Table of Contents
Front Matter
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
About Jon Del Arroz
Afterword
Thanks
For Steam and Country
Book One of the Adventures of Baron von Monocle
By Jon Del Arroz
Copyright Superversive Press 2017
ISBN 978-1-925645-02-6
To my wife, Samantha.
“We received a new assignment for disaster relief in Portsgate, on the southwest coast of Rislandia. The city has flooded to the rooftops and there is no way to reach the residents other than by airship. My crew is long overdue for leave, and I long for my home and family. Plainsroad Village would never have a disaster like this. Who had the bright idea to build a city in a swamp?”
An excerpt from Baron von Monocle’s log
Day 35 of the Month of Dukes
16th Year of Malaky XVI’s Reign
Legend has it that whenever the earth quakes, a giant has fallen in a faraway land. My mother used to tell me the story when I was a little girl. A giant by the name of Golgmarsh wanted to touch the tip of the sky and climbed to the highest peak of the tallest mountain. The ground beneath him couldn’t support his weight, so he fell off the mountain and thudded to the ground below. The resulting shake and thunderous boom cracked the world. Water spewed from beneath the ground, which created the Golgmarsh Ocean that lined the coast of Rislandia.
I figured out at an early age that most tales my mother told had the sole purpose of frightening children into good behavior. My father, on the other hand, had a wicked sense of humor about it.
One night, my mother had told me the story of Golgmarsh for the hundredth time and tucked me into bed. My father tiptoed into my room. He leaned over my pillow and whispered in my ear, “Zaira, giants are real. I’ve seen them.”
I hid under the bed that night eight years ago, and I wished I could do the same now.
The earth rattled more, rocking the field behind my farm. Tree branches from a nearby orchard snapped in the distance. The world rumbled. Solid ground shifted and gave way. Billowing machinery swayed at my neighbor’s farm.
I didn’t need a children’s tale of giants to scare me. My legs wobbled, and I lost my balance. The tomato plant to my side became the first casualty. Even though I considered myself to be quite lean, my entire weight atop the poor plant squished it and ruined its potential crop.
Moisture trickled through my clothes. I glanced at my coveralls. They were sure to stain. On the bright side, I always wanted red clothing, though I always expected it to be in the form of an elegant crimson dress, something I could wear to a ball in Rislandia City. Something flowing and less sticky. I didn’t have time for these frivolous thoughts of clothes and balls. My life on the farm prevented those fantasies from ever becoming a reality.
I needed to make sure my barn and house took no damage. I grimaced at the lack of productive harvesting I’d done today. Living alone didn’t allow me much leeway in time. My neighbors and I went to market in the village once a week with our crops and goods. This week, I wouldn’t have much to sell.
Ever since my father disappeared two years ago, I’ve done my best to provide for myself. It wasn’t that big of a difference from when he was around, except that I had less coin than I ever did before. He’d often disappear for months, but would bring back spoils from his latest adventure. He showered my mother and me in exotic gifts, from the stationary ferromagnetic high-frequency howler, which helps scare off wolves from the farm, to beautiful porcelain dolls. Before he disappeared for good, I’d been blessed with far more than most farm girls could want, at least in a material sense. Selling off his spoils lasted me for a while, but I needed to find a way to increase my crop yield, and fast. Today didn’t help matters at all.
Darkness covered my field as a long shadow spread across the land. I shielded my eyes from the sun and peered at the sky. A large shadow in the shape of a ship blocked a portion of the sun. It moved with tremendous speed, and I could see giant brass pipes protruding from its hull, brightly reflecting as it passed.
The sight sent shivers down my spine. The last time I’d seen a ship in the sky, my father had come home to tell me he’d be there for me more often now that my mother had died. That was two years ago. He’d never disappeared for that long before.
This airship didn’t set down in the large field by Plainsroad Village’s main street as my father had done so many times before. It flew at tremendous speed and shrank into a small dot in the sky before finally disappearing.
As startling as it was to see that airship, I had more immediate problems. My house rumbled. I scrambled to my feet, momentarily forgetting my own inconveniences, and bolted toward my abode. The quake had knocked me over, and I hoped my poor country home wouldn’t suffer a similar fate.
Shutters hung at odd angles. The screws stripped from the hinges several months ago, but I hadn’t had the opportunity to fix them. My gutters overflowed with leaves, and the wood shingles of my roof desperately needed replacing. I’d have to find a way to fix those before the rainy season set in.
I rushed toward the house, ignoring the tall weeds growing at the entrance along with its general state of disrepair. With all the farming work I had to do, I had to make hard choices when it came to day-to-day chores. My poor home suffered because of that.
“Toby!” I screamed as I ran through my front door, the worst of scenarios playing out in my mind. I imagined the kitchen in flames and poor Toby whimpering and trapped beneath some beam as he slowly suffocated to death. By Malaky, my thoughts were morbid.
Part of the old roof had collapsed over the table in my kitchen, which I could see from the entryway. My home consisted of a large open room that spanned into the kitchen, with my bedroom to one side and my parents’ former room to another. Bright sunlight trickled over the kitchen where the portion of the roof had given way. Dust and debris covered my now tilted kitchen table, one of its three legs having snapped under the weight of the roof material.
A whimpering squeak came from under the table. I rushed over, pushing aside fragments of plates, baskets, and the remains of a flower arrangement. “Oh, Toby!” I said, holding my breath in hopes he hadn’t been crushed.
My ferret poked his head up from under a fruit basket, staring at me like I was crazy. He held a half-eaten apple between his front paws, but lost his grip on it when he stumbled on the tile floor in excitement. His apple rolled toward my feet. Toby scampered and clawed up my pant leg, moving with fervor around my body. His paws tickled me with each step. When he reached my shoulder, he nudged me lovingly with his nose.
“I’m so glad you’re alive, Toby. Don’t know what I’d do without you,” I said, leaning my face toward my shoulder to show him affection. Hi
s whiskers slid across my cheek. He sprawled over my shoulder to make himself comfortable.
Toby’s frantic chittering brought me relief. It scared some of the other children in Plainsroad Village the first time they heard him, but I’d likened his noises to their kittens purring.
I took a moment to survey the damage. Broken dishware covered my counter and floors. My lamp had fallen over and, as I’d seen before, the table and the roof were in a shambles. All in all, I was lucky, considering how violently the earthquake had rocked my old house and the surrounding area. I leaned against one of my cupboards. The roof patching could take me the better part of the day, which would set me further behind for the market. How many coppers did I have left? I didn’t relish thinking about how I’d pay for more supplies in the coming days.
More dust and debris fell from the roof, forming a cloud of dirt in my kitchen. I coughed and sneezed. Toby buried his head in my thick, curly hair. His wet nose pressed against the nape of my neck. “Stop that!” I said, pushing Toby’s head back. He hissed at me in reply. Both of us jumped when someone knocked at the door.
“Anyone in there?” A muffled but distinctly male voice called.
I turned to see my door wide open. James Gentry stood in the doorway. He wore his farming coveralls, similar to mine, but his clothes hung loosely on his body, giving him an air of confidence and impassiveness. With his chin up and elbow leaning against my doorframe, he had a masculine quality that few of the other boys in town could match. His curling bangs fell into his face as they had so many times before. I keep telling him he should cut his hair, but I think he enjoyed brushing the strands from his face.
James and I bonded from the moment my parents settled outside of Plainsroad Village. We both had a farming life. We also had the privilege of being only children. So many others had siblings, but we had to grow on our own. That led to him treating me like a sister over the years. But, for some odd reason, the way he stood in the doorway today made my hands tingle. I shifted uncomfortably, not sure what to make of that sensation.
Toby scurried around to reclaim his place inside my hair. He poked his little nose out from beside my ear and sniffed around, bringing me out of my reverie. “Hey, James.” I moved to my large pantry door. I opened it to grab my broom and dustpan.
“Is everything all right? That was one crazy earthquake. I saw your roof caving in from my house,” James said, surveying my kitchen. “Looks worse from outside. This shouldn’t be too much trouble for you to clean up.”
“Not even going to ask me if I want help? How chivalrous.” Teasing James came all too easy sometimes. I knew very well he dreamed of becoming a Knight of the Crystal Spire back in the capital.
James lifted the fallen side of the table off the floor. He studied the broken leg. “No, I know you better than to offer help. Last time Da made me ask if you wanted me to mend your broken fence, you nearly ran me out the county. ‘Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I can’t do the hard work myself!” He mimicked my voice.
“That was different. Besides, it’s a lesson you needed learning.” I wagged my broom at him. It amazes me to this day how many people thought I couldn’t handle myself because I only had sixteen years to my existence. How many of them had lived on their own for more than two years and managed a farm?
Toby chirped from his perch atop me. Sometimes it seemed as if he could hear my thoughts.
James and I spent the next hours cleaning the rest of the place. As much as my words sounded strong, his being there comforted me. I spun the round tabletop out of the way of the other debris. James brought in a shovel to clear most of the roofing material. Toby did his best not to get stepped on, though we did trip over him a couple of times over the course of the afternoon. The table leg split off without much damage to it, and I nailed it back together while James held it in place. With two people used to farm work, and with someone to engage in conversation, the time spent cleaning flew by. We wiped our respective brows and looked up through the caved-in roof to the plain blue sky above our heads.
“You know, when the earthquake hit, I thought of this story my mother used to tell me about giants,” I said, carrying a bucket of water into the kitchen for mopping.
“The one about the Golgmarsh Ocean?” James asked, hovering over my countertop as if he were looking for a snack.
“That one. You think there’s anything to it?”
“Naw, I’ve heard enough stories about giants and faeries and hobgoblins growing up. We all have. The most interesting things I ever see in the night are owls. They have it out for me, I swear, hooting for hours and making sure I don’t sleep.”
I laughed. “Yeah, but we’re just in Plainsroad Village. There’s a whole world out there we haven’t seen.”
“Your father went and saw that world.” James bit his lip. His eyes widened as if he realized he’d said something inappropriate.
We fell silent, standing there in the kitchen. I squeezed the handle of my mop. James cared about me, he really did, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get under my skin. “It’s okay, James. I don’t want to forget my father. It just reminds me I’m alone, is all.”
James squeezed my shoulder and brought me into a big hug. “I’m sorry, Zair-bear. I miss your parents too, but you’re not alone.” His voice had a low, serious tone. “You have me.”
“Can you stop calling me by that idiotic pet name?” I said, unsure of how else to respond. The reminder of my parents’ untimely demise had struck me to my core. I bit my lip to make sure I wouldn’t cry. By Malaky, James made it hard when he was so right. I nodded instead. “Thank you, James.”
“And you have my parents too, you know. It’s like you’re my sister in a lot of ways,” James said, pulling back. His voice reverted to his usual cheerful, energetic tone.
Silence descended upon the room again. Why did him calling me sister sting so much? What would my father have said in situations like this? He had a way with people that few others could manage.
James cocked his head toward the hole in my roof. “Probably should patch that before nightfall. It won’t look pretty finishing up that quick, but at least it’ll do what a roof’s s’posed to.”
“Thank you, James. For all your help. I mean it.”
He locked eyes with me and smiled. Then a knock came at the door.
“Might be Da, wondering where I’m at,” James said.
“You didn’t tell him you were coming here?” I asked. James did little without his father’s approval. My eyes widened. “What about your house? Shouldn’t you be helping there?”
“Our house is fine. I was inside when the quake hit.” James waved off my concern, and then taking hold of the doorknob. He swung the door open, backpedaling in surprise with what he saw. “Who are you?”
At the door stood an older gentleman and a woman who appeared to be in her late-twenties. The man stood much taller than either James or me, lanky in his build, with a gaunt face and a small divot in his chin. Despite it being the height of summer, he wore a black suit with a jacket that had its lapels curl outward, a burgundy vest beneath that with clockwork designs and brass buttons. His pants matched, and his white shirt ruffled at the sleeves, protruding from his pockets where he currently kept his hands. He smelled of musky cologne with a hint of cinnamon, which filled the air. I held back the urge to plug my nose from the distasteful scent. No rural farmer would dress or smell like that. He had to have been from a real city.
His companion wore a military uniform, laced boots up to her knees with black pants and a black jacket that had purple stripes across the front. She had a leather holster, which held a sword on one side and a pistol on the other. A metal pin with angel wings and the Crown of Malaky atop it adorned her right breast pocket. Her face was cool, with dark, tanned skin and pale blue eyes. Her similarly dark hair fell just below her ears, covered by a military cap, again with a gold pendant of the angel wings and Crown of Malaky.
They both struck me as fancie
r than I would ever expect of a visitor in my home. I dropped my mop, and the handle clanked on the floor.
“Can I help you?” I asked. A lump grew in my throat. If they had intended on intimidating me, they were certainly succeeding.
“I’m here to speak with…” Before the suited man could finish his sentence, his companion produced a scroll. The lanky man brandished an eye piece, which he squeezed under his right eyebrow and glanced at it. With a tsk, he shook his head. “I don’t need that, I know very well to whom I wish to speak.” He turned his attention back to me. “Miss Zaira von Monocle.”
“That would be me.” I crossed my arms. Toby scampered away to my room, afraid of the new visitors. I suspected the cologne disturbed him.
“What would someone like you want with her?” James asked, star struck. He held a wide-eyed stare upon the woman, then blinked. “No offense, Zair-bear.”
It took everything in me not to roll my eyes and punch him in the gut for calling me that in front of proper company, but also because of them, I had to act accordingly. “None taken. It’s a valid question.”
The lanky man inclined his head toward James, letting his eye piece drop. It dangled from a chain off his vest. “I’m afraid it’s a private matter, and, according to my documents, she is of proper and legal age and doesn’t have a husband.”
“Ha! That’s darn right I’m not her husband,” James said incredulously. He crossed his arms.
First the sister comment, and now this. Before a few moments ago, I’d never thought of James as more than a friend. Never might have been a bit strong of a word. Yes, he was handsome and older folk made so many comments about how we would be married one day, but farm work took precedence over any energy I could expend toward those kinds of relationships. Was the prospect of marrying me truly that awful? I turned to the side in hopes he wouldn’t see the pain on my face.
James noticed my distress and frowned. He stepped toward the door, possessively placing himself in front of me despite his prior words. “Even though we ain’t married, I’m not about to leave her with some stranger in a fancy suit and some military officer all by her lonesome. I’ll tell you that right now.”
For Steam and Country: Book One of the Adventures of Baron Von Monocle Page 1