Coldmaker(79)

‘In a tub this size’ – Leroi dragged his finger through the air, counting – ‘the Draft should be gone in two weeks and six days.’

‘Gone?’ I asked, leaning forward in my chair.

Leroi stuck a finger on top of the Draft and pressed it down, but it refused to go quietly, rebounding against his touch. ‘The tub is not all salt. There’s still some water that will take the Cold. But—’ Leroi walked over to one of his trinket cabinets ‘—Here’s the interesting part.’ Thrusting a hand into the back of the top shelf, he returned with a pair of black gloves and a long metal pole. The pole had a small glass dome on the end, and inside was a bit of wirework that I couldn’t see properly. ‘The solution doesn’t change temperatures. The salt gets angry that it has to share water with its enemy, and so they fight. And the solution takes advantage of the battle.’

Leroi snapped on the gloves and dipped the end of the pole into the water. I expected something explosive – probably all the rampant energy running through my body – but the water remained still.

‘Give it time,’ Leroi said, reading my face. ‘It’s only just begun.’

I got up from my seat, inching closer to the tub. After a few quiet moments, the small dome began to light up. The shine was dim, but it was there.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

Leroi shrugged. ‘Energy. Motion. Light. It’s a lot of different things.’ He pointed to the pond of moving gears, and the domes of light – which I’d learned were called ‘Sinai’ – and even the giant fans that needed no crank to spin on their own. ‘I’m still figuring it out myself. It’s a relatively new discovery.’

I pointed to the dim light on the pole, and then to the nearest Sinai, my eyebrows raised.

‘Those had Shivers dissolved in their solution, not Drafts,’ Leroi said, anticipating my next question. ‘The bigger the Cold, the bigger the fight, and the more charge collected. The Sinai last months before they need more Cold.’

Then my finger went to the clay pots.

‘Sharp mind. You can dissolve more than one piece of Cold in the solution. It compounds, getting even stronger than it should. Those are concentrated charges for bigger experiments.’ Leroi gave a bashful chuckle. ‘I once had grand ideas as well.’

A question popped into my mind among the flurry of new information. ‘Does that mean Cold is alive?’

Leroi tapped his lip, which was still sunburned so he stopped straight away. ‘That’s a good question, but I wouldn’t say it’s alive. It’s more representative. Salt is a product of death, and Cold is a product of life. Without each other they are nothing, but together they have power.’

‘Why isn’t this common knowledge?’ I asked, my heart still fluttering. ‘This discovery alone could change the way the world works.’

Leroi took the pole out, letting the tiny light subside. ‘Because it’s illegal.’

I looked up at him astonished. ‘Illegal?’

Leroi sucked his teeth. ‘The Khat’s orders.’

‘But think of all the things it could do,’ I protested. ‘If we can harness this charge from Cold, we could ch …’

Seeing the obvious look in his eyes, I let my words trail off.

‘Sun damn,’ I said. ‘Change.’

‘Change is a big no-no for the Khat. Hope too. Lord Tavor, my illustrious cousin, knows I experiment with this charge, but he turns a blind eye to my activities, if in return I make him,’ Leroi’s lips pinched briefly, ‘certain things he requests.’

‘But what about—’

Four rapid knocks at the main door and I shut my mouth. It was the signal that Cam was there, but that he wasn’t alone.

Leroi snapped his fingers and pointed at the grate in the floor. I dashed over, pulling up the oily metal as quietly as I could, and slipping into the crawl-space underneath. We’d lined the dark area with plenty of boilweed so the nook was relatively dry for me, but its musk was still potent, and the floor was soggy from all the saltwater drainage. Leroi had felt guilty when I suggested it as my designated hiding spot, but my nose and body had experienced much worse on the streets. Leroi gently rolled the closest table over the top of the grate so as to cover me completely, yet I still had enough line of sight to make out feet.

I heard Leroi pad up the stairs, and I held my breath, praying. I’d not strayed from the tinkershop, and other than Cam and Leroi, no one knew I was here.

Breathing in deeply to try to keep calm, I made myself focus on all the things the Cold Charge could mean for my future. If the Charge could make things move, and fill them with light, then maybe it could even make them fly. Leroi was right, this could be the key to my quest.

Sweat beaded on my forehead as I waited. The sound of a closing chain reached the bars. My stomach clenched so hard I could have turned sand to glass. The sounds moved down to the main floor of the shop and closer to my table.

‘It’s okay, Spout,’ Cam said from above, knocking the grate with his velvet sandal. ‘You can come out.’

Opening the lid and looking up, my breath caught in my throat as I clocked braided hair and the straightest back in Paphos.

‘Shilah!’

‘So you do know her.’ Cam gave a sigh of relief, lending a hand to help me out. ‘I’m glad, because she knew you were here. Thank the Crier I got to the gates before my father did. He’s been extra paranoid lately. Please tell her to have some water, Spout. She’s refused my offer three times now.’