“Alayna!” Sebastian was at my side, his hands under my arm, pulling me free as a shower of small pistons, gears, and other metal pieces hit us. He dropped his grip and threw up a shield over us, the steel and bronze bits hitting it and spinning off in different directions. Through the haze of Sebastian’s shield, I thought I could see the lifeless automaton of the Clock Keeper’s body fly up into the air, though I couldn’t see where it landed.
“Dinga, can you see him?” I shouted to Sebastian.
His eyes were shut tight in his effort to keep the shield going, but he shook his head anyway.
Despite the danger of getting impaled by something sharp and shiny, I was frantic. I had to get to him. We had already lost too many, I couldn’t lose Dinga, too.
Behind us, I turned to see a group of people flooding the square. The chaos of their shouts reached us as Sebastian dissolved the shield around us.
“Look! The dragon, they’ve destroyed it!” A man shouted, pointing to the wreckage in front of us.
“The Keeper! Is he finally gone?” A woman in the crowd cried out.
“Mommy, mommy!” I heard the voice of a young child.
It was so strange to hear the cries of children, from the frantic voices of the younger ones to the deep tones of the near adults.
“Sebastian!”
A voice broke through the crowd. Wyatt pushed a throng of adults out of his way and ran up to us. “Have you seen Aila?” his voice was high strung and worried.
“She’s at the seamstress shop, Madeline’s,” I informed him, standing, and brushing myself off, as I pointed back to the storefront’s direction.
He turned to race away from us, but over his should her he called, “You saved us, Alayna, you did it!” He tipped his cap and jogged towards Madeline’s.
“Dinga saved us all,” I said. “And if you don’t mind, it’s time for me to save him!”
By now dozens of people were poking around the bits of metal, some scavenging, but most just tipping their cans into the hot silver and bronze.
They were in a daze this had really happened. Most of the townspeople hung back, shaking their heads, a few of them slapping their ears. I realized it must be like waking up from a dream for all the magic the Keeper had wound, with the help of the clock face.
With the help of my mother.
I reached Dinga’s side. Dinga’s arms were bent at such odd angles I choked back a sob as I fell to my knees next to him. His chest wasn’t moving, although I didn’t know anything about demon physiology, so I had no idea if it should, but the wet black ooze that seeped from the deep cuts on his face and chest told me something was deadly wrong. His mouth was open with his tongue unrolled and hanging to one side. I reached out my hand to see if any air was still pushed from his lungs, rather, whatever they had. I pushed my power into him, the blue energy sparking and fading.
Oh, no.
I was too late.
My healing powers didn’t work on the dead.
Sebastian was there on the other side of him. He grabbed my hand and gently pushed it back. He lowered his head to Dinga’s mouth and then looked at me. “He’s breathing,” he muttered.
“We have to get him to Pearl,” I said.
“Pearl?”
“She’s a doctor. Well, sort of.”
“A what?”
“A healer,” I corrected.
“Can’t you just heal him?”
I looked at him for a minute. And shook my head. “I tried. It’s—it’s not working.”
“But does she know about demons?”
I remembered the blue, translucent mist as Pearl stopped Aila’s bleeding. I nodded.
“Aye,” Sebastian agreed, “we must hurry.” He slipped an arm gently under Dinga’s head and under his skinny legs, hoisting him up from the ground.
I carefully supported his arms, which I was so sure were broken. I didn’t want to think about the level of black ooze surrounding him. Blood, I supposed. Did demons ever bleed? I just didn’t know.
“Just a second.” A flash of light from the dragon caught my eye. I folded Dinga’s arms gently against Sebastian, alarmed at how light and small they were, and strode toward the remnants of the dragon head we had just destroyed.
“Alayna, time is short!” Sebastian called after me.
I couldn’t mistake that red light anywhere. From the time, I first saw the Keeper in the throne room months ago, I realized his cane held power. Before I came close to it, I had one other thing to do. I located the Clock Keeper’s lifeless head, detached from his robot body, with wires and strings hanging down like a destroyed metal marionette.
“This is mine,” I reached down and ripped my dagger from the base of the rounded bronze skull. I gave the head a hefty kick and watched with satisfaction as the dead eyes rolled a few feet away.
The dragon’s head was smashed on top, the lower metal jaw missing, but his red eye was still lit up, gleaming menacingly from the still metal counterparts. I pulled the red jewel from the eye socket, and as I did, I heard a ghostly phrase float across the air:
You fools think you can destroy my body, but this is one of many. Come and find me, if you dare, Alayna, Princess of Elestra...
A shiver shot down my spine as I threw the jewel to the ground and crushed it beneath my heel.
Sebastian was staring with his jaw dropped as I joined him. “Was that necessary?” He asked as we hurried toward the alley that led back to Madeline and Pearl’s shop.
“You know it was.”
“It said something, Alayna, what did it say?”
“Don’t even worry about it.”
“You’ll tell me eventually.” Sebastian smirked.
“Probably.”
We reached the seamstress, to find Aila sitting in a padded chair in the corner, Wyatt kneeling in front of her, their daughter hugged between them. Pearl’s healing had worked wonders. I couldn’t even tell Aila had been on the brink of death an hour ago.
Pearl set to work on Dinga, with Sebastian and Madeline close on her heels as they disappeared into a back room. I paced in the kitchen by the stove, which still held the bloody rags and bubbling pot from the delivery.
“He’ll survive,” Sebastian appeared after a few agonizing minutes.
“No,” I sobbed. “No, I’ve killed him!”
“When demons are unconscious, they stop breathing. It’s a mechanism of some kind. Remember when Edwin had him in front of the piston? It happened then, too.”
I remembered. “Oh, Sebastian, he’ll live?”
“Demons are a hardy bunch, despite their size,” said Sebastian, pulling me close. “And this one especially, deserves to live. I believe your healing awoke something in him.”
“Did it?”
Sebastian held me at arm’s length. “Yes. But the real question is this: What will you do now, oh Alayna of Elestra? Will you flee to your world of rubber hoses, meat sticks, and thin potatoes?”
I had to laugh, through my tears. “It’s not my home anymore.”
Sebastian smiled. “I agree. Those meat sticks looked awful anyway. Do people actually eat those?”
I shook my head. “Yes, yes they do.”
“Seriously, though, what have you at home to return to?”
I thought about my lonely hideaway in the woods, where I escaped from an abusive father, in a town where the residents treated me like some pitiful, powerless creature of the night to be avoided. I had no prospects for friends, and worst of all, no one to love. I thought about Dinga, my closest friend, fighting for his life in the next room, and Sebastian. Well, I didn’t have a chance to sort out my feelings for him, but something was there.
“You’re right.” I admitted. “There was nothing there for me. I have no reason to go back. I have every reason in the world to stay here.”
“Good, then this is for you.”
“What?”
“Give me your hand.”
I brushed the tears away but stuck out my open palm.
; Sebastian opened his fist and a ring fell into my hand.
I held the thick silver ring up to my face to examine it. A ring with the same seal that was emblazoned on the bronze doors to the palace; the same seal that decorated every tapestry and painting in this town.
“What is this?”
“Your mother gave it to me, the night we last saw her. She was afraid of Edwin, afraid of the Keeper’s power. She had even started to suspect Victor. She told me she saw how I looked at you...”
I felt my cheeks heat.
“...and trusted only me. She said to tell you this, ‘Alayna, when the time is right, this ring replaces all bonds, for the duties of a queen supersede all else. Wear it well, wear it with power. But most of all, Alayna, wear it with the kindness that this kingdom deserves.’”
“This is mine?”
“This will only fit the true heir to the throne. Its power is ancient beyond ages, said to be created by the Gods themselves.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You knew how to break our bond the entire time and didn’t?”
“I knew it would come in handy,” he shrugged. He smiled. “May I?”
I gave him the ring and he slipped it on my finger of right hand. The magical steel warped to fit onto my finger, a bond much like the one I shared with Sebastian. At the same time, I felt my left wrist burn with an intensity that made me cry out. I held it to my chest and noticed the leather bond appear with a sizzle, the one that Elinar had cursed Sebastian and me with what seemed like ages ago.
Sebastian held up his wrist as well. They faded as quickly as they had appeared. The bond with Sebastian was finally gone.
The words of the ruby still echoed in my head as I stared at the ring, sealed, and grafted to my skin. Princess? I was no princess. I was the queen now. And this was my kingdom, and no one, not an automaton Keeper, not fire breathing dragons, and not even the threat of a coming storm would threaten my rule.
Sebastian pulled me close once more, and I realized I was home at last.
Chapter Thirty-Six: Quandaries
I COULDN’T BELIEVE all these people bowed on one knee to me. I was a lonely girl from the woods, with no one who loved me, and nothing to live for. But here they were in their best dress, packed into a throne room designed for a couple hundred that easily held close to a thousand.
They were all here for me.
In the last month since the battle with the Keeper, word had spread around the kingdom, to the shores of the coast, Sea City, Sebastian had told me, and Radio and Railroad cities of the west. The Keeper’s reign of terror was over.
Elestra had a new monarch, the daughter of the long-lost queen had come forward, with the royal seal to prove her lineage. And with her came an advisor, a young man, whom some said was a quirky inventor, a commoner, with a head of wild brown curls and brooding, yet intelligent dark eyes. The tale spread quickly of his heroism to save the kingdom and he had been knighted Sir Sebastian the Light Spinner by the queen herself.
Even odder still, I was told this queen kept the company of demons, her trusted advisor one of the Zespar tribe. An odd figure they called Dinga, in a heavy cloak tailor made for his small frame, and a roughhewn cane always pressed into his hand, the queen’s companion was different indeed.
Although I was queen in name only, it wasn’t official. Not until today. Not until all these people swore their allegiance. Not until my mother’s diadem was placed on my head by Cleric Gregory, leader of the church. Cleric Gregory had traveled a hundred miles from Sea City where he had been in hiding since the Keeper’s invasion some fifteen years ago.
It wasn’t my mother’s actual diadem of course, but a replica made from the finest blacksmith and jewel maker in the entire realm. Mother of Pearl quality set into a silver frame with a blue teardrop jewel dangling in the middle made it as close as possible to the one I had destroyed that day in the tower.
A hush fell over the crowd as Cleric Gregory appeared in the wide doorway. His ivory robes laced with gold swished gently as he strode confidently up the red-carpeted throne room aisle. His gray beard, nearly reaching the floor, swung slowly from side to side as he carried the black pillow with the diadem mounted on top.
As I waited for the progression to approach my throne, I looked up at Sebastian. I reached for his hand and he took it. He looked uncomfortable, but strong simultaneously, as he smiled down at me. He was wearing a formal plate mail suit much like the guards of the palace. The only variant for his suit of armor was the silver circlet around his head that replaced his ever-present goggles, and the leather gloves he wore instead of heavy gauntlets. The battle with the Keeper had left his hands badly scarred from his own lightning and they were still healing, especially with my help.
My queen? He mouthed.
I love you, I mouthed back.
He nodded, wary to make any other motion with such eyes focused on us. His eyes told me all I needed to know.
“Mistress,” Dinga’s tiny voice came in my ear. “Will there be refreshments for Dinga?”
“Shh. Yes, Dinga, do not worry.”
Dinga smiled and patted my arm. “Good Queen.”
Gregory was approaching the throne now, only a few feet away. When he reached the steps to the dais, he turned and held the pillow over his head. A few ceremonial words I couldn’t follow, and he turned back to me. He handed the pillow to Sebastian and carefully lifted the diadem over my head. I felt the cool metal touch my finely curled hair as the crowd rose to its feet.
Gregory was here for more than the coronation. Tucked safely in his belt was the ordinary leather sheath I knew held the most powerful weapon in the kingdom. He had agreed to take it back to his church, where the powerful clerics would be able to take care of it better than the people of Elestra. The farther it was from here, the better. Its powers were many, and I didn’t want such a powerful thing close to our fragile kingdom.
I was still holding Sebastian’s hand, and he helped me to my feet as Gregory bowed and stepped away. The long train on the layers of my dress, made especially by Madeline and her daughter, Pearl, who I had also appointed as Advisor on my new council, flowed out behind me. I reminded myself changing into pants would be the best feeling later. Together, Sebastian and I stepped off the dais with Gregory in front of us. I raised Sebastian’s hand with my own and we were proclaimed the new rulers of the land.
The throne room erupted into wild cheering, and a concentrated praise: “Gods save the Queen!”
“What is your first order of business, queen?” Sebastian whispered in my ear.
“Rebuild, of course,” I whispered from the side of my mouth as I looked straight forward. I raised my other hand to wave at the crowd, who was still cheering.
“And second?”
“We must sign a decree allowing women to wear pants,” I murmured.
“Don’t get too crazy,” Sebastian smiled, “but it’s a start.”
I turned and look at him. “With you by my side to zap people, anything is possible.”
He didn’t look at me, but I could see him resisting the urge to laugh. “I am always available for zapping, my queen.”
“This is going to be awesome,” I realized I’d have to remind myself I could never again lapse into how I used to speak from my own realm.
Sebastian did laugh then, crowd be damned. The cheering was dying down, and we stepped back up onto our throne while the people were escorted out from the back.
“Mistress queen, if Dinga may,” Dinga interrupted from beside me again. “Please do not have a hundred younglings with Master Sebastian. You will not remember their names, this Dinga knows.”
“We will not have a hundred,” Sebastian pretended to look shocked. “We aren’t even married!” He winked at me. “But maybe we could have like, ten?”
I shook my head with a chuckle. I could only blush when they said such things. We hadn’t even discussed it, but there was surely time in the future for it. I surveyed the crowd. A few ladies and their
husbands of station were milling about court, but the general population was mostly dispersed, each heading to celebrate the coronation in their own way. I wondered what the rumors would be if the Queen consorted with her knight.
Consorted? Oh, sweet baby Jesus, my cheeks were flaming as I thought about it. With Sebastian? No. I couldn’t. Could I? I gulped. Could we? As much as it repelled me, I was curious. Sebastian caught my eye then and I beamed at him.
Wyatt and Aila were there, absent their baby girl, but I was still surprised how different they looked. He in finery of a gentleman and Aila dressed like a proper lady.
Sebastian had seen to it that Wyatt had found a place of station among the palace staff and was given a house and property just outside the castle walls for his small family. It was the least he could do for Wyatt saving his life in the cave in under the mine.
I had offered to relocate Dinga’s tribe closer to the palace, but Elinar’s son, Narp, their new leader, had declined, saying the ways of the Zespar were too important to preserve near their sacred lake.
Dinga did, however, move his three wives and a handful of younglings into the palace.
We gave them a small wing off the kitchen with access to outside—for all the ishies and mooshies they wanted. Dinga regaled them with stories crick-cuts from the other world and the stories of meat sticks and thin potatoes in shiny bags. His offspring begged for the story over and over.
In the aftermath of the Keeper’s destruction, Victor’s body had been found draped on the grand stairway inside the palace doors. Sebastian enacted a holiday in memory of Matthias and Victor Cross, who led the rebellion to the eventual downfall of the Keeper’s evil regime.
It was a day Sebastian picked in summer to honor the men who had raised him, where all the shops in the kingdom would be closed and people would observe a day of celebration and a moment of silence for their lost lives.
In our own way, Sebastian grieved for Bailia as much as I grieved for Edwin. A traitor to our cause, Edwin was still a brother I had never known, gone too soon. Nevertheless, Bailia had a story to tell and her legacy was lost. I agreed to have her bakery demolished, and in its place, Sebastian had plans to put a park. Something simple with a few games for children and tables for adults.
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