Cece had finally found someone as annoying as herself, and she wasn’t pleased about it.

“Lotte, could you make us some tea?” Cece asked while walking into her sitting room, Eibon trailing behind her. He took a look around, but his eyes fixed on Lotte.

“Of course, Cece.” Lotte said in her usual mechanical tone.

“A golem? I would have thought you had actual staff.” Eibon commented.

“Humans have a harder time keeping secrets than constructs.” Cece said pointedly.

“Well don’t worry, your secrets are safe with me.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” She said grimly. In the worst case scenario she would have to flee Astraev, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. She of course had a few preparations in case her identity was revealed, but nothing concrete enough to take comfort in. Immediately after this she planned to get her affairs in order, and make a few contingency plans.

“Believe me, I know the value of trust.” He said

“Really? Then why are you really here? No mage would “trust” another person to make their focus, much less someone they just met who shot them through the heart.” A focus was a mage’s lifeline, the object that allowed them cast their magic. In their most primitive form they were simply a piece of an element. Reynard’s was a silver rapier, her father’s had been a wand of silver. Without one, a mage couldn’t cast magic, since magic needs to run through an element to have any effect. Unless of course one was an elemental, in which case they were inseparably linked to their respective element.

Alchemetrixes were uniquely suited to creating focuses, able to use secondary magics to enhance the power and ease of use of their magics. Cece thought that might be why her father had supported her becoming one, but that was an extremely untraditional idea. Mages made their own foci, always. To do otherwise would be trusting someone else with your life, and to have an alchemetrix make it would be trusting a complete stranger with it.

“I mean it, I genuinely want a focus.” He said, with intention.

“I find that hard to believe, why would you trust me.”

“Because, I’m willing to help you destroy Solastria.” He replied matter-of-factly. Cece was unsurprised, it was an easy conclusion to reach when you had all the pieces.

“I don’t need any coconspirators, I’m managing just fine.”

“I’m sure, I’ve seen your work with Tiberius.” Another easy conclusion, Cece wasn’t impressed. “But I do truly want the focus, so how about I help you and we consider it payment for me keeping quiet as well, and of course I’ll pay for your services as well.”

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“Very well.” Cece agreed. If he was lying she could do very little about it and if he wasn’t then making the focus would be an easy task. Lotte came back from the kitchen with a tray of tea in hand. “Thank you, Lotte.” She said as the golem placed it on the table in front of them.

“Thank you.” Eibon followed suit.

“You’re welcome.” The golem curtsied rigidly and walked back into the kitchen.

“So.” Cece began. “What’s your element.”

“Black Sulfur.”

“No!” Cece said, almost scandalized.

“Yes.”

“I don’t believe you.” Cece stated.

“You should.” He replied with a grin. She didn’t trust him in the slightest, but if anyone was the mage of a mythical lost element then it would be the former king of knowledge.

“Truly?” She said, distrust replaced with awe and amusement.

“Yes, why do you think I made a pact with Knowledge?”

“There’s a necromancer, in the flesh, in my parlor?”

“Yes.”

“Haha, life really is too interesting sometimes.” Cece chuckled. “I’ve obviously never worked with black sulfur, do you have any documents I could see?”

“Of course, I wrote down the necessary information to make a focus and I can get you the materials to make it as well.” He replied handing her a few pieces of paper. After looking through them she quickly took a match from the table’s drawer and lit them on fire. Eibon gave her a quizzical look.

“I assumed you would prefer secrecy, no?”

“Well yes, but I thought you would take longer to read them.”

“Do you not have an eidetic memory?” She asked.

“Well, it’s certainly enhanced, but Knowledge warned me away from that one.”

“Really, I wish they had told me, it was quite painful and quite an experience to get used to.”

“When did you get it, if I may ask.”

“It was my first boon.” She replied quickly. It was a risk to tell him so much about her, but he was doing the same freely, and from what she was gathering, information was more useful to her than to him. Eibon looked slightly shocked by the statement.

“And Knowledge encouraged that?”

“They arranged a list of boons that they thought would be best for me, and it was the first one on the list.”

“No wonder you’ve overtaken me.” He sighed looking exasperated.

“Now, back to business. What kind of focus would you like, staff? Wand?”

“I’d like a cane.” He said. A good choice in her opinion, large enough to fit quite a bit of material, while being small enough to not get in the way in narrow hallways and short ceilings.

“Very well, any special considerations or features?”

“No, just make it as powerful as you can. I’ll trust the expert.”

“Understood, and when you offered to help me, what did you mean by that?”

“What I said. If you want to attack Solastria tell me a time and place, and there will be an army of the dead there. If you need help finding something or someone, I will help track it down. If you just need an opinion, here’s where you can find me.” He said writing down an address on a piece of paper.

“Alright. Thank you, get me the materials and I’ll have your focus within three days.”

“Three days?” He said surprised. Most alchemetrixes would take months to design what Cece had in mind, and longer to make it.

“Do you think I’m a normal alchemetrix?” She asked, with a wide grin.

“Well, no, but I didn’t expect that short of a time.”

“I move quick, don’t worry though, I doubt there’s an alchemetrix in this world who could give you something better.”

“Of that, I have no doubt.” He said returning her smile.