A firm blow on the wooden tube sent its contents bursting forth. Mixing with the gritty desert air, a bluish fog struck the rugged-looking man menacing Kaden square in the face.
The thug promptly dropped his dagger on the ground of the alleyway, collapsed, and huddled into a fetal position. There he remained, blubbering like a heartbroken teenager who'd just received a stern rebuke from the girl he loved.
Kaden left him to his despair, but not before collecting the abandoned blade. Once the effects wore off in a couple days, this scoundrel would require a new weapon before menacing anyone else. Kaden hid the steel in his belt under the folds of the apprentice shawl draped over his shoulders and hanging down to his knees.
Now he would have to return to his father's shop before completing his daily deliveries.
It wasn't far out of the way, not through the back alleys, and thankfully there were no further incidents during his detour. In no time, Kaden was staring down the freshly painted sign on the facade of their family's storefront: Grayson's Apothecary and Distillery. Underneath it another proclaimed, "Exclusive supplier of the Royal Guardians of Ison."
Kaden shook his head. Everyone knew who his father was, making such a bold announcement unnecessary.
As he opened the door, clanging the bell overhead, Kaden preemptively cleared his throat.
"Back already?" Behind the counter, his father interrupted his work restocking a shelf. All around the shop were a variety of neatly arranged potions, salves, and ointments.
"I uh... need another Sorrow."
His father's eyes narrowed onto him. "Another? Why?"
"Ran into some trouble."
"Kaden?"
"I'm fine. Had to spray a thief to stop from being robbed."
Grumbling proceeded his father down the small ladder under him. "Kaden? How many times have I told you? Stick to the mains."
"The alleys are quicker."
"And more dangerous. Even in the Upper Ring, some places are not safe. What's that?"
Kaden's shawl had fallen back, exposing the hilt of the bandit's dagger. He pulled the covering to hide it again. "Took it from the thief."
"You know what would happen if you're caught with that?"
"Wasn't planning on keeping it."
"No? Going to sell it? Don't I pay you enough? Stay out of the Lower Ring. Am I clear?"
Kaden arrived behind the counter, stashing the blade in a secret compartment. "I'll pay you back for the one I wasted."
With a firm hold on Kaden's shoulder, his father's face softened. "I'm just glad you're safe. Please, stay to the mains?"
Kaden nodded at the request, but he didn't verbally agree.
His father eyed him, but opted to set the topic aside. "Come, I'll give you another. Wouldn't want Captain Uson to go berserk."
While his father produced a key from his pocket, Kaden cringed. "He wouldn't need the treatment if you weren't supplying the military with weapons."
"Yet you used Sorrow as a weapon today." Key inserted into the solid lock securing the door behind the counter, his father turned it.
"In self-defense."
"A weapon is a weapon, regardless of its use. Do you think our enemies don't use Rage to bolster their own troops? Or Fear to subdue ours? If we didn't do the same, Ison, and all of Imeron, would fall."
"Captain Uson is addicted to a drug you made."
"And now I'm treating him with another medication I provide. I am not unsympathetic, but we've got one of our special orders to fulfill."
"Prince Relastin is coming?"
"Yes. And he wants double the last order."
The door swung open, revealing the array of glass stills and clear tubes interwoven among each other. Some were small, powered by a single candle flame. Others were larger, churning out product inside vented brick ovens. The colors flowing through the fragile piping were a veritable rainbow before Kaden's eyes.
Smaller evaporators produced emotions in lesser demand. Green was Disgust. Yellow for Joy. Excitement was clear like water. The dark blackness of Envy. Disgust was a deep purple compared to the more vibrant indigo of Surprise.
Love, flowing pink, also had a small still, but only because of its rarity, not for lack of demand.
The production of Sorrow, the blue stream, took place in a medium-sized unit. The Rage Addiction suffered by so many soldiers necessitated its demand.
The two largest units pumped out the bright red of Rage and the burning orange of Fear.
Collecting one of two identical chests on the floor, Kaden's father silently implied for his son to bring the other. Returning to the front of the store, the bell once more rang while a solder held the entrance open.
The warrior prince in charge of this metropolis strode through. Like the sands surrounding this oasis in the desert, his armor was painted a drab brown. Streaks of steel gleamed through scratches marring the coating. Each worn like a badge of honor, the marks denoted their royal visitor had seen battle and survived.
"Ah, your Highness." Kaden's father beamed as they sat down the chests. "Right on time. Your order is ready."
With a snap of his fingers, the prince summoned two more soldiers in.
The troops inspected the neat rows of wooden cylinders with red-dyed tips. One soldier balanced a random tube on his finger. He checked another. Then another. He selected about two dozen before turning to his prince. "They seem to be a little light, sir."
"I assure you," Kaden's father spoke. "Each contains the requisite one quarter stone of extract."
The soldier handed one tube to his sovereign.
Exhibiting a look of concern, Prince Relastin also tested its weight. "You wouldn't be cheating Ison, would you?"
Kaden's mouth shot off. "My father is an honest broker!"
That drew a calm, although annoyed, glare from the prince. Even as his soldiers clutched their weapons. "That so, whelp?"
"It is!"
"I apologize for my son." Kaden's father rushed to bow, head on the floor. "Throughout our long-standing relationship, have I ever failed you?"
The cylinder bounced in the prince's palm. "Not until now." Another snap of his fingers sent his guards rushing to secure Kaden and his father.
"This is a slander!" Kaden struggled against the soldier restraining him. "It is against The Decrees for even a prince to level frivolous insults against another!"
In stark contrast, despite sweat beading on his forehead, Kaden's father exhibited a more polished demeanor. "It would be my honor to double check each, your Highness. If I made any mistake in my measurement, this entire batch would be free."
The prince gazed at the commodity in his hand. "Did you think I wouldn't notice these being short by one sixty-fourth of a stone?"
"I assure you, they're not. Not by one sixty-fourth. Not by one two-hundred and fifty-sixth."
"Well, then." The prince sloughed off his cloak and made his way over to a metal bar capped on both ends by enormous round spheres of polished stone. "We'll just have to check."
Kaden couldn't remember the prince ever asking for proof that his father's product was perfect in both weight and purity. All of Kaden's life, those testing stones stood untouched.
Standing over them, the Prince of Ison crushed the tube of essence in his hand. Raising it to his face, he inhaled deeply and drew the flowing red vapors into him.
The prince bent down, his grip firm upon the bar. He strained, but the stones only flinched. He tried again, adding more force. Veins in his forehead bulged, but the weights rose only an inch before slamming back down.
He should have been able to lift it. Especially after a full dose of Rage pouring into him. Kaden could only surmise the prince was correct. His father had shorted him. Not by much, but by enough.
"Your Highness, I am sorry." Kaden's father had a quake in his voice as the prince returned to pick his cloak up off the floor. "My... My scales must be off. I will make it right."
"Ison cannot afford to be betrayed by its own citizens. And make no mistake, this is a betrayal. One that could have cost Ison many lives."
"I implore you..."
"A traitor's punishment is death." Nearly three feet of polished and honed steel rang forth in the prince's hand. He stalked over while the soldiers restraining Kaden's father hoisted him up and placed his head across the counter.
"No!" Kaden's cry rushed out. "Father!"
"Any last words, Orl?" The prince raised his sword.
"Spare my son." That was the request Kaden's father chose. "He wasn't involved. He can serve you. He knows the ways."
The prince looked at Kaden, trying desperately to tear free and rush to his father's side. Then back to Orl, ready to meet his fate. "As long as he does not also turn traitor? You have my word."
And with that, fueled by Rage, the stroke of the prince's sword fell.