Chapter 17
An Offer of Defiance
Sir Javon was there in the morning, his blue eyes watchful and sharp as she entered the kitchen. Sir Jax stood casually with a mug of tea in his hand, seemingly unconcerned at the appearance of his peer.
“Good morning, my dear. Sir Javon has come with an unexpected offer!”
Clenching her jaw, Alel busied herself preparing a plate of fruit. So she had called to him. The man, in all his arrogance, had assumed it to be an acceptance.
“He won’t be the first, of course, and it is far too early for me to let you go. I’ve still a purpose for you. However, you should be extremely flattered. A man like Sir Javon does not allow himself to be distracted by a pretty woman. His intellect lies with far greater endeavors.”
Sir Jax had just neatly summed up his opinion of the female race. Alel aimed a scowl at him, plopping a Dragon Fruit and a Prickly Pear down on a cutting board. Taking a knife from a drawer, she lopped off the end of the pear. “I can’t imagine why I’m not swooning over such a conquest,” she said sarcastically. “I’m certain, however, you have no intention of letting me go until you also know who the highest bidder will be.”
“You needn’t sound so aggravated, my dear. I haven’t gotten to be who I am without conducting business intelligently and shrewdly. My talents are supplying you with the life you have now. Again, I am missing any sense of gratefulness.”
Alel turned, the knife in her hand, unable to contain her anger. “I am not grateful. Despite your shallow words, I am your slave. While it may not be physical for you, I am still held by your side with intangible chains.”
She saw a flare of temper in his eye, but she didn’t care. “What will sway you, Sir Jax? How much credit must be offered? How much status must the man hold who will take me? What must I myself give to you to satisfy your need for power?”
Sir Jax slammed his mug down, a segment of metal splitting on its side. “Enough! You fail in your feeble attempts to understand! One does not accept the first, or the dozenth offer for a Relic! You wait for the one with the most power to gain to come forth, the one who will tamp your will and subdue you to obedience. Credit, land and status are important as well, but there is far greater worth in taming you into nothing more than the simplicity of your genetic failure.”
He hated women. She could see it in his eye without the need for the words he was spitting out to back it up. He meant to destroy her and to watch it happen.
Sir Javon cleared his throat and stood. “I shall permit you to gather your offers and will return in a fortnight. At that time, I expect Alel to be ready to accompany me.”
He was as mad as Sir Jax. Assuming he would win.
Sir Jax laughed, the sound hollow and wicked. “She will not bow to you. Your trinkets will not endear her to bend her affections. She is not swayed by such things.” He waved a hand at Alel. “Have you not just witnessed her fire? Her fatal flaw? She is ruled by emotion. I could not sever the thread of humanity even Relic’s possess when I created her. Alel will not be taken by a man such as you. You do not contain the sleight of hand or mind the man must hold to own her.”
Settling his top hat on his head, Sir Javon arched a brow. “You assume my character. I have the land, the wealth and the status you seek, Sir Jax.” His luminous blue eyes shifted to her. “Alel will follow me willingly. She will know I have the ability to give her the life she desires deep down in her soul.”
A sardonic smile touched Sir Javon’s lips. “Some prices are worth being paid.” He bowed slightly and sauntered to the door, leaving with nary a word for Sir Jax, who turned on her.
“If you continue to embarrass me as you have just done, you will bear the consequences. Prepare the children. I have business to attend to and they shall accompany me.”
“No, please. Leave them be!”
Sir Jax swept his hand along the counter, sending mugs crashing to the floor as he came at her. Alel backed away but he caught her, his hands rough around her arms. She could hear a single piece of metal spinning on the floor, the sound of each rotation as quick as the ticking of her heart.
“I will break you,” he said through bared teeth, his breathing heavy with anger. “Defiance will not be allowed any longer. Do you hear me? Bring. Me. The. Children. Now.” He shoved her away toward the door. Alel caught herself against the wall. The sharp edge of a toothed cog split her skin. She curled her fingers around the rush of warm blood in her palm and fled the room, crying, berating herself for turning away a man who may have been less dangerous.
The children clamored around her at the sight of her blood and tears. Alum was quick to fetch things to care for the wound. She bid them to dress for town, urging them to hurry, fearing if she did not deliver them swiftly Sir Jax’s rage would swell.
Alel clung to each of them for a few moments before she sent them away, apologizing for her inability to keep them safe as she had promised. She told them she loved them, because she did. Her heart begged for comfort as she watched them walk away down the hallway.
She hoped as each minute passed by after the sound of the carriage had long faded that Sir Jax meant only to drive them around for viewing again, without her presence to distract the townspeople from his young creations.
B33 brought her tea, placing his three-fingered hand on her back and rubbing awkwardly. “I do not like to see you so sad, Miss Alel.”
She gave him a watery smile, dabbing at a fresh stream of tears. “I feel so helpless, B33. It’s excruciating not knowing what is happening to them.”
“You are kind, Miss Alel. You have done so much since you have come here. I have taken great pleasure in seeing the children blossom under your care.”
“B33, can you get me whatever Sir Jax uses to see and hear what his birds do?”
It was impossible to tell from his metal face his reaction, but he took his hand from her back. “Miss Alel...”
“Dys says I can trust you. I have no other option. I must find a way to take them from here so they are safe.” She gave up blotting away the tears coating her cheeks. They could not be contained.
“Miss Alel, Sir Jax is a destructive man. Where he sees life, he gives death. He attempts to manipulate the strings to control it, but never realizes the reality of the things he creates. You would be placing yourself in a position of grave peril.”
Alel wrapped an arm around B33’s hard shoulder and rested her head there. “It isn’t right what he’s done to you, or any of us, but this is where we are. I know of no other way to make it right.” His arm came around her. She could feel the softer length of flesh she had seen on the undersides of his arms. She lifted her chin to find his eyes. “I will take the chance.”
“Sir Jax has many inventions you cannot trust, do you understand, Miss Alel? Without a heart, you only follow orders and you do not vary from that.”
Conversing with B33 was comforting. Alel wiped away her tears, settling back in a chair. “I was unaware you were like us until the children told me. Knowing has explained why you are so full of compassion.”
“It is nice of you to say so, Miss Alel. I happened during his beginning stages of fusing metal and skin. Since, he has come great lengths in perfecting the technique, as you are well aware. He lost me three times and toward the end so much of me was wasted away, his frustration lent him to piece me together less carefully than is his norm.”
“Do you remember it?” She was horrified thinking of it, at what a great amount of pain and terror there would be under such conditions.
“Do not fret, Miss Alel, I do not. I have... watched the occurrence.” He rolled away from her, to stand in front of another robot crudely sectioned together. Alel had never seen it move.
“There were many, many others who suffered far worse fates.”
“You are referring to the one you stand before?” Alel rose and moved to B33’s side to examine the figure more closely.
“There is nothing left alive. The functioning organs have long since sh
ut down and been removed.”
Alel let the words settle, sifting them in the hopes of finding an explanation less appalling. She could not. Tears gathered in her eyes again and she ran her hand over the still mish-mash of parts. “Who replaced the organs when they died, B33?”
“At the time, it was Alum and Dys here. They assisted me in our attempts to save this one. We failed.”
“I fail to comprehend how the body survives without everything intact? How is it possible if they are human, for Sir Jax to merge the two?”
“The history of the world has long contained men playing god with science. The advancements over the decades pushed further and further against boundaries.” B33 rolled to a chest Alel had brought in to house the abundance of components that had littered the room. He opened drawers until he found what he was looking for, holding up wire with a tiny round piece at the end.
“Sir Jax favors these. He fuses them to the brain and programs them to mimic whatever he wishes, therefore providing signals flowing through the body to continue function. As long as the brain is convinced systems are running normally, one can operate as any human would.”
Alel placed her hand over the detail of metal on her neck. “So the plating he used to replace my skin is nothing more than a shield for those wires?”
“Basically, yes, Miss Alel. He meant for you to remain beautiful. He spent many months creating all manner of pieces he could use once he found the right vessel. You.”
A chill slithered along her spine. “Did Sir Jax have me murdered?”
“Sir Jax will stop at nothing to get what he wants, but I don’t know how much of a part he played, Miss Alel.”
But it was possible. Alel crossed to the window to stare out down the road toward the gates, watching for the carriage. If he would go to such great lengths, none of them were safe while they were within his walls. As he had proved when he had demanded she produce the children, his temper could lead to whatever tragic end he deemed.
Chapter 18
A Lost Euro
When she finally saw the carriage, it was followed closely by another. Just as pompous and extravagant, it was set upon four large steam containers, with a double set of wheels at the front and back.
Bells jangled with every move, hanging from curled iron bars at each corner. Two sets of double doors made up the side. The windows in them nearest the front and back were tall, rectangular and clear. The two in the middle curved to form a circle of stained glass separated by the inner door frames. The sun bounced prisms off of it onto the grass.
Alel went out to meet the arrivals, her fingers teasing ruffles on her layered skirt. Sir Jax ignored her as he left the carriage, walking back to greet his guest.
Copper was the first out, her eyes bloodshot and wetness glimmering on her cheeks. Alel rushed forward to pull the girl into her arms. Bery stepped down and Alel was alarmed to see the girl looked just as upset. She reached out to pull her close. “What has happened?”
Dys, then Alum descended the step. Alel looked behind them, letting go of the girls to climb up and look inside the carriage. “Where is Euro?”
The faces looking back at her all wore the same defeated sorrow. “Where is Euro?”
She left them, forgetting Sir Jax’s warnings as she passed between the two carriages to find him. She paid no attention to the man he spoke to. “Where is Euro?”
“You have learned nothing, apparently,” Sir Jax snapped. He lifted a hand to indicate the man beside him.
“This is Sir Sion. He has come to meet you.”
“I don’t care,” Alel shouted. “Where is Euro?”
A blow to her cheek threw her back against the carriage, her balance thrown off by the running board, sending her to the ground. Alel had never been struck before in her life.
Pain throbbed in her jaw and eye and her cheek already felt swollen and bruised. She peered up at the men. Sir Jax looked pleased, although he had not been the one to hit her.
The man beside him was short statured and rounded at the waist. A mustache dipped below his chin. He wore a one-eyed spectacle and garish colors not suited to his pale skin tone. The man edged closer as Alel forced herself to get to her feet, his manner making it obvious he would not hesitate to repeat his action.
Alum tugged at Alel’s arm. “Let’s go inside,” she pleaded quietly.
Alel was so angry she could barely speak, but she had no intention of walking away. “I would suggest you never allow that to happen again,” she told Sir Jax in a low, even voice, knowing she should say nothing at all.
“She dares!” the stranger bellowed, shaking with his own anger.
Alel stepped back away from him, gathering the children and leading them away. Behind her, Sir Sion began to laugh. Refusing to look back, Alel tightened her grip on Alum’s hand, who squeezed back and moved closer to her side. Before they reached the door, Alel was crying again.
The children guided her to the room and onto the couch, tucking a pillow beneath her cheek and a blanket around her. B33 hovered, rolling back numerous times at Alum’s scolding.
A cold cloth was placed over her cheek. Copper brushed at the tears with another. “I can’t believe that horrible man hit you,” she said softly.
B33 tried to roll in again. “Has he damaged her? Please, let me see.”
With startled gasps, the children moved aside, watching anxiously from the sides as B33 did an examination of her pupils and probed at her aching cheek and jaw.
“Did you lose consciousness at all?”
“No. B33, he didn’t bring Euro back.”
The hands adjusting her blanket halted in the air and B33 turned his head both ways. “But where is he? What could he have done with him?”
“I’m terrified to ask,” Alel sobbed. “He’s just a young boy.”
Alum tugged a footstool close and settled near Alel’s head. “We all know what has happened to him without me saying it.”
Alel closed her eyes, pain tearing at her heart. She did not know what to do to ease it. The cloth on her cheek was taken away and replaced moments later, cool and damp again.
“We must get him back!” B33 announced.
Opening her eyelids just enough to see the butler robot, Alel tried to muddle through the wet thickness clinging inside of her head to think of how they could. B33 leaned in close. “I got you what you asked for.”
“Dys will know what to do,” Alel said, her words muffled from crying.
“What?” The dejected tone of Dys’s voice made her pain worse. She had failed them all. What kind of guardian was she if she could not protect her charges? She thought of the wings Sir Jax had placed over her shoulders. Did they have guardian angels watching over them? Did she believe enough in such a thing to offer a prayer?
Her lashes pressed wet beneath her eyelids. If muddling through a prayer would do any good, she would try it. “If you’re listening, please keep him safe and bring him back.” Alel wasn’t sure if prayer was meant for God or the alleged presence of the angel, but she hoped her words got to where they needed to go.
“Who are you talking to?” There was confusion in B33’s voice.
“God, I suppose.” She lifted her lashes again to see them all. “Dys, B33 got us a... whatever Sir Jax uses to see and hear what the birds do. I was hoping you could figure out how to make it work for us. Send our own birds to see if there is a safe place to go. Now, maybe they can find Euro.”
“I think I can. Where is it, B33?”
“Right this way, Dys.”
The two moved away. Bery snuggled into the space in the crook of Alel’s body. Copper slid into the spot between her feet and the arm of the sofa.
“You don’t think Sir Jax will sell you to that man, do you?” Bery asked, looking worried.
Alum wiped away fresh tears. Alel told herself to stop crying. The children didn’t need to be the strong ones, taking care of her. It was obvious they were upset too. Comforting her was not their job.
“I’d rather die,” Alel stated. She’d seen beaten women many times on the Black Streets. Slaves who always had fresh bruises and broken bones. Women limping to get the family’s bread. Crying out for help as they defended themselves against attacks right on the streets.
A thought gathered in her mind. Phrases the children had told her. The reasons Relic’s were feared rising to the surface. The surge dried her tears. Alel sat up, taking the cloth from her face.
“I am Relic. Feared. Because I hold the power to control. If it is true, I have been handling all of this wrong.” She looked at each of the girls. “All of us have gifts. It is literally in our blood.”
Her anger at Sir Jax thundered inside of her. “I will make Sir Jax fear me. I will take control of his world so I can be sure he never harms anyone ever again.”
Chapter 19
The Highest Bidder
Her declaration caused the children to look troubled. The fire was burning too hot for their reaction to dampen it. Alel reached out to take Alum’s hand. “Tell me everything that happened while you were out.”
“Sir Jax took us to meet with the Cabal.”
“What is the Cabal?”
“A secret group of men who meet. They share similar views and thoughts on things society does not necessarily accept here on the White Streets.”
“He took all of you in?”
Alum nodded. “We were...”
“Put on display,” Bery finished, tugging at a bit of lace on her dress.
“For what purpose?”
“He sold Euro,” Alum whispered, staring at the floor.
“The men liked him best,” Bery continued. “Because he was the most human of us. They were intrigued by us all, but he with his youth and only his hands and eyes to detract from his humanity, gained the most attention. They hovered around him, fascinated by things Sir Jax would not explain.”
“His way of making Euro even more desirable,” Alum spit out angrily. “Sir Jax made him like a prized rooster to be bargained over.”
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