“My fellow countrymen. I, as a concerned citizen, have something important to tell you. This afternoon, I discovered that our beloved monarch…” He reached for the king and ripped the veil from his face. “… has been replaced by a machine.”
A collective gasp echoed through the room. Luna tried to get up to protest, but her body didn't respond. Drugs! Why hadn't she realized before that she was being drugged? She shot Gustavo an angry look but he didn't even look at her. Gustavo. The man who had pretended to be the king's best friend! He must have sabotaged the monster. It seemed as if he'd had planned this for quite a while. A lot of puzzle pieces fell into place.
The will … a normal young man wouldn't remember to write a will for an adventure ride on a prototype machine. The way the king had to hide for the outing had ensured a minimum of witnesses. It also reduced the number of people at hand who could help. It was only due to her stubbornness that the king hadn't died at the roadside.
Next, the absence of the advisor and the missing nurse — they could testify that the machine man, sitting there silently, was still the rightful heir to the throne. Surely the doctor had been taken care of too. The same reasoning was behind her drugging, although she wondered why he hadn't simply killed her. He could have done it right after the accident, claiming she rode the monster with the king, and no one would have been the wiser.
Luna's mind insisted that Gustavo might have done even more. Considering that he hadn't translated the ambassador's condolences, he had probably killed the king's siblings too. All this to become regent for a while? Luna struggled against her inability to move … but in vain. Gustavo had succeeded in removing the king and in silencing her. Even if he didn't get to be the new ruler, something Luna thought highly unlikely, Vincente wouldn't be able to return to his throne. However, Gustavo wouldn't be able to hold it for longer than it took to find the next royal heir. Was he in league with a distant cousin of the king?
“I suggest we chain up this abomination and find the culprit steering it.” Gustavo waved for the guards when the king exploded into action. He shoved his ex-best friend, grabbed Luna, threw her over his shoulder, and shot through the servant's door in the back of the room without opening it. Splinters flew everywhere. As they raced along the dimly lit corridor, Luna bounced up and down on the unyielding metal of the king's body. She opened her mouth to shout at him, but she had no control whatsoever over her vocal cords. Blasted drugs!
After searching half the castle with her in the morning, the king had no trouble finding little-used passages that helped him escape. To Luna's surprise he didn't leave the castle. He hurried up the stairs and down several servicing corridors until he reached his suite. He entered through the servants’ door in the living room and carried her through to his bedchamber. Only then did he take her off his shoulder. Before he could put her down on the bed, something hit him with a resounding crash.
Since Luna couldn't move, she was unable to break their fall. She slammed into hardwood floor with the king's heavy body on top of her. Her vision blurred and she moaned in pain. Vincente's head rolled over the floor, his eyes still searching her. When the pain cleared and Luna could see again, she noticed Mondo curled up into a ball at the far end under the bed. A pair of dirty boots stomped around the king's bedroom. A pair of boots she knew all too well.
“Dad,” she tried to say but only a gargle escaped her lips. The boots kicked her in the ribs and she winced again. It was probably best to keep quiet — especially if she wanted to keep Mondo out of sight. She needed her wits if she wanted to keep him out of this.
The door flew open and Gustavo stormed in. The way Luna had fallen, with her face half to the bed and half to the door, she could see him clearly. He stared at the headless mechanical man and a grin spread over his face.
“You got him. Well done. Also, the idiots have accepted me as their temporary king the minute they saw my friend's body.” He kicked the mechanical man and it rolled off Luna. “It was a good idea of the old advisor to keep it in the cellar after all. And thanks to the nurse, no one knows the identity of the royal mechanic.”
Luna perked her ears. With his elated feelings, Gustavo might say more.
But her father had different interests. “Hand me my sapphires.” He walked over to Gustavo and into Luna's sight. He held out a hand. “They're not in here. I checked everywhere.”
“I know. It took me quite a while to get Vincente to tell me where they are.” Gustavo knelt beside Luna and stroked her face. “Such a lovely girl you have.”
She couldn't even flinch and cursed silently.
“Yours for the taking as soon as I get my sapphires.” Her father put his hands on his hips. “I want them now.”
“You will take her to your place while I fetch the sapphires. Make sure she's kept well, or you won't see a single one.” Gustavo straightened.
Luna let out a sigh of relief. “Bastard,” she whispered too low for anyone to hear. Oh, good, I can talk again, she thought when her father stepped over her.
“Hey, leave the head alone.” Gustavo's voice held an edge.
“It's made of brass and should bring in some money. Especially if I sell it to a mechanic who will surely want to study the way it works.” Luna only felt her father bend behind her back.
“Touch it and it'll fry your brain,” Gustavo said.
Grunting, her father got up again. He lifted Luna and put her over his right shoulder. Then he grabbed a potato sack that clinked with its movement.
“What's in there?” Gustavo put a hand on the father's arm. “You can't take anything that'll be missed.”
“It's my insurance in case you don't show up. But rest assured, it won't be missed.” The father adjusted her weight and walked to the door. “It's only one of your dad's gadgets, Roberto. I found it lying around.”
Roberto? Gustavo was Roberto? The Royal Mechanic's son? Was that the reason for Gustavo's tears at his deathbed? Luna held her breath.
The Spokesman's voice trembled with suppressed emotions. “My name is Gustavo. He was never a father for me. Despite his documents.”
“Hey, he sabotaged the machine for you.”
“Not properly. I owe him nothing. Now, take your things and go. Immediately!”
Suddenly Luna realized that he was going to take her away from the castle. Her thoughts raced. With the king out of action, the only person she could ask for help was her little brother. But she needed to do it in a way that wouldn't arouse suspicion. And she only had this one chance. Her father had already opened the door to the living room.
“Put his head back on,” she called to Mondo, hoping he remembered the danger this posed.
Gustavo answered. “Nice try, sweetheart. But I'm not stupid enough to do that.”
Luna tried to struggle, but the drug hadn't worn off enough for that. She closed her mouth, pretending to pout. It wouldn't do to let Gustavo know that she hadn't meant him.
Slowly but steadily, her father carried her through the living room's French doors into the garden, where he walked along a narrow path between two cut hedges. Through gaps in the foliage, Luna saw Gustavo hurry in the direction of the pavilion where she had built the charger for the mechanical king. She cursed silently. It had been so much work to hide it. She hoped he would only take the sapphires and leave the rest intact. How could the king not have known that Gustavo was planning to betray him? If only he had kept the location of the charger a secret … She called herself to reason. Moping wouldn't help. Neither would putting blame on the king. She had to find a way to escape — preferably with the sapphires so she could repair the charger before the king's body ran out of tamed lightning. Her father turned, momentarily revealing the view of the way they had come to Luna. Her breath faltered … Mondo slipped behind a tree barely fifty yards behind them. Craning her neck, she tried to see what he was up to. There he was again, slipping and sliding from one hiding place to the next. It was difficult to track his progress but the stiffness in her ne
ck had by now eased a bit so it was at least possible.
When Mondo realized she was looking at him, he stood in the middle of the narrow path and pointed through a gap. Her gaze followed his outstretched finger, and her eyes widened. With slow and jerky movements, the king walked along the path Gustavo had taken. The head on his shoulders hung slightly askew but he was gaining speed with every step. Luna relaxed. With his strength on her side, she wouldn't be a prisoner for long. Pretending the drug was still working as well as before, she allowed her father to carry her across the garden and through a hidden door in the wall to the poorer quarter of the town.
Her father dumped her unceremoniously on the dirty floor of the room he had rented at a dubious inn. Luna knew it to be questionable because no one had so much as blinked at the motionless girl on her father's shoulder when he had ordered a bottle of beer. Her father dragged her over the floor and propped her up in a corner. Luna waited until he had settled on the bed with his beer before she looked around. By now she could move her head and shoulders.
To her surprise, three more motionless bodies sat beside her. All three had potato sacks pulled over their heads and were bound tightly with sturdy rope. She recognized the Royal Nurse by her dress and the advisor by his gangly legs. The third person had to be the doctor. It seemed her father had been quite busy for once. At least the three were still breathing. She wondered why no one spoke. Were they hurt?
“Hey,” she called to them, wishing she could move her foot enough to nudge the nurse, who was closest to her. “Are you all right?”
“Given the circumstances.” The nurse struggled to sit straighter but failed. “Who are you and why have we been kidnapped?”
“Stop talking or I'll get nasty,” Luna's father said in a dangerously low voice.
Someone knocked at the door. Reluctantly the father got up from the bed, downed the rest of the beer and went to answer. It was the barmaid.
“Oi, sweety, come in. A beauty like you is always welcome in me room.” Despite his words, Luna's father blocked most of her view of the room. Still, Luna could see enough to tell that the girl was rather feisty. And she giggled artificially.
“Oh, sir, you're not supposed to pay me compliments,” she said.
“I'll pay you way differently in just a short while. Just you wait.” The father bent forward but the maid took a step back.
“I've got no time to dawdle just now,” she said. “I just came to let you know there's someone downstairs to see you.”
“Tall, handsome, brown hair?”
“Very handsome.” She paused for effect. “And very well dressed.”
“Way out of your league, sweet child.” The father stepped through the door and closed it behind him. The click of a key echoed through the room.
Immediately Luna fought against the drug in her body as best she could. She lifted her hands and feet by inches, knowing that the more she moved the faster the drug's effects would subside. At the same time, she explained to her fellow prisoners what had happened at the banquet.
“I knew Gustavo couldn't be trusted,” the advisor said. “That's why I opposed the will he presented after the accident.”
The nurse snorted. “I wonder why he thought he'd need it in the first place — seeing he's the king's cousin.”
“The king's cousin?” Luna's eyes widened with surprise.
“Hey, Luna. You there?” Mondo's voice was low but so close he had to be in the room next door. Since she could move most of her upper body and her arms by now, Luna turned and found a narrow gap between the planks that separated the rooms. Her brother's eye peeked through it.
“Fetch the king, Mondo. Tell him to hurry.”
“I repaired him, I did. I'm going to be as good a mechanic as you are.”
“You've done that very well. Make sure Dad won't see you when you leave”
“He's getting drunk already. Bought himself a full bottle of schnapps. He'll be back with that nasty guy any minute. I'd better go and see where that robot is.”
Luna opened her mouth to tell him that the king wasn't a robot, but he was already gone. When she heard heavy footsteps from the corridor, she adjusted her sitting position so it looked as if she'd never moved. The door opened and her father and Gustavo came in.
“I told you I'd get them all.” The father pointed to his prisoners. “Now, give me my payment.”
Gustavo pulled a bag from his belt and emptied it onto the bed. The sapphire roses sparkled although very little light fell through the grimy window. With one yell of delight, her father hurried to the bed, took a big swig from his bottle, and ran his fingers through the riches. Luna could tell his mind was no longer on the people in his room.
Gustavo pulled him around and pressed a knife in his hand. “You've been paid, now kill them.”
“You want them dead?” Luna's father frowned. “One of them is my daughter.”
“They know who we are and what we did. We can't let them live. Although, I will allow myself some fun with your daughter. She's quite delightful, really.” Gustavo let his gaze linger on Luna for a while. She felt as if she'd fallen head over heels into a slime pit. She shuddered.
Her father took another generous swallow from his bottle. His voice began to slur already. “Well, I'm not gonna kill'em. I'm no murderer. Do it yourself.” He turned back to the bed, and Luna sighed with relief. Somehow everything would have been even worse if her own father had tried to kill them.
“Faintheart.” Gustavo bent down, grabbed the knife tighter, and pulled the doctor closer.
The door slammed open and the king marched in, his head still a little askew. With a single stride, he crossed the room and kicked the knife out of Gustavo's hand. It landed at Luna's feet but she still wasn't able to grab it, although she was slowly regaining her ability to move. A bottle crashed on Vincente's head. He turned and slammed his fist into Luna's father's face. Blood splattered everywhere. Her father slumped to the ground, his face mangled. He stared, unmoving, at the ceiling, obviously dead. Vincente turned back to Gustavo, who was grabbing for the knife, and shoved him aside. A small shape darted past them, grabbed the knife, and began to hack through the nurse's bonds.
Ignoring Mondo, Vincente bent down to Luna. “Are you all right?”
She nodded.
A metallic crash threw him forward, and he braced himself against the wall just in time not to squash Luna. He turned to face Gustavo, who now yielded a wooden club. By the look of the bed, he'd ripped off one of its wobbly legs.
“You're not going to spoil my plans, Vincente.” He swung the club again. The king evaded it at the last possible moment. While the two men moved cautiously around each other, Mondo untied the nurse's arms and got to work on the advisor's bonds. Luna helped the nurse to free her legs and head as best she could. It helped both of them. Soon the nurse began to untie the doctor, and Luna was able to feel her legs again. They were still a little numb, though.
“Recharge necessary,” the metallic voice from the king's back announced. “Energy use exceeding limit. Shutting down functions.”
Worried, Luna noticed that Vincente's movements became less fluid the longer the two opponents circled each other. Gustavo launched another attack on the king, and his prisoners used their chance and hurried to the door. Luna concentrated on keeping Mondo shielded, so she never saw the club. It glanced off Vincente's metallic skin and slammed into her left arm. White hot pain shot through her and she stumbled against her brother. Her arm throbbed and she was fighting nausea. Mondo dropped the knife to support her.
With a triumphant yell, Gustavo dove, grabbed the knife, and shoved Mondo aside. He flung his left arm around Luna, pulling her close before he put the knife to her throat. In her pain-shrouded state of mind, she was grateful that her sore arm wasn't caught between their bodies.
“Stop it right there, Vincente. And you,” he half turned to the door where the nurse, the advisor and the doctor stood frozen. “You come back here and sit next to the
wall.”
Luna closed her eyes to keep the bile down. From the pain alone, she suspected her arm was broken. Metal creaked.
“One step closer and she'll die.” The knife nicked her skin, but compared to the throbbing in her arm it was nothing. Through the fog of pain and dizziness, a tiny voice in her mind insisted she could use this to her advantage.
“See, the disadvantage of a mechanical body is the fact that it's really hard to kill,” Gustavo said, dragging her closer to the king. “So, how do I do it?” When Luna didn't answer, he shook her, sending waves of pain through her. All of a sudden, she realized what the tiny voice in her mind meant. She stopped struggling and let herself sink into comfortable blackness.
When she came to, Mondo was kneeling at her side. She looked around for the fighters and found Vincente and Gustavo in a fierce struggle. The mechanical man had put his arms around his former best friend, squeezing the life out of him, while Gustavo hacked at the metal to get to the hydraulic system below. His breathing became more and more labored, and he faltered.
Luna tried to get up. Luckily, the pain in her arm was slowly abating to a bearable level. She had to help Vincente before the blade found the artificial body's weak point.
With a cry of rage, Gustavo shoved the knife up through his opponent's jaw into his skull. Tamed lightning sparked along the blade and jumped the small gap of the wooden handle. Gustavo vibrated from the current coursing through his body.
“Permanent failure, perma…” The mechanical voice trailed off and died.
Both, Vincente and Gustavo sank to the ground, unmoving.
“NO!” Despite the throbbing in her arm and the sparks still flickering along the king's body, Luna crawled over to them. Past the numbing pain in her heart, the tiny voice in her mind shouted, “Five minutes,” over and over again, but Luna hurt too much to listen.
Tears ran over her cheeks. She didn't wipe them off. With her unhampered hand, she examined the damage as best she could. The head was beyond repair. When the last drop of tamed lightning was gone, the king would be dead. Sobbing shook her body. Vincente couldn't be dead. How would she live without him? If only there had been a way to save him. She'd gladly have given her life for his. She pried the knife's hilt from the dead man's hand and pulled it out of the skull.
The King's Mechanic Page 8