imprisoned in the back courtyards. Several of his close ministers were beheaded and the First Prince is being isolated. The Third Prince is trying to clear the backlog of caravans in order to bring money back to his kingdom.
Stabilize first, understood, Tori said with a nod. People will feel more comfortable when there is a semblance of normality. She narrowed her eyes. If this continues, in a few months, I can arrange an offer to sell carnelian cooking plates.
She saw the corner of Piers lips curl up just a bit. Yes.
But before that...about the spice barrels. Theyre empty right now. Where are the rchants bringing them? Are they just going to be sold for reuse? She frowned at the thought. Shed spent so much ti and effort putting trackers on them.
Piers lips pulled into a wry smile. The wagons they were loaded on are part of a wagon caravan bringing animal feed north, to places that will be affected by a snowy winter and require feed for their animals. This is not uncommon and the caravan is a well maintained system. The wagons make a round trip loop. They can be identified by markers on the wagons and with the dirt caked on them.
She raised a brow and looked down at him. Is there sothing special about that dirt?
It is chalky pale dust common in the mountains of northern Osten.
Arent they trying to leave Soleil to get spices? Northern Osten doesnt have any open ports of entry, Tori said.
Piers nodded. You are correct. There are no open ports of entry.
The spices would likely be smuggled across the border. Tori looked back at the map. That animal trading ring...did it lead to Northern Osten?
Yes, and the trail ended there. They theorized that animals were brought on boats through Nord during the midsumr, when the waters were calm and it was safest to pass those waters. However, this area of Osten and Nord, Piers said as he moved his fingers over a mountainous area of the map. It is impossible to pass through six months out of the year and in the short period where it is possible, its still very dangerous and not suitable for caravans. It is recomnded to go around these mountains southwest instead. There was no evidence of animal trafficking there. It started and ended in northern Osten.
Tori drew her head back. Then, how did those animals get there? And how can spice barrels get out? The border is well guarded, and the ports are closed.
Goods from that area are difficult to transport out.
Tori knew this all too well. Travel in that area was so difficult and was delayed in the winter, that Ilyana didnt have enough ti for a roundtrip ho and back.
Ilyana said that the mountains on the east are also near impossible to travel over during the winter. They can only ship the crystals from her familys mines south.
Piers glanced up at her and then looked back at the map. The dirt on those wagons is dust from mines in the region.
Tori nodded once more. Yes, the mountains there are filled with mines. Baron Agafonov said that hes able to save a lot of labor costs to open up mine shafts because there are entire cave systems.... She trailed off. Her eyes widened as she looked at Piers. Oh.
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