Never in my career had I made an insect appear from a perfume before. Of course, it wouldn't be a real firefly — only an illusion to whoever could smell it — but it would still be a difficult hurdle to leap over. The first small obstacle while the others I would face over the next few days towered behind it.
Corvin returned to the workshop with the bottles partially filled with water, a simple base perfect for magic testing.
"That determination could set the room alight with fire," he chuckled as he placed them down. "I think I'll let you go first just in case. Then I'll stand to the side with some water." The Head Perfumer sketched a bow, offering the ingredients to me.
I ignored the flustered warmth that crept along my skin. Of course he would make me go first. Corvin had been attempting to make this perfume for so long that he had likely tried this part already.
"You might want to stand a little further back," I retorted with a roll of my eyes. "We don't want these embers to catch you too."
Honing my focus on the poor carcass of a firefly resting inside the glass box, I studied the shape of its body. I committed every detail that I could to memory — the soft shell of its body, the six legs bent at awkward angles, the two pairs of wings tucked against it.
After placing the same jewel, beetle shell and seawater for the colour I had perfected that morning into the bottle, I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing. Corvin's stare pierced my concentration, his watchful and curious gaze eager for the results, but I drowned out his presence.
Heat flooded my fingertips as I pushed magic into the perfume. The liquid inside bubbled fiercely, threatening to spill over the top. I pulled back my hand and opened my eyes when a burning smell appeared. Smoke rose from the tube neck of the bottle and the room spun for a moment around me, both of which were never a good sign.
"I was joking about the fire, you know." Corvin looked around the room with a grimace, settling back down on the box. "Perhaps we should test it outside. Neither of us would want the workshop if it's nothing but ashes."
I kicked his leg as he sat down, a playful gesture. "It will be fine! I'm not going to burn anything down." Inserting an atomiser into the bottle, I sprayed it beside us, close enough so we could both get the effects of my newest creation.
At first, nothing happened. The unbridled scent of ocean salt and forgotten dreams wrapped around us. Then, a dead firefly fell from the ceiling and landed on the desk, causing us both to jump. It was an exact replica of the one in the display case, every detail was matched.
I followed the reference a little too well. My practice of carefully moulding features for my clients wasn't too helpful in this situation.
"Well," Corvin began. "It's definitely a firefly." He stifled his laughter by pressing his lips together. The skin of them looked soft to the touch — a feature that others would envy. Before I could imagine what it would be like to run my thumb across them, I pulled my thoughts from the darkness of the spiral staircase they were heading down.
Why was I thinking about this thief's lips?
"It's a start." I crossed my arms. "Your turn then. I'd like to see what you can do." If all he had managed so far was the colour, his own fireflies couldn't be too impressive.
"Alright." The Head Perfumer selected a bottle and a chunk of lapis lazuli, securing the ore in his hand. "Watch and learn."
After a moment that stretched for a concerning amount of time, Corvin's line of concentration never wavering, he finally finished his attempt. He sprayed the perfume above us so the vapour fell onto us, transforming the workshop. Blue, glowing orbs faded into existence, floating in the air as if there was a phantom breeze coaxing them along. They didn't take the form of fireflies like my failure had, but they still achieved their purpose.
"It's not enough." Corvin frowned, staring at the bottle in his hands in defeat. "We need so many more to get them to fill the environment."
"Hey, it's a start, right?" I collected a few more ingredients, ready to prepare my next try. "If we can focus on perfecting the fireflies today, we can-"
A knock at the door cut me off and it opened to reveal a group of royal guards carrying more sealed boxes. They stacked them on top of the others and left without a word, only nodding in Corvin's direction.
"The guards are still here?" I asked with a raised brow. He was only someone who worked for the royals — a servant to their every command. Why did they feel the need to stick around him?
"They're only here to deliver a few more of my belongings. Pretend they aren't there." He used his body to block the entrance of the workshop, forcing my attention back to the task at hand.
"Okay." Uncertainty lingered in my voice but if Corvin noticed, he did a good job at hiding it.
Fatigue clung to the edges of my mind, my energy nearly at its limit — both the kind that allowed my body to function and the magical type. It was only one more perfume for today. One more I could push myself through until I was sure Corvin would succeed with the fireflies.
Surrounding the bottle with the components I needed, I concentrated on the scenery I needed to make and not the details of the insect. However, a strange sensation built inside my chest as I worked. Instead of the heat, a torrent of ice flowed through my veins. My skin itched all over, a painful thorn in my focus, and it became difficult to breathe.
"Elvira?" Corvin asked, his voice low with concern. He pulled my hands away from the perfume and snatched the bottle away, snapping my magic infusion. "Why are you glowing blue?"
When I opened my eyes, my body began to shake. All over, my skin had a faint, glowing sheen with dark cerulean spots scattered across it. If you looked closely enough, the spots were shaped like fireflies — a faint outline of the insect I was attempting to make.
Why had I been foolish and pushed myself? I should have listened to my energy levels before depleting the sparse resources I had.
The rare gift of pulling magic from the air to bind it to other items wasn't always as glorious as it sounded. It stole energy from you, using more than the power needed to perform its task. If you weren't careful and didn't pace yourself with using it, it took everything from you.
Corvin rushed to my side of the desk as the world began to spin, his arms catching me and holding me upright as I struggled to bring air into my lungs. "It's okay. You're going to be okay." He reached over me to grab a jacket off a hook on the wall, tugging it over my shoulders and doing up the top button so it would rest there.
My thoughts clouded as they tried to process what was going on, the scent of vanilla and lavender lulling me into a comforting sleep. It was the same addictive smell from when Corvin had toppled us over in the Client Gardens. The urge to steal the jacket so I could create a perfect scent match for a personal perfume fought against the magical drain. At the state my body was depleting itself, it felt like the last thing I would ever smell.
Corvin tilted up my chin with a finger, fear and a hint of something darker quivering in his eyes. "Did you know you were this close to the edge of draining yourself?"
All I could do was look down in defeat and shrug. The glowing was getting worse. Where the spots had been few and far between moments ago, now they left barely any piece of skin untouched.
"Can you stand? We need to get to the infirmary quickly." The Head Perfumer helped haul me up, offering himself as a support, but my legs gave way underneath me. Before I could reach the floor, Corvin scooped me into his arms.
I buried my face into his shoulder, clinging onto his shirt, as pain seared through my limbs. A muted whimper broke through my lips, tears threatening to spill.
"It's okay. The pain will be gone very soon. Just hold on tight." Corvin's comforting assurances faded into the distance as darkness danced in my vision, taunting me with its fierce steps and choreography, until it claimed its place and pulled me into its never-ending ball.
Chapter Word Count: 1,483
Total Word Count: 9,066