The east wing echoed with the sound of wooden wheels turning over stone. Not skidding. Not shuddering. But turning—smoothly, reliably.
Sharath stood at the edge of his hidden workshop, arms crossed, lips curled into the smallest of triumphant smirks.
Before him sat the Tricycle Mk. I.
Three wheels, two pedals, one nervous Dayo ready to test it.
"It's safe," Sharath said, slightly too confidently.
"Safe-ish," Mina corrected, adjusting a leather strap.
Dayo looked at both of them. "It has no brakes."
Sharath gestured to the thick braided rope coiled at the back.
"That's the brake."
"That's laundry rope."
"Multi-purpose brake. Now pedal."
❖ The Trike RidesDayo pedaled.
The trike moved.
Mina jogged beside him. Sharath followed, notebook in hand.
It wobbled slightly, leaned left on sharp turns, and made a faint creaking noise when pushed too hard—but it held together.
They rode it through the rear servant corridors, across the mossy courtyard path, and back around the training stables.
Dayo laughed aloud.
Mina gasped, "It works!"
Thermo, watching from a high beam, flicked his tail once in approval.
Sharath whispered, "Controlled motion without enchantment. It's real."
But then—
The trike turned too fast.
The front wheel jerked.
Dayo yelped as the entire assembly listed hard right and flipped gently onto its side.
Everyone froze.
Sharath ran forward.
Dayo blinked, grinned upside-down, and gave a thumbs-up.
"Steering," Mina panted, "needs work."
Sharath nodded grimly.
"Back to the drawing board."
❖ Adjustments and ArtistrySharath spent the next three days:
Redesigning the steering axle to allow flexible tilt.
Reinforcing the front wheel support with curved yokes.
Introducing a leather-pivoted "turn grip bar"—which Mina insisted on naming the Woo-Wheel.
Sharath vetoed the name in official documentation, but it stuck among the apprentices.
They built Trike Mk. II, and this time—no flipping.
They even added a decorative front piece: a carved wooden phoenix head, painted with leftover pigment from last year's Equinox lanterns.
"Because why not make innovation pretty?" Mina said.
Sharath agreed.
❖ Whispers BeginIt was during a late-afternoon ride test through the estate's old orchard path that the trike was first seen by someone outside their circle.
Lord Halven, a visiting baron and minor cousin to House Darsha, had been enjoying a quiet stroll. He turned a corner, expecting birdsong, and instead witnessed a child gliding by on a rolling throne of wood and metal.
He stopped mid-step, mouth ajar.
"What in the Three Moons' names is that?"
Mina screeched to a stop.
Sharath dismounted with theatrical calm.
"It's called a tricycle," he said.
Lord Halven blinked.
"I… see. And is it… possessed?"
Sharath laughed. "Not unless Dayo's riding it."
❖ Conversations in the CapitalThree days later, Lord Halven was in the capital.
By the fourth day, he was in a tea parlor with a court mage, describing "a self-moving wheeled contraption invented by a boy."
By the fifth, the whispers had begun:
"A child lord who builds carriages?"
"Something to do with enchanted wood?"
"Are the Darshas preparing for war?"
None of it was accurate.
All of it was dangerous.
❖ Preparing to RevealSharath knew the time for secrecy was ending.
The prototype was working. Sort of.
The materials were sufficient. Mostly.
What he needed now wasn't more testing—it was permission. Social, political, emotional.
He spent nights sketching diagrams for a demonstration:
A smooth route around the east gardens.
Presentation banners ("For Learning, Not War").
Volunteer riders in uniform tunics.
Carefully placed viewing benches.
He even wrote a small speech:
"What you see today is not magic—it is motion.What you hear is not rebellion—it is rhythm.What you feel… is the beginning."
Mina read it aloud and cried.
Then rewrote half of it to be more dramatic.
❖ Log Entry – Pre-Demonstration PhaseDevices Assembled: 2 trikes, 1 spare frameWorking Gears: 9 (plus 2 "weird ones")Steering Quality: 83% stableMaximum Speed: "Fast enough to make Dayo yell"
Social Risks: RisingPublic Demo Plan: In Progress
Next Focus: Prepare estate for noble audience. Secure parental support. Draft emergency de-escalation strategy in case of magical panic.
Sharath looked out his workshop's east window.
Soon, the world would see what he had built.
And when they saw it move—not with spells, but with thought and design—they would have to admit something frightening:
The world was beginning to change