Lost at Sea Bk. 01 Ch. 12

When energy dissipates, it's usually impreceptable. It's just natural energy going back to it's usual state. Most people wouldn't even notice, but with evocation the whole point is to force enough energy together that the destabilization is so large and so fast that it causes a physical reaction. Light, fire and sound are the most common, usually all at once. A lot of people think the ability to conjure up an explosion is what makes someone an Evoker. It isn't. That just means you're a strong caster with lousy control. Real evocation is the art of nudging the reaction itself toward a particular energy state," Janie said.

"That almost happened. I think I was really close, but instead of being able to nudge the reaction the way I wanted, it took the easiest escape route." Bella had a rare look of embarrassment on her face. "It all shunted though our connection right into your pattern, Will," Bella said, looking apologetic. "That's what the pattern is for. Remember all the energy we put into it during the ritual?"

"Then why didn't the pattern just hold onto the energy and start glowing like last time?" Will asked.

"Because it was too much too fast. I almost lost control of it during the ritual too, and we were going a lot slower," Bella admitted. "That pattern was never designed to contain that much power that fast."

"Magic is dangerous," Janie said.

"You're lucky I'm actually pretty bad at gathering energy. My ability to hold ambient power is... small."

"I don't really know what that means," Will admitted. "I'll take your word for it though."

"Think of magic like water," Bella said. "I have a really small bucket. I'm pretty good at filling it quickly, but then I have to put it somewhere before I can carry anymore. That's what the patterns are for. They're... like a horse trough, I guess. They're somewhere to dump the bucket."

"More like an aquaduct, or a series of pipes," Janie added, continuing the metaphor. "Patterns and sigils are what directs the flow for a specific purpose, and brings it into the necessary geometry to make a flow system work."

"Alright, that makes sense," Will nodded.

"If I had a bigger bucket the whole pattern might have just exploded," Bella said, looking pained.

"Like pouring water into a funnel. If you go too fast, it overflows and gets everywhere," Janie said. WIll was starting to understand what had happened.

"It's not too bad. Feels like being scalded. I'll be alright," Will said, trying to reassure her.

"I don't think you appreciate how close to dying you were, Will," Janie said gravely.

"Oh, I was on fire. It's hard not to appreciate how close to dying that is," Will said, amused. Belita, who'd been listening with interest to the magical theories, laughed. Janie and Bella did not.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I'm still feeling everything you are," Bella smiled wistfully. "It's a roundabout sort of penance."

Will gave her a slightly incredulous look.

"Alright," Janie said. I think we've covered how everything went wrong and why. I'm following the chain of events so far, but... what was with the..." she sighed, struggling to find the words. "...the stuff. When I came in?" Janie asked, a bit afraid to know the answer.

"Well, when the ritual sigil heated up it turned into burning taffy," Will said.

"And it gave you a..." Janie was confused. She made an ambiguous gesture toward the lower half of Will's body beneath the table. Bella giggled.

"No," Will sighed, "That was from the ritual earlier. It's had me hard for almost an hour and a half now."

"Now? As in still? And you couldn't just ignore it?" Jaine shook her head. "Honestly, you are the most oversexed man I have ever met."

"Same," Belita chuckled. "You should have seen him at Merry Mary's. He had Bella and-"

"I don't even want to know," Jaine shook her head.

"I'll tell you later," Bella grinned, bumping Janie's shoulder. Janie and Will both rolled their eyes.

"Anyway," Will continued, "The fire melted the paint into my body hair while it was burning. After I dealt with the fire it was all just matted together on top of the burned skin. So the hair had to be shaved off." He ignored Bella and Belita's suppressed laughter.

"And you couldn't do that yourself?" Janie asked.

"I wanted to," Will put his hands up.

"At the time it seemed like a better idea for us to do it for him," Bella said innocently.

Janie just shook her head and cracked a small smile. "So you're... all shaved... there... now?"

"Not very well. It's a mess. Just scalded skin and a strip of really short hair right down the middle," Will shook his head. Janie wrinkled her nose. Will nodded in agreement of her expression. "At least the bleeding seems to have stopped. I think."

"Bleeding? What else happened?" Janie was starting to wonder how many problems involving his penis that Will could manage to cram into one night.

"When you burst through the door Belita nicked me with the straight razor," Will shrugged.

Both Belita and Janie had the good grace to look apologetic. "I thought the place was going to be on fire," Janie apologized.

"Oh right! That's why you had the bucket! I wondered about that." Bella said, still amused.

"How did you do that thing with the locks anyway?" Will asked.

"Well, you wanted the locks to be part of the wards, and the wards are all keyed to me," Janie explained.

"So you can just lock and unlock my door with your mind?" Will asked.

Janie nodded. "Well, no that isn't quite... Alright, yes, essentially. It's better that way. It means I don't have a key that can be pickpocketed."

"I wish I could do that." Will was impressed.

"You'd have to learn how to help me set the wards, but then, sure," Janie said.

"A magician, I am not," Will shook his head. "With my luck I'd blow myself up trying to summon a light breeze. Magic is way too unstable for me to be taking risks with. I'll leave it to the experts who aren't cursed."

"Hell, even that don't seem tae work for ye," Captain Vex teased.

"I really want to know about that rainstorm," Bella said.

"Oh, that's just a fire ward," Janie shrugged. "I actually don't understand exactly how they work. Conjuring is very complicated, but once a formula is worked out, any spellbinder can learn the sigil."

"You don't have to know how to design an aquaduct to build one, or to pour water into one. You can just use someone else's designs to guide you," Will said.

"Exactly. That one is one of the middle difficulty sigils Magistrate Acolytes are taught. It's the very first Conjuration ward we learn. Every Magistrate fort and cathedral is full of old books and scrolls. That ward is how we keep them safe."

"I guess wet paper is better than burned paper," Bella nodded.

"Particularly here," Janie said. "A long time ago the Magistrate developed water resistant parchment and inks specifically so they could rely on that ward without worrying about losing their archives to water damage."

Belita leaned back in her chair. "Aye. Those inks and parchments are what most ship's records are made on these days."

"Right. All but the oldest books and maps in this room are water resistant," Will added.

"That's why I thought the flame ward would work well here too," Janie smiled.

"No wonder you didn't freak out about the rain in your library," Bella said.

"I didn't even know the flame ward was here," Will said, looking up and wondering how much more he didn't know about everything Janie had done.

"You said you wanted me to make this place as safe as I could," Janie said.

"I meant from people trying to break in," Will laughed.

"Do you know how dangerous this lighthouse is, Will?" Janie demanded. "It's a stone cylinder with only one way out, filled to bursting with paper, dust, and old, dry wood. It's a kiln. You couldn't build a better fire trap."

"I never thought of that." Will looked around, the truth of that revelation dawning on him.

"What would you have done if something happened and the ground floor caught fire while you were upstairs sleeping? The lowest window is fifteen feet up, and overlooking a cliff. The next one is twenty five feet up over a cobblestone street. Are you going to jump down?" Jaine asked pointedly.

"I'd probably try to just brave the flames and run out the door," Will admitted.

"You think that old staircase wouldn't collapse? It's on the brink of falling apart even without being on fire," Janie scoffed.

"Well, it's not a great plan..." Will shrugged. She was right. "Alright, you're made your point. So you put a rainstorm in the ceiling in case of fire. I appreciate that," Will nodded. "When my chest combusted I could have fallen into a shelf full of papers of something, and it could have been a whole lot worse.'

"Or if I'd been a little better at the evocation. It could easily have been a much bigger fire," Bella added.

"Everything being wet now seems like a small price to pay," Will said putting his hand over Janie's. She smiled. Bella added her hand to the stack.

Belita grinned. "Honestly, that'd be a handy thing t' have shipboard. Fires 're one o' the things we have tae be most careful of. Every ship's a floatin' fire trap."

Janie shook her head. "Part of the magic has to do with trapping the energy in a very stable environment so you can set the trigger condition. Stone is best. I don't know how wood on a moving vessel would work."

Belita shrugged. "Ah well, worth a shot."

"Aren't we in a hurry? When we came first got here we were frantic, and now we're just talking," Bella said.

"Well, there were interruptions," Will snarked.

"Th' Kestrel gettin' away from th' docks is the important part," Belita said. "We need tae get ready to run, but we can't run yet. Best to wait for dawn."

"Why not?" Bella didn't understand.

"The Kidd gang will be out in the streets, and they'll probably be the only ones. We've missed our window to shove things in a bag and run before they got organized. The roads are empty right now. If they're out there, which they probably are, there's a good chance we'd be spotted if we were out there too." Will said, agreeing with Belita's assessment. "We don't even have a place to run yet. We need to arrange things right. Later, you'll go help get a boat ready for us. We'll wait for the market to get going, then hide in the crowd. If things go well, we'll be able to just walk down to the docks like nothing's wrong."

"I don't know where to get a boat!" Bella looked at him like he was crazy.

"You do. Kaduska," Will smiled.

Bella blinked and nodded, catching on to Will's plan. "Can we change clothes?" she asked. "I've been wet so long I barely care anymore, but I don't want to catch a cold."

Will nodded and gingerly stood up. He pulled the bloody cloth free from his breeches and threw it in his refuse bin next to the sideboard. The ladies all looked at the front of his pants. They were unlaced and pulled open, so his skin was visible down to the base of his cock. The skin from his lower lip all the way down his torso in twisting lines was red and angry and all his hair had been cut to very short dark bristles. The outline of his erection tucked down his pant leg was clearly visible. Janie blushed. Belita grinned. Bella licked her lips.

Will didn't notice. He felt ridiculous. He walked over to the stairs, holding his pants up at the sides, and climbed until he could see out the window. Bella caught Janie's eye and gave her a knowing wink. She blushed even more. Belita watched the exchange with amusement.

"The Kestrel isn't moored anymore. Looks like they shoved off before Kidd could organize a blockade," Will said from the stairs.

"So we're safe," Bella said, relieved.

"For now," Will said, "Unless the Kidds find out Belita left Mary's with me."

"I'm here," Janie said fiercely from the foot of the stairs. "If anyone shows up I'll cover for you. I doubt those thugs would risk moving against the Magistrate for this."

"Then it's a good thing you came in uniform," Bella teased, pointing to Janie's acolyte's robes.

"They're my pajamas," Janie blushed again. "They're soft."

"Two years and I never saw you blush, now it seems like all you do," Will chuckled.

"I... didn't have reason before," Janie said. "Everything has become so different in the last few days."

"I blame Bella," Will said.

"That's fair," Bella shrugged.

"I think she could make a stone blush if she put her mind tae it," Belita teased.

"It's like you know her already," Will laughed.

"Well, I'm going to steal one of Will's shirts, crawl in bed, and wait for dawn," Bella said heading past Will up the stairs.

"Need an accomplice?" Captain Vex asked, following her.

"Always," Bella grinned.

"That sounds like a good plan," Will said heading up the stairs after them.

"Oh no," Bella said.

Will stepped through the bedroom door and stopped like he was paralysed. The room was trashed. Everything that could be on the floor, was. His shelves were empty. His footlocker was empty. His dresser was empty and all the shelves were on the floor. Everything that had been under the bed wasn't anymore.

Bella's monkey sat in the middle of the bed with a pile of small shiny objects in front of it. Coins, rings, chains, amulets, a belt buckle, some rivets, Will's father's compass, buttons. a plumb bob, a small handful of precious gems Will had hidden away, a single solid gold ingot and two of silver.

"What the hells..." Will managed to say.

The monkey screamed at him and disappeared out the window with a handful of treasures.