86 Searing, 121
The blood the elder Dornkirk brother had obtained from Private Albrecht had gone into an ice chest the moment Stefan had gotten it back to his laboratory that afternoon. He'd been up twice in the middle of the night to check on it and change the ice himself, trusting no one to the task.
They were close now, only a matter of days from when they would depart on what was possibly the most important trip of their lives. In even less time Stefan would be appearing in public to tie himself in marriage, what some considered the most important single day in the life of a man. The steady plod of Stefan's life, the prefered pace of his existence had been, heretofore, mostly lacking in watershed moments.
There had been his graduation from the Academy, the end of his tour as an officer in the ZADC, his graduation from the University, and beginning his work as the manager of the Windworks. But all of these had been things which he'd known would come about many years, sometimes his entire life, before they occurred. His wedding, though often spoken of in his life, hadn't been a sure thing till only around a month before he planned to take his vows. The Expedition had been in the works for less than a season. Yet these were the two moments that, more than anything else, he believed, would shape the course of his life.
He was to meet Eitan and Brenner in his laboratory, again, this morning. It was their last, officially scheduled meeting, before the one that would include the other chosen members of their Great work.
The season had flown by, taken up by working their minds and bodies in every conceivable way to prepare for the trip. Stefan had been up half the night most evenings reading everything he could get his hands on about the nature and geography of the Warrens, when he wasn't studying biological treatises or magical theory. In all honesty, he was more exhausted than he'd been his final months at University trying to earn his degrees. Only in the first, awful months of training after entering the ZADC had been as tiring as this Searing for Stefan.
After the experiments they performed today he was putting away all his studies. The previous half-day had been his last at the Windworks until the end of Ash. His father had been happily willing to get his hands back into it for a little while, having found retirement from the factory less interesting than he'd hoped. After (if) he returned from the Expedition Stefan would spend the remaining time with his wife.
His stomach clenched in worry and his chest in anticipation at his own mental use of the term. His wife. On the 1st of Ash he would be married, and up until then, he planned to do what amounted to nothing. There would be packing, of course, as he did not plan to return to Dornkirk Manor for the foreseeable future, there would also be fittings for his wedding suit, rehearsals and dinners with his new family or his first one. But, as far as research or work went, Stefan was done.
After this one last thing.
Moving through the laboratory he set up the scopes he'd been using since their commission early in the season, then moved on to set up several tests that would not require their use. He wanted to see the blood under the scopes, he would also be drawing some of his own blood for comparison, but he had no idea what that examination might show, so he was also setting up more standard tests. He would test for acidity, viscosity, and for the presence of several different chemical compounds.
When everything was set up he made his way to the dining room where his parents, brother, and soon-to-be-brother were lingering over breakfast. With an apologetic smile for Sylana, he said,
"Alright, chaps, all is it readiness. You'll have to forgive me, Mother, something unexpected fell into my lap only last evening and if we don't take advantage of it within the morning all change will be gone." She would not understand, but she was particularly pleased with him at the moment and was less likely, than perhaps ever, to fight with him.
"We will be finished by luncheon, and then I will be free for the final fittings and whatever else requires my attention for the wedding preparations." He bowed over her hand when she offered it with a look of indulgent exasperation, then swept Eitan and Brenner away with him.
The blood the elder Dornkirk brother had obtained from Private Albrecht had gone into an ice chest the moment Stefan had gotten it back to his laboratory that afternoon. He'd been up twice in the middle of the night to check on it and change the ice himself, trusting no one to the task.
They were close now, only a matter of days from when they would depart on what was possibly the most important trip of their lives. In even less time Stefan would be appearing in public to tie himself in marriage, what some considered the most important single day in the life of a man. The steady plod of Stefan's life, the prefered pace of his existence had been, heretofore, mostly lacking in watershed moments.
There had been his graduation from the Academy, the end of his tour as an officer in the ZADC, his graduation from the University, and beginning his work as the manager of the Windworks. But all of these had been things which he'd known would come about many years, sometimes his entire life, before they occurred. His wedding, though often spoken of in his life, hadn't been a sure thing till only around a month before he planned to take his vows. The Expedition had been in the works for less than a season. Yet these were the two moments that, more than anything else, he believed, would shape the course of his life.
He was to meet Eitan and Brenner in his laboratory, again, this morning. It was their last, officially scheduled meeting, before the one that would include the other chosen members of their Great work.
The season had flown by, taken up by working their minds and bodies in every conceivable way to prepare for the trip. Stefan had been up half the night most evenings reading everything he could get his hands on about the nature and geography of the Warrens, when he wasn't studying biological treatises or magical theory. In all honesty, he was more exhausted than he'd been his final months at University trying to earn his degrees. Only in the first, awful months of training after entering the ZADC had been as tiring as this Searing for Stefan.
After the experiments they performed today he was putting away all his studies. The previous half-day had been his last at the Windworks until the end of Ash. His father had been happily willing to get his hands back into it for a little while, having found retirement from the factory less interesting than he'd hoped. After (if) he returned from the Expedition Stefan would spend the remaining time with his wife.
His stomach clenched in worry and his chest in anticipation at his own mental use of the term. His wife. On the 1st of Ash he would be married, and up until then, he planned to do what amounted to nothing. There would be packing, of course, as he did not plan to return to Dornkirk Manor for the foreseeable future, there would also be fittings for his wedding suit, rehearsals and dinners with his new family or his first one. But, as far as research or work went, Stefan was done.
After this one last thing.
Moving through the laboratory he set up the scopes he'd been using since their commission early in the season, then moved on to set up several tests that would not require their use. He wanted to see the blood under the scopes, he would also be drawing some of his own blood for comparison, but he had no idea what that examination might show, so he was also setting up more standard tests. He would test for acidity, viscosity, and for the presence of several different chemical compounds.
When everything was set up he made his way to the dining room where his parents, brother, and soon-to-be-brother were lingering over breakfast. With an apologetic smile for Sylana, he said,
"Alright, chaps, all is it readiness. You'll have to forgive me, Mother, something unexpected fell into my lap only last evening and if we don't take advantage of it within the morning all change will be gone." She would not understand, but she was particularly pleased with him at the moment and was less likely, than perhaps ever, to fight with him.
"We will be finished by luncheon, and then I will be free for the final fittings and whatever else requires my attention for the wedding preparations." He bowed over her hand when she offered it with a look of indulgent exasperation, then swept Eitan and Brenner away with him.
