Talis Copperfinger's workshop occupied the basement of what appeared to be an abandoned textile warehouse in Azureport's industrial district. Kael descended the creaking wooden stairs, the air growing thick with the scent of hot metal, alchemical reagents, and ozone—the unmistakable signature of thread-manipulation devices.
"I wondered if you'd return," Talis called from behind a cluttered workbench. The dwarf's mechanical arm whirred as he adjusted a lens apparatus attached to his right eye. "Most customers don't."
Kael navigated through the chaotic space, marveling at the countless half-finished inventions crowding every surface. Mechanical birds with thread-sensing beaks perched on shelves. Crystalline instruments hummed with captive energy. In one corner stood a device Kael recognized from the novel's description—a Thread Loom, capable of temporarily strengthening natural connections between individuals.
"I need something more sophisticated than the compass," Kael explained, placing a small pouch of silver coins on the workbench. "Something to dampen thread detection."
Talis's mechanical eye whirred, focusing on Kael with uncomfortable intensity. "Thread dampening is specialized knowledge. Not something an ordinary messenger would seek."
"I'm not ordinary," Kael admitted. "And I think you already suspected that."
The dwarf grunted, setting aside the delicate instrument he'd been calibrating. "Let's test that, shall we? Tell me about the Coldforge Hammer technique for binding elemental threads to iron."
Kael hesitated only briefly before recalling a passage from the novel: "The hammer must strike seven times at precise intervals, while the metal is heated to the exact temperature where blue and orange flames meet. Each strike binds a different elemental property, with the seventh creating the resonance that stabilizes the entire matrix."
Talis's bushy eyebrows rose slightly. "And the preferred quenching liquid?"
"Mountain glacier water mixed with powdered starlight crystal," Kael replied without hesitation. "The water provides flexibility while the crystal prevents thread degradation during cooling."
A slow smile spread across the dwarf's weathered face. "Northern artificing secrets that I've shared with exactly three people in my lifetime. Yet here you stand, reciting them as if reading from a textbook." He leaned forward. "Who are you, really?"
"Someone who knows things he shouldn't," Kael replied carefully. "Just like you know things you shouldn't about thread manipulation devices that the Academy would certainly not approve of."
The mention of the Academy darkened Talis's expression. He turned away, mechanical arm adjusting something on a nearby shelf with unnecessary force. "I left that place for good reasons."
"I need to get in," Kael said. "The entrance exams—"
"Are designed to identify and control thread-sensitives," Talis interrupted. "The Academy isn't what you think it is."
Before Kael could respond, Talis pulled a cloth-covered object from beneath his workbench. Unwrapping it revealed a bracelet of interwoven silver and copper filaments, studded with tiny black crystals.
"A prototype," the dwarf explained. "Thread cloaking device. More sophisticated than simple dampening techniques." He hesitated before adding, "There are side effects."
"What kind of side effects?"
"Temporary blindness to all threads while active. You'll be invisible to thread detection, but also unable to perceive threads yourself."
Kael considered the implications. "A last resort, then."
"Indeed." Talis held up the bracelet. "I'll give you this and help prepare you for the entrance exams. In exchange, you'll owe me three favors, to be collected when I choose."
"Two favors," Kael countered, "and I'll tell you what I know about the Academy's current research into thread harvesting."
The dwarf's face paled beneath his beard. "They've resumed that project?"
Before Kael could answer, a distant bell began tolling—the city alert system. Talis moved with surprising speed to a small viewing port in the wall.
"Nightshade guards," he hissed. "Conducting a sweep of the district. Someone important must have ordered it."
Through the port, Kael saw squads of guards in black and green uniforms methodically moving through the streets, accompanied by robed figures carrying thread-detection instruments.
"They're searching for unusual thread signatures," Talis said grimly. "Someone like you, perhaps?"
A pounding at the warehouse door above confirmed their fears. Talis grabbed the thread cloaking device and several other small inventions, stuffing them into a leather satchel.
"The tunnels," he directed, pushing aside a heavy cabinet to reveal a narrow passage. "The market maintains escape routes throughout the city."
As they slipped into the darkness, the sound of splintering wood echoed from above. Guards shouted orders, their heavy boots thumping on the floor overhead. Kael and Talis hurried through the narrow tunnel, guided by the dwarf's thread-light.
"Use your thread manipulation," Talis whispered as they reached a junction where the tunnel branched in three directions. "Create a false signature to lead them away."
Kael concentrated, gathering loose threads from the environment and weaving them into a basic pattern that resembled a human signature. With a careful push, he sent it floating down the leftmost passage. The effect was immediate—shouts from behind indicated the guards had detected it.
"Impressive," Talis murmured as they took the rightmost path. "You're more skilled than you let on."
The tunnels formed a complex network beneath Azureport, occasionally intersecting with the sewer system or ancient catacombs. Twice they encountered other market denizens fleeing the raid—a potion seller lugging her valuable inventory, and a pair of information brokers clutching scrolls to their chests.
"Where are we going?" Kael asked after nearly an hour of navigating the labyrinth.
"Safe house," Talis replied tersely. "For those hiding from the Great Houses."
Eventually, they emerged through a hidden door into a cellar beneath what appeared to be an ordinary tavern. The room was sparsely furnished but clean, with several cots along one wall and a small cooking area.
On one of the cots lay a massive figure—a Beastkin with lionlike features, his golden fur matted with blood around a bandaged shoulder. The Beastkin's amber eyes snapped open as they entered, his hand instinctively reaching for a weapon.
"Easy, Korv," Talis said, raising his hands. "Friends."
Kael stared in shock. Though leaner and wounded, this was undoubtedly the character who, in the novel, would become Prince Reins' most loyal bodyguard after saving him from an assassination attempt. According to the story, Korv's tribe had been slaughtered by House Nightshade troops, leaving him the sole survivor.
The Beastkin's nostrils flared as he scented the air, eyes narrowing at Kael. "This one smells wrong," he growled, voice deep and rumbling. "His threads are... unnatural."
"Can you sense threads?" Kael asked, surprised.
"All Beastkin can," Talis explained. "Not precisely like Observers, but they have instincts about them. Part of why Houses have hunted their kind nearly to extinction."
Korv continued to watch Kael with suspicious eyes. "Two scents. Two thread patterns, overlapping. Not possible."
An uncomfortable silence fell. Finally, Talis sighed heavily and sat on a wooden crate opposite Korv's cot.
"I left the Academy fifteen years ago," he said, changing the subject. "I was their master artificer, designing instruments for thread manipulation experiments. I believed we were advancing knowledge." His mechanical arm whirred as he clenched his fist. "Then I discovered what they were really doing."
"Thread harvesting," Kael said quietly.
Talis nodded grimly. "Taking threads from living subjects—unwilling ones. Mostly Beastkin and other 'lesser races,' as they called them. The experiments killed dozens before I discovered the truth."
"Who authorized it?" Kael asked, though he suspected the answer.
"All of them," Talis spat. "House Luminar, House Fateweaver, House Nightshade—even House Dawnlight. They funded the research secretly, while publicly denouncing thread manipulation."
Korv growled low in his throat. "The prince knows nothing of this. He would not allow it."
"Prince Reins?" Kael asked, surprised at the Beastkin's certainty.
"I served in his personal guard," Korv explained reluctantly. "Until I discovered evidence of the thread harvesting. When I brought it to my superiors, they tried to kill me." He gestured to his wounded shoulder. "They failed."
Kael's mind raced with implications. The prince with dark threads controlling him. House Nightshade planning an assassination. And now this revelation about the Academy. The story was far more complex than the novel had portrayed.
"The entrance exams," he said slowly. "What are they really testing for?"
"Harvesting potential," Talis replied bluntly. "They identify the strongest thread-sensitives to recruit or... utilize." He fixed Kael with a hard stare. "And you, my friend, would register off their charts."
"Then I need a way to control how I register," Kael decided. "To appear useful but not exceptional."
Talis nodded slowly. "I can help with that. But my price has changed." He glanced at Korv. "We need to get evidence of the thread harvesting to Prince Reins directly. Past whatever is controlling him."
Kael thought of the dark threads he had seen, the assassination plot against the princess. "I think I can help with that," he said finally. "I need to get into the Academy regardless."
As they began planning, Kael realized the story had irrevocably changed from the novel he had read. He was no longer following a predetermined path—he was creating a new one. Whether this would help him survive or lead him to a swifter end remained to be seen.