For Steam and Country: Book One of the Adventures of Baron Von Monocle

by Jon Del Arroz

  “It’s not so bad of a life,” I said.

  “It’s not bad, but it’s not interesting either. It’s just work every day until we die. Look what fell in your lap. You have the chance to become a hero, and you’re going to drop that over one mistake? You shouldn’t let a dream die over that.”

  James’s eyes glittered and forced my attention to them. Which was the real him? The teenage idiot-boy out for laughs, or this serious, thoughtful James. Lost there in his eyes, his advice held weight over me. “Okay, I’ll think it over.”

  “When you do go get your ship, you have to promise to take me with you, though. Okay?”

  “Take you with me?” I couldn’t help but laugh. There was the idiot-boy again. “I haven’t even decided if I’m going to yet.

  “You will. Trust me. I know you, Zair-bear, better than anyone.” James grinned. “And you’ll help me become a Knight of the Crystal Spire for real.”

  “Oh, James,” I said. I patted his shoulder. Toby chirped over at him from mine.

  We both laughed again.

  “You know, even though you made a huge mess. I’m happiest here, spending time with you on our farms. As much as you tell me I’m turning away from an opportunity, I can see us growing old here instead. Don’t you ever think about that?”

  James made a face and stuck out his tongue. “All too much. Ma bugs me about…” he shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about that. Let’s go find Da and ask him what he thinks.” James edged past me, opening the door. He glanced over his shoulder and motioned with his head. “C’mon, Captain Zair-bear!”

  “Idiot.” I rolled my eyes and followed him inside.

  “We’ll be returning to Rislandia City, the capital, after a brief sojourn home. My daughter looks more like her mother every day, for which I am grateful. This is the first I’ve seen her since Liliana passed. She is a strong girl. I hope she understands that much of my strength died with her mother.”

  An excerpt from Baron von Monocle’s log

  Day 34 of the Month of Queens

  16th Year of Malaky XVI’s Reign

  The Gentrys’ home was small like my own, though the rooms had more space between them. James and I entered through the back door by the barn, which opened into a quaint room where the family hung their drying laundry.

  I followed James into his kitchen, closed in and detached from their main sitting room. Mrs. Gentry stood in front of one of her countertops, chopping vegetables on a wood board. She sang to herself:

  “Over the hills and far away

  My love comes to sweep me off my feet

  Never would I regret the day

  The embrace of the wind, I one day would meet.”

  Mrs. Gentry shook her whole body to the beat of music that only played in the rhythm of her chopping. Her gray hair tied back into a bun, she wore an aging apron over her somewhat stocky body. Though she could be a reflection of me aged thirty years, the way she moved to her own music gave her an air of energy that made me smile.

  I almost joined her to harmonize the chorus, but James cleared his throat.

  Mrs. Gentry jumped. She dropped her knife on the cutting board with a clang and turned toward us. “My goodness,” she said, placing a hand over her chest. “You scared me, James! How long have you been standing there?”

  “Long enough to hear a song that’s far too old,” James said, smirking.

  I nudged James with my elbow. “That’s rude, James. Mrs. Gentry, you have a lovely singing voice,” I said.

  Toby scampered off my shoulder and immediately pawed at vegetable scraps on the floor.

  “I’m sorry, I should have left Toby outside,” I said.

  “Toby’s always welcome here,” Mrs. Gentry said. She returned to her chopping, but spared a glance over her shoulder. She slid a couple of carrot pieces off her board, which dropped to the floor.

  Toby gratefully scampered over and gnawed on the scraps of food.

  “Zair-bear’s got another load of tomatoes for the market tomorrow,” James said. He picked a couple of diced carrots off his mother’s cutting board and popped them in his mouth. They crunched when he chewed.

  “Did you load them in the barn?” Mr. Gentry asked.

  “Yes, Ma,” James said.

  “Good. Zaira, would you join us for dinner?” Mrs. Gentry turned to smile at me. “We’d love to hear what you’ve been up to these past few days. My husband says you went off with some city fellow and a military woman?”

  “It really wasn’t all that exciting,” I said, casting my eyes down to where Toby gnawed on his scraps.

  “That’s not true. Zaira got to fly an airship!” James said.

  “Really?” Mrs. Gentry raised a brow. She moved to light a fire in her stove.

  I bit my lip and moved to the vegetables to assist her. I’d made this particular stew on my own several times over the course of the last two years. All of my recipes came from Mrs. Gentry. She taught me how to cook.

  Annoyed by my silence, James spoke up and told my story, embellished with his own personal flare, but I didn’t contradict him. His version made me sound much more important than I truly was. He blamed the crash on the Wyranth and not my own failures. I didn’t correct him, but my cheeks became hot when he mentioned it.

  Dinner cooked in the pot while we talked about my misadventure, all of which I found embarrassing when relayed to an adult. “Is this true, Zaira? I’ve never done anything so exciting in my life,” Mrs. Gentry asked.

  I glanced at the window. By that time, the sun was almost set, casting a pale crimson light across the horizon. Mr. Gentry unlaced his boots on their porch.

  “It’s true,” I said. The way James told the story, I didn’t sound so bad as I’d felt about the adventure.

  The main door swung open and Mr. Gentry stepped inside. “Hi, Mr. Gentry!” I said with an eager wave. He provided a good subject change.

  He nodded in return and reached over to his cabinet to pick up his tobacco pipe.

  “Just in time for dinner, dear,” Mrs. Gentry said. She grabbed her pot holders and removed her stew from the fire. With a lift of the lid, the aroma of fresh vegetables and rabbit meat filled the kitchen.

  “Glad I could make it,” Mr. Gentry said. He lit his pipe and gave Mrs. Gentry a kiss on the cheek before moving to the table. “Hello, Zaira.”

  “Hello, Mr. Gentry,” I said.

  We all sat down to eat, talking about the harvest and market. Sitting around the table with them made me remember all the times I sat down for dinner with the Gentrys. They made me so welcome, never hesitating to look out for me. As much as I worked hard, I’m not sure I could manage my own farm without the support they provided.

  It was almost enough to forget about father and his airship.

  Until Mr. Gentry spoke. “What happened with that attorney a few days back? James told me you flew your father’s airship?”

  I was about to stuff a chunk of meat into my mouth, but the reminder made my stomach churn. I set my fork down and stared at the plate. “Yes. I crashed it on the first go around, I’m afraid.”

  “Only because the Wyranth shot you down,” James said with a mouth full of food.

  Mr. Gentry considered both of us, cutting a piece of meat. “There’s no shame in that, Zaira. I’m sure James is right that circumstances were extenuating. You know, your father took me aboard the ship when he first took her out. Amazing piece of machinery. Theodore nearly killed me that day, as I recall. I’ve never travelled at such speeds. Don’t intend on it again, either.”

  “You never told us that, dear,” Mrs. Gentry said.

  James chomped on a carrot. “You flew on the airship and never told me? That’s incredible. Are you secretly a knight?”

  Mr. Gentry laughed. “I’m afraid not, m’boy. Theodore was the only one who did the adventuring. Amazing man, he was. I’m truly sorry for your loss, Zaira,” he said.

  I prodded my stew. “He’ll probably be the last one of us to
do adventuring, too.”

  “Hey, you promised to take me on the airship!” James protested.

  “James!” Mrs. Gentry said in a scolding tone.

  “It’s all right, Mrs. Gentry. I did promise. If I go back to it,” I said.

  A noise like one of the clockwork rotors at the mill down the road clacked in the distance. The mill wasn’t loud enough to make noise at this distance. The Liliana had made a similar sound when its turbines engaged. Did Harkerpal work his magic with the ship? Perhaps they were coming to get me after all. I glanced to the window but curtains blocked the view.

  “What’s that noise?” James asked.

  Clack. Clack. Clack.

  Mr. Gentry stood. The noise grew louder and louder. He rushed to the window, pushing the curtain back. It was just before dusk, difficult to see outside. “I’ve heard that sound before,” he choked out the words. This marked the first time I’d heard fear in Mr. Gentry’s voice.

  We all stood, following him to the window, the sound growing still louder.

  Clackety-clackety-clackety. CLACKETY-CLACKETY.

  “That’s no airship,” Mr. Gentry said. He protectively pushed James and me from the window. “You kids need to get away from the front of the house. We’re under attack!”

  “Our new assignment is but a suicide mission over the Border River. But there is no other way. We must press on for the sake of Rislandia.”

  An excerpt from Baron von Monocle’s log

  Day 42 of the Month of Queens

  16th Year of Malaky XVI’s Reign

  “Dear? What’s wrong?” Mrs. Gentry asked, wide-eyed.

  I peeked around Mr. Gentry to get a glimpse of the corner of the window, clutching at the back of his shirt.

  An army marched from the east, toward my farm. Toward the Gentry’s farm.

  They had to be about a half a mile in the distance, only silhouettes in the darkening sky, but it was unmistakably a wall of men moving in our direction. There were hundreds of them. They carried torches and lanterns and had shiny silver helmets with long points, the same I had seen on the road to Loveridge.

  “Wyranth infantry,” Mr. Gentry said. He didn’t move but continued to stare out the window. “I never thought I’d see a sight like this again.”

  “Wait, again?” James asked from off to the side. He clambered for a place at the window to see. “I knew you weren’t telling the truth about not adventuring! You’ve fought in the Grand Rislandian Army, Da. Haven’t you?” He sounded more in awe than annoyed.

  “It isn’t something I like to relive.”

  “That still doesn’t explain the sounds,” Mrs. Gentry said.

  CLACKETY-CLACKETY-CLACKETY.

  The sounds stopped.

  Outside, some of the soldiers parted. A giant metallic device I hadn’t seen before rolled into our view. Steam spewed from its top. Gears as large as the ones I’d seen in the Liliana’s engine room protruded from its side, and a giant open barrel cranked out of its front. The barrel pointed straight at the window.

  “Down!” Mr. Gentry shouted. He lunged and tackled me. I hit the floor with a thud. My lungs burned. James and his mother fell prone to the floor with me.

  I gasped for air.

  Thunder shook the house and the window before us shattered. A round metal ball crashed through the room, tearing apart everything in its path until it punched into the back wall. Shouting men barked orders outside.

  “What was that?”

  “Mobile artillery. Cannons become a lot more effective when you can maneuver them quickly. By Malaky, during the war…” Mr. Gentry trailed off.

  “Should I grab your musket?” James asked, sounding eager to fight. His mother wrapped her arms around him protectively.

  “No,” Mr. Gentry said. He rose to his knees and pulled me up. “Zaira, you know why they’re here.”

  I hadn’t had time to think about it, but when I saw that look in his eyes, I understood. The Wyranth came for me. I’d alerted them to my presence once I’d launched that airship. Someone back in Loveridge must have overheard my conversations and found my name. Could it have been the innkeeper listening in on my conversations? We should have talked in private.

  “What do I do?” I asked. My bottom lip quivered.

  Another blast hit. This time off to the side of their kitchen, hitting one of the posts. The house creaked in response, but one of the load bearing walls gave way. It sagged. One more barrage and it would collapse for sure.

  I thought about the earthquake, the beginning of this rush of madness that I called my life in recent days. It had caused part of my roof to cave, but nothing like this.

  Mrs. Gentry screamed. “The oven!”

  Was she worried about the meal she still had heating? I glanced over. No, it wasn’t that. It was far worse. Wood beams from the ceiling fell right onto the oven. Fire blazed. It would have died out, but now it had fuel.

  The wood pillar caught fire, and before I could move, that flame trickled up to the wall. Within moments, the Gentry’s kitchen became a smoldering inferno.

  Mr. Gentry shook me. “You need to get out of here, fast.” He snapped a finger at James. “James, you protect her. Take Lightning and ride west. Don’t stop until morning. Your mother and I will stall the soldiers.“

  The soldiers. In the flurry of the flames, I’d nearly forgotten them. I glanced back out the window. They moved ever closer. Would we have time to escape with them marching so quickly?

  I scrambled to my feet, not arguing, not stopping to think. I’d been used to doing what Mr. Gentry told me, and that was a blessing. James grabbed me by the arm and hauled me toward the back door.

  I looked back. Mr. Gentry grabbed his musket, getting ready to shoot from his window. Mrs. Gentry grabbed a rake, holding it like a weapon, standing loyally at his side. They were going to lose everything for James and me. I wanted to protest, I wanted to stop them. But what could I do? I couldn’t allow their sacrifice to be in vain. I’d only get in the way, and the soldiers would capture me, torture me… or worse.

  We rushed to the barn behind James’s house. Lightning was their family horse. She had a milky-gray color to her, a cart horse, sweet temperament, anything but what her name implied.

  “Are we going to make it?” I asked, worried.

  James saddled her with expert speed. He thrust his foot into the stirrup, and swung his other around. For a moment, I could envision him as a real Knight of the Crystal Spire, as a hero. My chest lightened at the sight of him. He held out his hand to me. “Take my hand. Hurry,” he said.

  I complied. His grip was firm as he pulled me up. I swung over his back and wrapped my arms around his stomach. My nails dug tightly into his shirt.

  “You all set?” James asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  James turned the horse and kicked Lightning hard before we left the stable. The horse lunged into a full gallop.

  Lightning had never been speedy like Mr. du Gearsmith’s carriage. Tonight, though, she seemed as spooked as we were by the artillery and shouting soldiers. The wind blew against my face, and my hair flew everywhere in the cool night air.

  I glanced back at the Gentry’s house. Flames engulfed the kitchen area and spread across the roof. Hopefully Mr. and Mrs. Gentry made it outside. Even if they did, they had to face those soldiers. And from the way they had attacked us, I doubted they were in the mood for talking.

  The crack of musket fire echoed over the farmland. A man’s voice howled in pain.

  James tensed but said nothing. He focused on maintaining control of Lightning. We sped down the open road toward town. Poor James. His parents wouldn’t survive the next several minutes. What could I say to console him?

  We rode past several more farms in silence. More neighbors, lesser friends who I might never see again. Would they be in danger, too? Or once I was gone, would they be left alone? Given the stories I’d heard of the Wyranth Empire’s advances in my school, I doubted they’d leave the poor f
arming village alone.

  We arrived in town before I could collect my thoughts. The markets were closed, boarded up and locked until morning. The only light came from the Plainsroad Inn, which would still be serving some of its patrons. The market’s doors were closed, same with the general store.

  We passed the constable’s office, attached to a small jail, which typically held unruly drunks from the inn more than any other serious crimes. I can’t remember hearing of a crime worse than that. I’d never participated much in town life, content to stay on my farm, do my work, and have Mr. Gentry go to market for me. This could be the last time I’d see the place. Oh no. I’d done something terrible. I panicked, gripping James’s shirt hard.

  “What is it?” James asked.

  “Toby, I forgot him. We have to go back.” I tugged at James’s shirt.

  Lightning pressed on. “Zair-bear, there’s no way. The soldiers are there. We’d be killed.”

  My eyes became heavy and damp, tears streaking away from my face in the wind. I’d made so many mistakes these last few days. Of all of them, this hurt the worst. “I’m sorry, Toby,” I whispered to myself.

  “Which way should we head?” James asked. We approached the main road at the end of town. One direction led toward Loveridge, the other to Rislandia City, the capital. Mr. Gentry hadn’t given us advice on which way to go when we arrived in town, but we couldn’t stop for the night. Not with that many soldiers trying to find us.

  “Well, the Liliana is closer to Loveridge. Maybe I can find Harkerpal there and we can get to the safety of the skies,” I said.

  James pulled Lightning to a halt. The safety of the skies. Funny that I’d think that, so soon after the skies had proven anything but a place free from Wyranth attacks.

  “But if the army’s after the airship, won’t they have scoured that area first?” James asked, glancing back over his shoulder toward me.

  “Oh, yeah,” I said. That should have been obvious. “But if we know that, won’t they know we know and realize we took the road to the capital?”

  “Or they might know we know they know we know…” James said.