Rebel Magisters (Rebel Mechanics #2)(38)

There was a loud rumbling in response, as everyone in the room began discussing this among themselves. Maude put a stop to their discussion with one graceful wave of a delicate white hand. “How so?” she asked in the ensuing silence.

“They have a machine that dampens ether so it can’t be used magically,” Henry said. “I’ve seen it demonstrated.”

The response to that was vehement. Shouts of “How dare they?” and “That is an outrage!” rang out.

“What are they supposed to do when magic is used to oppress them?” I demanded, shouting at the top of my lungs. “They must have a way to fight back, and they have more cause for revolution than you do. You sit here playing at it, making showy gestures while you lead lives of privilege. They’re shut out of the entire system because of an accident of birth, and then are penalized for trying to make up for that with their ingenuity.” I realized I was essentially paraphrasing one of Alec’s speeches, but his points had been valid even if he’d been less than genuine in the context of that speech.

“You both have the same goal,” Henry said. “We all want freedom from the British Empire and all the oppression that entails. Do you plan to exclude the nonmagical from our new nation? Or do you want to build an even stronger nation by combining strengths?”

“We are up against an Empire,” Maude said. “And we’ve seen that we can’t even make a small protest on our own. Do you think the Mechanics would be willing to help us?”

I felt every eye on me. “I don’t know. They won’t be happy that you were planning to implicate them. They’re already unhappy about the trouble you’ve caused them. But this would be an opportunity for them to test their device. I imagine they might have some terms for their participation.”

“Go ask them,” Camilla said firmly. Her glare was enough to silence the grumblers.





Chapter Ten


In Which

I Attend a Tea Party




“Do you think they’ll help?” Henry asked as we left the mansion.

“I hope so. But I’m concerned that rather than help the magisters, they’ll take the idea and go off on their own.”

“We’ll have to remind them of the possibility of test subjects and money,” Henry said.

The streets were much quieter this night, and I wondered if that had anything to do with the previous night’s activities. If there was a tighter curfew, we might not be able to move so freely around the city. There were policemen and soldiers about, but they left us alone. They were on the lookout for a mob, and they weren’t expecting anyone dangerous to come out of the magister district. There were a lot more uniforms once we were in the less exalted part of the city, near the Mechanics’ place.

We waited until a pair of policemen had walked to the end of the block before we approached the basement door and I knocked, remembering the pattern Mary had used. As we waited for an answer, I hoped that we’d even find them here, that this hadn’t just been a place they’d used to meet with us.

Adonis soon opened the door. He favored me with an appreciative smile before saying, “Back so soon? Do you have news for us?”

“Probably more than you ever expected,” I said. “We need to talk.”

The parlor was slightly more crowded than it had been the night before, and the atmosphere was more social. We had to weave our way around small clusters of chatting Mechanics to reach the settee where Athena sat, surrounded by admirers hanging on her every word.

“They’re back!” Adonis said. “And it sounds like they’ve got something interesting for us.”

“How would you like a real-world test of your device?” I asked.

“I would like that very much,” she said.

Henry and I explained the situation. “And so,” I concluded, “they can’t make their protest without your help. I thought it might be a good idea to make them aware that they need you. If they saw your device in action, it would be proof of what you could do. That might get you money from them.”

“Or they might just exploit us the way they always do,” Adonis said, sounding significantly less genial.

“They’re doing that with or without your help,” Henry said. “They’re dressing as Mechanics to carry out this scheme. You might as well be there.”

One of the men said, “Yeah, we might as well be there, doing it ourselves!” That got widespread agreement from the Mechanics.

“But if you work with them, you’d have access to test subjects and money to allow you to produce more of your devices,” I argued desperately.

“I don’t know, that much tea on the black market would bring in a lot of money,” Adonis mused, which got another cheer.

I turned to Henry, but I wasn’t sure what I expected him to do. They were less likely to listen to a magister than they’d been to listen to me. “But working together…” I said, my voice trailing off as I realized how futile that argument was.

“What do they have that we don’t?” Athena asked, rising to her feet. “They have magical power, yes, but that is what they wish us to remove for them. We have the device, we have manpower. We should claim our own victory.”

That got a rousing cheer from the whole group, and a number of them hurried out, presumably to make preparations and rally more troops.