The Krakos: Book Two of The Legend of the Artificer

Chapter 8

This was precisely why Tibalt was bad at school. All knowledge flooded from his brain in a rush, and he felt like a deer in headlights for the briefest of instances. Qualifications... he... he had those, yes. He absolutely had qualifications, right?

"I won't be retrieving the money until I'm certain," Sophia said and propped her chin in her hands. "Innes is naive and too trusting."

Wasn't Innes a fucking gangster? The hell did she mean, naive?

"I..."

"Tibalt is a self taught artificer master," Grim cut in, and she held up a hand.

"I'm asking Tibalt. What did you discuss with Innes?" she asked, and Tibalt paused. It was a sensitive topic, and for some reason, it felt like a hilarious breach of privacy and trust to give that information to someone else. Especially when Innes had not been given a chance to respond or come to terms with it. After all, Tibalt had inadvertently accused the man who had apparently saved Innes from execution of setting zim up. With no knowledge of their relationship or why that Lord Drisk guy had done that. Not only that, if Tibalt was right, the drain on zir magic for that full month could have killed zim if they had even slightly weaker willpower. Tibalt had, essentially, accused a stranger of attempted murder, and he had no idea what the significance of this Lord Drisk was to Innes.

"We discussed the intersection of theory and theology. That's all," he replied, and looked up at her with a slight challenge in his eyes. Sophia studied him, and he realized this woman had to have some degree of fondness for Innes. Good to know. But fondness didn't mean she was entitled to that information.

"Tibalt and Innes talked about the---"

"Elmer," Tibalt cut in cooly, and Elmer's head swiveled to look between Sophia and Tibalt as she belatedly read the room.

"Hm. Loyal," Sophia remarked mildly, and Tibalt stiffened. Gods, this woman was terrifying. "Decent enough quality. How about you construct an enchantment for me."

"What kind?" he asked, and she propped her chin in her hand.

"The strongest you can make in a few minutes," she replied, and Tibalt considered it for a second, his mind drifting.

"Something I've already made, or do you want me to make a new one?"

"Whichever."

"Sophia, he already passed the entrance test. Don't---"

"Guida, I am currently the caretaker of Innes's funds. As such, I need to ensure the quality I'm working with," Sophia interrupted and looked over at her apparent ex lover. Some kind of spark was still there, but it was a bit of a bitter one. Tibalt swallowed, feeling like everyone was watching him as his brain clicked through his options. An enchantment on the fly? Could he... well, of course he could, but what kind of quality could he come up with on the fly? He shouldn't reuse an old one.

"Tibalt is a fine artificer, judging from the quality of his weaponry," Guida argued, and Sophia cleared her throat.

"This isn't a matter of blasting away opponents. If he is to prove Innes's innocence, he needs to show an understanding of magic on a theoretical level. I won't entrust Innes's future to some knuckleheaded gunslinger."

Should Tibalt be offended? He probably should, but... this was basically just customer service.

"Do you have a pocket watch, then?" he asked, because fuck it, if he was going to act a fool, he might as well go all out.

"Of course," she replied, her attention swinging back to Tibalt, and she reached into the pocket of her vest to pull out a small, intricate pocket watch. "Will you enchant it?"