Chapter 45: New Department
The notes he had made were already open on the desk before he sat down, which meant he did not have to prepare anything further.
Aestrith stood at the window, facing outward.
Tam was on the couch with her knees pulled toward her chest. That was how a fourteen-year-old ended up after processing difficult information for most of a day. When he entered, she put her feet down in a vain attempt of formality.
Beorn took his seat and looked at her across the desk, thinking where to begin.
"Have you ever been inside a foundry?" he asked.
"No, my lord."
That much was expected. He adjusted his explanation accordingly.
"Then I’ll start from something you can imagine."
He picked up a fresh page and began drawing with the charcoal as he spoke, giving her both verbal and visual input.
"The ore goes into a furnace, which will increase the temperature until it melts. Once it’s liquid, you pour it into a mold frame, a sort of container, and let it cool. The result matches the shape of the frame."
Tam followed closely. He could see her trying to understand the process, even if the terms were unfamiliar to her. Each word was compared against what she could imagine, building a consistent picture.
"The problem is the cooling part," he continued. "If the frame shifts while the metal is setting, or if heat distribution is uneven, the result is flawed. You can test it by striking the piece and see if the sound comes out dull instead of clear. At that point, the only solution is to melt it down and start again."
She tilted her head, putting her attention more on the outcome than in the process.
"Uh.. what does it make? The parts, they build something?"
"They are machine parts, yes. They have to fit together with almost no tolerance for error. If a single piece is off, the entire machine fails."
She turned her hands over in her lap in hesitation, uncertain if she could meet that requirement.
"And you want me to use my powers on those."
"Exactly. There is multiple ways magn... your power can help."
"But I only did that because-"
She stopped, exhaling lightly to calm down.
"I-I can’t. I don’t know how to use this power."
"I know."
He set the charcoal down.
"You will not start in the foundry this week. First, you will practice your ability. Enough that you will feel secure to use it."
She nodded slowly.
"Then I’ll show you the room, the furnace, and the engine itself. You’ll need a clear understanding of the system before you try to work with it."
He watched her reaction.
"That won’t be your first task, but it will become part of your work. You should know that now."
She checked her hands again, then looked back at him.
"I’ll learn it," she said.
He retrieved a folded document from inside the ledger and placed it on the desk. This was the next decision point.
"Read this before you decide anything."
She approached, unfolded it, and began reading.
He observed her pace.
Near the top, her eyes widened. He knew why, it was as simply as that there was the part her new salary was. Fifteen silver, nearly four times more than her current salary.
She continued reading. He did not interrupt.
"Arcane output limits," she said, looking up for clarification.
"That defines how much power you can use in a single session. You do not exceed the maximum your body can recover from within the same day. There’s a limit to be set."
"Who sets the limit?"
"Aestrith, or myself."
She returned to the document.
The resting obligation and requirement slowed her again. She read that section twice, to be sure of the significance.
The right to decline operations she read once and moved past. Beorn wondered if she even considered the idea that she could simply say no to a task.
At the arcane monitoring clause, she stopped.
"I don’t know what arcane stress is," she said.
"It’s a new term I’m researching, namely the effect arcane use has on the surrounding environment. By monitoring it allows me to track total output from both of you and try to measure the influence."
She tilted her head, confused.
"The two of us?"
"You and Aestrith. When both of you operate at once, the effects compound."
She glanced toward the window. Aestrith hadn’t turned from her vigil from the start.
Tam returned to the document and continued.
At the housing section, she slowed again to read it carefully. Then a brief glance up, clear in her eyes she was hesitating about asking something. She chose not to.
She returned to the text and finished the section. Beorn imagined she had understood the room assignment and wing designation and decided to accept the terms as written.
At the bottom, she picked up the pen.
She signed.
She held the pen a moment longer, looking at her own signature. He recognized the hesitation. The decision was made, but it still didn’t feel real.
She looked up at him.
"I won’t disappoint you, my lord," she said.
He met her gaze and looked through her eyes. There was a fire behind them, of raw determination.
He said nothing, and gave her a short nod, allowing her dismissal.
Tam set the pen down and stood.
Her movement accelerated before she was fully upright. She was eager to find her sister and tell her about the good news.
The door closed behind her.
Beorn reached back into the ledger to pick a second document, heavier and thicker than the first.
He placed it on the desk and set the pen beside it.
He waited.
Aestrith turned from the window.
She looked at the document briefly, then walked to the desk.
"About time," she said.
She took the pen, located the signature line without reading, and signed.
She straightened and held the pen loosely at her side.
"Keep the pay if you want," she said. "I only care about the room, food and your previous promise. I’m not changing how I live because you felt the need for a fancy contract."
"Is that so?" Beorn replied with short laugh, "Do as you wish."
She dropped the pen on the desk, crossed the room, and sat down on the couch.
She did not ease into it. She let her full weight fall, without a care for pleasantries or formality.
Beorn looked at her, and watched how at home she was.
He rolled his eyes, a small release of tension, and turned back to the ledger.