Chapter 6: Mathias

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His charge, Crafter a'Loria, was conferring with nearly a dozen engineers, as she stood near the bottom of the scaffolding beneath the massive ships.

The conversation was highly technical, almost indecipherably so, but the phrase "cooling lines" came up quite frequently. Mathias shrugged his coat further over his shoulders and gazed back to her apprentice, and his first meeting with his Shadow.

To his surprise, a third person was standing close to them, a low ranking soldier with a flushed face and a messenger bag.

"Endless embers beneath the dirt, you had better be kidding," he heard Lucille hiss, as she fixed Gerald with a harsh glare. Despite her attempt to keep quiet, he could hear her over the muted cacophony of distant work. "There's no way we're being invaded."

The word 'invaded' put him on edge, and he stepped closer to listen.

"I'm afraid so, ma'am. If you could direct me to Crafter a'Loria? Now?" the messenger asked, curtly, and Mathias smiled a little. He wondered if the soldier would be this bold if she knew Lucille was a shadow, rather than the mechanic she appeared to be.

Mathias turned away and strode to Tabitha, still engaged with the engineers. He drew closer until he could hear his charge speak. "Triple-check the seals after each section. Triple-check, mind. Once you finish, we'll pump the Gloam in from the bottom, leaving the top-hatch open. Once you see the mists pour out the top, you know it's full. Working with a heavier-than-air gas is a lot like working with a liquid. Take your time with the bag-seal, and if you hit a patch you can't heat enough, ask my apprentice or myself," she explained, her eagerness demonstrated by her rapid speech.

Mathias caught her eye and pointed towards her apprentice. She nodded, and stepped away, walking towards him. "What is it?" she asked.

"Military messenger. Asking for you specifically," Mathias replied, cringing a little. The military had been breathing down her neck for almost a year, and she had struggled to keep them from commandeering the project. "Gerald is with her now."

She strode towards her apprentice, and Mathias watched Gerald point her out to the messenger. The messenger turned to her crisply, all formality at this point, and Mathias' eyes widened when he saw the band on her arm. He cursed himself for missing it at first.

The band on her arm was black.

Highest priority. Only the Lord Captain of the Wall was allowed to dispatch such messages. A messenger wearing that band could demand the exclusive use of any transportation, and would be admitted without question to even a private meeting between the heads of every Bureau in the City.

The messenger stepped up to Crafer a'Loria and saluted sharply. "Ma'am. A missive from The Lord Captain. Highest priority," she said, loudly. Every person in earshot stopped to look, dozens of people no longer hammering or welding steel.

"Go ahead," Tabitha said. Her voice, quieter than usual, still carried into the new silence.

"Sorry, ma'am, but this is a written missive, and I am not privy to its contents." she replied. She handed the note to the Crafter, set the satchel down by her feet, saluted again, and started at a slow run away from the gathering.

Mathias watched Tabitha tear open the seal, and after pulling the letter out, toss the envelope aside as a small flash of fire devoured it. He stepped forward as she read, watching her eyes dashing across the lines until she finished. Tabitha read it a second time, cursed under her breath, and nearly ripped it in half.

"Gerald!" she said, loudly, as she marched back towards the ships. Gerald followed, and Mathias fell into step beside him. Lucille picked up the satchel as she followed behind them.

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