“Yes, he is.” She replied cautiously, hand held over him protectively.

  The woman was of mixed ancestry, seeming to be mostly human, with either an atoran grandparent or great grandparent. Her skin was a standard human olive, wrinkles denoting her age. Her hair was curly and greying black.

  Small antenna with featherlike hairs poked out the side of her hair, three on each side. Her facial features were slightly reminiscent of full-blooded atorans, being slightly flatter than the norm for a human. Her eyes were a startling blue.

  She wore a stained apron, and she had an armband with several small tinctures in holsters meant for the purpose. A wiry pair of spectacles sat on her nose. She was almost definitely an alchemist.

  Harper was perhaps being overly wary, but Briar was an exotic animal, and she was worried about how people would react to him. Alchemists especially, she didn’t want to see him dissected.

  The older woman noticed her caution. “Oh, don't worry dear. I don’t want to do anything to your pet. I’ve just never seen one. Has he molted yet?”

  Thrown off by the sudden turn in the conversation, she replied with obvious confusion. “Yes, just the other day. Why?”

  The old woman grinned. “Do you still have it? I’ll buy it. It’s an ingredient in a high-quality camouflage paste I know. I have all the other ingredients, I just needed Domain chameleon molt, or something that could replace it. I’ll pay you well.”

  The request and explanation came out quickly, leaving Harper to process the stream of words. After a pause, she answered. “I still have it. How much is it worth?” It was still sitting in the small encloser in her room. The past couple days had been busy, and she hadn’t had time to clean it out yet.

  The woman told her an amount that made her eyes bulge slightly. “That much! I thought I would have seen something in the bestiary entry for them if it were that valuable.” Not that Harper was complaining, but it just didn’t make sense.

  “That’s because the book is from Magnon. The molt, or a similar shedding that could replace it in this recipe, is rarer here. We have creatures with similar enough properties here in Vanax that it would work, but they’re rare.”

  Harper nodded thoughtfully. “My name is Harper Waspen. Do you work here?”

  “Oh!” The woman exclaimed. “How rude of me. My name is Susan Alvera, but you can call me Suzy. My sister and I own this place. She run the business side while I’m more the hands-on type.”

  Perfect. Harper saw an opportunity. While she could do with the money, it was no longer a priority. Saving up for a Magnate core was the work of years, and she hoped to attain one in another way. She saw a much more useful use of the valuable lizard molts.

  “What if, instead of money, we came to a trade instead? Not just for the shed skin I have right now, but for all the skin Briar here will shed as he grows.” Harper explained her offer.

  Suzy found the terms agreeable. Harper would still have to pay a small amount for the initial equipment, but it was very reasonable. Shaking hands on it, the young woman promised to bring the molted skin over tonight. She left the building satisfied with the bargain struck and continued her tasks for the day.

  She managed to complete everything before the sun had set. Harper wrote down all her deliveries and their approximate time in a log kept in the courier room. She also prepared the next day's tasks, organizing the packages that had made their way in and checking the label of each.

  Some came from other couriers that had dropped off messages or packages that had a destination in town. Others were brought from the various administrators that needed a delivery taken.

  Finally, Harper was done for the day. She yawned tiredly, but she wasn’t yet ready to relax. After retrieving Briar’s molt from his enclosure, and the necessary coin, she hurried back to the commercial part of the city.

  The apothecary was less busy than it had been earlier in the day, only a couple customers browsing their wares. She was going to ask the employee at the counter for Suzy but noticed the woman near the back of the store, inspecting some of the shelves.

  Harper tapped on her shoulder, beginning to greet her. “Hello Suzy, I’ve brought-”

  The woman turned, and Harper cut herself off. The woman looked very similar to Suzy; the subtle differences she noticed tipping her off that she wasn’t. Her posture was more rigid, less relaxed than when she had met the woman earlier. She wasn’t wearing spectacles, nor a stained apron, but instead a fashionable green sundress. Her face was clear of wrinkles and her hair without any grey in it.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  The details may be different, but the face was the same. They’re twins, she realized. “Ah, you must be her sister. My apologies.”

  “It's alright, it happens all the time.” She waved away the mistake. “You must be Miss Waspen.”

  She nodded. “Your sister told you of me?”

  “Yes, but that’s not how I know of you. My husband told me about you, the curious new courier of noble blood. Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am Clarissa Woodster.” She extended her hand.

  Harper shook it, realizing where she knew the name from. “Mister Woodster knows I’m a noble?” She asked in surprise.

  Vermon had never given any indication of knowing, calling her Miss Waspen instead of Lady Waspen when they first met and since. Harper didn’t think he knew because he had expressed his impassive disdain for the nobility on multiple occasions. She was actually worried that when rumors of her duel and her title reached the courier’s gossip, that he would treat her differently.

  It seemed as if he had known all along and just pretended she was like any other common-born person. Harper was appreciative of that. She had never directly lied about being a noble, instead, she had avoided the matter entirely. If someone asked about her family, the courier had just said that they owned land, which was technically true, but not indicative of the whole picture.

  Harper wasn’t ashamed of her noble heritage or anything like that; it just seemed an unnecessary complication. The exiled noble had decided that it was better to not attract attention or risk making it seem like she was using her name as a power play. That was out the window once word of Gavin’s challenge got around, but it was never meant to be a secret.

  She just wanted to establish some relationships before her family name changed how people perceived her. Harper wanted to avoid people that would see her as an opportunity, much like Gavin had. She also wanted to leave a good impression before people with a bias against aristocracy preemptively judged her.

  Clarissa nodded. “Anyway, my sister is upstairs; she has everything prepared. Go up the stairs and into the last door on the right. It’s one of our alchemical labs.”

  Thanking the woman, Harper followed her directions. The lab was a moderately sized room. Beakers and vials stood on the counters. A green core with various materials arrayed around it lay on one.

  Susan sat near it, inspecting the ingredients. She stood up when Harper walked in and strode over to greet her. After exchanging social niceties, the older woman led her to a set of equipment. “This is what we call a basic field set. It consists of three things.”

  She first laid her hand on a small, closed, cast-iron sphere “This is a container that has been ingrained with the powdered scales of a single Domain fish. It was designed specifically for aetherspaces. This is what you will use to form the centerpiece of your aethercauldron.”

  She picked up the next item. It was a strangely shaped metallic bottle. “This is a distiller. You will use it to make certain solutions. The material is designed to heat up easily and stabilize the solution.”

  Suzy turned to the last item. “And this is your mortar and pestle. Many materials will require you to turn them to powder.”

  The experienced alchemist gestured to the tools. “I should warn you; this is a very limited set. You won’t be able to make any Domain brews, only ones lightly infused with the aether. Even of the barely mundane, there will be many alchemical products that will be out of your reach, this tool set is just the bare bones after all.”

  Harper indicated her acceptance. “That’s fine. I don’t intend to be making anything past that anyway.” She handed the coins and thorny devil molt over and put everything else in her bag. She did not yet have enough space for the items. The snake corpse was still being digested.

  “Thank you, I will see you Darkday morning.”

  “Yes, see you then,” Suzy agreed amiably. She was barely paying any attention to Harper anymore, having eyes only for the molt. She moved over to the arrayment of reagents on one of the counters, putting the molt down and rubbing her hands together eagerly.

  Harper watched curiously. She’s going to make it right now, she realized. “Is it okay if I stay and watch?” She questioned.

  Momentarily drawn from her work, she glanced over. “Oh, you're welcome to. There won’t be much to watch though, most of the ingredients have already been prepared. The majority of the work will take place within my own aethercauldron.” Having said her piece, she turned her attention back to the project at hand.

  Harper watched as she first opened her aetherspace, retrieving her own, fancier, mortar and pestle, then she put the waiting core into the space. Instead of absorbing or consuming, she altered it. Harper couldn’t see the process, due to it taking place inside the other woman’s aetherspace, but she was using the Aquatic Domain to liquify the core.

  That fluid was to be the solution for the paste she was making. The alchemist used the mortar and pestle to grind down the lizard skin. She then proceeded to put in the waiting materials, all in a specific order and at a specific time. Briar stuck his head out and watched as well. She wasn’t sure if he was interested because of a disturbance in the aether or if he smelled the reagents and wanted some.

  Partway through the process, Harper left. The older woman was right; there wasn’t much to watch. Harper hadn’t been hoping to glean any lessons about the art of alchemy, she just thought it might be interesting. She had no ambitions to specialize in alchemy. It would take years of training to even qualify for basic competence. She currently had neither the time nor interest to pursue such a thing.

  Instead, she wanted to learn how to make the easiest of products. Ingredients for such things were cheap and plentiful. All one needed was the Aquatic Domain, basic alchemical tools, and a shallow understanding.

  Harper would not be healing lacerated limbs or brewing strengthening potions anytime soon, if ever, but she could make healing salves, weak antidotes, and tinctures to keep her awake and alert. It was barely better than mundane medicines, but barely better could still make a difference.

  Once, the noble had seen herself as an aethersmith. Using the Solar Domain to merge cores into metal and forge enchanted equipment. She would have specialized as a silversmith, making rings and necklaces that would empower their wearer. That dream was gone. Not only could she not afford to dedicate herself to an aethercraft, her talent in the Solar Domain would never be enough, whether she managed to manifest it or not.