Interlude: Master Stevenson
Even though Bram did his part of the plan flawlessly, if he did say so himself, he wanted to scream until all the stress left his body. So much of the day hinged on him not only doing his part mechanically, but also hosting things. If there was one thing that meeting all the Grandmasters from Cloverton taught Bram, it was that he didn’t like being scrutinized.
“And you say you have no magical abilities at all?” Rand Sandoval asked Bram for the second time. The excitable Grandmaster had latched onto Bram from their first meeting. “Not even latent?”
Bram and the other representatives were in the northeast corner of Gallard Springs, where Thomas and the others had demonstrated their projects to the town. Now, they waited on the two master wizards to make an appearance for their presentations. There were drinks and snacks everywhere, but the Grandmasters hovered around Bram, the only representative out of both groups.
“Uh, no, sorry,” said Bram. His face heated up, but he’d been steadily flushed and ready to puke for about an hour at that point. “Pure mundane human. I just read a lot, and like to think of what-if, you know?”
Rand’s eyes lit up. “What-if is the best question of all!”
“Disagree,” said Ferrovani, swirling his glass of wine. The silver haired Ramenian had kept suspicious eyes on Bram for the entire time he waited with the Grandmasters. “‘How’ is the best question. Like ‘how does a simple farm boy think he knows what he’s talking about?’” He threw his head back and laughed. Some of the other Grandmasters laughed with him.
“Oh, knock it off,” Rand said, though he didn’t lose any of his good cheer. “We’ve got to welcome and encourage any bright minds we find, regardless of where they come from. And even then, Harper Valley’s given us two shining stars in a short period of time. Tell us again about the Time-Stretcher.”
Bram opened his mouth to speak, when he saw Gallath following the president. All rational thought left him. Their brief conversation the day before had been…well, it was nice to have hope, even if it was distracting to see his boyfriend mingling with others. It wasn’t fair that they had to deal with all of this instead of disappearing and --
“...and I think that time distortion is something dangerous, but potentially useful. You said the fae taught you?” Rand kept on.
Bram blinked and brought himself back to the moment. “Y-yeah, the fae taught us how they more efficiently twist time. It’s not something I’d do lightly though, and making it go by faster is a lot harder than slowing it down. I’m not quite sure why, but I have some theories.”
“I suppose theories and a pair of hands to get work done means you’ll always be a little useful.” Ferrovani sipped his wine. “My apprentice has talked about your handiness. He said you made things much easier for his discovery.”
A grumble went through the assembled Grandmasters. Jim Rance groaned and said, “Give it a rest, Enrico. No one’s going to buy that Thomas Elliot masterminded this discovery. He’s good, but he’s not that good.”
“And you think the McKenzie boy and his nu-- normal friend are?” Ferrovani barked out laughter.
Throughout the years, Bram had flipflopped on his anger. As a child, it had consumed him and led him to getting into all sorts of fights and problems he hadn’t been equipped to deal with. As an adult, he went the other direction, afraid of a lot of people and situations, but reverting to how he’d been when he most hated himself.
Sometimes, the anger was welcome.
“Kind of questioning your status as a Grandmaster,” said Bram with his best scowl. “Thomas and the others only kept up by taking our work. On your orders, if I recall. I really wouldn’t be bragging or trying to make others look bad when you have that little faith in your apprentice.”
Rand smiled, but Jim laughed at the way Ferrovani smoldered. “You disrespectful, impertinent…”
“Null?” Bram supplied. “Watch it. Here in Harper Valley, we ain’t shy about finishing fights others start. And you started it when you had my house blown up.” The old man’s eyes flickered down to Bram’s clenched fists. Each one was about the size of Ferrovani’s skull.
The president came up, with the fae delegation close behind. Gallath winked solemnly at him, but Syl waved enthusiastically. “Where are Masters Elliot and McKenzie?” the president demanded. “It’s enough that I’m clinging to my legs, if you know what I mean.”
Ferrovani turned away from Bram and bowed. “My deepest apologies, Mr. President. I know my apprentice has better manners than this. Do you think, perhaps, Master McKenzie has done something to him?”
“Wil would never,” Bram started, right as others spoke up as well.
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“...never happen,” Syl said firmly, shaking his head.
“Preposterous.”
President Bullworth looked around before snorting and saying, “All I know is that if we don’t have a show or presentation of some kind in the next ten minutes, I’m going to cancel this entire thing and everyone’s going to be facing trouble.”
“That won’t be necessary, Mr. President,” Thomas said as he ran up. He panted for breath and looked wiped and sweaty already, so Bram chose to have hope.
“Where’s McKenzie?” The president asked.
Thomas waved the question off. “He’s going to catch up with us in Harper Valley, for his demonstration. We greatly appreciate your patience and willingness to indulge in our showmanship, sir.”
That soothed Bullworth well enough. He laughed and shrugged with faux-modesty. “Any good politician knows the value of showmanship. Besides, you two have led me to believe that no matter what, I’m going to come out of this looking better than ever.”
Bram knew Thomas well enough at that point to know when he held back his glee and kept it to a gentle smile. “Sir, after today, your administration will be looked at as the greatest since we first broke away from Albetosia. And after today, you’ll never need to fear a southern incursion from Ilianto again.”
“Tall promises, but I love them! Let’s get a move on then, shall we? How soon until you can present?” Bullworth motioned, and an aide produced a drink for him.
“Ten minutes, sir,” said Thomas. “Just have to do one last look through what we’ve got to be sure. Would you care to help me out, Master Stevenson?”
Bram’s heart skipped a beat, and he wasn’t the only one to notice the honorific. “Master?”
“Master?” Ferrovani echoed in disgust.
Thomas looked around the group of high end wizards and smiled. “Yes, Master. He might not be able to do magic himself, but he’s kept up and exceeded what Master McKenzie and I have been able to come up with. As far as I’m concerned, he’s worthy of the title.”
“It isn’t for you to decide,” Ferrovani scoffed.
“It was a pleasure speaking with you, Master Stevenson,” Rand Sandoval said. He looked perfectly content with the title, if not extra pleased by the sour expression on his colleague’s face.
“We look forward to your presentation, Master Stevenson,” Jim Rance said.
Bram promised himself he wasn’t going to cry. At least, not while everyone watched. He nodded, swallowing the spiky lump in his throat and joining Thomas. The anger wasn’t completely gone. It would be there until he had a replacement house, but appreciation outshone it. “Thank you,” he whispered. “And sorry for punching you. Mostly.”
Thomas nodded respectfully to all involved and led them up to the house where they’d stored their inventions. “I could explain to you how these work, but it’d be faster for you to just take a look.”
He did so, and even though he hated that all of this work existed only because of terrible circumstances, Bram found himself ecstatic at getting to fiddle with Thomas’ work and see where he took their research. Ten minutes quickly passed by, and then another ten as they set up. The president was almost out of patience when they were finally ready.
The presentation started with a brief lesson on leylines and what they knew about them. It passed by in a blink as Bram worked in the background to help someone who had screwed them over, but it looked like bygones were good and truly gone. They went through a handful of Thomas and company’s inventions, though McGinnis and the others weren’t mentioned once.
The crowd loved the cannons, except for the fae who weren’t fond of human weapons in general. When the target at the far end became encased in ice that then shattered, someone screamed in delight. The next shot went up against one of Thomas’ other inventions, the shield projector, and did no damage. Neither did the next two shots. It was less flashy, but still received a healthy amount of applause.
The earthen rod was Bram’s favorite of their inventions, and that could’ve been because it was something anyone could use, not just the military. He’d been proud to demonstrate the way it made the land part through its high frequency vibrations, although as it worked, several dogs howled in the distance.
Thomas drove the War Chariot around. From the outside, it was an ugly mishmash of a car, but it was covered in weapons both magical and mundane, and well defended. Bram itched to take it apart and figure out how Thomas had layered the enchantments, but that could come later.
All in all, they spent about twenty minutes on the four big inventions. There were others, but the summer sun suffocated them all, evaporating enthusiasm by the second. Thomas had to drain a bottle of water before finishing up.
“Thank you so much for your attention. This is a handful of stuff myself and a small team worked on over the past few months. None of this would be possible without the aid of Masters Stevenson and McKenzie, nor our quartermaster Darlene Johnson. All of this pales in comparison to the next presentation, now headed up by my friend Master Stevenson here.”
All eyes turned to Bram, and his will turned to jelly. He swallowed and smiled awkwardly, raising a hand. It had been so much easier when he was just the assistant, even if the only change was in his head. “H-hello! I hate to be a bother but…”
Ferrovani shook his head in disgust. Irritation strengthened Bram’s resolve. “I’m going to need everyone to accompany me. Master Elliot was correct in keeping these experiments in a specific place for safety and responsibility, Wiseman Enchantment and Brewing have already been providing our new technology to the masses! And it’s there that we’ll demonstrate everything.”
Silence met him, minus a few whispers and grumbles. Syl broke it by clapping enthusiastically and whistling sharp enough to hurt. Arabella and Gallath joined in with just as much fervor, and that broke the spell around the group. Bram jerked his thumb in the direction of Harper Valley.
“So let’s get a move on, and I’ll show you the next revolution in Calipan!”
Still no Wil, but they knew there was a chance he wouldn’t show until late. That didn’t matter. Everything would work without him. With Darlene down for the next few days, it was Bram’s time to save the day. If his calculations were correct, and if he could keep the attention of a bunch of wizards with mixed feelings about him.
“Our first stop,” said Bram, “is the best diner in the basin, now powered entirely by magic!”
Whispers started up again. Thomas flashed Bram a thumb up, and together they climbed down the hill to where their cars waited.