was making. Engines similar to it required coal to heat, but I was betting I could find something more efficient with a bit of alchemical know-how. I wandered over to the books on chemistry and spent a long time researching what would burn slow and hot.
The sun was setting when I returned to Levent’s nook. I was excited about what I was going to try for new fuels, but I stopped myself before I blurted out my brilliant plan. I smiled a little again, despite myself. The dragon-kin’s head was lulled to the side, a book on landscapes open in his lap. He was asleep.
I tucked the chemistry book under my arm and crept up to him, peering at his face. I was almost his height when he was sitting like this. I examined his face, a new angle from all the times he looked down at me. He always seemed so calm, but only when he was sleeping did the wrinkles between his eyebrows disappear.
“Gah.” I jumped as his eyes snapped open and focused on me. I nearly dropped my book, catching it just before it tumbled from my arms completely.
“Hi,” I said. Levent sat up in the chair, closing the book on his lap and cracking his neck.
“Time to go?” he said, standing.
“Y-yeah,” I said. I shuffled out of the library, signing a contract as I borrowed the book. I offered to borrow an art book for Levent to read, but he shook his head. He said nothing as he walked beside me on the way back to the inn.
Once inside, we had a brief meal with Rio and retired to our separate rooms. Levent immediately left again, to where I did not know. I hoped his fake pass would at least keep him safe. At this point if he were caught it would be his own fault.
I lay in my bed for almost an hour. I kept glancing toward the empty bed on the other side of the divider. What was the kin doing?
Sighing, I rolled out of bed. There were more constructive things I could do with my time than lie in bed waiting for sleep to come.
I lit a candle and began working on formulas for a new fuel. It was two hours later when I put my quill down and stood up. I had a few good options, all I needed to do know was put them to the test.
Stretching, I turned and looked at Levent’s empty bed again, then to the door. It was only a few hours before dawn, and though I had a headache pulsing in my skull, I knew I was not going to be able to sleep with my brain chugging away as it was.
If the dragon-kin had come back, I at least would have tried to sleep.