“Get me the Life Water, Andrew!”

Scrambling over to the heavy wooden shelf, Andrew trailed over the glass vials with a shaking finger. “Fire breath… Wind song… This one!” He pulled out a glass tube and hurried back to the marble table. “Here, Doctor Davis!”

Davis Von Bolstein snatched the tube from Andrew, ripped it open, and poured the green liquid out over the writhing woman. The moment the liquid hit the air, golden flames took it, consuming the woman in a cloud of sickly green smoke. Sparks danced through the laboratory, forcing Andrew away from the experiment table as the woman screamed and thrashed along it. Dark blisters formed along her body, popping and reforming until her flesh began to slough away. Doctor Davis let out a horrified exclamation. He grabbed a bucket and started to gather the falling flesh, but he may as well be collecting rainwater.

The woman’s screams turned into wailing. She threw herself forward. The chains around her wrangle her back, scalding iron slicing through her exposed muscles. Andrew felt his breakfast come up, and lurched away to retch.

When he got up again, the laboratory was mercifully silent. The horror had ended, as quickly as it began.

Doctor Davis stood over a pile of white bone. Smoke rose from the ends of his coat sleeves, wavering as he lifted the half-filled bucket over his head.

"Zounds, Andrew!"

He hurled the bucket against the wall, splattering entrails against the stone. "I said Life Water!"

Andrew scrambled back, slipped on his puke and fell to the floor. Doctor Davis was on him quick for a man of sixty, hauling him up by fistfuls of hair. “Have your eyes fallen out of your head, boy?!”

“I read it right!” Andrew said, and gagged from the stench coming off the Doctor's hands. "I read-"

“Read it again!”

Andrew coiled away from the cold thing shoved against his nose, thinking it some horrible part from the unfortunate woman. It was a vial.

"What does it say?"

Andrew tried to make out the words written along the side of the vial. There was too much smoke, and the vial was too close. “L-life?"

Pain blotched out Andrew's vision as Doctor Davis smashed the tube straight into this forehead. Cold liquid streamed down his face, stinging his eyes and lips.

"Stupid, stupid boy!" Doctor Davis screamed and shoved Andrew to the ground. “Your stupidity just caused us another test subject, you stupid boy!” He kicked and shouted, and cursed Andrew some more. "Second time this month! You worthless, inconsequential nitwit!"

Andrew curled up into a ball stayed like that, a bleeding, sick mess, until he felt the Doctor tire and eventually, the blows stopped. He tried to breathe. There was more noise. He dared to peak through his fingers.

Doctor Davis was at the alchemy table now. He swept the bones away in one stroke of his arm. "Dead!" he yelled. "Because of an imbecile's blunder!"

Andrew swallowed, said in a small voice, “At least the rabbit is alive.” He pointed to the end of the rectangular table, where a cotton-tailed bunny sat cowering in its cage.

The Doctor whirled on the animal. He yanked the latch open, grabbed the rabbit and threw it straight at the windows. Andrew cried out. He reached for it but the rabbit crashed through the opaque glass and disappeared.

He heard a thump, a scurrying of claws on roof tiles, then silence.

“Go get a new one,” said Doctor Davis, dusting his hands. "You know I only perform on fresh subjects."

Andrew stared after the rabbit for a long moment. He'd worked hard to get it, setting up trap after trap over an entire week. And now it was gone. The Doctor was waiting for an answer. Andrew stood, choked back the displeasure curdling in his throat, and said a simple, “Yes, Doctor.”

Then he took up the empty cage over by the marble table, and left the castle.

The town of Minerva was alive that night. Streamers hung glistening in the light rain and every tavern was open. Andrew listened to the chatter as he rode his horse through the bright streets. It seemed they were celebrating the coming of the Autumn harvest, though Andrew didn’t think the people of Minerva did any harvesting. They were bordered by open water on all three sides, so it was never dry nor warm enough to grow anything.

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He made it into the town square without much trouble. With the rain sprinkling the rim of his leather cap, he stopped and scanned the crowds for a suitable target. He liked festivals enough, though not for the same reasons others usually do. It was on these particular nights, when wine flowed freely and music deafened common ears, that new subjects were easiest to catch. Everyone was either too drunk or jolly to pay any attention to a boy on a horse, riding with or without someone else behind him. And even if they did remember something in the morning, it would never be his face.

A door burst open by the other side of the street. Light and song spilled onto the wet cobblestones, followed closely by two young girls. They were both wrapped up in plain commoner dresses. One was holding the other up by the arm. Together, they stumbled towards the square, towards Andrew, giggling as they held their hands over their heads.

Andrew cantered towards them.

“Good evening,” he said in a smooth, practiced voice. "Could you tell me where I could get a drink around here?"

The girls stopped to look up at him. "Look around you," said one. "Any one of those doors will lead to wine and ale and whores. So don't bother us."

Andrew took a second to find his next words. He didn't expect such a response, but he had a line prepared for such a case.

"I'm embarrassed," he said with a self-conscious chuckle. "I live on a seaside resort not far from this town, and yet I've not set foot here before, or any other populated places. You must think me an uncouth savage, not knowing where the basics are."

The girls looked at each other. Their faces were that of sisters, though their hair and complexion were not. One was the color of straw while the other was apple-red. Both their cheeks were flushed but the blonde was clearly drunker.

It was the red-haired girl who answered Andrew first. She spoke again. “No, you just look like a child to me.”

"A boy-o," slurred her sister. "Do yar parents know... where yar?"

“I was orphaned at a young age,” Andrew answered, and was surprised when the girls immediately took to that.

"What a con...cidence!" said the blonde girl. "Us, too!"

"Con!" exclaimed the red-haired girl. For one horrifying moment, Andrew thought she'd seen through him, but the red-haired girl actually apologized. "You have to forgive Constantia, stranger. She doesn't know to keep her tongue to herself."

Andrew let out a breath. "No offense taken," he said, and extended his hand. "Andrew Bolstein. Pleasure to meet you."

"Ma name," said Constantia, "is Conshtan...tia!" She lurched for Andrew so violently that his horse actually reeled.

"He knows your name already," the red-haired girl said as she pulled her sister back. Compared to Constantia, she was much smaller in stature, yet she seemed to have an iron grip that stopped Constantia dead in her tracks. "My name is Victoria," the red-haired girl said with an apologetic smile. "Pleasure."

"All mine," Andrew said, dipping his hat in what he hoped was a stylish way. “Anyhow, I do believe I'd like to take the both of you for a drink. I’m looking for some good company tonight, and you two give me all the confidence to label as exemplary.” He went to extend his hand, but stopped when he saw the smile on Victoria's face souring.

“Aren’t you too young for that kind of company?” she asked.

“It’s not for me,” Andrew explained quickly. “It’s a long story. I'm hoping you'll give me a chance to explain properly.” He worked hard to keep his tone light and his smile easy, for he knew from experience that the most important thing wasn't what he said but how.

All he needed was a little bit of time.

Victoria was still frowning. "If anyone wants entertainment," she said, "they should look for it themselves instead of getting a child to do it for them. That's just... icky." She tugged on her sister’s sleeve. “Come on, Con. Let us be off.”

“Waaait,” said Constantia. “I want to pet his horsey.”

Andrew nudged his mare forward half a step, all the while pretending like he didn't just do that. “The tale is not what it seems, I assure you." He kept his eyes on Victoria as he continued delivering his lines. "Please. Just let me tell it and you'll understand, perhaps even empathize." He'd gotten good at lying. He'd done it for half a decade and spent longer learning from the Doctor. He knew exactly what came next, how to get there and what to do if he couldn't.

Victoria wasn't looking at him, though. Her eyes were glued to Constantia as the girl petted the mare.

"Horsey!" said Constantia, giggling so loud it sounded manic.

"You see dozens every day," said Victoria. "Come on now, Con."

“This mare is special,” Andrew said proudly. “My master bred her from the finest stock in all the seven kingdoms.” He gave the mare a pat, and the horse shook out its beautifully fine mane.

When Constantia made an ooing sound, Andrew knew that he had her. Now he just needed her sister. "Her name is Silver," he pressed on. "We have plenty more just like her in the barns. I can show you, if you're interested.”

“Whoa,” Victoria said. “Thank you, but no. We have somewhere else to be." She tugged at Constantia again, this time hard enough to make the blonde-girl stumble.

"Hey!" said Constantia. "What is your issue, Vic?" She pushed back, shoved really, but Victoria barely moved.

"That's it!" said Victoria. "I'm not going to keep standing out here in the rain, Constantia. So if you want to go off on some wild adventure with a stranger on a horse then you be my guest!” She let go of Constantia, who wobbled and fell against Silver.

Andrew dismounted, helped the blonde girl to her feet. "I'm terribly sorry for this," he said to the both of them. "Let me get you both out of the rain first. I know a place we can sit and chat quietly. I'd feel terrible if we left off on such unfriendly terms." He looked at Victoria, then at Constantia. She was pouting, so Andrew asked her softly, "Would you like to ride on Silver?" And he saw an immediate and total change. Her pout turned into a giddy smile. She clapped and squealed. Andrew helped her mound.

"I'll hold the reins so she won't run off," he assured her. "But you still have to promise, no funny business, okay?"

Constantia giggled into the back of her hand. "Promise."

Andrew smiled, nodded. Then finally, he turned to Victoria. "Shall we go?"

Victoria's eyes narrowed so much Andrew almost couldn't see the whites in them. She had her arms across and her legs parted like she was ready to face down a charging bull. Except she shouldn't have been preparing for a bull, but a spider. One with webs honed over many years to ensnare prey exactly like her.

She shook her head. “If she falls off, I'll break your horse.”