Mechanical Heart by Sarah Pennington

Author:Sarah Pennington [Pennington, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-06T16:00:00+00:00

Josiah tapped his pen on his note-filled page, only half-listening as the Senate discussed its latest distraction from the blood alchemy bill, a petition for the government to sponsor a coalition of Guilds researching air travel. The coalition members, drawn from the Inventors, Engineers, Mechanics, and Alchemists Guilds, claimed their work would expedite trade with Shanfey and other eastern lands and would give Chania tactical advantage in the event of war. Josiah suspected that most of them really just wanted to see if the government would pay them to do another thing that had never been done before — and he knew that the government would. Support for new innovation was the one thing every party could agree on, even if they differed on its uses. And so, Josiah had to wonder why they even bothered to debate the matter, especially since there were so much more interesting topics close at hand.

For example, the rumors that had been spreading the last few days about Lord-Senator Weston. Josiah glanced downwards, but the High Council seats were immediately below his own, and so he couldn’t quite see the man. If what Josiah had heard could be believed, Weston’s forces had uncovered a small blood alchemist hideout and had made a significant discovery, though the rumors were inconsistent as to what that discovery might be. Several, however, speculated that he’d captured the results of the alchemists’ human experiments.

Josiah knew better than to believe everything he heard. But he also knew better than to wholly discount information because it started in a rumor, especially one of which his intelligence force had made a point of informing him. Every rumor, after all, revealed a tiny bit of truth, either about its source or its subject. In this case, the story had been leaked by someone in Weston’s own household — and Weston knew how to keep secrets. That meant that he was likely not only aware of the rumors but was in fact behind them.

The research fund discussion finally wound down, and Prime Minister Wentworth called for a vote. Josiah absently called out “Yea” in chorus with almost everyone else in the room, his mind still fixed on the problem of Lord-Senator Weston. Clearly, Weston wanted others to believe that he had gained some kind of inside information, perhaps even definitive proof for his position. And that most likely meant that he was preparing to reveal some new argument for the blood alchemy bill — or intending to strengthen a previous argument — today or in the near future.

Prime Minister Wentworth turned over a new page on his desk. “Next on the agenda, further discussion of the issue of blood alchemy. The investigative committee has not approached me with any new findings. Do any other senators have new information which they wish to share?

Silence. Josiah waited for Weston to stand and speak but — nothing. Josiah frowned, his pen pressed to his paper. Had he interpreted the rumors incorrectly? Or was Weston just biding his time?

Prime Minister Wentworth cleared his throat.

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