Dellen sat in a meeting where he, Lady Lockridge, and Miss Thornbrook stared down Gaius Lambkin and his assistant Maynard Kitchingham. Gilgamesh was also in attendance and had not yet commented on anything apart from the expensive finish of the room. They sat in Gaius’s office, which was a testament to the wealth of the Mercantile Guild. The room was filled with recently polished exotic wood. The armrest of Dellen’s chair showed a striping in the grain that he had not seen before.

“Your request is most irregular,” Gaius said, he sat behind his desk wearing both a coat and a vest below a tidy cravat, “Teaching is not a service we have ever provided.”

“First and foremost, you are merchants,” Lady Lockridge said, “I am trying to give you the opportunity to sell a new product.”

Dellen was listening to the conversation with half an ear, while evaluating Gaius himself, “How long have you managed this branch of the Mercantile Guild?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Gaius asked.

Dellen let his voice grow chill, “How many centuries have you watched our populace grow old and die, like my family, like Lady Lockridge’s brothers, when you knew you could bring in experts who could have brought everyone to First and Second Trinity? How long did you preside over the needless death of our citizens?”

Gaius blanched, “I had orders, we were not to upset the political.”

Lady Lockridge cut him off, she too sounded unfriendly, “The political landscape has been upset, we will find a way to forge as many of the population as possible, with or without your help. This will be your best chance at garnering goodwill before most of the city realizes that not only did you keep us prisoners here, but you ensured that our lives were truncated.”

“We did not ensure your lives were truncated! Those that wanted to forge could!” Gaius protested.

“Indeed,” Dellen said, “That’s why so many members of the Aetheric Cultivators had not managed to forge, despite years of study. You can justify all that you want, this is going to be your best chance. Do you have any aetherforged of the Third or higher Trinities who would be willing to help?”

Maynard made notes from the meeting while casting increasingly nervous glances at Gaius. “Sir?”

“What is it Maynard?” He snapped.

“I think perhaps.”

Gaius cut him off, “You are not in this meeting to think, you are in this meeting to take notes. Remember your role in the guild!”

Dellen quirked an eyebrow at Maynard, “Are you capable of assisting with this?”

Maynard looked torn between his notepad, Gaius, and Dellen.

“Thousands upon thousands of paying customers,” Dellen said, “What does the guild pay you in a year?” Inwardly, he marveled at the idea of a Third Trinity aetherforged being quelled by as little as stern words; the mere sight of his skin would have been cause for wariness on the grounds of the exhibition matches atop the Order of the Red Truth.

“I, ah.”

“You are not in a position to assist with this,” Gaius said.

A hint of steel flashed in Maynard’s eyes. “I can help.”

“Would it help if I offered not to burn down your offices?” Miss Thornbrook asked.

“What did she say?” Gilgamesh asked.

“Excuse me?” Gaius said, his voice sounding like bluster covering a larger helping of fear.

“Your esteemed colleagues here, Lady Lockridge and Lord Northcote are trying to appeal to your better nature and to your desire for a profit. I am interested in neither. Instruct your people to help us, or I will excise your organization from this city.”

“You can’t,” Gaius began.

“I can, and I would.”

“Did she just offer to burn this building down?” Gilgamesh asked, “A hammer is a useful tool, but that still seems like a rather blunt application of power.” Dellen was also uncomfortable with the threat.

“If you did that, Elihu Packer would come to reinstate us in the city, do you think you could stop him?”

“Who’s Elihu Packer?” Gilgamesh asked.

“No, probably not,” Miss Thornbrook said, unconcerned, “But you would still have presided over the loss or damage of a valuable asset when instead you could have made a profit, do you think your guild would look favorably on your having made such a poor business decision?”

Gaius ground his teeth and looked at Miss Thornbrook with the same expression as might be bequeathed upon an insect floating in his soup. “We will… assist… with the forging of the citizens.”

“Splendid,” Lady Lockridge said, clapping her hands, “I do so like a good compromise. When can we expect members of your guild to assist us?”

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“This time next week.”

“Unacceptable,” Lady Lockridge said, “I am throwing a gala at my estate tomorrow evening. We will be offering forging to all who attend, I will require your assistance by then.”

“Tomorrow evening,” Gaius spluttered, “That is unreasonable and untenable, it cannot be done.”

“Of course it can,” Miss Thornbrook said, “You are being difficult because you are used to having the unilateral ability to dictate terms in this little fiefdom of yours.”

“I can attend the gala,” Maynard said, hesitantly.

“Wonderful,” Lady Lockridge said to him, “And what affinity do you have, would I be correct in thinking that we share a kinematic kinship?”

“Yes, my lady, that’s correct.”

“Perhaps you can assist me in bringing myself up to First or Second Trinity,” she replied, “Now, if both of you will excuse us, I have a gala to plan.”

Dellen was largely spared the headache of event planning, and instead took the time to take Miss Thornbrook to Northcote Industries, as well as his estate, to raise those members of his staff with a pyro affinity to First Trinity.

“My lord, why would I want to be forging at my time of life?” Asked Maisy as they met in one of the sitting rooms on the estate. “Surely that is a pursuit of the young?”

“Maisy, please just let Miss Thornbrook help you, it would be a load off of my mind,” Dellen said.

“Why do you care about her? She knows you, but you barely know her,” said Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh was right; Dellen barely knew Maisy, but she had been the first person he had met upon his awakening in the city, and he had fond memories of her and wanted to do this one thing to try and see her safer.

“What about those scars?” Maisy asked, she had been distraught the first time she had seen him, but said that it least they made him look more intimidating.

“I was forging under duress, you will not be under duress.”

Maisy sighed, “If it is so important to you, my lord, I think this is a waste of both of your times, I do, I do. What would you have me do?” She asked Miss Thornbrook.

“Please just sit, and hold my hand,” Miss Thornbrook said.

Looking unimpressed, like a tired grandmother giving an enormous concession to a younger relative, Maisy sat with her hand in Miss Thornbrook’s. The forging elicited little in the way of reaction from her. Once it was accomplished, she looked at the front and the back of her left palm, then touched her face, poking at her cheekbones and feeling her skin. “Are you happy now, my lord?”

Dellen blinked at her, and stole a glance at Miss Thornbrook. For her part, Miss Thornbrook seemed startled by Maisy’s blase reaction. “Did you want to see if you could perhaps manipulate your Aether?” Miss Thornbrook asked.

“Maybe later if I need to light a candle,” Maisy said.

“I think some people may be less excited to be forged than you had predicted,” Gilgamesh said.

“If there isn’t anything else you wanted? I have to oversee some cleaning,” Maisy said, rising to her feet, “Oh, but that’s nice, my knee feels a bit better,” she put some weight on her knee, pushing the leg back and forth, “Oh, oh, oh, that is nice, feels better than it usually would after a nice warm bath. Thank you, my lady.”

“You’re most welcome,” Miss Thornbrook said, looking a bit amused.

Maisy left, closing the door softly behind her.

“She is quite simply the oldest unforged I’ve ever heard of, outside of ancient history books that reference the time before forging.” She laughed, “And almost no interest in it whatsoever. I wonder if there will be many in the city who feel as she did.”

“Perhaps some of the more difficult nobles,” Dellen said, “I suppose we’ll see at the gala tonight.”

“I suppose we will,” Miss Thornbrook said, “I’ll see you there this evening. I suppose I should make sure that the dress Lady Lockridge offered me is a tolerably good fit.”

A spark of surprise filtered through Dellen’s thoughts, “Are you dressing up for it?”

“Social events like these all have rules that can be ignored, but life is easier if you follow them. Instead of having to prove myself in every conversation, people will listen better the first time if I dress in a way that conforms to their expectations.”

“Sometimes I enjoy that only you and Lady Victoria can see and hear me.”

Dellen was briefly jealous of Gilgamesh. “I’ll see you at the gala,” he said by way of farewell when Miss Thornbrook stood to take her leave, “Thank you for all of your help here and at Northcote Industries.”

“A pleasure,” was all she said before leaving.

“That is one intimidating woman,” Gilgamesh said, “Very kind-hearted, but I’m still remembering the way she bullied Gaius Lambkin. Hopefully, with someone as threatening as her in Copperopolis, you won’t have too much trouble with Higher Trinity interlopers.”

Dellen nodded in agreement, going over details in his head. His staff at Northcote Industries had been taken care of to the current best of his ability, and his staff on his estate had been looked after. Now, like Miss Thornbrook, he needed to look the part for the gala tonight.

Hours later, his carriage alit on the ground outside of the Lockridge Estate. There were dozens of carriages queued, waiting for their passengers to disembark. Lady Lockridge had suspected that her guests would be curious as to why she had found it necessary to invite so many people to her home on such short notice. Judging from the crush of nobles waiting to enter, her supposition had proven correct.

“How many figures here do you think will be forged by the evening’s end?” Gilgamesh asked him.

“More than a few, but fewer than would be best,” Dellen said. He waited his turn and walked up to the gate, the footman there receiving the invitations turned out to be Jasper.

“Good evening, Lord Northcote,” he said.

“Good evening, Jasper. Tell me, have you had many questions about your forging?”

“Some, but not as many as you might expect. I think some of Lady Lockridge’s guests were in such a rush to get inside that they didn’t even notice.”

Dellen let out a small laugh, there were craftsmen in the city who had achieved partial forgings, it was not outside of the realm of possibility for a noble to have a partially Aetherforged servant, but it was still noteworthy. “Have you had any questions about your forging then?”

“Yes, a few. I expect I’ll receive a few more after her ladyship’s announcement.”

“I expect you will,” Dellen said. He walked inside with Gilgamesh trailing just over his shoulder. A tray of canapes went by, and he took a small piece of bread with some sort of greyish spread on it. He took a bite and sighed; after his time with the needlessly bland food of the order, every well-prepared morsel was its own pleasure.

“Dellen!” Came a voice from behind him.

Dellen turned, “Harold!” He said, in greeting to Lord Harold Thorne, the head of the other house that Eliza had suspected might have the most to gain from the attack on Copperopolis. “How have you been?”

“Better than you, it looks like. What has happened to your face? Are you entirely forged now? I had no idea.”

Dellen realized that the last time he and Harold had seen each other was in a loop that Harold could no longer recollect. “Yes, entirely forged, I’m actually at what we call ‘Second Trinity.’ As to my face? Well, I was hit by a lightning bolt.”

“What’s Second Trinity?” Harold asked, his forehead wrinkling along with the question. Before Dellen could respond, Lady Lockridge called out from the top of her stairs to get the attention of her guests. “Wait, a lightning bolt?”