The Pyrette Queen and the Clockwork Codex

by S. S. Engle

  “Have you come here to arrest me?”

  “On the contrary. I actually came here to give you something.”

  “My freedom?”

  “I’m not that generous.”

  “Then I don’t want anything from you.”

  “You’ll want this.”

  “What…that’s not my dagger.”

  “I know. It’s one of mine.”

  “What am I supposed to do with this?”

  “Whatever you feel is right. I just thought you should have it.”

  “I don’t understand what’s happening here.”

  “The gift, comes with my sincerest of memories.”

  “I don’t need to hear whatever it is you have to say.”

  “Again, I’d be beneficial to you if you did. See, that knife took your father’s life.”

  “My father was shot and burned.”

  “Yes. But the bullet, my dear, didn’t do the job.”

  “Are you trying to upset me? Because bringing up my father’s death is a pretty good way to get yourself very up close and personal with this knife.”

  “You won’t kill me. You have no audience. Besides, I haven’t finished telling you what it is I’ve come for today. You see, this knife, this is what drew your father’s final breath.”

  “And this is your knife?”

  “Yes. It was a gift from my father. My father, you may remember, who was so brutally and unlawfully murdered by your father, and his heathenous Dreadcranks.”

  “Your father was a tyrant who was abusing his power and terrorizing the people of this city. Not unlike yourself.”

  “I am not my father!”

  “You’ve done a terrible job of proving it.”

  “I’m trying to tell you how I killed your father and you’re not letting me do it justice!”

  “You…you killed my father?”

  “I jabbed this knife into his heart when I noticed with the bullet wound he sustained he would survive. I couldn’t allow that.”

  “But back then, you would have only been…”

  “I was thirteen. Yes. It was my first time. And from that day forward I vowed to never get my hands dirty like that again. To feel a man’s life slip away right in your hands…”

  “You fucking monster!”

  “Do it! Stab me right now!”

  “You said it yourself, I have no audience.”

  “But you have closure now.”

  “Closure is not looking your father’s killer in the eyes and hearing him detail how he ruined your life in a single night. Closure will be when I thrust your knife into that hole in your chest where a heart should be, and feel your miserable existence trickle out into the gutter in my arms. And then to be surrounded by the thunderous applause of the people of Engia when the dark cloud that has suppressed them into this world of dysfunctional oppression clears.”

  “Very vivid image.”

  “I hoped it would be.”

  “Seems we’ve reached an impasse.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “We can get no further with one another now. What’s done is done. What will be will be.”

  “I don’t intend on giving you long.”

  “Nor do I. You forget Pyrette Queen, I have eyes all over this city. I have a price on your head so steep your own family member would turn you in, if you had any left. Everybody owes, everybody pays Kassidy. And I do mean everybody. You are not above the law.”

  “Neither are you.”

  “Oh Kassidy, I am the law.”

  “Laws get broken all the time. You would know.”

  Asa removed himself from Kassidy’s room now. A slight chuckle escaped his lips as Kassidy ran up behind him and slammed the door on his coattails. She refused to move, and took pleasure in watching him struggle to get himself free. His composure shattered. Kassidy took the knife and jabbed it into the doorjamb just on the other side of where his face was. When he jerked back form the noise he nearly lost his balance. He did get himself loose though, and preceded to put on his act of superiority for the nurses as they passed by. Blue was coming back now, a smile plastered across his face from ear to ear. He motioned for Kassidy to remove herself from the doorway and let go of the handle but she vehemently refused. Thanks to Silas revealing to her that Blue had been responsible for her being hurt, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him again. Through the window she saw an envelope sticking out of his jacket, it looked oddly familiar, like the letter se had written back in Luca’s office…and lost! And to think, she felt guilty earlier for being so hard on him. She was so stupid! Silas came up behind his partner now and Blue turned to look at him, as if already knowing what had happened while he was away. With a shove Silas landed on the ground, and began sliding backwards like a crab along the floor. Blue didn’t bother trying to talk to Kassidy again, and dropped her food on the floor outside her door.

  Kassidy waited until it was quiet to crack the door open and take in her victory. But it was short lived. She saw Natasha sitting on the ground in the hallway. Her face swollen, blood stains on her dress. Natasha was defeated, but still held enough

  pride to pretend she was not embarrassed in front of Kassidy of all people. She picked herself up, pushed her hair out of her face, and stepped into Kassidy’s room. Kassidy sat on her bed, gorging herself on French fries smothered in cheese. Natasha appeared appalled by the lack of decorum, but Kassidy couldn’t care less. She noticed the knife beside Kassidy now, The slender handle and sharp blade. The A engraved at the bottom. Asa had given her biggest rival a gift. And Natasha got a slap across the face. She was getting awfully tired of being thrown around by him. Kassidy picked up on the note of jealousy as Natasha couldn’t break her hold from the knife. Just to be sure Kassidy picked it up and put it in her thigh sheath, and watched Natasha’s glare follow it. Normally, Kassidy would be taking advantage of Natasha’s latest downfall, but being in a lackluster position herself, she decided to be a little more crafty than that.

  “So how has your day been Natasha?”

  “Why did he give you that knife?!”

  “Oh, he told me this was the knife he used to kill my father seventeen years ago when we were kids. Sweet man huh? Although, I guess you don’t need me to tell you that. You live with him. You already know how sweet he can be.

  “He’s just darling.”

  “You know, woman to woman, I know what you’ve been through.”

  “Are you trying to bond with me now?!”

  “No. I’m just trying to draw your attention to something, that’s all. But if you don’t want to hear it…”

  “Hear what?”

  “When a man hits me like Asa just hit you, the first thing on my mind is payback. I don’t know about you, but I thought…”

  “How?”

  “There’s guards posted all around this hospital right now, aren’t there?”

  “Four at every door. More on the roof. Some in the basement.”

  “Didn’t know there was a basement. Learn something new every day.”

  “What’s your point Kassidy?”

  “If you get me out of here, Asa will be furious.”

  “He will, won’t he?”

  “Stark…raving…mad.”

  “But why should I help you?”

  “Don’t think of it as helping me. I’m just going back out on the streets. In my weakened condition, I mean what good am I to anybody? What harm will I cause? As cold as it gets at night, who knows how long I’ll last. But, once Asa has lost hold of me again, I won’t be in your way anymore. And if it’s one thing I know about you, it’s that you hate me when I’m close to Asa.”

  “Alright. You’ve peaked my interest. I’ll help you this time Kassidy, but don’t think I’ll do it again.”

  “Likewise.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Nothing. French fries?”

  “No thank you. They’re disgusting.”

  “Disgustingly delicious.”

  �
��You make a really terrible woman, you know that?”

  “I don’t disagree with you. Now let’s get a move on. The sooner I’m gone the better.”

  “No truer words have ever been spoken.”

  7

  Surprisingly, Natasha kept her word. The girls walked out of the hospital without question. Under the watchful eye of Natasha, the guards would not touch Kassidy as she left out the front door and went into the streets. To question the Lady of Engia would be to question Asa himself. The men do better than to do such a thing. Kassidy’s wrists were bound together with the restraints form her hospital bed. Natasha kept them tucked away in her fist, walking closely to Kassidy so they could whisper directions to each other. Kassidy wanted to go to the palace first to get something but Natasha didn’t think she could pull that off without getting caught. Kassidy had to settle for a second location. Not wanting to reveal too much Kassidy insisted she get dropped off at the train depot at the southern end of the city. From there she’d find her own way around. Natasha was content enough with that, though the station wouldn’t be open again for hours. It was still very early in the morning, and people were not out moving around yet. Kassidy struck up her spot as first in line in the depot, and Natasha left her quickly without giving her a second look. Once Kassidy sure she was in the clear, she booked it for the brothel.

  Madame Chauvet was an eccentric woman to say the least, but she could always be counted on to keep a routine. As soon as first light broke over the horizon the front doors were open for business. Kassidy was pleased to come dragging in sore and groggy to a warm welcome. She went straight to the back to the kitchen to get some warm cider to wash down her cold French fries she had had earlier. No questions asked Madame Chauvet greeted her and went on with her day. Her half-moon glasses perched effortlessly on the tip of her nose so when she smirked Kassidy could see the wrinkles around her boss’s eyes tighten up. Kassidy imagined if she had any family left alive, she’d like to think they’d be as free spirited as Madame Chauvet. Running upstairs without a second thought now Kassidy went back to business. The office at the top of the building was locked, and much to her shock she didn’t have the key. But she could still get in. She took the knife Asa had given to her at the hospital and began to pick the lock quickly. It wasn’t her dagger she was used to, but it would do the trick just as well. Relieved to gain entry she was pleased to get inside and close the door quickly behind her to get back to work. In the room however was an obstacle. Harlan was sitting behind the desk, reading over some stack of papers he had collected form the drawers. He looked frustrated, and barely tilted his head up enough to acknowledge Kassidy was back. She didn’t know what to do with the lack of a welcome, and stood there motionless for a bit just trying to figure out what had happened to her old friend.

  “You can c-c-c-ome sit down Kass. Y-y-you must be ti-ti-tired.”

  “What did you find there?”

  “Letters.”

  “To who?”

  “Mad-Mad-Madame Chauvet.”

  “They wouldn’t happen to be from an Alexei, would they?”

  “Alexei Roth. H-h-how did y-y-you know?”

  “Lucky guess. That’s what brought me back here in the first place. Is the Codex mentioned in any of those letters?”

  “I don’t kn-kn-know.”

  “What do you mean you don’t know? Did they mention the Codex, or didn’t they?”

  “If they did, th-th-they didn’t do it di-di-directly.”

  “Explain.”

  “They keep men-men-mentioning how Boris is do-do-doing. Did they ha-ha-have a child togeth-geth-gether?”

  “Not that I knew of. Madame Chauvet can’t have children. And Doktor Roth never had any children. All of us kids on the airship were like his grandkids. That’s how he always treated us. He loved us, because we were all the family he ever had. I’ve never even heard of a Boris before. Is it brought up that often?”

  “In al-al-almost every single let-let-letter.”

  “That has to be significant.”

  “He asks abo-bo-bout Boris a lot. She says the sa-sa-same thing every ti-ti-time.”

  “What does she say?”

  “He’s been tu-tu-tucked in for the ni-ni-night.”

  “Tucked in. That would imply she took it out and put it back. If Boris is their code word for the Codex, why would she be moving it around all the time? Unless…”

  “Unless the way Mad-Mad-Madame Chauvet hid it was to mo-mo-move it’s hiding pla-pla-place every day.”

  “That would be too cumbersome. There aren’t enough safe places to hide such a book in the brothel.”

  “Or is th-th-there?”

  “Maybe I’ve been wrong this whole time. Maybe it isn’t up here in the office. Or maybe it has been at one time and isn’t anymore. She must have it though. Those letters are physical proof I was lacking before.”

  “Maybe y-y-you don’t need them. You g-g-got this far on your o-o-own.”

  “I’d hardly say I got here on my own.”

  “What’s wr-wr-wrong?”

  “Nothing. Nothing. I’m just sore is all. You know, from the hospital.”

  “Did y-y-you have a rough esca-ca-cape?”

  “No, actually I walked right out the front door. It’s mental this time. I’m just…my head hurts.”

  “Can I do anythi-thi-thing to help?”

  “No.”

  “Kass, are y-y-you go-go-going to be alright?”

  “Yes. I think, I mean, I hope so. Don’t worry about it Harlan, really. I mean, have I ever kept anything from you before?”

  “Yes. Lots of ti-ti-times.”

  “Well I’m afraid there isn’t anything you can do this time.”

  “Me per-per-personally?”

  “What? No, Harlan, this isn’t personal.”

  “I’ve kno-kno-known you long enough to know wh-wh-when you’re ly-ly-lying Kass.”

  “I’m not lying about anything Harlan.”

  “It’s alri-ri-right to admit you miss Lucky.”

  “I don’t miss him!”

  “Alright! Shoot, calm down.”

  “I can’t!”

  “Y-y-you can’t?”

  “I’ve tried. I’ve tried all morning. I tried all though the night last night. I just can’t get rid of this aching in my head. It’s like this constant pulsing all over, just putting pressure on everything. And I can’t do anything about it. I can’t see it. I can’t stop it. I can’t make it go away. It’s coloring everything I do. Everything I think. Everything I try.”

  “All be-be-because of Lucky?”

  “I wish it wasn’t. I really wish I could pull myself together and just walk away from him the way he walked away from me. But I can’t Harlan. I just…I just can’t. For some strange reason, I can’t wrap my head around, he calmed me down. I don’t know how; I don’t know why. He just, he had a way about him. I trusted him.”

  “You do-do-don’t trust anybody.”

  “I know! I know better than that. But I screwed up again. I made another mistake. I knew better, and I fell anyways. I guess I’m just not the person I thought I was, or the person I wanted to be this time around.”

  “Lucky lea-lea-leaving isn’t y-y-your fault.”

  “Isn’t it though? I was the ultimate deciding factor. I had to be. Look, I can’t talk about this right now. It’s enough swirling up in my head, but hearing it out loud just makes it worse.”

  “Alright. We wo-wo-won’t talk about him ay-ny-nymore”

  “Thank you.”

  “But I still wa-wa-want to tell y-y-you something. O-o-only because I know no-no-nobody else will.”

  “And what is that?”