Luminous

91 - The Secret Lab

Ahmundi's room was bathed in bright yet eerie acid-green light, radiating from the chandelier on the ceiling and tall, cylindrical lamps made of faceted crystal set at intervals along the walls. Piles of books huddled between them, humbly awaiting a shelf.

Magenta curtains smothered every window. The bed and wardrobe had been shunted into the far corners, making way for a large wooden table cluttered with rolls of parchment and curious paraphernalia, and what appeared to be an enormous, misshapen, slightly deflated ball made of strips of thick cowhide sewn together, sitting next to the table. It could probably house all three of them snugly inside with its size.

Meya scrunched up her eyes against the unnatural, disorienting lighting, then shot its occupant a quizzical look,

"Why dun you use normal lamps, milord?"

Ahmundi nodded towards the mysterious leather ball. He closed the door behind the girls, led them to his worktable, then rested his hand atop his invention.

"Flammable air from the old mines." He smoothed his hand lovingly down its patchwork surface, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm and pride, "I think we can use it as fuel. If only we can stuff it into a smaller container."

"Why?" asked Arinel as she tore her eyes away from the assortment of gauges, pumps and tubes on the tabletop. Ahmundi shrugged,

"Mother asked Hasif to invent a way to carry a large amount of fuel inside this basket, said it's a top-secret request from King Alden."

He bent down with a sigh and picked up a wicker basket, setting it on the table for the girls to examine,

"She's probably finding a way to harness the light energy of the green crystals, turn it into movement. But I think we're relying too much on the Hasifs and their green crystals, so I'm working on my own method."

"So, this is your container?" asked Meya, holding a metal tube roughly the shape and size of a bundled-up baby she'd retrieved from the floor beside the table. One end was rounded, the other end was a bottleneck. Ahmundi nodded, then sighed and propped his arms on the table, his head bowed,

"I've been testing with normal air. Works quite well. But problem is I dunno how safe it would be with flammable gas. If it's small enough. Or holds enough." He stared ahead with a frown, eyes dark with desperation, "I must see Hasif's work. I must know what I'm up against."

Silence fell. Meya watched Ahmundi's hands on the tabletop curl into fists. She turned and shared a look with Arinel, and saw pain in her eyes as they arrived at the same conclusion.

Ahmundi's lab was his own bedroom. He kept the curtains closed at all times. He didn't dare call himself an alchemist, and he was forced to squirrel supplies from Hasif's lab to further his own experiments, locking himself away in a race against time to best his mother's alchemist.

If Hyacinth was the opposite of Latakia when it came to men and women, his predicament was probably not much different from Arinel's. Possibly worse.

And if he was spurred into action seeing Hasif's growing power, that meant her shadow over the Hyacinth seat was not a benign shade.

Arinel pursed her lips and reached out her hand, but before she could touch Ahmundi's arm, he resurfaced with that little rueful smile, glancing between the two young women,

"Well, that's my story. What about you two? Why are you spying on her?"

The two spies blinked, then shared another look. Meya studied Ahmundi as she weighed her options. The lad had shared top-secret news with them, showed off his invention and pretty much laid bare his motive to two complete strangers, just because they were similarly working against Hasif.