Lyris lead me to some sort of parlor elsewhere in the building. I wasn’t sure if we were in a castle or if the tower just had an adjacent building, but either way the place seemed more expansive than I would have expected for just a tower. Granted, I still hadn’t seen this building from the outside.
Taliornen was waiting in the parlor and directed me to a seat, and Lyris poured some sort of tea and offered a biscuit of some kind. I accepted, kind of curious what elven snacks were like, and Taliornen called Lyris over while I ate. He handed her a dark red lozenge that looked vaguely familiar.
“Lyris, eat this.”
She did as ordered, and shortly thereafter I felt something… odd across the Sympathy Potion bond, like my sensation of her presence and emotion suddenly intensified. She must have just had one herself, probably made with the blood she cleaned off of me earlier.
Her eyes widened and she looked between me and Taliornen with surprise.
“This will let you speak Morgan’s ‘English’ so that you can engage in diplomacy with Earth while Morgan remains here. It will also let you keep track of her better.”
Lyris clearly looked upset about that for some reason. “Do you not have a better way to let me speak English besides a Marriage Bond?”
That got my attention.
Taliornen smirked. “Don’t worry, you’re not marrying her. The effect is only minimally invasive and temporary as long as only one of you takes it.”
Ah. Shit. “And, uh, what if I… have also taken one of those. With her blood in it.”
The color drained out of Lyris’s face, clearly having figured out how I was able to locate her. She looked at Taliornen pleadingly.
He kept his face neutral for several seconds before he had to turn around and stifle a laugh into the arm of his robe, but quickly recovered and turned back to us.
“Ah, well in that case the good news is your language access will be permanent.”
Lyris’s face did a 180 and flushed red, and she couldn’t look either of us in the eye, her gaze darting around. I could tell through the bond that she was feeling a lot of feelings right now, but largely seemed surprised and embarrassed, but a little bit excited as well?
“I was told that it was called a Sympathy Potion when I took it. What is it really?”
Taliornen gave me a sympathetic look, traces of amusement still on his face. “That is an apt description when taken alone. It normally only lasts a few days to a week if you do that, but it’s not how it’s intended to be taken. No, this is a potion used to seal marriages among nobles, and the effects are permanent if you both take one.”
“Seal marriages!?”
“Yes, specifically arranged marriages, though they are often used even in more voluntary arrangements as well. Elven nobles can be quite restrained, and it can be hard for them to bond with their politically arranged partners even under the best of circumstances. The Marriage Potion provides a bit of… lubricant, shall we say. Even if they don’t speak the same language, even if they keep their feelings hidden, the bond will make them understand one another. And it will do more now that you’ve both taken it.”
His eyes gleamed with mischief, and Lyris suddenly looked up and shouted “Don’t!” but Taliornen spoke over her.
“It’ll make you feel the urge to consummate your marriage.”
I could feel a wave of embarrassment from Lyris, and she could probably feel the same from me.
“Uh… and how long will that last?”
“Oh, it’s intended to keep noble lineages alive, and our kind tend to be bad about procreating if left to our own devices, so the potion is designed to encourage frequent consummation until you’ve, well, ensured your lineage, so to speak.”
“How is that supposed to work when we’re both girls?”
“You’re a witch, dear princess, I’m sure you can whip up a potion or spell that will let Lyris play the male role, when you’re ready for it. Or when the need grows too strong. Same sex marriage is not so uncommon among elves, and such pairings are still expected to be fruitful, particularly among nobility.”
Oh no. Given that I was only a girl for the purposes of this job and had no interest in men, I hadn’t even thought about whether this body could… that was a whole new level on the scale of things I didn’t want to think about or ask any follow up questions about at this time.
Lyris composed herself enough to ask a coherent question. “How hard is it to annul this?”
Taliornen smiled knowingly. “Ah, that’s a reasonable question, my dear. Political marriages generally aren’t intended to be undone, whether or not the participants agreed to it. Those under extreme duress can have their marriage bond and the formalities of their marriage annulled by a priestess of Valrea, the goddess of love, after a formal petition. If the priestesses use a potion or spell to do this, they’ve kept the process a secret.”
“Well that doesn’t sound so bad,” I commented, hoping this could be undone sooner rather than later.
“It does require a pilgrimage and a sizable donation, however, and we have better things to take care of right now, don’t we?”
He was right. That could wait, at least a little while. Right now the bond would let us communicate between our cultures, and that was important.
“Now, let us begin by hearing what you know about your family’s hostile actions, young lady.”
Finally. I sipped my tea as I decided what I could or should reveal and how. The tea was reminiscent of Earth black tea but had some herbal notes I couldn’t place, but now was not the time to worry about the ingredients of my beverage.
“I only started working as a familiar two days ago, and I wasn’t at the Ward manor guarding the portal before that. I’m afraid I don’t have direct information on what you’re talking about. Could you explain? From what I’ve heard, it seemed like you were attacking us, not the reverse.”
Taliornen looked at Lyris, who seemed slightly disturbed by this information but nodded, likely indicating that she didn’t think I was lying. Probably using our bond like a polygraph. Something I’d have to keep in mind, as such things weren’t foolproof in my world, but I didn’t know how reliable such techniques were with magic.
“You only started two days ago? Curious. And what have the other witches and their familiars been doing during this time?”
I wasn’t really sure what was safe to tell him, but hiding information wasn’t going to help me get out of here. “According to Sable the other witches are out of commission for medical reasons, and the other familiars were wiped out.”
That seemed surprising to him. “What medical reasons might those be?”
“Again, this is still according to Sable, but she said you had sent a small dragon through the portal. Fighting it was costly. I was only called in to help because everyone else was out for the moment.”
The two elves looked confused, and Taliornen denied the accusation. “I have sent no dragon, but your portal cave does have damage consistent with a minor dragon attack. And if what you say is true, the monsters emerging from our own portal are unlikely to have been sent by your master. It seems something else may be afoot.”
I felt mildly relieved. If they didn’t think Sable was responsible for whatever attacks they were experiencing, they probably didn’t need me as a hostage after all.
“So, can I go home?”
Taliornen thought on this. “Admittedly, I had hoped to keep you. A pet Ward could be quite useful, maybe as a retainer, or to convert into my own familiar, and of course it’s especially tempting now that you’re bonded to Lyris.”
That wasn’t a helpful line of thought for me. I needed to do something about that idea quickly.
“Sir, maybe that would be counterproductive right now?”
He gave me an unreadable smile. “And why do you say that, Morgan?”
“Well I’m only an apprentice witch, I still need a lot more training?”
“A fair consideration, but we do have witches in this world as well. I’d be happy to get you some training if you’ll agree to be my retainer.”
I suppose he’d like me to consider that generous? “Ah… thanks, but I won’t learn my family secrets if I don’t train with them first.”
Taliornen nodded sagely. “That’s an interesting point. Obtaining Ward secrets for myself is a decent reason to delay your acquisition. But wouldn’t you prefer to be free of your burdens as a familiar and serve me as a free woman now instead?”
I didn’t know if he was being serious, but I suppose to the right woman that might be the start of a good offer. “No, I appreciate the offer, but I don’t believe that’s in my best interests at this time.”
“Hmm, a shame, though I suppose I could still take you as my familiar forcefully.”
This wasn’t going well. I had to make some kind of counter offer, or maybe even a threat? I wasn’t really equipped for this kind of political maneuvering. I wasn’t sure if this was an actual threat or if he was prodding me to see what he could get out of me
Offer him something from outside the barrier.
That seemed like a reasonable idea but it wasn’t mine. Where did that thought… I glanced at Lyris, who nodded slightly. Apparently our newly enhanced bond offered some kind of telepathy. Handy. I thought back at her,
What happened to the device in my pocket? The one that makes voices.
Lyris pretended that she’d just remembered something and interrupted our negotiation. “Ah, yes, I should probably return what was in your pocket. It vibrated earlier.” She handed me my phone and some other random crud that was in my pockets. Wait, if it vibrated earlier…
There was a notification. 1 New Voicemail, and a missed call from Sable. A quick glance at the top of the phone told me all I needed to know: LTE. Two bars. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but the elven wizard’s tower in another world had cellular service.
I wanted to check that voicemail before I went any farther.
“Taliornen, may I have a moment? I have a communication from my world I need to check on.”
He raised an eyebrow and frowned. “That device… I’ve seen you use it to summon voices while I was watching through Lyris’s eyes. What sort of magic is it?”
I had to suppress a slight smirk. I had him on the hook. “None, it’s completely mundane. Give me a moment, if you would.”
Lyris began explaining to him that she had checked it over for signs of magic and found none, confirming my story and further intriguing him. Meanwhile, I opened the voicemail and listened. Based on the timestamp it had been sent while I was in the bath.
“Morgan, if you’re hearing this then cell service works over there. I’m not 100% sure if it will, but my grandma’s notes said radio would generally work. So, item number 1, I heard him say something about holding you hostage until I stop attacking. I don’t know what he’s talking about exactly but I’m absolutely not attacking anyone. Item number 2, I have some idea of what’s going on now that I’ve seen the inside of both crystal caves. The big crystals with the portal are supposed to look identical, aside from the sigils differing. I think someone’s been harvesting portal crystal, though I’m not sure on which side. Tell him we’ve got a multipath problem. And if you have to negotiate, don’t agree to anything open-ended. Alright princess, have fun in elf land and come back to me in one piece. Bye.”
Of course she had to be listening in when Taliornen was calling me a princess. Of course. I was never going to live this down, especially if I lived. Once I closed the voicemail, I looked back up to Taliornen and Lyris, both waiting on me.
“Alright, Sable left a message for me while I was in the bath. She disavows knowledge of the attacks, as expected, and says she has some idea of why they’re happening. Something about the crystals looking different and a… multiple path problem.” I did my best to translate the word ‘multipath’. It was a technical term, and if the elves had an equivalent, Lyris didn’t know it.
He looked intrigued by the idea, and spent a few moments in deep contemplation. “I’d like to come back to this… message device later, but yes, now that you mention it, that could explain what is happening, at least to an extent. I had not considered the possibility that the difference in shape between our crystals could be the cause.”
“And would stopping this be easier with cooperation between you and the Ward family?”
“…yes, I suppose it would. With your great barrier, incursions from monsters aren’t as immediately troublesome for you as they are for us. While I could still hold you hostage to coerce their help, this issue would likely require coordination to solve properly, and if I engender poor sentiment then you are likely to plot against me.”
“Then you’ll let me go?”
“I’ll let you buy your freedom.”
He still wanted to profit from this kidnapping.
Are all elves this mercenary?
No, but nobles often are.
Well, time to bring out Lyris’s idea.
I hold up my phone. “Fine, you’re interested in this, right?”
“Yes… it’s quite a bit smaller than the radio set that your grandmother used when she was here in her youth.”
It felt weird hearing him talk about ‘my’ grandmother, but I knew he meant Sable’s. It was also somewhat surprising to hear him say an English word, ‘radio’, but it made sense that Grandma Ward would have used that term if she brought a radio and showed it to him.
“It’s also a lot more powerful than her radio. What do you know about electronics, Taliornen?”
“Hm, based on the name I would guess it’s related to the electricity that your grandmother said her radio was powered by, some form of bottled lightning.”
“Yes, you could say it’s the science of manipulating the flow of lightning to perform work of various kinds, including communications, lighting, heating, transportation, computations, even artificial intelligence. With no magic involved.”
His eyes widened, not expecting the scope of electronics to be that wide.
“But how is it possible to create even intelligence with just lightning?”
Among the items Lyris had salvaged from my pocket was a multitool. My phone was a bit of a geeky model designed with user service in mind, so this shouldn’t be too hard. I used the tool to open the back of my phone, exposing a circuit board and the battery. I showed him the circuit board.
“These tiny lines carry electricity flow in the same way that sigil lines carry mana. You can see a few objects sticking up here and there… these are similar to runes in that they transform or use that flow somehow. In less sophisticated electronics most of these are large enough to be visible, but in this device most of the components are miniaturized far below what a human can see and built into these black rectangles, which we call integrated circuits, or chips.”
Taliornen studied the circuit board intently, clearly fascinated by the implications of a mundane analogue to the magic he was familiar with. “And how many runes… or rather, components does one of these chips conceal?”
I didn’t have the exact numbers for any of these components handy, but I knew in vague terms how many transistors a modern processor had, anyway. “Billions. Each component is maybe only a few nanometers across. Uh, that’s… very small.”
His mouth gaped a bit at this. While the sigils I’d seen were complex, they’d all been large enough for a human to see all the runes. I estimated his Teleport sigil had maybe a few hundred runes, so the difference in scale must have been baffling to him. “And with that many, you can create even intelligence?”
“Of a sort, yes.”
I opened an AI chat app on my phone and let Lyris try communicating with it in English, asking it a few questions. She had a hard time believing it wasn’t another person, but I tried asking it a few questions I knew an AI would still struggle to generate a coherent response to.
I also asked it to draw a few illustrations based on some verbal descriptions, and the two of them were surprised by both the apparent speed and skill of the “artist”, but also slightly unnerved as I pointed out the various imperfections and inconsistencies that no human artist would produce.
Taliornen seemed to go into a reverie of sorts as he considered the implications of such technology. “The ancients were said to be able to create thinking golems, but the technique has been lost… even with a sigil that dense, I don’t know if… maybe by combining this, and…”
He interrupted his train of thought, suddenly glancing up at me as though remembering I was present. “You will provide me with a device like this and teach me about electronics.”
I smiled. This was going to work. “I will provide a device, yes. And I will teach you one semester worth of basic electronics. That’s as much as I know of that topic, so it will have to do. Anything else will cost you. But either way, I’ll have to go home to collect an appropriate device and educational materials.”
He seemed satisfied and smiled with a growing hunger. It seemed like gears were turning in his head already with potential applications.