Jeweled (25 page)

A tall, gaunt man with salt-and-pepper hair greeted them in the small office area that they’d entered. “Master Vikhin! It is a rare honor to have you visit us today,” said the man, clasping Gregorio’s hand.

“Master Roghman, thank you for having us,” Gregorio answered.

“Ytoyi Roghman?” asked Evangeline. “The primary author of the book
The Theft of Invention
?”

“I am.”

She reached out and clasped his hand in hers. “I enjoyed your book very much, Mr. Roghman! It’s an honor to meet you!”

“Thank you!” Master Roghman gave her a dazzling smile. “But it’s perhaps even more of an honor to have a former J’Edaeii with us! I have never had the pleasure of meeting anyone with the power of magick.”

“Well . . . thank you,” she responded, a little at a loss for words. She hadn’t expected a reception like that at all.

Master Roghman turned and, linking his thin arm with hers, led her toward another pair of double doors, away from the office area. “Master Vikhin tells me you have the power to influence people’s emotions. How incredible and rare! You know, you and I are not all that different.”

She smiled at him. “How so, Master Roghman?”

“The tinkers also have a sort of magick, magick created through the use of science and invention. Yours is natural and ours is not, but incredible and rare they both are.” Evangeline couldn’t help but pick up on the excitement and enthusiasm of the Master Tinker. He clearly lived for the guild and his work here.

“I read in your book that the royalty didn’t approve of these inventions.”

Roghman tutted. “No, no, not at all. The Edaeii only approved of the natural sort of magick and they wanted it all in
their
bloodline. They felt very threatened by any sort of scientific invention that might diminish their grandeur. I never understood the reasoning since, to my mind, science is no match for real magick.” He shook his head. “No. The things I’m about to show you today are indeed wondrous, but they’re no match for you, Miss Bansdaughter.”

He led her through the double doors and into a large, well lit warehouse. Gregorio followed behind. There were many different work areas set up as far as she could see. Some had objects covered with large tarps and others—mostly hunks of metal—had men hurrying around them while they tinkered with tools or scribbled notes on pads of paper.

Roghman stopped and threw an arm wide. “This is where the Tinkers’ Guild does its work. The last few months have been very exciting. We have dusted off the inventions we had been forced to put aside and have been making great strides with them.”

Gregorio walked up to stand near them. “I think Miss Bansdaughter might like to see the printing press.”

“Oh! Of course. It’s one of our most successful inventions so far. It has so much potential.” He guided her forward. “It might put the scribes out of business, though.” He winked at her.

Roghman chattered on about each of the twisted pieces of metal they passed. One was meant to help women with their washing, but was too huge and expensive to be practical and needed to be redesigned. Another was a contraption that was supposed to act like a mini steam transport, ferrying the occupant down the street on its own. It was ugly—all hard metal and sharp edges. She certainly couldn’t imagine climbing into one. Evangeline didn’t see the point when carriages and horses worked perfectly fine for such things.

There were half-designed machines that were meant to aid in preparing food, cutting grass, filtering the air, doing just about anything under the sun that a man or a woman needed to do. It was all quite mind-blowing. In all her years at Belai, Evangeline had never imagined such things, let alone known that someone had been trying to construct them all.

The printing press sat somewhere in the middle of the warehouse. “There it is,” declared Roghman. “With the exception of the helium floating balloon and the steam transport, it’s our finest invention yet. That one was our first prototype. We have constructed one other and given it over to the use of printing newspapers and books. More, of course, are in construction.”

She inched closer to the thing. It was huge and oddly shaped. Like nearly everything in the warehouse it was also made of metal. Small letters and numbers lined a top plate, each apparently was able to be configured to print a certain word or sentence. She couldn’t fathom how it worked. It was fantastical.

“It is! Oh, it is!” said Roghman, and Evangeline realized she must have spoken out loud.

Just then the contraption across the aisle caught her eyes. Half covered with a large tarp, multicolored swathes of fabric covered a large wooden frame. “What is that?”

“This?” Roghman flipped the tarp back, revealing what appeared to be a set of wings. In the center was a sort of small metal box attached to a set of suspenders.

She glanced at Roghman in surprise. “A machine to allow a man to fly like a bird?”

Roghman laughed. “We only wish. It doesn’t work, I’m afraid. We’re still trying to perfect this one. It’s sent three men to the physician so far.” He barked out a laugh.

“Speaking of flying. Would you like to take a ride in the helium float with me, Evangeline?” Gregorio touched her arm, the heat of his hand bleeding through the material of her dress and warming her skin.

She glanced up at him, smiling. “I would love nothing more to take a ride in the balloon, but it’s raining, remember?”

“I think the rain has cleared up,” answered Roghman. “I’ll escort you to the back of the building. You are welcome to ride in the very first helium float the Tinkers’ Guild ever made.” He winked. “It’s made only for two.”

“Oh, it’s so beautiful,” Evangeline breathed.

The city of Milzyr stretched below the small balloon, looking like it was something made for dolls. Belai and its lawns stretched over there, gray and green and beautiful even from the air. Over there were the grimy slums of Cook Square. Over there was the merchants’ circle, where Evangeline bought her gowns once upon a time. And there was the middle class area of town where Gregorio had his home. She wondered if Anatol was sitting outside on the porch watching the balloon in the sky right now. Around the edges of the city lay a patchwork quilt of greens and browns—farmers’ fields, she supposed.

Suddenly it hit her how very far up in the sky they were. She grabbed Gregorio’s sleeve. “Please tell me you know how to steer this thing.”

He laughed—a deep, rich sound. “Don’t worry. I helped finance this invention, helped to build it a little, myself. I’m a perfectly capable helium float pilot.”

She relaxed and went back to marveling at the view. It was chilly up here. Despite her warm state of dress, icy fingers tugged at her wrap and whipped pink into her cheeks. She smiled, letting herself enjoy the experience for once—without second-guessing every aspect of it.

“You’re so beautiful, Evangeline,” Gregorio said in a throaty voice. His desire hit her full force, warming her.

She glanced at him. “Is that why you want me so much? Because you think I’m beautiful?”

“Partly.” At least he was honest. “But there’s more to you. You’re very complex. You fascinate me. I find you intelligent and strong willed. Not many women are, you know.”

She gave him a sharp look. “Not many women are intelligent?”

“No, strong willed. This world breeds all the backbone out of them. But you, growing up the way you did, it’s made you strong. You challenge me and I find that most invigorating. I can have a conversation with you, an argument, even, and not necessarily know I’ll come out the winner. I can play a game of strategia with you and not know whether or not I’ll win.”

“You like me because I argue well?”

He laughed. “Yes, I guess I do. I always know where I stand with you. You will never dissemble with me, never lie to me in order to get what you want.”

She smiled a little, remembering her past, and looked at him. “I don’t do that anymore, Gregorio. Once, I did. Once it was a lifestyle.”

“And now you have a different lifestyle. I hope you will consider including me in it.”

Her stomach did a little flip, not at the words he spoke, but the emotion behind them. Gregorio fancied himself falling in love with her. The lust she’d constantly felt from him was beginning to deepen into something else, something far more serious. In fact, it grew close to something like what Anatol felt for her, and she for him.

That confusing tangle of maybe-love.

She looked away, down over the city. That strong emotion he had for her scared her, but there was something that frightened her even worse . . . the emotion she was developing for him. For both Gregorio and Anatol. They were foreign feelings and risky. These emotions were a little like stepping out onto a thin wire in high winds with only these two men to hold on to her. If their hold slipped and she fell, she would be dashed on the pavement below—shattered.

“Evangeline?”

“I’m fine. Just enjoying the view.” She glanced at him and found him staring at her.

“As am I.” His voice was a low, hungry growl that heated her blood.

He reached out, caught her by the waist, and pulled her against him. His body was hard and warm. She wanted to back away, but she just couldn’t make herself. His head dipped toward hers and his lips met her lips.

They clung together high over the city, mouths meshing and hearts almost touching.

 

 

“It was incredible!” Evangeline said as soon as she and Gregorio had cleared the doorway of the house.

Anatol’s heart did a little flip as soon as he saw her. Her gray eyes shone and her cheeks and lips were rosy. For a moment he had a flash of acute jealousy that Gregorio could give her such happiness.

He walked over and touched her cheek. “You’re freezing.”

“It’s a cold evening, but it’s cozy and warm in here.” While he helped her out of her wrap, she told him about all the inventions they’d seen and the ride in the helium float. “You should have come along, Anatol, you would have loved it.”

Anatol met Gregorio’s dark gaze. “Maybe next time.” He was also slightly jealous that Gregorio had been able to spend the day with her. Spending the afternoon dealing with all the arrangements he’d made for the shop was no match for her presence.

Gregorio stepped forward and cupped Evangeline’s cheek in his palm. “I enjoyed spending the day with you more than I can remember taking pleasure in anything for a long time.”

Evangeline smiled up at him, her hand resting on Gregorio’s sleeve. “It was an amazing day.”

The flash of truth that swept through Anatol in that moment rocked him back on his heels. In that moment he saw straight through the illusion of pretense and proper behavior, through Evangeline’s fear and Gregorio’s yearning. Magick leapt unsummoned inside him.

Gregorio Vikhin wasn’t just fodder for Evangeline’s burgeoning and uneven emotions. He was no fling that she would soon forget. Gregorio was a man who had qualities that she needed for her well-being. Gregorio’s presence in her life would be beneficial to her, as she would be beneficial to Gregorio.

An ember of love existed between them just as much as it existed between himself and Evangeline.

The wrap he’d taken from Evangeline’s shoulders dropped to the floor.

“Anatol? Are you all right?”

He looked up at the sound of Evangeline’s voice and forced his eyes to focus on her face. He couldn’t answer her. He always saw into the truth of things to some extent, but this had been amazingly clear. Disappointment sparked in his belly and he drew a ragged breath. He’d hoped Evangeline would one day be his alone, but he saw now that was not to be.

If he was to have any kind of relationship with Evangeline, Gregorio would need to be a part of it.

“Anatol?” she repeated, taking a step toward him.

He swept the wrap up from the floor and moved to the rack by the door to hang it. “I’m fine. Just hungry, that’s all.”

Gregorio walked from the foyer into the small study. “I’ll have the cook make something hot for us to drink. There’s a fire in here, Evangeline. You should warm up a bit.”

She followed him, gravitating toward the warmth, and sat down in the chair, still chattering on about all the inventions at the Tinkers’ Guild, her eyes shining. He’d never seen her this excited—not even after she’d returned from a shopping trip when they’d lived at Belai. Clearly, Gregorio was good for her.

He sat down in a chair opposite her and waved away tea when the cook offered it to him. Evangeline took a cup and wrapped her fingers around it, warming her cold hands. “So, what did you do all day?”

Missed you.
He shrugged. “Read mostly. Sat outside. I need to get back to training. I’m recovered enough to take it back up now. If I don’t I’ll get soft as Czz’ar Ondriiko was.”

“I’ll go with you, if you like. I know a place where we can spar in the northern part of Milzyr.” Gregorio leaned up against the mantel of the fireplace. “There’s a club.”