by S. S. Engle
“Did you make a deal with him Luca?”
“What does it matter what I did? I did what I had to do to get out of there alive!”
“So did I!”
“Somehow I don’t think what you and I did were the same thing.”
“You used what you had, I used what I had.”
“You demean yourself if you think your lips were all you had at your disposal.”
“It was the most useful of tools I had. Besides, it got me the next clue. Aren’t you interested in that still? Big picture and what not? Putting anything to do with me aside, you are still after the treasure, aren’t you?”
“You read the clue for Blue back in the parlour. Barrow Street and Parker Avenue. I remember.”
“That’s not what the paper said.”
“What?”
“I lied. I knew Blue would trust whatever I had to say, so I drove him off course to try and buy us some more time.”
“So what is the next clue?”
“Ulysses Bataille.”
“The dead gearmaster of Engia?”
“One in the same.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s all I could find. I stole Blue’s coat last night because he had the page stuffed into his pocket.”
“Please stop talking about him. It bothers me how easily you throw his name around.”
“Well you have the next clue now. Do with it what you want. I just thought you’d be interested to know that not all my lying is to your detriment.”
“Where are you going now?”
“Upstairs. I assumed you were done speaking to me.”
“You should never assume. It makes an ass out of you and me.”
“You trying to crack a joke to cover up the fact that you’re still hiding things from me?”
“Not everything I hide from you is to your detriment.”
“Come up with your own explanation instead of using my own words against me.”
“You want to know why I’m angry with you?”
“Yes.”
“For seventeen years there’s been an exodus from this city of all that is good and pure.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Over the years lots of things have come back to Engia. And I’m not sure if much of it has been good.”
“I’m not following the trail of breadcrumbs.”
“I thought without the shadow of a doubt that you coming back was a good thing.”
“And now you’re not so sure?”
“Now I’m positive. It was me that shouldn’t have come back.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Don’t give me credit I don’t deserve. Why do you give me so much leniency?”
“I don’t.”
“You do. More than one person has pointed that out to me. And vice versa. I’ve given you a lot of chances, a lot more than any of my men.”
“No you haven’t. You’re just as hard on me as anybody else.”
“You’re a good liar. But even I don’t believe that one. It’s only when we’re together that trouble seems to follow.”
“What are you saying?”
“One of us has to leave Engia for things to get better. And it’s not you.”
“But…”
“You should go upstairs and get some sleep. I’ll give you a couple hours before I wake everyone up.”
“But…”
“The Ringers will be fortifying their numbers and coming to the palace. They’ll be here soon. We need to barricade it if we’re going to make any kind of stand alright?”
“What are you talking about?!”
“You wanted to be honest. I don’t trust Asa was bluffing. He gave me mercy by letting me have a head start.”
“We shouldn’t barricade the palace we’ll never stand a chance! We need to leave. We need to load the guys up on the Lydia and get them out of here!”
“That’s not an option.”
“Why?”
“Because the Dreadcranks don’t have the Lydia anymore!”
“What do you mean?”
“I made a deal with Asa.”
“You traded my father’s airship to Asa?!”
“Did I stutter?”
“No, you most certainly did not.”
10
As Kassidy was storming out of the basement she was taken aback by the sound of something crashing to the ground outside. Luca pushed her aside on the stairs and ran up to the bottom floor of the palace to look out the windows. Asa was early. The Lydia was docking itself to the roof by way of the brass gilded flames on the front facade. In a matter of minutes Ringers would be coming down into the palace. Luca began yelling out orders for any able-bodied man to grab what furniture he could and barricade the outermost windows and doors first. It was mad chaos in every inch of the palace. Kassidy eventually found Harlan in the library passing off chairs and couches for the Dreadcranks to use in other parts of the palace. He knew how upset Kassidy was about losing the only home she had managed to hold onto for any length of time and decided just to keep his comments to himself about her fault in all of this. What she needed right now was a hug, so he just pulled her in tight and tried to calm her down the best he could. It wasn’t much, but she appreciated the effort.
“What do y-y-you need me to do?”
“Grab anything you can and block the windows. There’s so much glass in this palace. The boards will only hold the Ringers off for so long.”
“And wh-wh-what about you?”
“What about me?”
“Where wi-wi-will you be?”
“What does that matter?”
“Why do y-y-you think my brother came h-h-here so fast?”
It dawned on Kassidy she was in a very unique position. All around her injured Dreadcranks were pushing through their own pain to try and save themselves. She could help them. Harlan saw the look in his friend’s eye and reached out to grab a hold of her before she ran off, but the was too late. Knowing full well what his brother was capable of he knew he had to try and find Luca now to stop whatever it was Kassidy was planning on doing. He watched her run upstairs, towards what would be the front lines of this latest fight. She was more than likely going to offer herself up as some sort of bait, or make a deal with Asa. Neither of which were going to end up well for her. But Harlan couldn’t get a hold of Luca to save his life right now. Luca was a buzz of activity lending a helping hand to each man he could find who was struggling. Then he’d run off and disappear into another room or down another hallway. Harlan had ever been so distracted before in his entire life. He too was trying to help the Dreadcranks barricade the palace as he chased after Luca, but he was getting nowhere fast. But all the while the chaos inside grew more and more intense, the attack on the outside was progressing equally as fast. More airships were docking onto the roof. Heavy footsteps could be traced on the ceilings of the top story. More and more gilded flames were being thrown to the ground outside. Some used as battering rams to try and gain entry to doors and windows. Glass shattering was an almost constant sound. But in a passing glance Harlan managed to grab hold of Luca’s shirt, and if it not for their mutual concern over Kassidy, Luca wouldn’t have bothered to stay and talk.
“What’s wrong O’Brien?”
“It’s Kassidy.”
“Is she hurt?!”
“Not yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“She ran upstairs. I think she’s going to try and make a deal with my brother or offer herself up in exchange for sparing the gang and the palace.”
“She can’t do that!”
“Then you have to go stop her!”
“Why me? Why not you?! You saw her run! Why didn’t you go after her?!”
“She won’t listen to me! She’ll listen to you!”
“I blew that last night.”
“No you didn’t. She loves you!”
“Stop saying that! Stop getting into my head O’Brien! Just g
o after her!”
“She didn’t choose me Lucky! She chose you!”
“God knows why!”
“Go get her and bring her back!”
“I don’t know where she is!”
“If anyone can find her right now it’s you!”
“Upstairs?”
“That’s the last time I saw her.”
Luca patted Harlan on the back with a heavy hand and ran for the nearest staircase leaping two to three stairs at a time. Dreadcranks were flooding downstairs now, abandoning any hope of saving anything but the ground floor. Luca yelled for them to make a stronghold in the basement, and to take water and lights with them. Harlan joined the gang in their retreat underground. Luca pushed on upstairs. For as chaotic as it had been it was eerily quiet now. The Ringers had obviously achieved some sort of victory outside and were waiting for further orders. Luca assumed Asa was making his way off the airship and down to the palace roof. There was going to be a short window of time when there would be a false sense of confidence the worst was already behind them. But Luca knew better. He’d seen too much careless carnage to know what Asa had in store for him and his men. But all he could think about right now was finding Kassidy and hiding her. If that’s what Asa wanted most, he’d do anything he could to deny him of that. Frantically kicking open any door he passed he found Kassidy at the end of a hallway, startled as she was closing a book of all things.
“Now’s hardly the time to be doing research sweetheart. You’ve got to come with me downstairs right now.”
“I’m not going.”
“What?”
“Asa only came here to get me. He doesn’t want your gang Luca.”
“I’m not letting him take you, so come on.”
“It’s not a matter of you letting him take me. I’ll go with him willingly to avoid any more slaughter.”
“The hell you are!”
“This isn’t your decision to make!”
“I’m not losing you to him!”
“Luca?”
“He’s not taking you from this palace. Not so long as I’m alive and breathing. I couldn’t care less what type of angle you planned on exploiting today, but you can just forget about it. Now come on!”
“When was the last time you looked outside?”
“I’m afraid I’ve been a little busy.”
“Come here. Come here and look!”
“He’s demolished the roof.”
“It looks worse than it is. Not a single Ringer has gotten inside yet. But they’re making good progress. This palace will be fubar before the day’s over.”
“Fubar? Why does that sound familiar?”
“My father used to say it during raids. It means fucked up beyond all recognition.”
“How appropriate.”
“I can’t leave this palace in ruins. I have to give myself up to Asa before this gets any further.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“You have to. Because the needs of the gang are more important than just mine.”
“What are you trying to rationalize? That your sacrifice is worth the treasure? Because you’re dead wrong! Sweetheart I couldn’t give a damn about ever finding your father’s treasure if it meant I’d have to lose you.”
“That’s exactly why you’re not making this decision. You have to let me do this. I’m trying to make things right here.”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry for being so hard on you. I’m sorry for yelling at you last night. I’m sorry for giving you a hard time about anything! But I can’t let you go! I can’t have you leave thinking this is what’s better for the gang. I didn’t mean what I said down in the basement. I won’t leave. I won’t leave you ever again if that’s what it takes! Forget about anything I said to you when I was angry. I was just upset. I promise you I won’t leave. But you can’t go!”
“Luca I have to go. It’ll buy you time that you need. You have to find that treasure and take Asa down. It takes money to beat money, right? Now we know the gearmaster was cremated, but he wasn’t buried in the cemetery. His ashes were kept here in the palace, like a homage to all the work he did for the city. If I leave with Asa the palace will be spared and you guys can find his ashes. That’s the next clue. Somewhere down in the basement you’ll find everything you need.”
“I’m looking at everything I need!”
“That’s sweet but…”
“No! To hell with sweet! You’re not leaving! You want to hash this out now fine! Let’s hash it out! I was devastated when I saw you kissing Blue on that balcony. Devastated! And when O’Brien told me you’d done it more than once, I just lost it. Alright? Is this what you want to hear? You hurt my pride sweetheart, like no one ever has before. I acted like a damned fool pushing you away but I didn’t know what else to do. I still don’t. I have no idea what I’m doing with you, or why you put up with me, all I know is that I want to keep having no idea what I’m doing with you for a long time. And I can’t do that if you go up there on that airship with Asa.”
“And what happens if I do listen to you? What happens if I stay? This palace gets destroyed. The gang gets decimated. You would have that guilt weighing down on my shoulders?”
“No. Nothing is as black and white as you make it out to be.”
“Don’t promise me miracles Luca.”
“I would never. I just need to know you trust me.”
“I trust you.”
“Then we have to go downstairs right now.”
“But what about…”
“Let me worry about Asa.”
“If anything happens…”
“Blame me.”
Luca held out his hand for an impossibly long time. Kassidy stared out the window for the last time trying to soak up every little detail about what the palace looked like before it’s imminent destruction. She was dead set against running away, but listened to Luca anyway. She barely set her hand down in his when he began dragging her behind him as they flew downstairs. It was all she could do to keep up with him. Before they even reached the ground floor an explosion knocked them off their feet. They tumbled into the wall and lost their footing. The concussion of the blast knocked the air out of Kassidy’s lungs and had her choking on the dust in the air, but Luca still had a firm hold of her. She didn’t know how but he had managed to never let go of her. He pulled her back up and made a mad dash for the basement. Ringers were coming down into the top story now by the handful. Kassidy could hear the familiar sounds of guns cocking back into action, and steam being released in the hallways as they spread out. Her heart sunk.
From the palace, there was only one way in and out of the basement. Upon finding it in the back of a closet Luca stomped his foot down on the access door heavily a handful of times before he was met with the barrel of a gun shoved into his face. It was removed quickly when Jasper noticed Kassidy in the daylight. As soon as everyone was down in the basement now the door was sealed more permanently from the inside. Luca pushed Kassidy deep into the middle of the dimly lit and panic-stricken crowd. It was overpacked in here, and would only provide a short-term relief from the attack bearing down on them from upstairs, but they were safe so long as they weren’t found. In hushed whispers Kassidy heard men praying who had never prayed a day in their life. Luca was holding her face in his hands trying to keep her only focused on his face and what he was saying but she couldn’t block out all the background noise. It was all jumbling together. Now was as good a time as any to finally reveal what she’d been keeping to herself. She grabbed onto Luca’s hands on her face and pulled him back with her as she seemed to be going nowhere fast. But she was going exactly where she wanted to. Behind a mess of pipes and cobwebs there was a hidden door in the stonework. Luca could barely make out what Kassidy was doing until he ordered a lantern to be brought over for her. A gust of wind hit him and he was so confused. With a little shove, and a brute force kick, Kassidy managed to open the door to reveal the vast expanse of what really lied underneath t
he palace.
“What is this?”
“I found this when I first got to Engia. But I didn’t know what was down here so I left it alone until the occasion absolutely called for me to come back.”
“I’d say now is the opportune moment to go exploring. Just how far back does this go?”
“Judging by the echo I’d say pretty far.”