The Pyrette Queen and the Clockwork Codex

by S. S. Engle

  “Afternoon Kassidy. Fancy seeing you here of all places.”

  “I was about to say the same thing to you Blue.”

  “So you’re still calling me that.”

  “Last I checked the name still does you justice.”

  “I didn’t come here to argue.

  “I’d love to know why you’re here then.”

  “I had hoped I’d win an audience with you, alone.”

  “I don’t trust you. You should know that by now. Luca isn’t going anywhere. So whatever it is that you came to say to me, you might as well just get on with it.”

  “If you insist. By now I’m sure you’re aware that Asa has made you public enemy number one.”

  “Are you here to collect the bounty on me?”

  “While the compensation and gratitude I would receive would be more than exemplary, I have not come here for material or social gains.”

  “I’m surprised.”

  “You’d be surprised there’s a lot you have yet to understand about me.”

  “I doubt that highly.”

  “I thought you’d say that.”

  “Enough with talking in circles Blue. You’ve done nothing but raise my anxiety since you’ve got here. Get on with it!”

  “You never were the girl with patience. But I’ve come to warn you.”

  “My safety is of no concern to you. You’ve kidnapped me, jailed me, scarred me…I could go on.”

  “You’ve done much of the same to me.”

  “You speak in metaphors.”

  “Sticks and stones Kassi.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “Sorry. But I thought you should be made aware of the danger you’ve put yourself in by taking up an allegiance with the Dreadcranks, and Lucky in particular.”

  “I regret none of my recent decisions.”

  “None?”

  Kassidy stood defiantly in the room now, a newfound confidence surrounding her. Blue looked down at his scaring hand. He drew attention to it questioning that Kassidy did not regret doing that to him. She admired the wound from across the room, pleased to see that it brought him so much discomfort. But he quickly changed his face back to his usual cold and stony demeanor. His blue eyes shone out brilliantly in the dark and dusty room at the top of the brothel. They weren’t the same eyes Kassidy knew from her past. It was as if they belonged to an entirely different person. She took a step back as Blue took a step forward. She fumbled against Luca’s boots but he put out a hand on her lower back to steady her. Kassidy played it off as if she intended to do that, and took a seat on top of a nearby filing cabinet. She pulled her black skirt out and fanned it along the metal while Blue took advantage of her being temporarily distracted. He made a bold lunge across the room in an instant and Luca jumped up in front of Kassidy. She pushed Luca aside gently as Blue held his ground. The two men were within a foot of each other now, fuming and huffing in all sorts of male bravado. Kassidy was repulsed by the animalistic behavior and cleared her throat.

  “If all you wanted to accomplish was upsetting us Blue then you can rest assured in your success and leave now.”

  “It’s not enough is it?”

  “What isn’t enough?”

  “Everything I’ve said. Everything I’ve done. I never knew you to be close minded Kassidy.”

  “I’m far from close minded Blue. You’re just angry because you’re on the losing side of things this time around. You can’t win everything.”

  “No, no I didn’t expect to win everything, just you.”

  “You can’t win me. And don’t think there’s anything in this world or the next that could make me believe you actually believe that yourself.”

  “But I do. And I know you do too. Otherwise you wouldn’t have held onto my engagement ring after all this time.”

  “I kept it as a bargaining chip. Don’t flatter yourself into some delusional fantasy. I haven’t held onto the thought of you and I together. I held onto the fact that you have a certain intimidation factor about you. And I still might be able to use that to my advantage if I got into a tough situation.”

  “That’s all?”

  “That’s absolutely it.”

  “Your defiance is something I’ve always loved about you.”

  “You need to leave now Blue.”

  “Why do you get so uncomfortable when I tell you I love you?”

  “I hate lies.”

  “You hate truth that doesn’t follow logic. You’re so head driven you don’t think with your heart enough.”

  “People who let their heart tell them what to do end up bleeding out in the streets. Why are you pushing so hard for this? For us? What have I done to make you think I condone this type of attention from you? What makes you think I’m the one?”

  “You just are. I can’t explain it. There are no words for it. No logical reasons. No scientific facts. Some people just meet, and they just click. They just work together, against the odds. That was you and me Kassidy. We fought for each other, we had each other’s backs.”

  “And you had Natasha’s back too. How many times did you watch her back…front…and lord knows what else?”

  “That was all just a misunderstanding.”

  “You didn’t mean to sleep with her?! Do you take me for an idiot?”

  “I take you or a rational and well thought out person that has moments of severe lapses in judgment. Case in point!”

  “Leave Luca out of our past!”

  “Why?! He’s got just as much to be angry about with you as I do!”

  “Blue!”

  “Kassidy!”

  “You keep yelling like this and Madame Chauvet is going to throw us all out on the streets. Then we all lose. Is that what you want? If you can’t have your way, then nobody else can either? You’re such a child sometimes! You can’t ever think past your own personal wants or desires. You never think about the big picture or how others will be affected by your decisions. You’re a selfish man Blue. That’s the man you are now. That’s the man you have always been. And I admit I was foolish for not seeing it sooner. I too thought I was smarter than that.”

  “You are smarter than that. But it’s a different world we live in now. I haven’t changed for the worse, I’ve changed for the better. Kassidy, I promise I have.”

  “I couldn’t care less what you say you promise.”

  “It’s a dangerous time we live in now. Engia is in a fragile state on the verge of collapse. Secrets are the currency of the realm now and I…”

  “Secrets! Don’t you mean lies?”

  “Same difference. Things are going to get worse before they get better. I just want to make sure you make it through whatever is coming for us. And you won’t be on the winning side of things, not if you choose the Dreadcranks. Not if you stay with Luca.”

  “Luca has never done wrong by me.”

  “How has he done right by you? Think about it Kassidy. How much do you really know about him and what he’s done? If you criticize me so harshly why is he not scrutinized just as much? You don’t think he’s lied to you? Every man around you has lied to you Kassidy. Come on! Once he gets what he wants out of you you’ll be thrown to the side and left for the streets. Why can’t you see that? You think he loves you? You think he cares for you? He cares about his own safety and his own well-being. He’s a man, and I use that term loosely seeing as how he’s a Dreadcrank.”

  “Blue leave on your own power, before…”

  “Before what? Before you make me leave?”

  “I have power in this brothel that you don’t.”

  “I don’t doubt that. But is it power that I’m frightened of or intrigued by?”

  “Blue!”

  “If it’s one thing I’ve never been fond of it’s your face when you yell at me like that. I’ll go, but just think about what I said Kassidy. You of all people should know you need to watch your own back. Trust no one.”

  “Especially ones that are nearest to you. The
y’re the only ones who are close enough to stab you in the back.”

  Blue removed himself from the small upstairs room in the brothel. Kassidy was quick to run after him and close the door, slamming it quietly but with enough force to make her point known. She held her hand on the doorknob for an overly long time and slid down to the floor crunched up on herself. She was furious, but tried hard to control it for Luca’s benefit. He wasn’t buying what she was selling, but did give her the benefit of the doubt that Blue was just one of those few individuals that had a knack for getting under her skin. He had questions about Blue, he had concerns about the Clockwork Codex’s actual location, but none of that mattered at that very moment. He understood it was silence that they needed right now. Time to process things. Time to think through what Blue had said. Things were going to get worse before they got better. It was a universally held truth, but it sounded much scarier when it was said out loud. Luca squatted down now towards the floor across from Kassidy. She looked up to him and broke out a faint hint of a smile. He couldn’t contain his happiness that she had retained her off sense of humor and beamed in response.

  “That was one hell of a conversation sweetheart.”

  “Blue has a way about him, that’s for sure. Not one that I’m very fond of, but hey, you can’t control everything, right?”

  “Right.”

  “So, I couldn’t help but notice earlier how much you were squirming when Blue was questioning your feelings for me.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Of course you don’t.”

  “I don’t! And by the way, I was not squirming.”

  “Then what do you call it? Awkward fidgeting?”

  “I did no such thing!”

  “He said the word love and I felt you beside me begin to twitch and jerk on every inch of your body.”

  “Your mind is exaggerating things. It’s playing tricks on you. Men do not squirm. You simply imagined it.”

  “Perhaps I did. I liked the thought of you squirming at the mention of loving me though.”

  “You did?”

  “I did.”

  “Maybe I did twitch…just a little. Who knows.”

  “Right. I mean, who knows.”

  3

  Progress was being had on the Lydia, much to the hard work and dedication of every single person in the Dreadcrank gang. With a lack of substantial success in finding the Codex at Madame Chauvet’s brothel, Kassidy decided to put her time to some good use. She waited until nightfall to travel through the city and get down into the underground magma chambers. It was bittersweet passing by her old palace that she called home for a brief time, but she knew she would go back someday. She just hoped that someday would be soon. Repelling down into the mouth of the cave she was greeted by Jasper’s familiar face. He held a position as first guard, similar to what he held back at headquarters in the city. They smiled at each other as if they’d known each other for years, and Kassidy was greeted in similar ways as she passed more and more fellow gang members. At all hours of the day and night it was apparent that Dreadcrank was on high alert and wasting no time with their goal of defeating the Absynthe Ring.

  Harlan was left to the menial task of sewing the holes up on the Lydia’s envelope. It needed a lot of work, and was painstakingly time consuming, but Harlan didn’t care. He was helping. He was part of a team. It was more inclusion then he had ever experienced before. While the gang didn’t accept him wholeheartedly, nor he them, there was a sense of cooperation for the first time. Chatter was filtering back now towards the end of the cave where the air ship sat. On hearing the first stirrings that Kassidy arrived Harlan perked up on deck, as did Luca. Both men were nervous for very different reasons. They eyed each other in such close proximity, and scoffed silently at the thought of the other winning Kassidy’s first greeting. Harlan put down his sewing materials and admired his handiwork. Kassidy would surely appreciate all the work he had done to fix her father’s airship and make it flyable again. After all, with no envelope, the airship was just a ship. Luca on the other hand was nervously pacing up on deck, fidgeting with his hands putting them in and out of his pockets, and rifling them through his long hair, parting it one way then the other and back again. Harlan couldn’t help but laugh, and it escaped his lips louder than intended.

  “You have something to say O’Brien?”

  “No.”

  “Hey I wasn’t the only one who got up in a hurry when I heard Kassidy was on her way over. You honestly think she’s going to be impressed with your sewing? That’s manly.”

  “At least I’m helping! You took over her father’s quarters!”

  “Somebody had to!”

  “If she hears us yelling at each other she’s not going to be happy.”

  “Obviously. So?”

  “So what?”

  “So why don’t you get of the airship.”

  “That’s a good idea.”

  “You agree with me?”

  “This time. If I leave the deck that means I’ll get to see her first.”

  “The hell you will!”

  “What’s the rush? Didn’t you just see her yesterday Lucky?”

  “Didn’t you just see her yesterday?”

  “What has she done to you? You’re a mess.”

  “You’re a mess!”

  “I guess the gang is right about you.”

  “What is the gang saying about me?”

  “She’s changed you. You’re different when she’s around. They’ve all seen it.”

  “I’m not different when Kassidy’s around.”

  “So you’re saying you’d get this excited if Jasper was coming back to the airship?”

  “Yes! Alright, maybe not. What’s wrong with me?”

  “Nothing’s wrong with you. You just love the girl. It’s hard not to.”

  “I don’t love her. Love…it’s a very big four letter word.”

  “Not for everybody it isn’t.”

  “We’re on the verge of an all-out gang war. Nobody can be thinking about love at a time like this. It’s a liability. It’s impractical.”

  “It’s already too late for you.”

  “It is not too late for me. I have total control over this.”

  “Total control?”

  “Yes!”

  “Oh look, there she is!”

  “What?! Where?”

  Luca spun around on his heels and tripped over the railing. Falling backwards he bruised his pride more than his backside. Quickly gathering himself together he rushed himself inside his quarters on the top deck to try and regain what little dignity he could still hold onto. It was too late however. Kassidy saw the debacle unfold as she hoisted herself up on the rope pulley the men had set up to work on the sides of the airship. She was eager to be caught up on the conversation Harlan and Luca had just had but Harlan was mum on the whole thing. She snickered to herself on the lack of Luca’s gracefulness and patted Harlan on the back as he went to throw his arms around her for a hug. She hadn’t intended on pushing him aside so coldly but Harlan quickly recovered. She was already busy scanning the envelope for all the holes that Harlan had yet to patch. He was nearly halfway finished already. She was impressed but there was still so much to be done. She looked back and forth across the table tops for more sewing needles and Harlan picked up on what she was doing. Without a word said he set Kassidy up with everything that she needed. Together they sat down now side by side and began tackling the massive airship envelope. A long awkward silence followed, with Luca refusing to come out of his quarters. But on more than one occasion Kassidy thought she saw him peering at her and Harlan through the window on the door. But he quickly vanished and she shook it from her mind. After another extended period of quiet time however when it was clear that Luca was imprisoning himself in his quarters Kassidy got up to go for a tour of below the decks to give Luca some air. She insisted Harlan follow and they settled down in the galley.