“You’re already doing it.”
Working together, they had most of the things sorted and put away in a short amount of time. Niniane kept what she was taking with her on the bed. She chose outfits suitable to wear when horseback riding and camping, jeans, T-shirts, sweaters, sneakers and boots. Toiletries were kept to what was strictly functional along with a few basic items of makeup. A rainresistant jacket, scarf, all of the lingerie Tiago liked, the bundle that contained her knives, their various sheaths and the small vial of poison she used to coat the tips. Some jewelry, a few small mementos from her life in New York, a couple of paperbacks and the inlaid box. She would have more of her things shipped later and would expand her wardrobe in Adriyel with Dark Fae clothing, so she could afford to travel somewhat light on this trip.
Then she sat on the edge of the bed and opened the box. It contained a pair of 2-barrel .41 rimfire caliber Remington Double Derringer pistols with engraved silver handles, along with a couple of felt ammunition bags and cleaning materials.
“Holy crap, those are gorgeous,” Cameron breathed, sitting beside her. “Are those 1866 Derringers?”
“Yep,” said Niniane. She picked up one, checked to make sure it was unloaded then handed it to Cameron. “I bought them as soon as they came out. Derringers were so much easier for me to handle than the earlier bigger guns, and of course you can carry one in your dress or coat pocket or slip one in your boot.”
Cameron inspected the small pistol with reverence. “You bought this when it was new. My God.” She sighted down the short barrel. “Where are you going to store these when we cross over?”
“I’m not going to store them,” Niniane said. “We’re going to clean and load them, and I’m going to take them with us.”
Cameron’s sleek sandy eyebrows rose. “I don’t understand. Technology doesn’t work in Other lands.”
“That’s not quite true,” Niniane said. She held her hand out for the pistol, and Cameron handed it to her. She showed the other woman how to clean and load it. “Dragos has done a lot of experimenting. Passive technologies like composting toilets or designs that utilize solar heat work just fine. In fact, we’re taking a Melitta coffee filter with us. Modern crossbow and compound bow designs work well too.”
“Interesting.” Cameron worked on cleaning the pistol she had been given. Her strong, long-fingered hands were confident, capable.
“Magic is so strong in Other lands, Dragos thinks it acts as a sort of natural defense mechanism. He says it works like a body’s immune system,” Niniane said. “Once it recognizes something that acts on some sort of principle of combustion, the magic moves to block it. That’s why guns misfire.” Niniane loaded hers and handed a couple of bullets to Cameron, who took them with her eyebrows still raised.
“You’re not inspiring my confidence with this little chat,” Cameron said.
“Here’s the thing,” Niniane said. “Automatic weapons always seize or misfire as soon as they’re taken over and used, but it can take the magic a little longer to recognize one of the primitive guns. You never know when they might explode, or misfire, so they’re dangerous and nobody uses them, but they always fire at least once.”
Cameron’s face was hard, her hazel eyes clear and direct. “The gun might fire, but it might also kill you at the same time.”
“Tiago and I were talking last night about a risk/benefit analysis.” She sat with her loaded derringer in her lap. She met the other woman’s troubled gaze. “The potential benefit might outweigh the risk.”
“The situation would have to be extreme,” Cameron said. “Someone would have to consider this a weapon of last resort.”
Niniane nodded. She thought of slipping in her brother’s blood. Then she imagined slipping in Tiago’s blood.
She said, “And then nobody would see it coming.”
She managed to persuade Cameron to keep the contents of the box to herself. As she told Cameron, if Tiago found out, he would go on a rampage and take them away from her. In all likelihood the guns would never be fired, and having them with her would give her a severe kind of comfort. Still the other woman remained resistant until Niniane finally snapped, “It’s none of his business, Cameron! If I ever feel the need to fire one of these, Tiago won’t be around to help me.”
Cameron looked grim but at last fell silent.
Niniane had saddlebags and trunks brought up. She and Cameron packed the inlaid box, along with the rest of the things.
Soon after dawn the next day, the party that was crossing over to Adriyel gathered outside the stables. Dew still sprinkled the lawn, but the early morning air was fast losing its crisp coolness. The weather forecast stated Chicago was going to see a summer scorcher that day, with temperatures climbing into the mid-nineties.