Warsinger by James Baldwin (most important books of all time txt) 📕

camps that had sprung up around the city walls like mushrooms after a storm. Litvy glowed by night, the product of a hundred thousand magelamps, torches, and late-night workshops churning out all kinds of weapons, devices and parts. Litvy was one of the major military Artificing hubs of Vlachia, if not all of Artana. It was where a large number of the world’s airships and repeating rifles were designed and manufactured.

Our first stop was the Royal Shipyard, where Nocturne Lament was being stored. The hundred-foot-tall mech lay in pieces around the largest construction hangar at the college, the one normally used to produce Destroyer-class airships. A salvaging ship had managed to recover about two-thirds of the massive machine, minus the head and parts of its torso. Its legs were mostly intact, and the engineers had mounted them upright within a brace of scaffolding. It was there, on the scaffold, that we found Lord Lorenzo Soma.

The Count of Litvy was more blue-collar than jeweled-collar most of the time. The huge man, close to seven feet tall and as solid as a ham, was dressed in coveralls and chatting to three other engineers. He and everyone else stopped what they were doing as Karalti swooped into the warehouse, backwinging gracefully to land just inside the entrance. I saw Soma startle: he ran his hands through his hair and straightened his clothing like a high schooler who’d just spotted his crush crossing the road. Not Suri, not Rin, and definitely not me. He only had eyes for one woman in the whole wide world - and that woman was Karalti.

“By my oath, my queen, I swear you look more lovely every time your divine presence graces my vicinity!” he boomed, vaulting to the ground. Karalti strutted over, head bobbing on every step and he swept into a flourishing bow before extending his palm. I felt the dragon’s amusement as she offered him the tip of a single claw, which he kissed like the back of a lady’s hand. “I trust you have been well?”

“Mmm, yes. Very well, thank you.” Karalti put her nose in the air, every inch the royal dragoness.

Rin peered over Karalti’s neck and waved with both hands. “Hi, Soma! We’re back! And we have some really exciting stuff that I, uh, have to go and look at right now, actually.” She let out a nervous little laugh, then turned to me and Suri to whisper. “How long do you think you guys will be?”

I glanced at Suri. She shrugged. “Three, four hours?”

“Okay! That should be long enough.” She pumped a fist, while Ebisa stood by with an expression of stoic confusion. “Come back here and pick me up before you leave, okay?”

“Pick you up?” Suri checked the ties on her cloak before standing. She had swapped her heels for leather boots during the trip here, but she’d left the dress on. “Thought you had projects to do? Plural.”

She flushed. “I do! But I’ve got a couple that are like, high priority. The actual crafting part of making things is usually pretty fast for me. It’s finding all the materials and making blueprints that takes time, and I’ve already got some blueprints, kind of. Ones I can adapt for the, umm, the thing! And by the thing, I mean a-”

“Ah, Rin! I didn’t even see you up there! Good to have you back!” Soma, having finally stopped ogling Karalti like a side of meat, bellowed up at us. “Come down here, will you! I want to ask you something!”

“Sigh. Good old Soma.” Rin gave a nervous little laugh, shrugged her shoulders, and scooted over to Karalti’s shoulder. We followed her down the wing to the ground.

Soma slapped Rin’s shoulder as she dropped down, but didn’t do the same for Ebisa. The assassin, all in gray save for her crimson devil mask, radiated all the personal warmth of an open vat of liquid nitrogen.

“Right, right,” he said, to no one in particular. “Now, Rin: I have a job for you! We’ve finally managed to sort out the oxidizer pumps connecting to the proximal engine on that blasted Warsinger of ours, but-”

Rin clasped her hands in front of her. “I’m sorry, Soma, but I can’t help you tonight. I have an emergency project to do that’s super important. Issue of national security, actually. You know… now that Hector is Voivode and all.”

Ebisa grunted in agreement.

'Don't react. Don't read into him,' I reminded myself Suri and I waited behind, her hand resting on my arm. 'Is he slighting us, or is he so focused on his work he only noticed Rin and Karalti?'

Even as I thought it, Soma’s bright blue eyes flicked to me and Suri, and he startled up before bowing and flourishing. “Oceans, I didn't even see the two of you! My apologies, Voivode, Voivodzina. Please forgive my rudeness. I've been tits-deep in this Warsinger for the last week and it's stripped me of my manners. To what do I owe the honor of this sudden visit?”

“We came to see Nocturne Lament and take a tour of Litvy,” I said, doing my best to smile. Soma was the only NPC I’d met here that I would have happily drop-kicked off the side of a castle. He was a great engineer, and as long as he was head-down, ass-up in his machines, we were square. But I didn’t like the way he treated Rin, or the way he looked at Karalti. Or me.

“Well, you lovebirds arrived at a good time, didn’t you? The Night Market is on tonight.” He gave a little chuckle, slightly forced. “The three of you ought to take a tour by one of the mana-powered carriages we build.”

“Three of us?” Suri arched an eyebrow, offering the man her hand.

He bowed and kissed it as he had Karalti’s claw, though less enthusiastically. “Yes, lady: I assumed you, Her Holiness, and his lordship would be going out together?”

“I’m staying here, if you don’t mind.” Karalti squatted down on her hind feet