Clockwork Immortal

by Sam Ryan

“Want to go get drunk,” Clementine offered.

  “Please,” Max said with a sigh of relief.

  ***

  Sophia watched the woman in the training room swinging a hefty one handed broadsword around, practicing the movements over and over again. The light catching the polished steel blade, causing bright flashes to dance around her as she swung the sword. Sweat dotted her forehead and back of her neck. Her light brown hair tied into a tight bun so it stayed out of her face.

  Having gotten her rhythm going, the woman began spinning the sword faster as she started adding additional movements. It almost looked like a one person dance as the woman leapt through the air, spinning her body.

  Even her outfit looked dance-like, having tight leather trousers and boots that did not limit her feet’s movement. She wore a grey short sleeve shirt underneath a loose fitting black corset that wrapped around her breasts and clasped behind her neck. She wore long gloves that reached up nearly to the sleeves of her grey shirt.

  Coming to a landing, the woman balanced herself on one foot while she surveyed her surroundings, both arms stretched out. The sword turned in her hand so it was resting down the length of her arm and back. As she finished looking around the empty training room, her jade green eyes fell on Sophia standing in the doorway watching her.

  “Sophia?” Elena gasp, instantly straightening back up, the sword still resting against the back of her arm and shoulder.

  “Hey.” Sophia smiled, giving a quick wave. “Been a while. You look as graceful as ever.”

  “Thank you.” Elena gave a slight smile, turning away and picking up the flimsy leather sheath lying on the floor next to her. “But I fear that soon we shall be in a time that elegant swordplay will be a novelty skill, practiced only by aristocrats, along with the piano and embroidery.”

  “Should make it easier for you to be the best then,” Sophia smiled.

  Elena looked over her shoulder and stared at Sophia. “You saying I’m not already?” she asked, sliding her sword into the sheath with a forceful clank.

  “You are easily the best that I know,” Sophia assured, stepping into the room.

  “Are you traveling with Jezebel now?” Elena asked with cold voice. She clasped the sword to her belt and turned around to face Sophia. “I heard the Iron Rose had come into port. And brought a fleet along with it.”

  “We ran into each other in Trevelia,” Sophia shrugged. “She helped me out of a sticky situation and circumstances brought us here.”

  “What circumstances would those be?” Elena asked. Her blank face unchanging.

  Sophia let out a sigh. Of course she would not know about Stella and Tara but she had just finished explaining all of this to Allora and now having to tell Elena that Stella was dead was going to be even more draining.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Elena assured, raising her hand.

  “You sure?” Sophia was not convinced that she should be keeping this information from her.

  “Is it something that is hard for you to tell?” Elena asked.

  “Yes.” Sophia nodded.

  “Is there an immediate action that this information requires on my part?”

  “No,” Sophia admitted, somewhat reluctantly.

  “Then I will have Allora tell me, or you can tell me later when you feel up to it,” Elena said with a satisfied nod. “How long do you intend on staying?”

  “I have no idea,” Sophia admitted with a chuckle. She had not thought about anything other than getting to Itona. She was rather hoping that Allora would know what to do and be able to come up with something. But then Allora did not seem quite herself. Sophia could not tell what exactly was off about her, but there was something not as bright about Allora’s personality as she remembered.

  “Of course you don’t,” Elena said with a long sigh. She turned away from Sophia and headed toward where her coat was hanging on the wall rack.

  “Wait,” Sophia said, rushing forward and cutting in front of her. “Are you mad at me now? What did I do?”

  “It’s not what you did,” Elena said, glaring up at Sophia with her piercing green eyes. “It’s what you haven’t done. Do you know how heartbroken Allora has been that you haven’t come to see her once in the past four hundred years? And even now, I am guessing you are only here because you had no other choice in the matter, not because you want to be. She may not show it, but that sort of things hurts Allora the most.”

  Sophia grinned as she listened to Elena lash out at her. Seeing her get worked up over anything was like seeing a shooting star. They were rare in and of themselves and you had to meet very specific circumstances in order to actually see it.

  “It’s so sweet how you look out for Allora,” Sophia said. “You make such a good wife.”

  “You shouldn’t say such things,” Elena huffed, averting her gaze. “There is only one person that Allora has ever loved.” Elena tried to hide it but Sophia could tell that she was a little flustered at the comment.

  “Yeah, but that was like almost nine hundred years ago,” Sophia laughed.

  “Allora’s love for him is eternal,” Elena said in a low voice, walking over the weapon’s rack and resting her hand on one of the training swords. It looked to Sophia that she was only pretending to be doing something. “She still thinks herself married to him, despite all the time that has passed. According to the official records, he is considered the King of the Empire.”

  “Yeah, but that was probably more a political move to deter people from shoving their sons on her, trying to get her to marry a man and have them become king. Emperor. Whatever.”

  “Have you ever known Allora to do anything merely for political reason?” Elena asked, glancing over at Sophia.

  “You got me there.” Sophia nodded. “Look.” Sophia scratched her eyebrow letting the matter drop. “Allora wants to see all of us. She would have sent someone but I volunteered since I wanted to say hi anyway. She said to meet her at the Glowdose Facility? You know where that is?”

  “I do.” Elena gave a nod, letting out a breath. Her demeanor shifted as soon as she had heard the word Glowdose. She brushed past Sophia and walked back to her coat. Throwing on the long black duster, she began moving to the exit of the training room with Sophia a few steps behind her.

  “It’s good to see you by the way,” Sophia said, moving in beside Elena.

  Elena gave a reluctant smile and nod of her head. “I am happy to see you as well.”

  ***

  Madilyn was still in awe of the Palace. It was nothing like the palace back in Rouen. It was so much grander in both size and architecture. Every wall and every support pillar seemed to be its own individual work of art. Created by a master craftsman. But it did not feel overwhelming. Instead, it felt comfortable and gave a sense of calm, like this could be anyone’s home and not just the Queen’s.

  And while Queen Allora had stated that many of the palace wings had been added on over the centuries, there was still a uniformity in the design. To the point where Madilyn was not only unable to tell what parts were new or older but she also could not even tell when they entered into a different section.

  “You know, I was noticing something,” Madilyn stated while they waited for Sophia and Elena to arrive. “This place seems to run on Magelight. Does it have a Legendary Relic powering it as well?”

  They were all sitting around a table with Queen Allora at the head and Jezebel and Madilyn sitting to both sides of her. At the other end of the table was an older looking man, in what Madilyn often thought of as a scholar’s coat. It had the twin tails of a tailcoat but was longer and thinner, with far less brass on it.

  “Not quite,” the scholarly man said. Allora had introduced him as Jarrad and he was a professor of something, though Madilyn had not understood what. His speech was a little broken as he was not as familiar with Madilyn’s language, and every word seemed to be a struggle for him. “Legendary Relics, as you call them, give off tremendous energy. But they are rare an
d hard to…” He paused as he tried to think of the right word. “Harness, I believe is the right word. And even then, only certain kinds would be able to be used for power purposes. As such, we would only be able to power one or two cities with such a device, and even then, we would be unable to expand greater than what the Relics allowed.”

  “They are also dangerous,” Queen Allora added. “If one were to go off in the middle of the city, all of Itona could be destroyed in an instant.”

  “Yes.” Jarrad nodded, like it was an afterthought. “There is that as well.”

  “So then, what do you use?” Madilyn asked. “Another form of magic?”

  “No.” Jarrad shook his head. “Though to the simple mind it might appear that way.”

  Madilyn narrowed her eyes and glared at the old man, wondering if he was trying to imply something with that comment. Queen Allora rested a com-forting hand on top of Madilyn’s, flashing her a warm smile that told Madilyn not to be offended. Madilyn could not help but smile in return and let the matter drop as she leaned back in her seat.

  “What we use is an electric charge, generated by the spinning of…” he trailed off again, searching for the word. He then said something that Madilyn did not understand.

  “Magnets,” Allora translated.

  “Yes, those.” Jarrad nodded. He twirled his two index fingers around each other as he continued to explain. “This charge generates a kind of energy that we can harness and use to power devices, in much the same way that steam works. Only without requiring nearly as many intricate parts or waste and pollution that comes from large coal furnaces.”

  “Then how do you spin the magnets?” Madilyn asked.

  “We use the current from rivers,” Queen Allora stated. “Much like a how a current spins a water wheel, only we do it on a much grander scale.”

  Madilyn in her mind pictured a fifty foot tall water wheel on the bank of a river.

  “Can’t you use coal though?” Madilyn asked. “Use steam power to spin the magnets?”

  “We could.” Queen Allora nodded. “But coal is messy and growing more expensive with each passing year, as other nations come to rely on it more and more.”

  “But then you could build these.” Madilyn tried to remember the word that Jarrad had used to describe the process. She was pretty sure he had said generate. “These generators inside your cities so you are not limited by the location of a river.”

  Jezebel let out a laugh as she leaned back in chair. She was balancing on the back two legs while pushing against the table with her booted foot, her hands crossed across her chest. “Water has never been a problem for the Goddess of the Ocean,” she smiled.

  “I really wish you wouldn’t call me that.” Allora sighed, shaking her head.

  “What do you mean?” Madilyn frowned. “About water not being a problem. Not about not wanting to be called a goddess.”

  “Allora has the ability to bend water to her will,” Jezebel explained, continuing to rock back and forth in her chair. “She reroutes entire rivers so they are more accessible and strategically placed. Every time a new kingdom or land joins, she makes a new river along the new border. It’s like having the world’s largest moat.”

  “That’s amazing,” Madilyn gasped. She had never heard of such a thing being done before. Sure, rivers had often been used to distinguish borders but never on such a scale.

  “She also uses it to help irrigate farmland, as well as bring water to lands in droughts.” Jezebel flashed Allora a smile.

  “Wait.” Madilyn looked over at the Queen sitting next to her. “Could you not use that as a weapon as well? To divert the water in an enemy kingdom, drying out their lands and causing them to all die of thirst?”

  “I could.” Allora gave only a single nod, her expression a bit somber. “But it is not only the armies that will die of thirst if I do so. And they will certainly not be the first to die either. It will be the innocents that would suffer the most. If people have to die, I would rather it be soldiers, who at least have the ability to fight for their lives.”

  Madilyn was not sure she agreed with the Queen but she still found her reasoning appealing. It was nice to see a noble who put the lives of the people ahead of what might be the more convenient solution. She had experienced firsthand what it felt like when convenience won over ideals.

  “There you are,” Queen Allora said upon seeing Sophia and another woman turn the corner. “Elena, this is Sir Madilyn of Lear,” she introduced, gesturing to Madilyn.

  “Nice to meet you, Sir Madilyn,” Elena said with a simple, yet respectful nod. She pulled out a chair next to Madilyn and sat down looking over at her with the most stunning green eyes Madilyn had ever seen. She wondered if all the Immortals had such eyes. Allora’s were practically violet, Jezebel’s where sky blue and Sophia’s and Tara’s were so dark brown they were almost black.

  Madilyn returned Elena’s nod with the same respect she had been given. She was still surprised at how well both Allora and Elena spoke her language. While Elena had a bit of an accent in her voice, she still spoke like it was a natural language to her.

  Elena looked around the room as if searching for someone. “Is Com-mander Yates and Clementine not joining us?” The question was to everyone but Madilyn could tell it was more directed at Jezebel, though she refused to look directly at the woman.

  “Yates is squaring away the Iron Rose and the rest of the crew,” Jezebel said, though she also did not look at Elena as she spoke, instead she stared straight ahead, keeping her arms crossed as she rocked back and forth. Passive aggressive fighting was right. “Clementine and another woman from Lear wanted to see the city, so they are walking to the Palace.”

  Elena nodded, seeming to have accepted that answer and leaned back slightly in her seat, though she did not look to relax any.

  This allowed Madilyn to notice the thin one handed long sword hanging from her hip. The design was simple but efficient, even having a slightly elongated handle so it could be wielded with two hands if needed. Madilyn could not think of anyone who carried around such an old relic, but given how old Immortals were, Madilyn supposed that it should not be a surprise that they preferred older weapons to newer ones. Her Mentor, Sir Reginald, tended to like older style rifles as he felt they were more comfortable to use because that was what he had come accustom to. Immortals were no different, only their preferences would be much older.

  “And this.” Allora gestured at Jarrad sitting at the other end of the table. “Is Professor Jarrad. He is the head of the Glowdose project.”

  “Hello,” Jarrad said excitedly. He half stood up from his chair as Sophia sat down next to him. He had a silly grin on his face as he stared at Sophia and Jezebel. “I’m sorry, but you two are the first Immortals that I have met outside of our Queen and Lady Elena. And Lady Elena avoids me like she might get sick from being around me. Which is ridiculous as Immortals can’t get sick.” He laughed, though he was the only one. “Just let me say that it is an honor to meet you both.” He grinned and Madilyn thought he was holding himself back from trying to shake both their hands just so he could say that he had.

  “As the head of Glowdose, I thought Professor Jarrad might be able to give us his advice on what might have happened to Stella,” Queen Allora said.

  “Why?” Sophia narrowed her gaze at Allora. “Is Glowdose some kind of investigation department?”

  Jarrad looked over nervously at Queen Allora. The Queen nodded, signaling for him to explain it.

  “Do you by chance know the story of Glowdose in mythology?” Jarrad asked.

  “It’s an old Arcania tale,” Sophia shrugged. “Supposedly he was an Arcane Master who slayed a God.”

  Sophia’s mouth dropped open as the realization hit her. Jezebel seemed confused by the reaction at first but then she also went wide eyed as her chair slammed forward.

  “Allora,” Sophia gasped, turning towards the Queen. “You’re not.”

  Madilyn was still not
sure what was going on, but whatever it was Jezebel and Sophia did not look happy about it.

  “I am.” Allora nodded. “The Glowdose Project is tasked with trying to find a way to kill Immortals like ourselves.”

  “Why?” Jezebel asked, anger building in her voice. But Madilyn thought there was more to it than anger. That there was also a sense of betrayal. “Did you think us too dangerous to let live? Were you planning on killing us one by one so we would never be able to challenge you?”

  “Jezebel,” Elena growled, beginning to rise from her seat. She was not about to let Jezebel say such things about Allora. But Allora held out a hand stopping her, and Elena obediently sat back down.

  “I did it because I figured eventually we would like to die,” Allora stated, clasping her hands together. “I know as well as any of you how hard living these past thousand years has been. It wasn’t that I planned on using it against you, but I wanted you to at least have the option if you ever felt that your time had come.”

  Jezebel still looked angry but her expression did soften and she held her mouth shut. Sophia did much the same, though she seemed deep in thought.

  “Once that information is out there,” Jezebel stated, glaring at Allora. “People can steal it and use it against us. They might already have.” She turned and glared at Jarrad.

  “How would you even go about testing such a thing?” Sophia asked.

  Allora paused, looking down at her hands in front of her. “I have volunteered myself as a test subject.”

  “Are you insane?” Jezebel said, raising her voice again. “What happens when it does finally work? Are you in such a hurry to die?”

  “Of course not!” Allora shot a cold glare at Jezebel which made Jezebel tense up slightly. “But I was not about to ask any of you to do it.” She looked at the other three women around the table.

  “You knew about this?” Sophia calmly asked, looking over at Elena.

  “I did.” Elena gave a nod, though it was a labored one. “I was against it and have even offered myself to test it in her stead.”

  “But I wouldn’t allow it,” Allora finished. “This was my idea and any hardships or suffering should fall on me and only me.”