Gears of Brass

by Jordan Elizabeth

  When they were ready to steam, Eloise approached the two. “Stay below deck and tend to the pigs and chickens and make sure no one makes off with them. Any losses will come out of your pay. You’ll not be able to come above deck until I’ve learned to trust you. I’ll not have my ship guarded by a bunch of thieves. If you don’t like the terms, leave now before we shove off.”

  That afternoon, they were flagged down by one of the royal naval vessels. Their ship was quickly boarded by soldiers. “We’re looking for an under-priest and a girl, both in their late teens. They may be masquerading as someone else.”

  Lady Eloise gave them a forced smile. “I’m sorry, gentlemen, I haven’t seen the two. I did pick up some workers, but they do not match your description. Now may we continue, we have a long journey ahead of us?”

  The sergeant looked at his men and said, “I must insist that we search your entire ship, I want to see them for myself.”

  She set her jaw and narrowed her eyes at the officers then called to the mate to bring all men up on deck. When the call was made, Bella glanced at Alexander. “Did she not tell us to stay below deck for a few days to take care of the animals? I think we’ll be doing our duty if we spend some time with the chickens and ignore the calls.”

  “Princess, I must inform you that I hate chickens. They are the most annoying creatures alive and, for some reason, they tend to attack me. What did I ever do to the little beasties to make them hate me so?”

  Bella grabbed his arm and dragged him along. “Enough, enough, we’ll have to make do.”

  They found the chicken coop in the heart of the ship and waded through the squawking horde. A little while later, a group of soldiers entered the coop along with the high priest of the temple. They struggled through the birds and finally approached Bella and Alexander.

  The sergeant turned to the high priest and asked him, “Is this your under-priest and is that the clock girl?”

  As the high priest approached them, Alexander whispered, “Don’t worry, Master Sheizo will not betray us.” The high priest walked up to Alexander and Bella and looked at them intently. Finally he took a step back.

  “Sergeant, take these two. This is my under-priest and that is the clock girl.”

  Alexander looked at him in shock and asked, “Master, how could you betray us?”

  The old man sneered. “I’m not answerable to you, boy. But, if you must know, I’ve been planning this for decades. I’ll be part of General Fracc’s ruling council, and we will have wealth beyond measure.”

  Alexander and Bella were led at gunpoint to the upper deck and marched up to Lady Eloise. “These are the criminals that we seek,” said the sergeant.

  Eloise reached over and removed Bella’s cap.

  “So you’re the fabled clock girl.”

  Then she added, “You bring the soldiers into my ship to look for you. How dare you? I trusted you and you betrayed that trust.” She then slapped Bella and Alexander on both cheeks.

  Bella gave her a wan smile. “All desire to possess me, but when they realize they can’t have me, they try to destroy me. It was the same issue ten thousand years ago.”

  Bella was slapped again in return.

  The two were marched onto the general’s ship and put in the brig. That night they were led into the officer’s dining hall. They were served an elaborate meal. Alexander was shy about eating the food, but Bella dug in and ate with a hearty appetite. Finally, the general tapped his glass. “Bella, I think you realize why I’ve brought you here. We must find out how to bypass the clock’s defenses and control it.”

  Bella took a long swig of red wine and examined her goblet. She stuck her tongue out and gently licked it. “General, how many of your men perished trying to get at the clock?”

  He leaned back with his hands clasped behind his head and said, “Seventy-nine of my men have died, but their sacrifice is a small price to pay for the glory of a better world.”

  She sighed and said, “Normally I would be the one commissioned to kill your men, but I feel you’ll need every last one to defend what you have captured. This boy insists I deal with your greed and stupidity with understanding and humanity. I have tried not to be a woman of blood. I feel sorrow for those who have died, and I’m sure you’re willing to sacrifice another ten thousand men to get what you desire. So I’ll tell you how to get past the defenses, but you’ll have to figure out the clock on your own.”

  The general stood and walked to her table and leaned across it. “Girl, you’re not in a position to dictate terms to me; you’ll tell what you know about the clock, as well.”

  “Bella don’t tell him anything. We must protect the clock,” said Alexander.

  Colonel Skit raised his pistol to the boy’s head. “Lad, you’re not part of this conversation. Now keep your mouth shut.”

  Bella’s face went red. She grabbed a bottle of wine, took a long swig, and threw it at Skit. It hit him in the forehead and he collapsed to the floor. “Why is everyone making such a habit at threatening my boy? He hasn’t hurt anyone; his only concern is for your wellbeing. He’s the finest of the Goddess Anastasia’s priests. I feel she’ll be quite upset when she sees what you’ve done to her priest, an under priest to be exact.”

  Alexander smiled and nudged her. “My boy? Why thank you, Princess.”

  Bella blushed. “Boy, I’ve become quite fond of you. I haven’t had this much human company in five thousand years.”

  There was quiet in the room while the general paced back and forth and the colonel was carried away moaning in pain. The high priest arose and said, “General, if she’ll tell you how to get past the defenses, I can help with some of the instructions regarding the clock. With the help of your scientists I’m sure you’ll be able to control the clock and hence the world.”

  A messenger approached the general and said, “Sir, the Archelians are marching from the west and the Surrelians are marching from the south. Within two days we’ll be surrounded.”

  Fracc grabbed his white hair and yelled, “How did they find out? All is lost if we don’t control the clock.” He then turned back to Bella. “You must tell us how to use the clock. Men, take them back to the brig. No bread or water until she talks for either of them.”

  Alexander and Bella sat on the beds provided in the rusty hull of the ship. A rat sat gnawing on the laces of her boots. She grabbed the rodent and held it at arm’s length as it desperately tried to bite her. “Boy, I’m weary of this world and it’s abundance of rats. I feel it’s time to depart and leave the rats to themselves. Sometimes you have to let the vermin fight their own battles.”

  The wall next to Alexander began to glow and soon a small hole appeared along with showers of sparks. A panel tumbled inside the hold and Uttah stuck his bearded head inside. “My dear children, are you ready for a change of scenery?”

  Bella stood up and embraced the thief lord. “Speaking of rats, this is much appreciated.”

  He glanced upward. “I fear we may have awoken the watch, now hurry along while there is still time.” They quickly climbed through the hole in the ship and clamored down the ladder to a small boat waiting below them. “We’ll draw them away to the south and you head north,” said Uttah.

  They started the steam engine and sped off into the night with the gunfire of the watch above them. They watched the lights of the warship fade off in the distance. Soon the ships’ guns were brought to bear on them. “Alexander, apparently Uttah wasn’t able to fool them. You better start weaving. They have us in their sights,” said Bella.

  There was a great explosion of water on their starboard side and they veered to miss a flurry of fire directly in front of them.

  Anastasia appeared next to them in the boat. “What have you got yourself into now, child?”

  “Your highness, we’re fleeing for our lives, a bit of help would be appreciated at this point,” said Bella.

  A loud boom sounded from the ship as several more cannons were fired. “I’m so
rry to have to tell you that this boat is no longer safe. Incoming! Everyone in the water now!” yelled Anastasia. They dove into the water and the cannon balls ripped through the back of the boat, blowing it to pieces.

  They swam for a way with Anastasia hovering over them. “Is that the best you could do? Yell incoming? This water is freezing and I’m starving. You created this planet. I’d think you could help out a bit more.”

  “Complain, complain, complain. I save your life and this is the thanks I receive. You have always been such an ungrateful child. Well, I’ll see if I can drum up some help.” She then disappeared.

  Alexander floated on his back, while holding onto a flailing Bella. “So you are ten thousand years old and you haven’t learned how to swim? What have been doing with all that time?”

  “I-I haven’t had any leisure time. It has been a full time job protecting Apollo. Why are you floating like a duck and I’m sinking like a rock?”

  She continued to flail away in the water. After she disappeared below the surface, Alexander rolled over and swam down, grabbing her and pulling her to the surface and helped her swim for a ways. “I suggested kicking off those heavy boots, and if you lose the head of cheese, I think you will float.” He then showed her how to drift on her back.

  A few minutes later, a small boat appeared. Lady Eloise’s voice came out of the fog. “Bella! Alexander!”

  They were pulled out of the water before they climbed aboard the boat.

  “Lady Eloise, you came back for us. I thought you were angry with us,” said Bella.

  After helping them aboard, Eloise said, “Don’t you know that part of being a river pilot is to be an actor. It is a requirement to survive in this world. You shouldn’t believe everything I say.”

  She then wrapped a robe around each of them. By morning, their boat was on its way north. Alexander sat next to Bella, watching the tail wake of the boat. Off in the distance they could see the smoke of the invasion. He put his arm around her and asked, “Princess, what is our plan?”

  She leaned into him and kissed his cheek. “I’m going to take a drink of love and life while it is available, and when the days begin to lengthen, I’ll visit Jupiter and wake him up. He has had too long of a sleep after all.”

  “Who is Jupiter?” asked Alexander.

  She gave him a playful bite. “Well, boy, he’s the second clock after all. You wouldn’t think Anastasia would leave the fate of this world in the hands of a single clock, would you?”

  He looked at her in surprise. “Is that what the map is for?”

  She took the key out of her tunic. “Yes, my secondary job was to defend the clock, but my primary job is to be the key girl. This is the key to waken Jupiter.”

  ugusta stretched her legs across the shingles as she repositioned herself on the roof. With any luck, today wouldn’t be the day her father discovered her up there on her secret-from-him perch. The sun had melted the snow off the shingles, but the air held that winter crisp, and the white flakes had settled over the hill. She’d finished counting the stalks that poked up from the ground, so she shouldn’t have much longer to wait before he appeared.

  Sounds from the village wafted to her. A farmer shouted and pots clanked; the trader with his cart had to be in town, and it must have toppled, again. She should have brought her spyglass up top with her to observe his scrambling.

  Augusta scanned the dirt path that led around her father’s hill out to the pastures, and a speck of crimson snared her attention. A young man strolled along with that skip that made her heart leap, and he whistled. He always whistled, but she only heard it if the wind drifted a certain way.

  Clyde would check on his sheep and his little brother, a shepherd. Since their father had passed away from the fever two years before, Clyde had taken over the sheep ranch, and each morning, right before noon, he checked on the fields.

  He paused to lift his hand in greeting. Leather gloves clothed his fingers, but she could imagine how thick and masculine they were. Tingles crept over her skin and she bit her lower lip.

  Clyde tipped his hat to her before continuing past her father’s manor into the village.

  A rickety, ancient manor. Clyde’s father had allowed her father to keep it, so he could use the rooms for inventions and tinkering to make a sheep ranch and a village more than just a little sheep ranch and a village.

  Once Clyde faded around the next corner into the village, Augusta tugged up her striped thigh-socks, as they’d slipped a bit, causing the cold to nip her skin between skirt and sock. She slid down the edge of the roof to the ledge by the dormer and hopped over the windowsill into the attic. She snapped the window down and brushed off the back of her brown skirt.

  If her father forbade her from leaving the house, then she’d do the next best thing. He couldn’t keep the sun and air from her.

  Chuckling, Augusta wove around the trunks of her mother’s belongings to hop down the stairs, thumping the heels of her boots against the wood, so he would know she was done “meditating” on her mother’s old settee.

  Her father sat at the kitchen table mixing color tints into glass vials. His white hair puffed around his head as though he were an animal, and brass-framed spectacles sat upon the bump of his nose. “Are you ready to help me again or are you still pouting?”

  Augusta pursed her lips. “Everyone deserves a rest.”

  “Professor Rosa and her newest graduate, Professor Stuhlman, will be visiting. I need everything clean and orderly. You can start in the cellar.”

  She sighed, adjusting her blue corset. If she didn’t have to go out, she shouldn’t have to wear the confining thing. “Papa, we could hire a servant. You have enough money.”

  “No one is allowed into my sanctuary without extensive approval.”

  Augusta jerked the feather duster off its hook on the wall. “Let me get to cleaning then. Is there anything else your faithful servant can help you with?”

  Her father lifted his gaze off his worktable. “Augusta, my daughter, perhaps you should cease reading your mother’s novels. I have plenty of scientific tomes if you feel the need to read.”

  “Mama wouldn’t have kept me in here. She loved to travel. We did it all the time.”

  “And that is how she died.” He slammed his palm onto the table, rattling his vials. “May the stars pity you. She was murdered by an evil man to try to get to me. He thought I knew the secret to turning dirt into gold. There is no such secret under the sun.”

  “Papa, he tried to mug her. It had nothing to do with alchemy.” Augusta had been there, gotten to see the flash in his eyes as he drew a dagger from his belt to stab into her mother’s chest, then grabbing her purse and fleeing into the city streets. August straightened her back. The memories wouldn’t haunt her. Three years had left her enough time to mourn. “Mama would hate to have you lock me in.”

  “Your mother would want you safe.” He rose from the chair and panted, his nostrils flaring, his cheeks flushed. She pursed her lips again. In that mood, he’d throw a fit and she’d get no supper, even though she made it herself, even though she was eighteen.

  Under the king’s law, she belonged to her father and then the man she married.

  That would never happen, unless her father betrothed her off to one of his scientist friends. Bile rose into her throat.

  “I’ll go clean.” She adjusted the blue ribbon holding back her brown curls, the feather duster tucked under her arm.

  He slumped onto his stool and lowered his forehead to the table. “Augusta, perhaps if you had a protector. I’ll see about hiring a body guard for when I have to be away.”

  Not a guardian for when she went about town, but someone new to keep her locked away. She stormed toward the basement stairs and paused, her stiletto heel touching the worn wood.

  Perhaps she could create her own bodyguard.

  Augusta carried the gas lamp closer to her creation. The firelight gleamed off the brass body of metal plates and gears. She’d w
anted to make a man, but it had the hunched form of an animal, with lopsided shoulders and neck. The biceps had grown too thick to provide enough room for the wires that would make its arms move. At least it did move.

  She stepped back and snapped her goggles onto her forehead. “Well, rust in my gears. You’re not proportional, are you?”

  The torso happened to be twice the size of its lower extremities, and the legs had become a bit too thin. It would have to do. She’d learned from her father’s books how to make it obey her every word; it would do just that. Her father would see she was protected and her life could return to one like her childhood.

  Augusta fit the clock key into her beast’s back and wound it once, twice, thrice, and stepped back. “Welcome to life. I’m pleased you could join me.”

  “This thing is a death trap!” Augusta’s father spread his arms at her invention. That flush crept up into his cheeks again and he licked his lips as though they’d dried into sandpaper. “It’s a clockwork abomination.”

  The beast lumbered forward with one-step, gears grinding, and lifted its hand with the claw-fingers splayed.

  “This is my father,” Augusta announced. “My father is nice.” Most days.

  The clockwork beast lowered his hand, more gears grinding. She would have to oil him to make the movements smoother.

  “Why would you create this?”

  “You told me I needed a bodyguard, so I created one. Now you won’t have to worry about me. I can go out into the village.”

  Part of her hoped he’d relent. The rest of her knew it had been stupid to create a clockwork beast. Then that first half reminded her about how much fun it had been to have a project, something she could work on whenever she wasn’t playing assistant or maid.

  “I thought some of my supplies were disappearing. You stole from me.”

  “I only borrowed them, Papa. My beast is yours. You can advance him any way you want.” She lifted her chin. “I can’t wait to take him into the village with me.”