A Delicate Balance

Chapter two: Tinkering

I stared after the advisor, still frustrated, before turning back to Mumbo. "I still don't like this. If the king's planning on fully abolishing the ban on magic, why would he require a device that could block it?" I asked suspiciously.

"It's probably in case some magic folk try to reignite the war." Mumbo responded, grabbing the box of magic bugs we'd been using to test our devices. "Like that slime who keeps sneaking in to steal things and harass the advisors."

"Who cares about him?" I asked flippantly, leaning back on my chair. "He hasn't done anything serious."

"Yet." Mumbo hissed, turning away from me. "However, he's made it clear that he wishes for things to go back to how they were before Ren took control of the throne, the magic folk fighting people without magic for control." He explained.

I rolled my eyes, before reluctantly continuing what I'd been doing before we'd started arguing.

I'd twisted yet another metal bar, considering how to best lie about how long we were taking.

I knew which metal would block magic, but I worried the king was planning something bad.

Then again, the fact that he'd sent Bdubs, who he knew didn't want to be down here, instead of Grian, whose mere presence somehow made Mumbo work even faster, confused me.

Finally, I stood, and glanced at Mumbo. "You know, I think we've been down here too long. Why don't we take a break and get something to eat?" I suggested.

He hesitated, looking at the small metal bars in his hands. "I— I guess you do have a point. We should get something to eat, see what's going on upstairs."

With that, we went up to the kitchens, where I happily started munching on some bread and cheese, when I noted one of the healers leading in a person wearing a cloak hiding their face, the king right behind.

Uh oh.

Fortunately, if the king spotted us, he was too preoccupied with whatever he was doing to scold us for not working. Then he'd scold us for letting Tango take several random breaks over the limit.

I watched curiously as both he and the healer tried to coax the person into drinking broth, and they could barely hold the cup up.

They looked away, and I caught a glimpse of their face.

Almost completely wrapped in bandages, some of which were stained scarlet.

I quickly looked down, my appetite gone, and wondered if there was someone else causing serious harm to the king's friends.

Mumbo frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Wait... isn't that Grian?" He asked, growing concerned.

I took another look, and realized that it was Grian, the king's other advisor. "Yeah... that is Grian. No wonder the king's been snappy all week." I noted.

Mumbo stood, towing me after him before I could protest, and walked over to the king. "Good afternoon, m'lord. If I may ask—"

"You may not." Ren growled, putting his hand protectively on Grian's shoulder.

Grian flinched away, turning his head to look at us. "Ren..." His voice was shockingly weak, and much shakier than usual.

Ren glanced at him, and immediately backed down. "Sorry. I just— sorry."

Grian sighed, looking down, before glancing at Mumbo. "Hey." He tugged at his hood, before looking down. "I— sorry. I just— it hurts to move my jaw." He managed to explain.

"Grian, you'll feel better quicker if you just drink your broth." The healer insisted, holding the steaming cup up to his lips.

He sighed, before reluctantly grabbing at the cup again. "Fine."

I grabbed an extra roll, before deciding to head back to our workshop so I didn't have to feel so bad about lying about the device. I hurried through the dusty halls, before ducking under the red and gold banners someone had put over the doorway.

Maybe there was a good reason, something the king wasn't telling us.

But if it was so bad, why didn't he tell us to warn us? Let us know why?

I looked up at the creak of a door, and grimaced. "Oh look, Tango has decided to grace us with his presence for once this month." I grumbled sarcastically.

Tango shook his head, stepping in and walking to his workstation. "I was looking for better materials, okay?" He retorted, glancing at me with a strange glint in his eyes, before he opened a small sack and dumped the contents on his workbench.

Mumbo jerked up, staring at him. "Tango, why do you have magical trinkets? Where did you get those?" He hissed, glaring at our coworker.

Tango shrugged. "Bought them from this charming fellow in the markets, said that I smelled like a volcano, whatever that means." He grumbled, pulling up a glimmering bracelet and staring at it.

Mumbo sighed, shaking his head. "Tango, you don't know what those things do. They could make you a hundred years older, or give you the wasting disease!" He protested, adjusting his suit nervously.

"Oh, relax. I'll be fine." Tango retorted, setting the bracelet down and pulling up a necklace with a lot of extra chains connected to it.

I rolled my eyes, before returning to my work. "If you're doing anything dangerous, just make sure it doesn't put me in danger." I muttered, grabbing a bug and holding it between my fingers.

It bit me and I hissed in pain, my hand convulsing slightly as a tiny wave of lightning rolled through my fingers, and then the bug was suddenly a charred husk in my hands. I quickly threw it into my furnace, glancing back to be sure neither saw that, and shook my head.

I couldn't afford to slip up like that.

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