Sapphire had been doing her work in the library when Edita came in, a stack of papers under one arm. Unlike normal, the artificer hadn’t seemed overly happy to see the huntress sitting by the writing desk. Sapphire supposed she may have wished to use the whole space. Perhaps they should inquire with Kullinger about getting another writing desk.

After a moment spent frozen and staring, Edita turned around to leave again. Sapphire raised a hand and her voice. 

“No, no, it’s okay. I will fold my wings a bit. One moment.” She started to move together papers and stacked a few books to make room. Edita seemed reluctant to come over, but eventually she did make her way to the table and sat down with her things, splaying them out.

“Sorry, it is very cluttered in my room, and the crates are not very good tables.”

“I can imagine, my table is far too small. We will make it work.”

The artificer nodded and arrayed what looked to be one of her own books and a few sheets of parchment. Hardly anything that wouldn’t have fit. But Sapphire remembered Tom’s mathematics well enough. Things had a tendency to expand beyond their original scope.

As they sat and worked, Sapphire was diligent, at least to start with. Soon she couldn’t help but notice Edita spent more time staring at the pages than putting anything on them. Quite the departure from her normal over-exuberant way of dealing with near enough anything.

Not a word was said either, which became too much for Sapphire as she spent more and more of her time peeking at Edita’s work. It was math, but that was as far as her comprehension went. It was also done with runes rather than Tom’s letters and numbers which, oddly, she found more confusing now.

“So, things went well yesterday, right? No nasty surprises after you took the gun apart again?” Sapphire questioned with genuine curiosity.

“No, it all operated within parameters. We are very pleased,” Edita replied, almost coldly, like she was reciting from a list.

“I’m sure Oleg is very happy with you all. Tom couldn’t get it to work, you know.”

“Yes, he informed me. I am certain he still had many avenues to explore in order to ensure reliable operation. Perhaps one day our modifications may again be dropped. Except for the cooling of course; I do feel that to be a valuable addition.” There was a twinge of pride at the end, when talking of her own work.

“Sure seems like it. Tom was chuffed. And with Jarix back in the hall he can get on with the rifles, right?”

“Yes, that is the plan,” Edita agreed with a nod, still not looking up from her parchments though she hadn’t written a single thing down.

“Am I right in guessing that’s what you are working on now?”

“…Yes, I am creating tables to determine the bullet velocity and velocity reduction with range as a factor of its drop. To determine its aerodynamic properties, you see.”

“Oh. Sounds… interesting. Why?” Sapphire tried, not understanding much else. What she knew of aerodynamics was that it was Tom’s word for cutting through the wind. Everything always had to be so complicated with him.

“To see if we are operating within expected parameters, of course. The design is not our own but one of a Mister Winchester. We must ensure our replica meets his stringent standards to ensure accuracy and range.”

“I see… Sounds hard, don’t you think you could get away with taking a bit of a breather? Got a lot done after all,” Sapphire suggested. She had seen Tom succumb to his own work, perhaps limited survival instinct was a fault of all engineers. 

“No, there is no time,” Edita dismissed, though her hands still hadn’t moved. She spent a moment in quiet contemplation as Sapphire tried to think of what to say. “Though I may… may I ask for some assistance?”

“What with?” Sapphire was quick to ask. If she could help, she would. It may even serve as a distraction from her own tedious work.

“My hands. They do not wish to obey as they should,” Edita then admitted, sounding almost ashamed of the fact. 

“How so?” Sapphire questioned, looking down at the artificer’s hands. She couldn’t see anything openly wrong with them.

Edita looked to Sapphire with a saddened expression, holding up one hand on its own which visibly trembled. “I cannot write like this.”

“Edita, that’s serious, you know that right? Hands don’t just start to tremble. What if you’re sick?”

“We haven’t the time. I am sure any ailments may be addressed in the new year. For now I must perform my duty.”

“Have you at least talked to Nunuk about it?”

“I… have not,” she admitted, looking away. 

“Why not?” Sapphire pressed. “She is a very competent healer.”

“I… I do not believe the ailment is one she is able to treat.”

“You just said you didn’t know what it was.”

“No no,” Edita objected. “I said any I may suffer.”

“So you do know what’s wrong?”

Edita briefly met Sapphire’s gaze, then turned away once more. “I believe so, but I have no time to address it. It is hardly serious.”

“Your hands are trembling too much to write things down, that seems pretty serious. Edita, what if it gets worse? What is it even?”

The artificer looked back to her work, then commenced stacking it all back up again. Her movements were jagged and deliberate, as if she was willing her hands to obey.

Sapphire put a hand on her shoulder and pressed down a little. “No, don’t just go. It’s okay. No one is gonna get mad at you cause there is something wrong, okay?”

Sapphire felt the resistance from the artificer as she finished then tried to stand. Sapphire didn’t let her, keeping her firmly in her seat.

“No, you tell me what’s wrong and I’ll decide if it’s okay.”

Edita turned to stare at the huntress, a wholly new expression on her face. Was it fear? Maybe sadness. Sapphire couldn’t truly tell, but it was certainly a pitiful sight.

“Please, it is okay if you do not have the time to assist me.”

“That ain’t what I said, girl,” Sapphire reiterated. “I’m gonna help you, but I need to know what’s wrong first.”

“I would really rather you didn’t.”

For a moment Sapphire almost doubted herself. It could be something very private after all. It wasn’t like they knew each other that well. But she didn’t let go. If Edita wouldn’t tell her, the only other likely candidates were Tom and Joelina, neither of whom could be trusted to take care of someone else. At least not right now.

“Something is wrong. You aren’t trying to make it better, or if you ar-”

“But I am trying to improve the situation, I promise,” Edita pleaded.

“Or if you are, it’s not working is it?”

Edita glanced down for a moment. “No. But I cannot break, Sapphire. Not now. Of all times. This is too important.”

“What do you mean break?”

“Stop working. I must keep working of course. It is why I am here.”

“Edita, you are a person, not a machine.”

“A cog can be made out of flesh as well,” Edita objected, shaking her head. 

Sapphire grabbed the artificer’s other shoulder with her free hand, turning them both to face each other on the bench.

“You, are not, a machine. Not while you live at our keep. Understood? Here lives people. And people aren’t always doing so well. So what is wrong Edita, so we can make you better?” The artificer stared at Sapphire with surprise, and perhaps fear, her jaw jittering. “And we won’t be mad about it. You have done your very best, no one could ever doubt that. We certainly don’t.”

“But, I-I didn’t,” she replied, sounding like she couldn’t understand what Sapphire meant, or perhaps what she was even saying. “I didn’t do my best.”

“What do you mean?” Sapphire questioned skeptically, tilting her head. “You are brilliant, you have helped Tom with things none of us could ever understand, and you worked around the clock lately. Far more than any of us could do. He’s damned impressed. I know he is.”

“I-I know. Bu-but it’s not… I couldn’t.”

“Girl, of course you could, you did. Look if it is because you have been working so hard, then you have to take a bit of time. Even Tom had to do so.”

“H-he did?”

“Yeah, back in spring. He broke down completely, he just couldn’t keep up with it all. And everyone was of course miserable after the attack on the keep. He was out of it for days. And then you have his time at Deriva. I dare say he wasn’t very productive for a few days there. Weeks even, if you count the time until we got him better with some help from the capital.”

“But, but how?”

“He just couldn’t do it all,” Sapphire half-lied. His time at Deriva was at the end of the day down to self-induced poisoning, but Edita didn’t need to know that. “It happens to the best of us. Is that what’s wrong?”

“But I… he did it. I was only trying to do as good of a job. Sapphire, I couldn’t do it,” Edita all but pleaded. “Why couldn’t I do it?”

Sapphire could see her eyes glazing over, her jaw continuing to move up and down rapidly. Saph pulled the artificer into an embrace, clutching her tight. 

“Shsss. It’s okay. You tried to keep up with a human. None of us can do that. Even Jacky failed. It’s okay. Shhh.” 

The first sob came, then another. And another. Sapphire just kept trying to calm her down, stroking the back of her head. “It’s okay. Let it out, it’s for the best. See? We don’t get mad about things like that here. You really tried, you really did.”

“Bu-bu. I-I am from the inner sanctum. How could I fail? We don’t fail, we aren’t allowed to. It can’t be. It is the end.”

“It’s not the end, Edita. It’s only the end when we give up. Taking a breather isn’t the same as giving up. A soldier can fall back without giving up the fight, can’t she? And the one who will never retreat is a bad soldier.”

“No, no, it’s not right. We have to. It’s the future of the world, Sapphire. How could I fail?” she repeated as she started to truly bawl into Sapphire’s chest. “I couldn’t give up.”

“You didn’t give up, Edita. Look at you, you want to keep going. That’s not what people do when they give up. You just need a little time, that is all.”

“I… I don’t know how long. I needed to keep going. So I did.”

“For too long, yes. It’s going to be fine, a few slow days and you’ll probably be fine. I have to say I don’t think I’ve seen someone get tired to the point of shaking from doing book work. Actually I suppose the smithy can be damn tough. Especially if you are covering for Shiva,” Sapphire prattled on, hoping to serve as a bit of a distraction. It did seem to work, Edita calming down. At least a little. 

“It’s worse than that. I’m sorry.”

“Shssss. I already told you, we don’t get mad about people working too hard. Only the opposite, you can ask Herron about that one. And no one is saying that about you. You can be absolutely certain.”

“Thank you… But I know your rules. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Shhh.” She kept stroking the artificer’s neck, though the bawling had slowed to a sob once more. “There is nothing to be sorry for.”

“Yes there is. I stole.”

“You what?” The confession genuinely caught Sapphire by surprise. Of all the things she could have foreseen Edita doing, that was not in any way one of them. She was such a stickler for rules that she couldn’t even seem to bend them, let alone break them. At least when compared to someone like Tom or Tinks.

“But why?” she asked with genuine confusion, before she even registered that she had no idea what it might have been that Edita had stolen. “It wasn’t the book, was it?”

Edita pushed away from Sapphire’s grasp and looked up with a look of pure horror. “No, no, never in my life. I would never, I swear I swear I swear! Please. I could never do such a thi-”

Sapphire, more than content that wasn’t it, forcefully pulled the weaker artificer in once more. “Shsss. Not the book, got it. Why would you ever take that, anyway? They are all right here after all. Shhh. It’s fine.” 

Sapphire could feel how tensed up Edita was. She even tried to escape for a moment before she yielded to Sapphire’s grip, letting out a small whimper.

“Not the book, then. What was it? Bit of food? I couldn’t blame you for nicking a bit of Jacky’s sausage when in their room. Stuff’s tasty.”

It took a bit before Edita calmed enough to speak another word. Sapphire didn’t rush. She needed to understand what was going on. And Edita certainly didn’t deserve this. 

“I… I stole sugar. I know it is worth a fortune. I am so very, very sorry. Please, forgive me. I can’t pay for it, I’m so sorry,” she cried into Sapphire. It took the huntress a moment to piece it all together as she stroked Edita’s back, holding her close. 

“So you could keep working longer… Edita, how long have you been doing that?” They did have a lot of sugar at the keep, not to mention other sweets of Tom’s design. Sapphire would be lying if she said that she hadn’t thought about taking one here or there. With how much they had it might even be a while until anyone worked it out. Keeping exact tabs on stores tended to be one of the first things that went out the window when strapped for time.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what day it is anymore.”

“Shhh, it’s okay. Girl, you took it to help, to work harder. No one is going to be mad about that. If you want, call it payment then. Gods know you have certainly deserved pay, more than most here.”

“Payment!” Edita broke out, as if her troubles were solved in a stroke. “My payment! You paid me last year. I can pay you back!” She was downright ecstatic, Sapphire loosening her grip just enough for Edita’s head to shoot up, tears still running down her cheeks.

Sapphire didn’t know how to react at first, but she sure didn’t let go, afraid Edita might run straight to Dakota and attempt to empty her pockets at her. 

“Now nooow. Calm down,” she offered with a chuckle. “You won’t have to pay us back for anything. We owe you. I am certain Dakota and Nunuk agree with me. But please, don’t go stealing any more, okay…? Oh and we should go see Nunuk.”

“To ask her forgiveness?”

“To ask what’s wrong with you. I used to race, you know that, right? If there’s one thing I know, it’s that there is such a thing as too much honey.”

“Oh,” Edita gulped. “Is it very bad?”

---

“Beautiful. Would you look at that, not a crack to be seen. Even thickness all the way down to the base. That worked. Now to make a couple hundred of them,” Tom said, taking his time to appreciate the simple brass casing. 

It took fewer operations to form the smaller straightwalled casings than it had for the fifty cal. A few modifications to the tools and plenty of oil was all that had been needed to get a result they could be proud of. 

Jarix let out an audible sigh, but held his head high. “Oh very well then. To work. Up.” 

The dragon placed a paw upon the lever and raised it, opening the tool for Radexi and Tink to slide in the sheet of brass.

‘It will be a good day when we can just buy sheet steel,’ Tom thought to himself, wondering if the material had come from every instrument maker in the capital or inquisitorial stores. ‘Who am I kidding? They are gonna be buying it from us, aren’t they?’

“Ready,” Radexi called out once they had the sheet in position.

“Stamp,” Jarix replied as he brought a bit of force down on the lever for the first operation, drawing out the base of the casing. “Up.”

As the tool opened once more, Radexi moved the sheet over, placing the newly formed casing base into the next position, fresh metal being dragged along into the first. “Ready.”

“Stamp.” A little more force was needed now that two things were being formed at once. But brass was soft, so it wasn’t anything their young drake couldn’t handle for hours on end. As they slowly worked their way into the rhythm, finished casings appearing one by one after they had seen every stop in the tool along the way, Tom felt a poke on his shoulder.

“Tom, I need a word.”

He wheeled about to see Sapphire standing, arms crossed, expression serious. “Uuuh, sup? What is it?” 

“It’s important. Would you mind?”

She did not look happy, maybe even worried. Tom’s mind of course started to race to figure out if something was wrong. He shot Jacky a worried look, which she reciprocated. Likely for different reasons.

“Come with me.”

He didn’t question it, but as he stepped to follow, Jacky also made to come along. Turning to her, he stumbled over his words. “I uhh… Maybe you stay and-”

“No, it is alright,” Sapphire cut him off, adding to his confusion.

Jacky too seemed taken aback that he would try to stop her. At Sapphire’s reassurances she stepped up closer to him, evidently intent on following. 

‘Oh boy, right then.’

As they walked Tom felt his stomach knot. They were heading up. And past the library. With it any hope that he was needed to interpret some text or similar vanished. Sapphire had been bringing him plenty of questions and notes to look over together with her as of late. Yet another thing he needed to make time for, but such was life. 

She would rarely come seek him out however, and certainly not in a mood like this. He feared she would perhaps pressure him to let Jacky know all that they had been up to. But as far as he was concerned they had made it past that hurdle. He wasn’t even seeing things, something he had sorta expected following the bath experiment. 

Not a word was said as they also passed the bedrooms of the huntresses. If anything, the place Tom would have expected such a talk to happen. They carried on upwards to the top floor of the keep where the Bizmati family had their lodgings. 

‘Oh this is a different kind of serious, isn’t it? We can’t be low on supplies. Maybe Rachuck wants to demand something?’ Tom thought to himself as they passed the respective pair of doors. But no, Sapphire went to open the door to Nunuk and Apuma’s bedroom. Without knocking. 

Inside Tom saw Edita, laying atop the large comfy bed, the old lady at her side holding her hand.

‘What in the?’

“What has happened, an accident?” Tom was quick to question as Nunuk turned to look at the three arrivals. He quickly looked the artificer over. She seemed fine, no blood. Why was she here? If there had been an accident then surely she would be in the infirmary.

“No Tom, there has been no accident. But I believe we require your assistance,” Nunuk answered calmly and gently. Deliberately gentle to Tom’s ear.

Edita was certainly not calm, or rather she seemed tense. She wasn’t moving about or anything like that. 

“I apologise, sir. This is my doing, my fault, sir.” The distress was clear in the artificer’s voice. Like she feared what would come next.

“Woah, I ain’t no sir,” Tom was quick to defuse, starting to get an idea just what he might be needed for. “What are you apologising for? Did something break? I’m sure we can fix it or do without.”

‘Better not be the laptops, better not be the laptops.’

“I have failed you. I broke the promises I made.” She sniffed, like she was on the verge of tears. “I broke the trust placed in me.”

Now he was just confused. He didn’t understand what she could possibly mean. In his confusion he turned to Sapphire, who had moved to the side of the bed, taking the artificer’s other hand. 

“Edita felt she could not keep up with the work and as such resorted to sugar in an attempt to alleviate this,” Sapphire explained.

“Oh.” Of all the things, that wasn’t one Tom had seen coming. “Like. You ate some sugar? To keep working?” He was rather struggling to see the issue here, then a potential problem clicked, “Wait how much?”

“I promise I can pay it back, but Sapphire has refused. I promise any lack of reimbursement is not due to me.”

“Woooah woah woah. I think we can let that one slide, just fine… right?” he questioned, looking to Nunuk. Dakota handled finances, but Nunuk was still the Lady of the keep.

She gently nodded her head. “A feather on a goose, we will hardly notice. All is forgiven.”

Tom did feel a moment of relief. He had learned himself just how stringent they tended to be with theft. Perhaps that was why Edita was freaking out.

“Well that’s that settled then. Debt’s forgiven, all is well.”

“I am afraid not,” Nunuk interrupted. “If she does not take rest, I fear for her heart. She has put herself through a great deal. And she refus-”

“I cannot stop my work. It must continue,” Edita interrupted, to Nunuk’s evident annoyance. She was not used to being spoken over.

Now Tom understood the dilemma. A workaholic that had to stop working so hard. One who believed she had done nothing but dishonor herself before them, and before the gods she revered.

‘And I sent her to Paulin, and she started falling apart… oh for the love of whatever.’ Tom sighed to himself. The disappointment must have shone through, as Edita tried to sit up in bed. 

“I promise, Tom, I will keep working. No matter what, I swear it. I swea-”

Sapphire pushed the artificer back down onto her back with considerable force. 

“You will do no such thing, you are going to kill yourself.”

“But I can stop the sugar. Tom recommended alcohol. I do not know why, but it helps?” she questioned, looking to Tom as if he would save her.

The scathing look he received from Sapphire said it all as he raised his hands defensively. “Woah, no no, not like that. You use that to unwind. Not to keep working. Though it can help you not go insane. But we can’t have drunk people at the lathe and mill, that’s begging for a wing to get shredded.”

“But-… Then I must do without. I must keep going. For Oleg’s favor, our future, the mission.”

“Slow and steady wins the race,” Tom countered, raising his voice just enough to be heard over the artificer. “And sprinters burn out or break down. Like you said, for your future… Okay think about it this way. You are no use broken down, and we can’t fix you if your heart breaks down. Right? Imagine if some inquisitor asked for an old holy machine to be run till it exploded, never to run again. You’d toss them off the island, right?”

Edita stared at the human blankly while Sapphire kept a skeptical eye on him. 

“So, you may run it hard, yes? But you stop and maintain it every now and again. Switch out what was worn, adjust what has wandered out of spec. That’s what you need to do now. And that is what alcohol can help with… Wait, you haven’t been drinking and then working, right?”

“Tom, she has been working around the clock,” Sapphire responded, before the artificer got the chance.

“I thought she smelled a bit funny the other day,” Jacky added, not having moved from Tom’s side. 

Edita’s ears all but folded behind the back of her head as she pressed her head down even lower.

Tom sighed as he rubbed the sides of his face. “Okay, no more of that then. Oh what to do here. Who would have thought, Sapphire, your idea about weekends and working hours was a damn good one. We just can’t afford it right now… Right. Here is what we are going to do. Edita, and I am your boss so these are orders. Follow them exactly.”

Edita gave a very gentle nod, eyes locked on him. 

“We are going to celebrate how well things are going. Nothing wild, just an evening. Drinks, games and laughter. And no one is allowed to mention how much we have left to do, or dark omens, or anything. Let’s just enjoy what we have done. And then tomorrow you are not going to work on anything technical. Dishes and kitchen duty. In the evening you come to my and Jacky’s room. Or maybe Sapphire’s. And we have a pleasant chat about how things are. 

“When, and only when, you have managed to unwind- and we will be the ones deciding when that is -will you be allowed to get back to work. Besides, trying to do this kinda work when strung like a hunting bow only ends in disaster.” 

Edita stared at him with fear, Sapphire moving a hand to stroke her head. 

Worried that was perhaps a shit idea he looked to the young huntress and then to Nunuk. “Or is that too harsh?”

“I do not care as long as she stops trying to kill herself,” Nunuk replied. “I will not have my keep be a soulless meatgrinder like so many others.” 

“I think it is as good of an idea as we have right now. You cannot keep doing this.” Sapphire replied, though her attention was turned to Edita, her tone caring and kind. “You have to take care of yourself, at least a little.”

“But if we fail it matters not. The keep will be gone.”

“And after we survive it, another threat will loom I’m sure. Looking at the past year, we are going to have at least 3 major crises by my counting. We have to be ready for the next one too. And we can’t afford to lose you. Okay?”

“Besides, it’s an order. If it all goes tits up in the end, it’s on me, not you. So I gotta carry the guilt,” Tom added with a shrug. “The virtue and peril of being in charge.”

Nunuk did make a slight grunting sound at that, but didn’t make any further objections. 

“It’ll be fine, I’m sure. We have Jarix, guns, mines, grenades, mithril armor, magic swords, Yldril ish.” Jacky added, exuberant as ever, counting along on her fingers. “They ain’t got a chance against us.”

“We didn’t actually make the new grenades yet. But we will, don’t you worry,” Tom said, sheepishly. He recognized the bravado, and he wasn’t happy to see it. That was old Jacky, like the day he met her. 

“Oh right… by the way what’s wrong with tits going up? That’s where birds go.”

“Uuuuhm….”

---

“So are you feeling any better?” Sapphire questioned the artificer, who was sitting diligently on the bed. She handed over the mug of hot tea, unsweetened this time, and sat down next to her. She did notice a strange odor coming from the artificer. She worried that Edita had already broken the rules they set down. Perhaps had sought out Linkosta’s help via some alchemical compound. 

She did seem calmer, less jittery. A remarkable improvement in fact, if it was that, it was certainly effective. Hopefully it was something else. As far as Sapphire knew, Edita had done as she was told. Though she had been less than happy about it. Not because she had any problem with washing dishes, but rather because of her precious work, left idle.

“I feel a lot better, thank you.” She sipped the tea without her hand shaking, something Sapphire was looking for. She had no doubts Edita would try to convince Sapphire to let her get back to work. She wasn’t letting it happen unless it was clear that she was ready. And she had not thought it possible in a mere two days.

“That is very impressive. What have you been doing, just relaxing and enjoying yourself?”

“Oh, a little,” Edita replied almost sheepishly. “I even had a nap today.”

Sapphire nodded, impressed. She had honestly wondered if Edita had been sleeping at all with how much of a nervous wreck she had become. Perhaps lack of sleep was as much to blame as the stress and sugar. “That’s very good. You made breakfast today, yes?”

“I did, yes. I am not very good at cooking, but I tended the fires very precisely, and ensured everything was perfectly clean.”

“That is good. Just because you are relaxing a little, doesn’t mean you have to stop being who you are.”

Edita smiled, taking a moment to think before she carried on. “I was working with Herron. He is very good at relaxing. Like you said.”

“Almost too good,” Sapphire replied, taking a sip. “Did you spend a little time learning from the best?”

“I… yes, I asked him how he could be so calm with everything that is going on… He said it was very simple, either things are fine or they aren’t. All your hard work might make it a little more likely things go well. But if they don’t, you wasted all that time. You might as well enjoy the time instead. It is… more efficient.”

“I suppose that is one way of looking at it,” Sapphire said, trying her best not to sound bitter at all the extra work she had done over the years thanks to him. Not to mention the nights spent wondering if their night guard was sleeping or not.

“I don’t understand it either… I don’t find it enjoyable to do nothing.”

“A little can be good, but not too much. I suppose it varies from person to person…”

“I suppose so… Anyway he asked me if I wanted some help relaxing. And I said I would like that very much.”

“Uhuu…” Sapphire said with a slow nod. She wondered if perhaps she was about to hear a tale of romance or learning how to sleep on the job. Edita seemed a little unsure of herself, glancing at the mug, before she continued. 

“I followed him to his room. And once inside, he pulled out a… A small paper bag. He said that he had bought it from the capital. Vulzan carried it here. It was some sort of leaf, dried… anyway.” Edita shook her head. “You smoke it, in a pipe. The sensation was unlike anything I have ever experienced from food. So strange. Coal smoke certainly doesn’t do that.”

“No… no it doesn’t.”

‘Oh god dammit Herron.’