The King's Mechanic

by Katharina Gerlach

  The King's Mechanic

  A Fairy Tale Novelette

  Katharina Gerlach

  includes the original and a bonus story

  Once upon a time in a world where magic and technology collide with unexpected consequences…

  After her father is caught in the act of stealing a jeweled rose, Luna and her brother face a penalty worse then execution unless she works as the king’s mechanic. With her brother’s safety in mind, Luna does her best to please the king, trying to ignore his best friend, who is very interested in bedding her. As if these troubles weren’t enough, the king crashes a machine she considered safe to use and nearly dies. Can she keep him alive long enough to avert danger to herself, her brother, and possibly the whole kingdom?

  What if Charles Perrault's Beauty can do more than soften the heart of a beast?

  Copyright 2014 Katharina Gerlach

  Go here for the Table of Contents

  Dear reader,

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  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. Now, have fun with the story.

  The King's Mechanic

  Luna straightened as best she could with the chain leading from the shackles on her hands to the ones on her feet. She would show defiance even though her heart felt raw when she glanced at her brother. Bound with the same heavy iron chains, Mondo stumbled along by her side, staring blindly at the blue carpet with the yellow embroidery that lined the long way from the throne room's door to the dais. Luna would have loved to take his hands to comfort him but due to the shackles that was impossible. Instead, she focused her anger on her father.

  Two Royal Guards in blue and yellow uniforms dragged his limp body forward. He whined and whimpered — well, why did he have to jump off the castle's wall? He should have known he might break a leg or two. He's lucky to only have sprained an ankle, Luna thought.

  A guy in a flowing blue robe slammed a wonderfully carved staff on the ground. The thump reverberated through the floorboards and echoed through the big hall. “Sancho Ramirez — accused of stealing royal property.”

  A squire stepped forward and presented a blue velvet cushion. On it lay a yellow rose. Luna marveled at the craftsmanship, for this was no ordinary rose. It was cut from a single sapphire. The petals had a beautiful yellow shine, and the rose's heart glowed dark red. The luster blazed despite the artificial light of the gas lamps on the columns that supported the hall's roof. A single one of those roses would support a whole family for as long as they lived.

  Luna understood why her father had tried to steal one. After all, the king was rumored to have a whole box. Still, her dad was no professional thief. How could he have hoped to get away with this? He knew the laws as well as every citizen. She jutted her chin and stared defiantly at the king, who was whispering with a man at his side.

  Surprised by the age of the king's advisor — he couldn't be much older than she was — she forgot to curtsy as she had been instructed to do. She stared at the most handsome man she'd ever seen. His broad shoulders invited her to lean against them, and the slender waist needed hugging. Despite the trouble they were in, her heart ached to touch him. Pain shot through her back as the butt of a guard's lance reminded her of her duty. She sank down until her knees touched the floor but she didn't bow her head. Someone had to pretend the family's honor was still worth a dime, and anyway, lowering her head would mean she could no longer look at the king's advisor.

  “Well, culprit, is there anything you can say for your defense?” The young man beside the king didn't look as if he was expecting an answer. Due to the king's facial veil, Luna couldn't see much of his features, but his hands looked soft and young. She dismissed him. Her gaze clung to the brown-haired youth with the slender hips and the wide shoulders at his side. Startled, she realized the iciness in the Spokesman's eyes. Although he made Luna hot all over, he studied her father with an expression that would have befitted a biologist analyzing a frog's internal organs.

  “Please, Your Majesty, I only tried to save my family. Ever since my beloved wife died, the debts have been mounting. I could no longer feed my own flesh and blood.” Her father, kneeling on the ground as best he could with his broken legs, lifted his shackled hands in a gesture of begging.

  Luna was appalled by her father's whine and pressed her lips together. He should have thought about the consequences before he got himself caught. Now, they'd have to live with whatever punishment the king would come up with, and this was where it became difficult. With the old king, death would have been imminent — for all three of them, but with the new king, anything was possible. Blinking a tear from her eyes, she glanced at her little brother who crouched silently at her side, staring at the ground.

  The king and his Spokesman conferred again, until, at the wave of a royal hand, the Spokesman turned to them. “Roberto Ramirez, your life is forfeit unless you find someone to take your place. However, the king will be gentle on your offspring seeing they were not involved in your crime. They will enjoy the hospitality of the castle's dungeons for three years, two months and a day.”

  Luna shivered, all bravery forgotten. She'd seen a woman once who had survived that punishment — mindless like a dumb animal, she had sold her body to the highest bidder. Not that there were many interested in a half-starved woman. Luna fought to keep her tears bottled up inside. This was worse than a clean and fast death.

  Her father banged his head on the floor. “Please, Your Majesty, have mercy. I only acted on an impulse when my daughter was kicked out by her last employer.” He struggled to sit up and pointed at Luna. “She is a gifted mechanic but too stubborn for her own good. As her only guardian, I'm offering her life for mine. Please, Your Majesty, let me live.”

  Luna's jaw dropped. Had her father really asked the king to kill her and let him live? The tears and anger that filled her heart froze, and a ball of icy hate filled her chest.

  “Are you too chicken to bear the punishment you brought upon us?” She glared at her father. “Have you degraded so much that you no longer value the life of your children? Look at Mondo. He looks so much like Mother. How can you do that to him?”

  Her father didn't look at her, but repeated, “Take her, Your Majesty. Not me.”

  Luna stood up. If she was going to be executed, she didn't see a point in pretending to respect the king. “Kill me if you must, but please spare my brother the dungeon. He is only six years old, and I have seen what your dungeons will do to people. Find him a good home, one where he can learn a trade.” When the king didn't answer and just sat there, unmoving, probably staring at her through his veil, she went on. “I know I have nothing to offer in exchange. I appeal to your mercy. Do not let a child bear the guilt of a man undeserving of the family he got.”

  “I have never heard of a woman-mechanic. Are you any good?” The king's voice was surprisingly soft. Like a warm blanket, it threatened to thaw the ice in Luna's heart. She pressed her lips together and concentrated on her anger.

  “The king asked you a question, maiden.” The Spokesman looked at her, and the corner of his mouth twitched with amusement.

  “Of course I'm good. My boss thought I was the best mechanic he ever met.”

  “Why, then, did he ‘kick you out’ as your father so eloquently put it?” The king's voice teased her, gently. There was a layer of meaning to his words that Luna couldn't decipher just now, so she stuck to the facts.

  “His wife was jealous of me spendi
ng so much time with her husband. She forced him to get rid of me and made sure no other mechanic in town would employ me.”

  The king nodded at her words as if he had expected an answer like this. Obviously, he didn't believe her. Heat surged though Luna's veins. Well, she would show him. “I can prove my worth. Do you have something broken that no mechanic has fixed yet?”

  “Now, that's an interesting idea.” The king sat up straighter. “Page, get my father's nightingale.”

  The squire who had presented the evidence ran off. Before Luna could worry too much about the fact that she didn't know how to repair living creatures, he returned with a small wooden box and presented it to her. Swallowing, she took it and flipped the lid open. Inside, a tiny mechanical bird lay motionless on blue and yellow velvet. Beside it was the tiniest cogwheel she had ever seen. She picked both up and gave the box back to the squire.

  “Do you have a decent table?” she asked, looking at the squire but meaning the king.

  He answered with an order, and a few minutes later two servants brought a table, a stool, an electrical lamp, and a toolbox with gadgets Luna had never dared hope to use one day.

  She looked up at the king. “Has anyone tried to repair this before?”

  “The Court Mechanic did everything he could to save the bird,” the king said. “He even had the replacement part made, but in the end he couldn't take the bird apart.”

  Luna nodded thoughtfully and sat. Concentrating on the task at hand, she examined the tiny bird with a magnifying glass, turning it around carefully and lifting its wings. Part of the bird's artificial skin was transparent, and she could see easily where the miniature cog had to go, but there was no opening apparent. She held the bird closer to the magnifying glass and bent closer. Surely she was missing something. There had to be a way to open the bird without destroying it.

  “By the way,” the king said. “If you break this toy any more than it already is, you, your brother and father will all die before the sun rises.”

  “Fair enough,” Luna said. Secretly she decided to smash the bird should she not be able to repair it. A fast death was always better than the slow deterioration she and her brother would be facing in the dungeons. She turned the bird to face her and tried to open the beak.

  “It won't do that any more,” the Spokesman said. “Let me warn you. The Court Mechanic said it'd break if he used more force.”

  Luna shrugged. If the bird had opened its beak before, it could do now. There had to be a trick. She closed her eyes and pondered what it would have looked like when it was still working. In her mind's eye, she saw it sitting on a golden perch, flapping its wings and moving the beak to a song. She felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth and suppressed it immediately. Moving the wings gently, she prized its beak open. It did not break.

  The head of a minute screw became visible. Tentatively, she picked the smallest screwdriver she could find and loosened it. The smallest of clicks reached her ear. When she pulled up the wing this time, a small gap had appeared in the translucent skin below the golden feathers. From here, it was relatively easy for Luna to swap the broken cogwheel for the replacement. Still, the delicate nature of the tiny parts required utmost care, so it took her half an hour to reassemble everything. With a sigh, she finally tightened the minute screw in the bird's beak and sat up.

  “That's it.” She handed the nightingale to the squire who took it to the Spokesman who, in turn, handed it to the king.

  The king took a small key from a chain around his neck, inserted it into a hole in the bird's back and turned it several times. He sat the bird on his finger as if it were real. It ruffled its feathers, sat up and began to sing while flapping its wings. It was just the way Luna had imagined. Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the music, trying not to worry about her execution. At least she had done her best to convince him to give Mondo a chance.

  When the song ended, she stood up and walked back to her brother. She stood as close to him as possible, so she could put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her with tears in his eyes.

  “You're the best ever, Luna.” His whisper filled the hall as if he had shouted, and Luna blushed.

  “Page, feed her and her brother while I think.” The king turned to the guards. “Take the man to the dungeon.”

  In the blink of an eye, the guards removed the shackles on her and Mondo and dragged their screaming and kicking father away. Stunned, Luna allowed the squire to push her and Mondo toward a small side door. He led them through a maze of corridors, giving Luna enough time to recover. First, gas lights illuminated the whitewashed walls, highlighting the tapestries and paintings, but the farther they went, the less decoration there was. Soon gas lights gave way to torches, and they reached a hall just as big as the throne room. It was filled with wooden tables and benches but bare of people. When a servant brought them bread and cheese and a bowl of hot soup with a glass of milk, she realized that it had to be the servant's refectory. She stared at the food. There hadn't been that much to eat on her table since her mother had died. With a smile, she watched Mondo stuff himself even before sitting down and fought the urge to do the same. She was in the royal household. No way would she allow herself to be seen as greedy. Nibbling at the bread, she looked at the squire. He sat on the opposite side of the table and slurped some soup too.

  “What will the king do with us now?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “Dunno.”

  Luna tried to extract some information but the young man refused to answer any of the questions with more than a shrug or a single word. Finally, she gave up and concentrated on the food at hand. While she ate, she wondered why the king had ordered the meal. Was it to be her last one? She struggled to shake the picture of her head resting on the block. It was best to focus on the moment — and this moment was a good one with plenty of food.

  A couple of servants came in and left, and once, another squire whispered with their guide. Luna guessed he was bringing the king's verdict. Still, she ate until not a crumb of bread or cheese was left and the bowl scraped clean. Mondo leaned against her with a happy sigh, patting his belly.

  “That'll do for a while,” he said and looked up at her. “Is the king going to chop your head off, now?”

  “I am sure he'll find a good place for you to stay.” Luna had no better answer.

  “If he kills you, I don't want to live either. I want to stay with you.” He squeezed her arm, and Luna's throat constricted, making it hard to swallow the tears.

  “Come.” The squire got up and walked away without looking back.

  Reluctantly, Luna took Mondo's hand and followed. With countless servants and guards milling along the corridors, there was nothing else for her to do especially since she didn't know the way out of the castle.

  The squire led them through more corridors. Just when Luna thought she recognized one they had passed on the way to the servant's refectory, he took them up some narrow stairs. They climbed until Luna's legs hurt. Where is he taking us? Surely not to the block. That would be in the courtyard or down in the dungeons. Luna's mind whirled with questions she knew the squire wouldn't answer.

  Finally, the stairs ended in a short corridor with unadorned, whitewashed walls and six dark, wooden doors on the left. The squire opened the last one.

  “This one's for you.” He pointed at the room behind the door. “Don't make yourself too comfortable. The king will send for you very soon.”

  Silently, Luna and Mondo walked in. The small room held a simple wooden bed wide enough for two, a wardrobe, two chairs and a tiny table. The gable window looked out over the Royal Gardens, and Luna had to squint to make out the grayish fog of the town's chimneys in the distance. Everything looked suspiciously peaceful.

  “There's a bath.” The squire pointed to a narrow jib door between the bed and the wardrobe that Luna hadn't noticed before.

  “I'll go first.” Mondo let go of her hand and vanished into a box-like room. A gaslight flickered to li
fe before he closed the door. When Luna turned to thank the squire, he had left, leaving the door ajar. She closed it, sat down on the bed, and looked around. The room was cleaner than any she had seen before, but that wasn't remarkable given the constant soot and dust of the city. She was glad she was allowed a last moment of privacy in such a beautiful room.

  The privy flushed and Mondo returned wiping his hands on his pants. He eyed the window. “Do you think you'd fit through there? Maybe we can escape over the roofs.”

  Luna smiled. “You've read entirely too many spy novels, little man.”

  “But we need to get away, and they're surely watching the stairs.”

  “Come here.” Luna patted the quilted cover beside her. “Let's rest for a while and gather our strength. We will surely need it.”

  He huddled up to her and yawned. She hummed his favorite lullaby, and soon he was snoring. With a sad smile she pushed his dark blond fringe from his delicate face. He looked just like the angel on their mother's grave. It hurt to know she wouldn't see him grow up.

  When the door swung open and a guard entered without advance notice, Luna flinched. Noticing the sleeping boy, the guard silently gestured for her to follow. She kissed her sleeping brother farewell, glad that he was asleep. She wouldn't have been able to bear his sorrow had he been awake. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she rose and walked past the guard out of the door, along the corridor and down the stairs. The steady rhythm of the guard's boots followed her. At the end of the stairs, they passed through another door and the guard took the lead. This surprised Luna. Wasn't he worried that she might try to escape? But she soon realized how foolish this notion was. Where would she flee to? And what's more, how would she find her way out of the maze of corridors, stairs and halls he led her through?

  In the end, they stood in a small, open yard. A small door set in a big gate on the opposite wall stood ajar. The guard motioned her in.