The Canard Case (The Artifactor Series Book 4) Read online

  Published by Raconteur House

  Murfreesboro, TN

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  THE CANARD CASE

  Book Four of the Artifactor

  A Raconteur House book/ published by arrangement with the author

  Copyright © 2016 by Honor Raconteur

  Cover Design by Katie Griffin

  Antique Clock Face by Vladimir Sazonov /Shutterstock

  Chinese landscape watercolor painting by Baoyan/Shutterstock

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

  Purchase only authorized editions.

  For information address: www.raconteurhouse.com

  Other books by Honor Raconteur

  Published by Raconteur House

  THE ADVENT MAGE CYCLE

  Book One: Jaunten

  Book Two: Magus

  Book Three: Advent

  Book Four: Balancer

  ADVENT MAGE NOVELS

  Advent Mage Compendium

  The Dragon’s Mage

  The Lost Mage

  Warlords Rising

  Warlords Ascending*

  SINGLE TITLES

  Special Forces 01

  The Midnight Quest

  Kingslayer

  THE ARTIFACTOR SERIES

  The Child Prince

  The Dreamer’s Curse

  The Scofflaw Magician

  The Canard Case

  DEEPWOODS SAGA

  Deepwoods

  Blackstone

  Fallen Ward

  Origins

  KINGMAKERS

  Arrows of Change

  Arrows of Promise

  Arrows of Revolution*

  GÆLDERCRÆFT FORCES

  Call to Quarters

  *Upcoming

  “If you can’t do something, then don’t. Focus on what you can do.”

  — Shiroe, Log Horizon

  Ailana’s eyebrows nettled with intense focus, lips pursed, her expression more troubled than she likely meant it to be. Sevana watched the Fae Mother watch her, and Sevana did not like what she saw. That expression did not bode well for her.

  Finally, Ailana sat back, the movement graceful, as every motion from her was. She blew out a soft breath that had an air of resignation to it. The active wisps of blue magic that flowed from her hands and around Sevana stilled and then dissipated like dust motes into the air.

  “I fear I do not know what to do at this time.”

  Not the answer Sevana wanted. “Didn’t you tell me that once my body was physically healed, my magic would do the same?”

  “I did say that,” Ailana admitted, becoming more troubled as she spoke, “and that is usually what happens. Your magical core was offset with Arandur’s magic when he put his blood into you. We do share our Fae blood with our children, in very diluted forms, so his method is not unusual. We feared for your safety because he did not dilute his blood first, and with it at full potency, we anticipated it would be too much of a shock to a human system. But since you healed, we expected it to adapt to your body. And it has done so, admirably.”

  “Just not with my magical core.” Sevana put a flat palm to her chest and tried not to have a breakdown right then and there. This state was beyond frustrating, so frustrating that she had caught herself almost crying angry tears more than once. She had taken nearly two months to physically heal from her ordeal. Her magic had been a little out of sorts, but then with everything that had happened, that was to be expected. Or so they had kept saying for the past month.

  Sevana looked away, over the glen, watching a herd of children play some sort of game that involved a great deal of chasing and giggling. Even from here their half-Fae status was apparent, as their bodies gradually changed from their human makeup. “I guess,” she said in a subdued tone, “I now understand why your lore instructs you to never try and turn a human with magic in them into Fae.”

  “It does seem to cause complications,” Ailana agreed readily. “But at the same time, I’m not sure if we should leap to any conclusions. Sellion, we were deathly afraid that you would not survive the change at all, or be so damaged by it on a physical level that it would take considerable effort to right matters. Magical core aside, you are thriving. Your physical structure is much stronger and more capable than before.”

  That part was true. Sevana had done careful tests and measurements and discovered that her sight, hearing, and sense of smell had all improved significantly. It was at least a twenty percent increase in all three senses, which was unheard of. She felt like she was a cat, sometimes. And that didn’t even mention that her aging process had slowed to an absolute crawl. Her timespan now was no longer human, not yet Fae, but in some limbo in between.

  And Sevana had no idea what to think about that at all.

  “The way that your body adapted tells me that our lore is not entirely correct,” Ailana continued. “After all, it also tells us that we should never take a human child older than ten, that a change on a fully grown adult would be impossible. And yet here you sit, perfectly whole and hearty, even though you are mid-change.”

  True. That was also true. Sevana came out of her depression a little. “Do I look quasi-Fae to you?”

  “Yes, it is very clear to my eyes that you are partially changed into Fae structure. I realize it would be difficult for you to see yourself with your own eyes, but has no one else said as much?”

  Sevana gave a slow shake of the head. “No, not really.” But then, everyone had more or less been focused on her magical dysfunctions. Although come to think of it… “The Fae in Sanat said something about that. They were surprised at my appearance.”

  “As well they should be. You are not like anything we have seen before. Even our lore contains very little record of someone changed as you were.” Ailana wasn’t the sort to bite her nails and brood, but Sevana gathered the distinct impression that she was doing that on some level. “These mixed signals are very confusing for all of us. I will contact my sisters in the other areas, see if I can’t find a lore master that might know more about this. We cannot leave you in this state.”

  On that, Sevana vehemently agreed. Her physical body was fine. Well, mostly fine. Sevana felt like she had a cold most of the time with the coughing, and the sneezing, and the slight ache in her joints. But considering that she had foreign Fae blood running around in her system, this was a remarkably mild reaction. If that was the only price to pay for this strange half-and-half state, she had no complaints, but her magical core absolutely had to be fixed soon. She’d melted half her workroom already because of magical flares, all caused by her unstable core. Taking on work from the outside had proven to be difficult at best. She had to outsource a good majority of it to either Master, Sarsen, or Aran. The Fae tracker had proven to be an invaluable friend to her during all of this, and rarely left her side for any length of time. She depended on his magic to get her through the rougher spots.

  Ailana patted her on the hand, expression sympathetic. “Do not fret, Sellion. We will find the answer to this.”

  “You better find it soon,” Sevana grumbled. “Otherwise I’ll end up accidentally blowing up Big.”

  “For my information, tell me exactly how your magic is
reacting,” Ailana requested. “I must give particulars when I send out the letters.”

  Having just reported this to Aranhil, the words still lingered like a bitter aftertaste in the back of her mouth, and she didn’t like repeating them. But Sevana also recognized that she needed to, and so forced them out. “There’s little in the way of a pattern. It doesn’t react strongly to any particular element, or tool, or specific type of magic. Rather, it seems to be a matter of how much magic I’m drawing from my core. If it’s a simple matter, like invoking a spell, then I have fifty-fifty odds of it working. A quick burst of magic from me doesn’t seem to cause any conflagration. At least not regularly. It’s sustained magic that gets me in trouble every time.”

  Ailana gave a slow, thoughtful nod. “This does not surprise me. How long can you sustain your magic before it causes problems?”

  “Five seconds is my absolute max. Sometimes I can’t even manage five seconds.” Which meant that using any of her flying devices, or her Caller, or things of that nature were almost beyond her. Fortunately Aran was a quick student and he often channeled his magic into those devices on her behalf.

  “This sounds like an incompatibility between Fae magic and human,” Ailana stated thoughtfully. “But I would like to confer with others before making any assumptions.”

  Sevana understood that and didn’t argue. “So for now, I suppose I go back to Big and try not to blow anything sky-high.”

  “Keep Arandur with you,” Ailana instructed.

  Snorting, Sevana parried, “You think I have a choice on that? The man’s like my living shadow. I’m not sure if it’s guilt or worry that makes him act like that.”

  “Perhaps a little of those emotions,” Ailana responded with a distinct twinkle of amusement in her eyes. “But I do not think that is his prime motivation. In any case, keep him with you. You are highly vulnerable at the moment, Sellion, and I do not think it wise to step outside of Big until we have this resolved.”

  Sevana started shaking her head even before Ailana trotted that whole sentence out. “Emergencies don’t stop and jobs don’t cease to come in just because I’m a little off my game, Ailana. Granted, working right now is a challenge, and there are certain things I don’t dare touch—” like a certain magical doohickey that Master had brought back for her from the evil magician’s lair “—but it’s not like I can halt everything altogether. I’ve managed now for three months, I can continue working until we get this imbalance of mine resolved.”

  “Can’t you just magic up a solution?” Booker asked. No, more like demanded.

  Sevana had been asked this question almost every hour on the hour since she’d arrived on the job, and hearing it again snapped what was left of her patience. “If you wanted a magical solution,” she snarled at him, “you should have requested a sorcerer!”

  He flinched back, hands rising as if ready to duck and cover.

  Flinging a hand out, she pointed toward Stillwater Dam. “That is the largest dam in the whole of Mander. No Artifactor has the magical power of a sorcerer or sorceress—none of us could stop it alone! If you had called for me the minute that you knew there was a problem, perhaps I could have done that. Right now I don’t have the time to devise a magical solution for you.”

  Everyone in the room fell eerily silent, as if all hope had drained out of them. Sevana blew out a breath, struggling to rein in her temper. “Oh, stop looking like I just danced on your graves. I didn’t say I don’t have a solution, it’s just not magical.”

  The sole female engineer, Kira, dared to ask, “What’s the solution?”

  “Old fashioned human ingenuity.” Sevana waved them in closer to the window so that she could point as necessary. The dam looked like it had pox, even from here. They were actually in the dam work shed, where they kept all of the necessary supplies and equipment to make repairs. The single table in the room had been cleared off so they had room to work if needed, but there were no chairs. Six people in the room made for cramped conditions, but it was the only building near the dam. ‘Near’ being a relative term, as the building was several hundred yards from it.

  Rainfall for this year was at an unprecedented high, so much so that it had overflowed the banks of the Daelyn River and in turn caused the reservoir near Stillwater Dam to nearly flood. The dam had not been constructed to hold this much water weight, and it was slowly collapsing under the strain. They had opened up every emergency valve on either side of the dam, letting out what water they could into the lake, but it wasn’t enough. One of the tunnels had collapsed under the force of the water and the other three weren’t in much better shape. The dam was breaking apart in front of her eyes.

  If the dam broke, it would destroy thousands of acres and homes, and Essen and Stillwater would likely be severely damaged. She really could not let the dam fall. Never mind the property damage, they wouldn’t be able to evacuate everyone in time. The loss of life…. She shuddered as her mind calculated the odds of survival for the people in the nearby cities. It wasn’t a pretty number.

  “Artifactor?” Kira asked, a little timidly.

  Sevana’s mind switched gears. She had to think of solving the problem, not what would happen if she didn’t. “I can’t be in two places at once. We’re going to have to divide the work.” Pointing to the top of the dam, she ordered, “I need a work crew at the top of the dam. We’re adding four feet of sheetwood, bracketed by steel beams, to the top. That should make sure that the reservoir doesn’t spill over.”

  Booker shook his head in instinctive protest. “Artifactor, sheetwood is incredibly thin. Barely two inches thick! I know we have a lot of it stored in here, which makes it tempting to use, but it doesn’t have the strength necessary to hold that kind of water weight.”

  “It won’t be holding the full weight of the dam,” she pointed out, striving to be patient. “It’s only holding the water at the very top. That’s a different weight. It would be about the same as, oh, a large pool. Don’t believe me? Do the math.”

  No one believed her, except perhaps Kira, who silently muttered numbers to herself with growing enlightenment. She, at least, could do the math in her head. The men grabbed sheets of paper and the pencils from behind their ears and went to madly scribbling on any free space of the table they could reach. Two of the men reached the same conclusion at basically the same time and they looked stunned at the result.

  “See?” Sevana grinned at them. It was so satisfying being right. “I’ll draw up what it needs to look like, but you’ll have to build it.”

  Yosef gave her a steady nod, bushy dark brows drawn together in a firm line of determination. “We can do that, Artifactor. While we work on the top, you’ll repair the holes in the dam?”

  She spread her hands. “It’ll be patchwork at best. But I’ll do what I can. We have to be quick, though, we’re losing the light. And the storm overhead is mild compared to what’s coming our direction.” She strode to the table, forcing people to move aside, and flipped over the nearest paper before commandeering a pen and quickly drawing out the plans. As she drew, she issued orders. “Kira, there is a box in my Jumping Clouds that’s blue, labeled climbing equipment. Grab that and give a belt to each worker. It’ll keep them from falling off the top of the dam. Tell them not to try that theory out until I can set the perimeter, though. There is also one in there that is a dark blue belt with a rope attached—that one’s mine, don’t hand it out.”

  Kira gave her a quick curtsey and ran out the door in a flash, letting in sprinkles of rain to litter the floor.

  Sevana took note of this. It meant the storm was picking up. Mentally swearing, she kept barking out commands. “Yosef, get these steel beams ready to weld. Do you have equipment that will work in this storm?”

  “I do, Artifactor.”

  “Then move. If they fail you, tell me, I have an alternative.”

  He too left, although not as quickly as the younger and more spry Kira.

  “Booker,” she pointed t
oward the illustration, “you see how the sheets need to be fitted together?”

  “I do, Artifactor, I’ll get on it immediately.”

  “Make sure they overlap at least a foot on all sides, otherwise no single board will have the strength to hold it,” and then they’d all be in trouble. Sevana especially, as she’d be dangling over the side of the dam. If it broke, she’d be swept away, magical climbing harness or no.

  Oh how she wished she had Aran and his magic with her right now. The call for help had come in unexpectedly and she hadn’t had the time to track him down. His Caller hadn’t connected for some reason, which likely meant he was head-deep in some problem and wasn’t paying attention to it. She’d had no other way to reach him and couldn’t wait. As it was, she had no time to work.

  Nothing for it. Sevana would do her best with her wonky magic. It either petered out and gave her the bare minimum, or went far above what she actually needed done. If it went overboard while patching the dam, so much the better. If it went the other direction, she’d spell the area twice.

  She ran to the top of the dam and put the climbing restraints in place so the belt harnesses would know where their limits were. She had one man to help her with things, as she couldn’t easily move from one section of the dam to other without climbing up, changing her anchor, and then moving again. With him operating a pulley system for her, the anchor could go the breadth of the dam without issue.

  “Dougan, if I lift my hand straight out, go that direction. If I put a hand above my head, that means lower me. If both hands are up, I actually want to come up. Got that?”

  Dougan was a senior dam worker who had been there for over twenty years. Even this dangerous situation didn’t rattle him as much as it did the others, and he gave her a somber nod. “I do, Artifactor. Dam’s made mostly from sand and concrete. You need supplies to patch with?”