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ichseke pointed out, this week's teaser is identical to last week's teaser. This was not a test -- I somehow posted chapter 28 last week when I should have posted chapter 27. So here is the teaser you should have gotten last week.
* * *
Antuniet rose from the workbench holding her hands up in caution. “I’m absolutely filthy. Be careful.”
“Not all of you,” Jeanne said as she set a kiss on her fingertips then pressed them against Antuniet’s lips. Antuniet gave a brief glance at the corner where Anna was working but her head was bent closely over her workbooks. “I’ll just sit myself here,” Jeanne continued, “and keep out of the way. What is Anna working on that you have to pick through the matrix on your own?”
“Planning for the next multiplication,” Antuniet answered as she turned back to work. “I thought it was time to see how well she can manage the whole process. And for the simpler workings it’s best if she can carry on if I need to be elsewhere. We’ll be adding another layer to this set of stones.” She indicated the crumbled lump of slag and dross before her. “With the two cibations and the additional fixation between them, I think more than half the stones in each batch will be usable.”
Jeanne picked up one of the cleaned emeralds already laid out on a cloth. It seemed enormous, almost the size of a pea. “This isn’t large enough?”
“That one, yes. It was the best of the lot. Of course it will be cut down for setting. If the stones were perfectly pure and flawless they could be smaller. It’s purity that gives them their strength.”
A mischievous smile crossed Jeanne’s lips and she leaned closely to whisper, “Purity always seemed more of a weakness to me.”
ichseke pointed out, this week's teaser is identical to last week's teaser. This was not a test -- I somehow posted chapter 28 last week when I should have posted chapter 27. So here is the teaser you should have gotten last week.* * *
Antuniet rose from the workbench holding her hands up in caution. “I’m absolutely filthy. Be careful.”
“Not all of you,” Jeanne said as she set a kiss on her fingertips then pressed them against Antuniet’s lips. Antuniet gave a brief glance at the corner where Anna was working but her head was bent closely over her workbooks. “I’ll just sit myself here,” Jeanne continued, “and keep out of the way. What is Anna working on that you have to pick through the matrix on your own?”
“Planning for the next multiplication,” Antuniet answered as she turned back to work. “I thought it was time to see how well she can manage the whole process. And for the simpler workings it’s best if she can carry on if I need to be elsewhere. We’ll be adding another layer to this set of stones.” She indicated the crumbled lump of slag and dross before her. “With the two cibations and the additional fixation between them, I think more than half the stones in each batch will be usable.”
Jeanne picked up one of the cleaned emeralds already laid out on a cloth. It seemed enormous, almost the size of a pea. “This isn’t large enough?”
“That one, yes. It was the best of the lot. Of course it will be cut down for setting. If the stones were perfectly pure and flawless they could be smaller. It’s purity that gives them their strength.”
A mischievous smile crossed Jeanne’s lips and she leaned closely to whisper, “Purity always seemed more of a weakness to me.”
