Storm of Shadows (Lumineers 1)

CHAPTER 35: NEW UNIFORMS

"I should send Til and the children into the country," Edwin mused. It would be safer that way. Six more Spects dead. He'd taken the news with dignity, though the vein in his temple hadn't stopped jumping.

"You do not wish them to be here for your father's funeral? For your coronation?" Hubert sat across the desk from him, arms crossed, eyebrow raised.

Edwin sighed, considering. The palace was eerily quiet at this hour, everyone sleeping. "The captain of my guard is missing. Prince Albert is moving against me. I want him arrested."

"We have enough evidence locked away to weave a plausible story. I can make the order if need be." Hubert regarded him with a vulture's gaze.

Edwin rubbed the stubble growing along his chin, missing his beard, thinking through the next few days. Prince Albert would call for a vote of no confidence. And by Light, with the number of Technologist supporters, they might just get it. "Albert has conspired against me, against my father, for long enough. Give the order."

Hubert gave a pleased nod. "And your family?"

"Have them packed and ready to depart first thing in the morning. I want them out. At least for now." He looked over the mass of documents on his desk. "That is all."

Hubert stood. "Very good, Your Majesty. Very good." The next moment he looked up, the man was gone.

***

Tabby stood in the shop across the workbench from Steiner. Midnight was out. He'd agreed to gather a few supplies and food. The white prism on the bench was fully charged. She eyed it, brow furrowed. "So tell me again how I do this?"

"It's simpler than you think. Really. You already wield white."

"Yes, but—"

"Focus your efforts on pulling the light directly from the prism. You want to send it out into the air around you in all directions. Remember, light carries momentum. White light carries the most. When you send it out, you're pushing it. And you'll want to be sharp about it. You're not siphoning it, you're bursting it."

"Yes, but—"

"Just as you control other wavelengths of light with your mind, so too does white submit. You know this. You've done it with healing."

She nodded. "Fine. Okay. Here we go." She closed her eyes and took the prism in one hand, holding her other over it as if it were a magic crystal ball. That thought almost made her snort. She felt it, the power of it, lurking within the glassy confines. It pushed against her consciousness, as if whispering. She thought of what she wanted, straining her focus, to create a flare. To push Steiner away. A deep breath later, she snapped her fingers. That's what felt natural, anyway. A brief flare of white behind her eyelids told her something had worked. But there'd been no noise, no clatter of destruction.

She peeled open an eyelid, wincing at what she might find. Steiner stood, arms crossed, watching her.

"It didn't work?"

He snorted. "Do you see me on the ground? No, try again."

"What did it do?" She glanced down at the prism. Only a small bit of light was gone. It was slightly dimmer, but that's it.

"You only pulled a bit. You need to pull everything, one massive shove, to have any kind of effect." The rest of the explanation went unspoken. By pulling everything, the prism would be fully drained in one go. Light power was multiplicative. It worked more powerfully in larger amounts, which was why large prisms worked best for powering most industrial objects, or had before the laws outlawing everything.