Family

by Emily Thompson

  “Huh,” Jonas toned, looking at the acorn in his hand with a light of greed burning brightly in his blue eyes.

  Idris crossed his arms with a scowl. “You’re not going to wish for my freedom, are you?”

  Jonas closed his fingers around the acorn and looked toward Idris thoughtfully. “We’ll see. Right now, we should probably go and tell everyone that we’re still alive.”

  Jonas led the way, back into the center of the gypsy camp, while the others followed close behind. Twist wanted to speak to him about his current ownership of Idris’s freedom but decided it might be best to wait. Although he knew that Jonas could be rash and vengeful at times, he’d also seen the man’s seemingly boundless compassion as well.

  Twist’s thoughts were stilled abruptly when a cry of fright tore through the air. They had reached the edge of the camp and found a tight crowd encircling the camp’s central fire. Arabel flew out of the crowd like a shot, running for her brother. She collided with him and threw her arms around him, making Jonas stumble back a step.

  “You’re alive!” she gasped in disbelief and wonder. “I saw you chained to the ground with a gun in your face!”

  “I’m fine,” Jonas said, having surrendered awkwardly to her tight embrace. “Really, we’re all fine. Calm down, Ara.”

  “But you disappeared!” Arabel said, moving back just enough to look at his face with pale fear. Jonas snapped his eyes closed. “I couldn’t see you! I thought—” Her voice halted as anguish washed over her face.

  “I’m fine,” Jonas said, putting on a smile. “Look at me, I’m bloody well all right!”

  The others in the camp had moved closer to surround them now, while Twist smiled uncomfortably back at their collective awe. Jeffery pushed through the forest of legs and finally reached Idris, who picked him up and hugged him silently before placing the visibly relieved baboon onto his shoulder. The Vimana crew had followed at Arabel’s heels, each of them appearing greatly relieved to see Twist and Jonas alive. Mama looked as if she’d been crying, and her eyes were still reddened as she and her family looked on Twist and Jonas in amazement.

  To Twist’s surprise, he spotted Aden in the crowd as well. The Rook leader appeared to be standing among the gypsies freely, as if he’d been allowed into their midst—although, wearing a sharp black suit, he stood out a mile among them. His gray eyes sparkled with bewilderment behind his fine silver spectacles, but a smile lit his face. He held a glowing pocket watch in his hand, and Twist guessed that, only a moment before, he’d still been working to mount the rescue Myra had mentioned, while Monti stood with him.

  Kima stood behind some of the others, her posture unsure. Twist saw the relief on her face at seeing that they’d survived, but he noted with confusion that she wasn’t looking for her missing son. Jonas spotted her as well—his eyes touching dangerously close to hers without any direct connection—and Twist felt his friend’s spirit dim instantly with quiet sorrow for her. Jonas stepped closer, reaching out for her. Kima let him lay a hand on her shoulder without complaint.

  “I’m so sorry, Kima,” Jonas said softly to her.

  Kima nodded, her expression straining as her grief fought for freedom, but she struggled to contain it.

  “I’m glad he didn’t hurt you,” she said, her voice just as tight.

  Jonas pulled her closer, and Kima melted into his arms, looking exhausted now. She buried her face in his collar and went silent, as Jonas held her and gently stroked her back. Twist felt the cold weight of sympathy in the buzzing at his neck, as well as in the pit of his own stomach. Twist and Jonas had returned safe and sound, but Kima’s son was nowhere to be found. The monster that had stolen her son away might be locked up in prison, but her son was still missing.

  “Excuse me,” Myra’s voice said from behind some of the gypsies. Twist realized with a start that her spirit had vanished from his side. Her clockwork form managed to squeeze past the ring of onlookers to retake her place with Twist.

  “What the hell happened?” Zayle asked, clearly voicing everyone else’s question.

  “Myra saved us,” Twist answered. “She took control of Idris and wished Storm away before he could hurt us.”

  Myra smiled bashfully back at the approving words from the crowd around them.

  “Oh, you did that?” Aden asked her brightly. “I just received word a few moments ago that Storm appeared suddenly in one of our holding cells, firing pistols at a wall.”

  “Are the bars of your cells made of iron?” Idris asked him quickly, as if the thought had just occurred to him.

  “I believe so,” Aden answered. “Why do you ask?”

  “If I were you,” Idris went on, “I’d surround that satyr in as much iron as you can. Iron burns them, and their magic doesn’t work on it. It’s the only thing that will keep him in place.”

  “That’s very good to know,” Aden said, nodding. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said, moving to leave the crowd as he began to speak into his glowing pocket watch.

  It took a little while for everyone in the crowd to express their delight and relief at seeing that Twist and Jonas hadn’t been killed after all. Kima stepped aside to let the others shower Jonas with hugs, pats on the back, and other more physical gestures, while Twist was given nothing but kind words and smiles. By the time night had fallen black over the treetops, Twist found himself sitting with the others around the central fire, while everyone enjoyed a bowl of stew.

  It was eventually explained to Twist and Jonas that Monti had relayed the events of their disappearance to Rook central command with his talking watch, and so Aden had swiftly taken action to attempt a rescue. When Twist asked how Aden happened to join the gypsies so quickly—Twist and Jonas had only been in the empty city under the ocean for less than two hours—Aden admitted that he had been keeping track of their movements for days, thanks to the talking pocket watch that Skye had given to Myra.

  Although Twist was somewhat unnerved to find that they had been followed across the world by such clandestine means, it didn’t really surprise him to hear that Aden had remained close at hand in hopes of meeting the gypsies under peaceful pretense.

  “Well,” Aden began, once other conversations had died somewhat, “I would just like to say that I am very pleased to have met you all.” He smiled amiably at the gypsies around him. “And this stew is lovely, by the way,” he added to Mama. “Now, I would only say this because, thankfully, no one was hurt, but I’m honestly grateful for our earlier need to aid our friends. I think this experience has shown that we can, indeed, work together to a common goal.”

  Mama smirked and shook her head, looking into her own bowl of stew.

  “Don’t you agree?” Aden asked her gently.

  “I was willing to accept your help,” Mama said coldly, “to save the lives of my grandsons.”

  Twist and Jonas shared a glance, noting that they each now bore the title.

  “That doesn’t mean,” Mama continued, “that I’ll accept all of your pretty promises as truth without any proof.”

  “Naturally,” Aden began, undaunted, “I don’t expect generations of ill will to vanish in a day. But I said it before and still believe it now: your people and mine should not be enemies. It wasn’t I who wronged you; it was those who came before me. I only wish to be your friend.”

  “And your people are happy to change their ways because you tell them to?” Mama asked tersely.

  Aden smiled with a moment of pride. “I’ve already changed much within the Rooks. Not many people know this, but I was born a pirate.”

  Jonas glanced up at him, clearly startled. Many of the others also seemed surprised or disbelieving, while Twist struggled to imagine the gentlemanly Aden in a guise of irreverent piracy. Mama looked to him as well, as curiosity tore her disdain away. Aden smiled more widely at the others’ reactions.

  “I was captured by a Rook patrol,” Aden went on, “on my very first outing on a stolen ship. I was little more than a boy at the tim
e and had no idea what I was about. Luckily, the Rook who arrested me saw this and took pity on me. Against the common rule of the Rooks at the time, she offered me a chance to earn a place on her crew instead of offering me up to a tribunal, which would have certainly sentenced me to imprisonment. It didn’t take long for my criminal knowledge and my Sight—which was something Rooks usually shunned in those days—to be more valuable than anyone had expected.

  “As I grew in skill and decorum,” Aden went on, “I also gained favor for my deeds. By the time I had risen in rank to the point where I might try for the position I have now, Rook ideas about the Sighted and the criminal had begun to change. We started to employ more and more contacts outside of our usual venues and were reaping great reward.

  “My appointment as the head of the Rooks became a symbol of that change, and I have done everything in my power to continue the open-minded tendency that put me here. Although some stodgy old-timers might still grumble about what has happened to the purity of the Rooks, the vast majority is with me. We have never been richer or more powerful than we are now, with ex-criminals and Sighted agents fighting the forces of true evil and chaos alongside the rest of us.”

  When Aden had finished his exposition, the crowd around him fell into quiet contemplation. Twist silently recounted all of the actions that Aden had taken, which perfectly agreed with what he’d said. Even when he had captured Twist, he hadn’t actually meant him any real harm. He only wanted information and had tried to employ various tactics—some of them fear inducing, but some of them quite reasonable—to attain his goal.

  And now, after all of that, Aden had hurried to mount a rescue to free Twist and Jonas from Atlantis. He’d offered aid many times before, as well, and only took what seemed a rightful share in whatever plunder there was at the end. Considering the pirates that Twist had dealt with, with their overall lack of true malice and tendency to switch tactics when needed, the thought that Aden was once a pirate shouldn’t have come as a shock to Twist at all.

  Mama glanced to Kima, who sat close to Jonas. She then looked to Myra and to Idris, her thoughts well hidden in her contemplative gaze. She then turned to Luca, who stood to one side.

  “You told me that you met a magpie who could be trusted,” Mama said to him. “You said she had a familiar, as well.”

  “She does,” Luca said, nodding. “Her name was Skye Blue. And believe me, that familiar was loyal,” he added, clearly remembering the time Kali had pinned him on his back with her powerful claws.

  “You can’t trick those creatures into bonding with you,” Mama said thoughtfully. “Familiars can see the soul. They only trust those who are truly trustworthy, honest, and good.”

  “No wonder Kali likes you,” Myra mentioned softly to Twist.

  Twist smiled at her, instantly hoping no one else heard her give him such blatant praise.

  “Skye stole Kali from me, you know,” Aden mentioned lightly, drawing Mama’s attention. “She impersonated the agent I’d sent to retrieve the familiar, before Kali had bonded with anyone. Skye had meant to use the mission as a way to run away from home,” Aden added fondly, “and ended up delivering the familiar after all. But that wasn’t before getting herself into a daring adventure, saving another handful of my agents from Cyphers, and accidentally getting Kali to bond to her. Once I’d heard the tale and saw that the familiar did indeed approve of her, I hired Skye on the spot. Whether or not she’d stolen a valuable familiar or jeopardized an important mission, she’d shown me that she was brave, resourceful, and genuine. That is what I value, above any rules or laws.”

  Mama lingered in contemplation for a long moment. Then, she looked to Aden with her wolfish, ice-blue eyes. “What, exactly, are your terms?”

  Aden’s sense of victory filled his features for an instant before he covered it with decorum once again. As the conversation turned to detailed negotiation, the gypsies remained deeply interested, but the others seemed to believe, like Aden, that the battle was already won. Twist could only marvel at the sheer power of Aden’s silver tongue and his consistent agenda.

  After such a full day, everyone retired well before midnight. As they had before he’d been cured of the dragon’s blood, Twist and Myra shared her cabin on the Vimana for the night. Once they were alone, Twist insisted on mending the minor damage that Storm had made to Myra's puppet when he'd tripped over her. Myra let him work without complaint, and then thanked him with a kiss, before the two of them finally fell asleep, wrapped peacefully in each other’s arms.

  This time, however, Myra let him sleep without filling his Sight with her spirit. Twist’s mind, now free to roam through dreams at will, sent him back to rainy London where he talked happily with his old clocks, telling them all he’d done since he’d last seen them. He awoke in thin morning light and found that the rain from his dream was now tapping gently at the porthole windows.

  Rising from slumber a bit later than the rest of the crew, Twist, Jonas, Myra, Kima, Idris, and Jeffery met together in search of breakfast. Since she didn’t know the gypsies at all, Jonas had offered Kima lodging on the Vimana, which she’d accepted with a blush of relief the night before. Twist saw the same uneasy pleasantries on her when Jonas invited her to breakfast, but she accepted again, nevertheless, as she and the others all shared breakfast in the airship’s opulent dining room, seated at the table that was forever bolted to the floor.

  Arabel happily offered them what was left over from the crew’s breakfast, along with plenty of fresh toast and tea. Seeing her lean over to give Jonas an affectionate squeeze once he’d sat down, before she left the room with a smile, Twist easily guessed that her generosity was mostly due to her relief that her brother hadn’t actually been murdered.

  “So,” Myra began brightly, buttering a piece of toast, “Aden told me last night that he’s still taking a submersible to Atlantis sometime next week. He asked me to ask you, dear, if you would like to come along,” she said, placing the now perfectly buttered toast on Twist’s plate.

  “Why does he want me there?” Twist asked. After escaping death in the place, he found he wasn’t in a hurry to return.

  “Aden said that there are legends of advanced and amazing technology all over Atlantis,” Myra explained. “And from what I saw, it seems like that’s all true. Aden’s already called on some of his best scientists, and they’re all excited about going as well. But he said that your Sight would be an enormous help,” she added with glowing pride.

  Twist gave a thoughtful tone, stirring his tea. Jonas gave a sigh.

  “You don’t think he should go?” Myra asked Jonas, appearing confused.

  “The way things are going,” Jonas began darkly, “the magpies will be taking over the whole world in no time. Handing them Atlantis will only make them more powerful.”

  “Not to mention,” Twist muttered unhappily, “Aden didn’t approach me himself. I suspect, my dear, he asked you to ask me in hopes that I would more easily agree.”

  “Oh heavens,” Myra said, suddenly alarmed. “I never thought of that. He sounded ever so excited about it. But now that I think of it, he could have asked you himself.”

  “You mistrust Aden?” Kima asked hesitantly.

  Twist looked to her swiftly, having nearly forgotten that she was at the table at all.

  “Well…” Twist muttered, unsure of his own answer.

  “I’m a pirate who grew up a gypsy,” Jonas answered with a shrug. “I don’t trust Aden purely on principle.”

  “Nothing wrong with that,” Idris mentioned.

  “But he’s done nothing but help you,” Kima pointed out to Jonas.

  Jonas frowned, clearly not willing to admit this but still unable to counter it.

  “It did sound like a rather entertaining journey,” Myra mentioned, idly stirring a bit of milk into Twist’s freshly refilled cup of tea.

  “Do you wish to return to Atlantis, my dear?” Twist asked her.

  Myra smiled to him and shrugged her shou
lders. “If we’re not otherwise engaged.”

  “Well, it looks like Twist is going, after all,” Idris said with a knowing gleam in his golden eyes. “He’ll do anything Myra wants to.”

  Myra shot the djinn a pouting look, but neither Twist nor Myra corrected him.

  Idris looked to Jonas. “If Twist were to return to Atlantis, wouldn’t you follow him?”

  “Sure,” Jonas answered easily. “Why?”

  “Well,” Idris said with a heavy sigh. “You’re carrying my prison around in your pocket. I can’t travel far from it.”

  “Oh…” Jeffery muttered, frowning. “I suppose we won’t be adventuring on our own for a while, then.”

  Idris shook his head sadly.

  Jeffery seemed to force a smile. “Well, at least we have good company,” he added, looking to Twist and Myra.

  “Will you stop moping?” Jonas snapped at Idris.

  “Will you release me or not?” Idris grumbled back.

  “Of course, I’m going to let you go,” Jonas said, sounding offended.

  Idris looked to him, wide eyed. “You will?”

  “I don’t often find myself faced with a djinn who will actually grant my wishes,” Jonas said, shaking his head. “You always just ignore me whenever I ask you for anything. But I’ve still got two wishes right now, which means that I’ve got one more wish before I have to let you go. I’m not going to just throw it away if I can use it.”

  “Oh,” Idris said, frowning again. “So, you’ll keep me a prisoner until you find something to wish for, then.”

  “Not if you make a deal with me,” Jonas said, putting his utensils down and very nearly looking Idris in the eye.

  Idris shifted in his seat, looking back at him. “What kind of deal?”

  “I’ve dragged you out of more than one opium den,” Jonas began. “I’ve had a hundred opportunities to capture you myself and never taken any of them. And I agree with Twist that, whatever madness happened to our Sights, it wasn’t a product of your malice. For all of that, alone, you owe me.”