Clockwork Thief Box Set

by Katherine Bogle

  Khlara gripped Narra’s hand under the table and squeezed.

  “That’s two for punishment, and two for forgiveness. There’s one vote left.” August looked at Claudia, who stared directly at Narra. “What say you, Commander Claudia?”

  Narra winced. This was it. She would face the wrath of the Guild after this. What would they do to her? A death of a thousand cuts? Or worse ? Would they draw and quarter her like in the Time of Kings? Or maybe they’d tie her to a slab of wood and strap a bucket with a live rat inside of it to her stomach? It was an old form of torture, but anything was possible with the twins.

  A shiver went down her spine and she squeezed Khlara’s hand so tightly she was sure it must hurt.

  “Claudia?” August repeated.

  Narra met Claudia’s eyes, and the Commander of the Picks raised her chin.

  “Forgiveness,” Claudia said.

  Klaus’s chair scraped across the floor as he stood. “What? Sister, you can’t be serious!”

  Claudia slowly peeled her gaze away from Narra to look at her brother. “I have spoken, brother . ”

  August let out a heavy sigh of relief. He smiled as he looked over at Narra. “That’s three to two in your favor. Narra, on behalf of the Guild, you are forgiven.”

  Narra blinked in surprise at the commanders. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Out of all the commanders she’d expected to vote for her, Claudia hadn’t been one of them.

  Slowly, Narra dragged her gaze back to the Commander of the Picks. “Why?” she asked.

  Claudia raised an eyebrow. “That’s all you have to say to my benevolence? Why ?”

  Narra narrowed her eyes.

  Claudia shook her head and sighed. “Because I’d have done the same if my Damien had been in trouble.” Her eyes grew sad and her forehead wrinkled. A look of pain flashed across her face, and then it was gone. Narra remembered when the initiates had all been killed; Claudia had been beside herself with grief for one of the fallen. Damien had been her lover, even despite their age difference. “And you did save us all. It might have only been for your friend, but still. I’d have killed hundreds… nay, thousands , if anyone stood between me and Klaus.”

  Klaus’s angry gaze softened, and Claudia looked up at her twin.

  Narra’s racing heart slowed. She had no idea what to say. She couldn’t believe her luck.

  “Thank Srah,” Khlara breathed out the prayer. She squeezed Narra’s hand again before pulling her fingers from Narra’s iron-like grip.

  Narra splayed her fingers on her thighs and wiped off her sweaty palms. She took a deep breath as she tried to rearrange her thoughts.

  She’d been forgiven by the Guild. She wouldn’t die today. She was free.

  And with the commander’s verdict delivered, she had news of her own to share. Narra took one last moment to collect herself before she stood. The commanders all turned to face her.

  Narra laid her palms on the tabletop, and glanced at each of them. “Now that your verdict has been delivered, I think it’s time I tell you…”

  Khlara frowned. A knowing look flashed through her eyes.

  Narra looked away from her mother to address the others. Khlara might know what was coming, but the rest were in for a real surprise.

  “I am the Guild Master. My father might have been a traitor of a Guild Master, but I promise to each of you that I will do my best to lead us into a new age of thieves.”

  “ W hat?” the commanders gasped.

  “You can’t be serious,” Klaus snapped.

  “Rheka, what are you saying?” August asked. His eyes were wide like saucers.

  Narra let them get out their flurry of confused questions. They threw one at her every few seconds, not giving her any time to actually answer them. While the commanders got over their shock, Narra waited and watched.

  Khlara frowned, wrinkling her pale skin. She stared at the table and crossed her arms. She wasn’t pleased that Narra had told their secret.

  “Explain,” Clint said calmly once the others had shut up.

  Narra regarded his cool expression before nodding. “My father was the previous Guild Master. The title was passed down from my mother.” She darted a glance at her.

  “Khlara?” August gasped. “You were the Guild Master?”

  Khlara sighed. “Yes. Before I left, I was the Guild Master. I gave the title to my husband temporarily until Narra came of age. But it seems my husband kept the title long passed when he should have and did quite a few shady things with it while he was at it. ”

  Narra snorted. Khlara didn’t even know the half of it.

  “Quinn was the Guild Master?” Claudia squawked like a parrot. “That drunk thief-for-hire?”

  “Yes,” Khlara said.

  “I think Quinn played us all for a fool,” Narra said. “I found a secret room hidden in our apartment where he kept all the contracts he stole from us. He could hardly have completed so many while drunk half the time.”

  “That bastard.” Graves slammed his fist on the table, and it trembled from the impact.

  “Quinn should have passed the title to my daughter when she was eighteen. If he had heeded my instructions, none of this would have happened,” Khlara growled. Her green eyes flashed like emerald flames.

  The commanders once again stared at Narra.

  “So you expect us to obey this child?” Klaus laughed. “You’re mad.”

  “I was younger than she is now when I first became Guild Master,” Khlara said. She narrowed her eyes at Klaus. “If she takes after me at all, then she will do great things for this Guild.”

  “She’s already betrayed us to the enemy and nearly gotten us all killed,” Klaus argued. “She’s hardly fit to lead.”

  “Enough!” August barked. He stood abruptly, slamming his cane onto the floor. “Never before has a Guild Master revealed themselves to us. Things are changing. The empire is changing, and we need to change with it or we won’t last.”

  Narra lifted her chin up. She couldn’t have put it better herself. Though she’d questioned whether she should reveal herself to the commanders before now, hearing August speak, she knew she’d done the right thing.

  For the last three centuries, the Guild Master had always operated in shadow. But it was this way of thinking—this way of dealing with power—that led to someone corrupt like Quinn Reiner taking the position for so long. If the commanders knew who the Guild Master was, then he or she would always be held accountable .

  “Things have been done a certain way for a reason,” Claudia argued. “We can’t have a Guild Master who favors one faction over the others.”

  August sighed. “And when has our Rheka ever favored one faction over another? She’s alone as Commander of Negotiations.”

  Graves nodded in agreement. “She has no troops to fight for, only herself.”

  “Rheka has always taken the… less favorable contracts, anyway,” Clint added in his usual monotone.

  “Exactly,” Narra said. “I might have been shaped by that awful man, but I won’t be like him. Contracts will work the same as they always have. They’ll come in, be reviewed for authenticity, and then they’ll go directly to the Council of Commanders. Any contracts not accepted will be eaten by flames.”

  “Why not just have the entire Council decide if a contract should be taken then?” Claudia asked. She glared at Narra. Whatever kinship Narra might have had with the woman moments ago was clearly gone.

  “You know why,” Khlara said. “Contracts could be declined by the Council, and then taken behind the backs of the other Commanders.

  Claudia closed her mouth and sat back. Even she couldn’t argue with that.

  “We can discuss this more later,” Narra said. “For now, I’d like to know what progress has been made setting up a new contract system. We need to return the Guild to some semblance of normalcy.”

  August exchanged a look with Clint. “We took your advice and hired Jin to accept contracts. He knows wh
at to do, and who can retrieve the contracts from him. He’ll also keep an itemized list hidden just in case anything happens again like with Quinn.”

  Narra nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

  “Pick up will be every Sunday night at midnight,” August added. “Maybe you should be the only one to accept contracts. That way there won’t be a danger of any thieves pocketing them for themselves.”

  “Agreed. ”

  Narra sat back down, as did August. With the storm passed, the commanders looked tired. She imagined they were all still worn out after the dungeons, not to mention the effort it took to clean such an enormous house.

  She looked around the table at each commander until her gaze landed on Khlara. Her eyebrows shot up as a thought occurred to her. “Do you plan on remaining with the Guild?”

  Her heart thumped faster. She couldn’t help the bit of excitement that bubbled up inside of her at the thought of getting to know the powerful former commander.

  Khlara frowned. “No, darling. The assassins are still after me. I only returned to help you get the Guild back, but you’ve done that all on your own.” She smiled slightly, though her eyes were still sad. “I can’t stay much longer.”

  Narra’s excitement turned into a boiling pot of dread. What else had she been expecting? Things rarely went right for Narra, and with assassins hunting her mother, she couldn’t blame Khlara for wanting to leave.

  “Well, I think that ends Guild business for the day,” August said. He shifted awkwardly in his chair. “We’ll meet again soon.”

  Narra nodded. She said her goodbyes to the other commanders and quickly left the conference room, her mother trailing behind her.

  Her fists clenched at her sides as she descended the steps to the first floor. She walked out the front door, barely watching where she was going.

  “Narra!” Erik called.

  She glanced up. Erik and Alden walked across the courtyard to meet them. They both looked about as nervous as she’d felt before the meeting.

  “So?” Alden asked.

  “I’m pardoned,” Narra said.

  Erik and Alden let out a sigh of relief.

  “Thank Srah!” Alden said.

  “Ancestors , you scared me!” Erik grinned.

  “That’s not all.” Khlara slid her a sidelong look .

  “Um. I also confessed to being the Guild Master,” Narra explained.

  Erik’s eyes went buggy, and Alden’s mouth dropped open. “What ?”

  Narra explained what happened, and why she’d done it. Khlara helped to fill in the blanks about where the title had come from, and why Quinn had had it in the first place. By the time they finished, both men looked impressed.

  “We should grab a drink to celebrate,” Alden said. “There’s got to be booze in this mansion somewhere, right?”

  Narra shook her head. It was always the first thing on Alden’s mind. “I think I saw a bar inside somewhere.”

  “There’s one in the study on the third floor,” Erik said.

  “That’s my boy!” Alden chuckled. “Lead the way.”

  Erik flashed his teeth and led them back inside. Alden was quick to follow, while Narra and her mother brought up the rear. She exchanged a glance with her mother, whose eyebrows were furrowed with worry.

  “You really aren’t staying, are you?” Narra asked.

  Khlara smiled sadly. “No, darling. You have things under control here. I’m not needed.” Khlara rested her hand on Narra’s arm. “I’m proud of what you’ve done here. You’ll be a good Guild Master.”

  Narra’s chest heated at the same time that it squeezed. It warmed her heart to know that the mother she’d never known was proud of her. But at the same time, she couldn’t help the sadness swelling inside of her either. They hardly knew one another, and they might never get the chance to be more than strangers.

  “Hey, keep up!” Erik called from the top of the stairs.

  Khlara ushered Narra through the front doors. “Don’t worry, Narra. It will all turn out okay.” As they stepped inside, Khlara’s smile disappeared. “We’re coming!” she called up the stairs.

  Erik flashed a grin and disappeared down the hall, Alden on his heels.

  T he next morning, Narra held a freshly brewed cup of coffee to her lips, blowing the rising steam off the top. Her stomach tightened with hunger, and her mouth salivated from the rich smell of grilled sausages.

  While Erik cooked breakfast for the four of them, Narra sipped on her beverage, watching Khlara read the paper and Alden clutch his head in his hands. He had quite the hangover after a late night of drinking. It reminded her of months ago when she’d gotten up late one afternoon to find Alden and Erik passed out in her living room. She’d made as much noise as possible to awaken them, only to get amusing groans and insults thrown her way for tearing them from sleep.

  “Still nursing that hangover, old man?” Erik asked. He flashed a grin and a wink over his shoulder. He stirred hash browns in butter in a separate pan, no evidence of the previous night’s activities on his face.

  “Shut up,” Alden groaned. He swiped his fingers through his hair and looked up in a daze. His face was drawn and dark circles stood out beneath his blue eyes.

  Khlara smiled as she lowered the newspaper. “Who would have ever thought a day would come when Alden Reiner could no longer hold his liquor?”

  Alden narrowed his eyes at Khlara. “I’ve been out of practice searching for you .”

  This only made Khlara’s grin grow wider. “You only prove my point, Al. Two weeks away from drinking and you’re already this much of a mess?” She chuckled and shook her head.

  “She’s right, Al ,” Erik teased. Never before had Narra heard anyone call her uncle Al . Erik seemed just as amused by the nickname. “What’s happened to my favorite drinking partner?”

  Alden leaned back in his seat, propping an arm over the back as he turned toward Erik. “Call me Al one more time and I’ll throw you out the window.”

  Erik laughed so hard he buckled in two. The spatula clanged against the deep cast-iron pan, and nearly tipped out before Erik got himself together and caught it.

  “Oh, right. You never did like that nickname, eh Ally?” Khlara’s grin stretched so wide her teeth flashed.

  Narra shook her head and hid her smile behind her coffee cup. She couldn’t believe this. When was the last time her family had a morning like this? With Quinn, never. But with Khlara back, it brightened something in her uncle’s eyes. Her chest tightened. It wasn’t the first time the thought crossed her mind, but she wished Alden had been her father instead. Why couldn’t Khlara and Alden have fallen in love all those years ago instead of Quinn?

  Her smile disappeared and she took a big gulp of coffee. It burned down her throat, still hot from the coffee pot, and she winced.

  “You’re an awful woman,” Alden grumbled.

  Erik shook his head as he turned back to the stove. He dished out piles of eggs, hash browns and sausages onto four plates, delivering the first to Narra, and then Khlara before he set one in front of Alden.

  “My, my, you look a little green, Alden.” Erik chuckled as he took his own seat.

  Alden stared down at his steaming plate of breakfast. To Narra, it smelled divine. She’d never give up her best friend’s cooking again if she could help it. But Alden’s normally bronze skin was turning pale.

  Khlara slapped Alden on the back. “Get it together, Al.”

  Alden glared at Khlara, who smirked right back as she folded the paper and set it back on the table.

  Narra picked at her breakfast with a fork. She set her coffee down and took up the paper, eager to see how her latest scheme had affected the city. Her heart pounded as she carefully turned the Rova Chronicle to face her and unfolded it.

  “You’re both monsters,” Alden grumbled.

  Narra flicked open the paper to see the headline.

  “Narra, you’re being rude,” Khlara snapped. “Put the paper down and eat
.”

  Narra blinked in surprise and carefully lowered the paper to stare at her mother with a furrowed brow. Did Khlara just command her?

  “Come on, it’s delicious. You don’t want it to get cold.” Khlara flashed a pretty smile. She was only joking.

  A smile fought its way onto Narra’s face. She shook her head and lowered the paper, returning it to the center of the table for her to peruse later.

  “You’re right,” Narra said. She scooped a forkful of hash browns into her mouth, and had to bite down on her tongue to keep from moaning. The minced potatoes were perfectly crispy and slathered in butter. They couldn’t be more delicious if they tried.

  Erik and Alden blinked at Narra in surprise. No one told Commander Rheka what to do. Except maybe Quinn Reiner, and he was dead.

  Narra swallowed and glanced between the two. “What? Hurry up and eat.”

  The two most important men in her life smiled and shook their heads. They exchanged a look before digging into their own breakfasts.

  The four of them lapsed into companionable silence. Narra ate slowly, observing her small family. She didn’t know Khlara well, but she couldn’t help imagining what it would be like to have her back. She’d never had a mother—someone to trust and depend on so completely.

  Khlara fit into their small family so well. Whereas her husband had never made the rest of them comfortable, Khlara was like a missing piece of the puzzle. She brought a warm smile to Alden’s face and pulled Erik’s teasing side out in a flash. Though they were fairly tame over breakfast, the two had certainly had their way taunting her poor uncle last night.

  But no matter how much Narra wanted her mother to stay, Khlara was leaving. There were still assassins on her tail, and as long as they were after her, she knew Khlara wouldn’t stay and risk their safety.

  It was commendable, even honorable that Khlara would leave everything she knew and loved behind to keep the rest of them safe from danger.

  Narra’s chest tightened, and she set her fork down on her plate. It wasn’t fair that she would just meet her mother now, only to have the woman stolen away because of something that happened decades ago. But how could she convince Khlara to stay when it was obvious Talcotta assassins were still stalking Khlara all these years later? If anything, the assassin in Tallis Library had proved that Khlara was still in danger, and so were the rest of them as long as Khlara stayed.