Mechanical Angel

by Sara Shanning

  Sir Javon had turned away from her. Alel could not tell if she had angered him. He let her be while she sliced fruit, giving her ample time for her tears to dry and bring the reason she had called for him back to the forefront.

  “Do you know who Melliah is, Sir Javon?”

  “Please, can we drop the Sir? Javon is fine. And yes, I do. Why?”

  “I have finalized my terms. You may not like them. I wanted you to be aware before I followed through on my plans for the day.”

  He listened quietly as she told him the details of her decision. Alel avoided looking at him until she was finished. Breakfast was done and she settled the tray on the counter and told herself not to waver as she finally met his blue eyes.

  “I will not stop you. There are others I can recommend who you can trust.”

  Not the response she had been expecting. Perhaps he had misunderstood. “Sir... Javon, have you heard what I’ve said? Choosing you must mean you allow me to be a woman of status in society, and all privileges associated with it cannot be questioned.”

  He picked up the tray. “May I accompany you to see the children? They will be happy to hear Euro has been recovered, despite the circumstances.”

  Alel started toward the hallway. “No arguments then?”

  “Of course not. Your goal is simply to do things as they should be done already. There is a reason I am viewed as unconventional. I have never followed all the dictates ruling on the streets. It has required balancing a precarious line, but I have managed, and so will you.”

  “I hope your confidence in me is not misplaced.” Alel pulled the bar to open the door and smiled as the children came to her to offer morning hugs.

  “You make quite a good mother,” Javon said softly. He set the tray down and his eyes, when he looked up at her, were heavy with a yearning that made her heart begin to beat faster and her breath catch. The realization he wanted more from her struck her, but the glimmer of emotion she saw was difficult to pinpoint. It was not lust, but something else. Her mind could not sort exactly what.

  Flustered, Alel focused on the children. “Sir... uh, Javon, has managed to find Euro, and he is safe now.” She shook her head at the excitement and happiness flooding their faces. “He suffered before he was saved. He will need a lot of love when he comes home.”

  There were immediate tears. Alel had expected them. Even Dys and Alum could not hold them back, though she saw each tried. Her own started up again. Gently, she touched Alum’s cheek. “It is right to hurt when one you love hurts. There are too many inflicting pain, and not enough trying to stop it. That is why we must do everything we can to change how things are.”

  “So no one else suffers?” Copper asked.

  “Yes,” Alel agreed, pulling the girl close.

  Alum swiped angrily at the wetness on her cheek. “Tell me what to do, and I will do it! We are different,” she exclaimed, motioning to all of them. “We can do things others might not be able to! Dys can send an army to punish whoever hurt Euro!”

  “You do not repay pain with more pain, Alum,” Alel admonished. “You cannot breed kindness with cruelty.”

  Guiding them to the table to sit and eat, Alel asked Javon if he wanted to join them. He agreed and pulled over another chair. “Do you want me to stay with them while you go into town?”

  “We should discuss what happens after the public announcement is made and becomes official. I won’t leave them.”

  Dys had sent one of the bots to fetch another plate for Javon. Alel offered him hers, but he shook his head. “I did not expect you to leave them. I assumed you would not want to stay here and would join me in my home, as well as the children.”

  “Until you tire of them?”

  “Alel, your continued negative assessments of me are beginning to give me a complex. I happen to like children. I find them intriguing and amusing. We were all children once. Seeing one grow into a man or a woman is a wondrous thing. Personality is one of the few things mankind cannot seem to control.”

  “And you don’t mean as slaves?”

  Javon frowned at her. “I do not. I am an advocate of freedom for all, as you obviously have not realized.”

  His plate arrived and Javon filled it, as everyone had waited for him before they began to eat.

  “What is your objective in town today?”

  Alel had spent plenty of time while waiting for sleep thinking about his exact question. “I believe it is important for everyone to see me without a man at my side. To know Sir Jax is no longer in control of me. That is my first goal. My second is to be seen interacting with women. I will visit Melliah, or another if you have a suggestion?”

  “I do. Sinda. She lives near the Circle. She is highly sought after and would be a perfect addition to your entourage.”

  Alel did not like the pressure in her chest his recommendation caused. It mattered not whose company he sought. Yet. It was another discussion they needed to have. But not in front of the children.

  “If the children would like you to stay, I have no objection,” Alel said, answering his earlier question. She was finished eating. It was time. Their eager acceptance was all she needed and Alel left them to prepare for her debut into society.

  Chapter 25

  Debut into Society

  The reprogrammed footmen gave her lessons on how to drive a carriage. Once again, they were armed, but this time it was for her benefit. B33 fussed and none of her assurances eased his worry.

  It was nice to be cared for. B33 reminded her often of her mother, and slowly, her grief was fading into a place of acceptance and allowing him to fill the void left behind at her death. It made Alel all the more determined to make sure the children had someone constant in their lives.

  Alel’s favorite birds joined her at the arch leading onto the White Streets. She highly suspected Dys had sent them. Their presence made another statement, one she had not considered, but gave an even more powerful meaning behind the lack of Sir Jax at her side.

  This time, rumor fueled the responses to the sight of her. Most of the women lacked the disdain of before and the men scowled at her with a mixture of hatred, lust and fear. With the footman seated beside her helping her steer, Alel watched closely, knowing opportunity awaited. She found it more quickly than she expected. One man lacked the emotional upheaval of the others and she stopped the carriage’s movement near him.

  “Sir, I wish to speak with you,” she requested. He moved forward without hesitation, his blue eyes curious and alert. He said nothing when he stood at the side of the transport, letting her begin.

  “I admire those who stand out among such uniformity. May I have your thoughts on your intent to be considered as one of my choices?”

  A straight, dark eyebrow rose. He took his time pondering her words. A test, perhaps. Alel was careful to wait patiently. Responding respectfully ensured none viewed her as trying to rise higher than the male sector. She wanted to be seen as equal, not superior.

  “If you would send me a complete list of your expectations, I would be more capable of making an informed decision,” the man said finally. “While I am flattered I stand out among a sea of men, I may be disappointed in myself to learn I am not so different.”

  It was a wise answer. A truthful one. Alel nodded graciously. “May I have your name?”

  “Sir Tenny.”

  “Good day, Sir. I shall do as you request.”

  As they continued down the street, Alel saw many a balcony door had opened and she was being watched by the hidden women of the White Streets. Some had bruises, many wore weary expressions and had haunted eyes. Others looked at her with pride and encouragement. Alel found the dwelling she sought and brought the carriage to a halt.

  A footman helped her down and more flanked her, warning those around them to stay back without a word. Javon had told her Sinda was owned and confronting her master would be best out on the streets and to not expect favorable results.

  She told the servant who ope
ned the door she wished to speak with Sir Hans and waited calmly just outside of the iron fencing lining the entryway.

  Sir Hans was a figure of stone; his almost black, blue eyes expressionless when he joined her. “I’ve come for Sinda,” Alel announced without an introduction.

  “Whatever for,” the man said blandly.

  “I am Relic. My reasons are not your concern,” Alel tossed back archly. The silence around them almost echoed. A faint flicker of surprise and annoyance darted through his eyes.

  “She is mine...” His statement was said with an odd air of detachment mingled with a question.

  “Owning another human being is wrong,” Alel scolded. “Would you deny me, the only known Relic upon your streets, a friend? She is special, is she not?”

  “Beautiful,” Sir Hans corrected. “And I dare say, talented, but there are any number of women you may choose from.” He waved a hand to indicate the throngs around them. “It need not be her.”

  Alel admonished him with a look. “So you deny me.”

  A frown drew in his features. He looked at her more closely. Alel let him look.

  “So you offer a trade? I join in your... spectacle, and you get her?”

  “I get the friend I have asked for, and you may join the running for my choice if you wish.”

  Both eyebrows shot straight up. “You take but offer no guarantee of payment in exchange?”

  Alel laughed. “You are misunderstanding why I am here. I am not for sale. My affections are not for sale. I seek a partner; someone I can trust who will treat me with respect and acknowledge change is needed in this world. It has been suggested Sinda and I would get along nicely, and women do so need other women to make life bearable. Especially under such oppression as our current society is in.”

  He regarded her with bemused shock during her speech. When she finished, he laughed. A hearty, deep laugh that was not unpleasant. Smiling, he turned, ordering a hovering servant to fetch Sinda before turning back to her.

  “Well, lady Alel. You are amusing. Different. Shockingly so! I am quite entertained, and if I may be so bold, taken with you. You are fascinating! I cannot say if I will be persuaded to think such things as you obviously do, but I do promise to mull over your words. To be perfectly honest, I can’t say as I have ever taken the time to assess how the world is. What a concept!”

  A woman appeared at his side. She was stunning. Her hair was so blond it appeared white and her blue eyes so light they looked translucent. Together, they gave her an ethereal countenance difficult to look away from.

  “This woman has come to take you from me,” Sir Hans said to the woman.

  The pale blue eyes shifted between the two of them and the crowd in the background, watching and listening. “And you mean to taunt me with your ownership?” The question was devoid of accusation and emotion.

  Sir Hans crossed his arms. “On the contrary, if you wish to go, you may go.”

  Lashes fluttered, full lips parted, and fire filled Sinda’s eyes. “What is your catch?”

  Laughing again, Sir Hans shook his head, holding an arm out toward Alel. “There is none. Go. This Relic woman has challenged me, and I feel strangely compelled to comply.” He looked around at the crowd. “She is free now,” he said to them. He opened the gate leading out to the sidewalk. “Go now, please, before I begin to feel the sting of regret. You are free.”

  Sinda was hesitant as she edged through the gate door and allowed a footman to help her into the carriage. Alel wasn’t quite sure what to think of the turn of events, either. This was not an outcome she had expected and Javon’s heeding to be careful told her to be wary.

  Sir Hans turned his back on them and made his way into his home, stopping in the open doorway to look back. “Alel, it would be wise to consider the honor of a man before you make your choice. An action alone does not always mean what it seems.”

  Without giving her a chance to ask what he meant, he disappeared inside. Was he telling her not to trust him and what had just happened? Taking the seat beside Sinda, Alel put the carriage into motion again. She didn’t like Sir Hans parting words being the ending the crowd witnessed. A seed of doubt was planted. A threat easily corralling others to settle as they were and not disrupt the way of things.

  Sinda was quiet beside her, holding the robe she wore closed. Alel had seen the hint of white fabric beneath the soft blue of the covering, but it was clear the day had not started for the woman yet.

  As she rounded the circle to head back out of town, Alel noticed a man watching her with contempt from outside of the Key Maker building.

  “He is the one who bought the boy,” Sinda whispered with barely a movement of her mouth.

  Alel slammed her foot down on the brake in front of the building. The man had not bothered to hide his perusal of her. “You!” she snapped. “You are exactly the kind of man people must oppose! You disgust me!”

  “And you are exactly what the people of this town must destroy!” he shouted back, rushing forward, pulling a gun from beneath his overcoat.

  Footmen jumped down, raising their own weapons to stop the man.

  “Do none of you see the danger of letting a Relic free to wreak havoc?” he shouted to the crowd. “She will ruin everything we have worked for so long to accomplish! We must end it! Kill her!”

  He waved the gun, trying to aim it over the robots heads to point it at her. “Relic is what destroyed the two worlds! Kill her before she destroys us all again!”

  Chapter 26

  From Ember to Flame

  The man continued to shout his accusations of her part in the demise of the Higher and Lower Worlds and many adopted his frenzied rant and began to clamor to reach her, joining in with their own angry cries.

  A footman urged her to the center and took over the driver’s seat, pressing the carriage forward despite the people surrounding it. Some of the others pushed out into the crowd, their metal bodies and lack of human emotion making them the perfect soldiers.

  Sinda pressed a hand to Alel’s arm, her eyes wide, but not with fear. “This is how a revolution begins. Embers burn deep in the coals and you may not even notice, but one perfect gust of wind and a flame bursts to life.”

  They passed by the place where Alel had sought Sinda. Sir Hans leaned on the rails of his balcony, watching the commotion. Admiration gleamed on his face. He tipped the hat he had donned and his laugh rang out with his retreat back inside.

  “Is he more dangerous than he seems?” Alel asked Sinda.

  “I can’t say as I’ve ever met a man who is not dangerous, but I will say Sir Hans response was astonishing. I doubt you meant for me to be sent with you like a piece of cast away trash.”

  “Is that how you feel?” Alel studied the woman. She looked composed. The sounds of the throng were fading. Alel tossed a glance behind her. Only a few footman were detaining the few attempting to follow still. The rest had mounted the running boards.

  “He did not send my personal belongings with me. And I fear I was about to be sold to another for a time. Sir Hans has a tendency to sell me off when he tires of me. This time I believe the name I overheard was Javon. I got the merest glimpse of the man, not enough to make any determination of what kind of man he would be.”

  Like the ember bursting to flame Sinda had spoken of, the comment clutched like muscles trying to escape the plunge of a knife. Alel clasped her hands together against her stomach, staring down at them where they were partially hidden in the ruffles of her skirt. Her hair fell forward, hiding her face enough to hide her reaction. Sinda was right. All men were dangerous. She could not trust Javon. Could not believe he was different from the other men, flaunting their latest acquisition by their sides.

  And so he had intended to gain two. A Relic and a highly sought after courtesan.

  Enough bricks had been laid on the path she had been creating it was too late to tear them up and begin again. The children were her main priority and he had agreed to care for them. Un
less...

  “Please, if we could hurry?” Alel requested of the footman driving. Had she been wrong on all counts? What if his arrival and claim of having Euro had only been to gain her confidence and he had taken an opportunity when she had given it to him?”

  Fear bled in a tumultuous emotional upheaval as she watched the horizon for the sight of Sir Jax’s property, and then Sir Javon’s carriage. Some relief plundered the pain when she saw it still quietly waiting for its master.

  It was difficult to be gracious and mindful of her guest when all she wanted to do was rush to the children and assure herself they were fine.

  “This is B33, our butler,” Alel introduced in the kitchen. “B33, Sinda will be our guest. Is there a room for her? A message will need to be sent asking for her things as well.”

  “Of course. Come this way, please.”

  “We can speak again later,” Alel said, wondering at how calm her voice was. Sinda nodded and followed the robot.

  It took far too long to traverse the halls and pull the rod to open the doors to their room. Panic caused trembling in her limbs and a headache began to throb at her temples. “Where are the children?” she asked the machines scattered about.

  One of Dys’s favorite metal dogs bounded forward and started down the hall. Alel followed.

  Relief was as sweet as her taste of freedom had been when she saw the children happily playing outside. Javon had a scatter of small rubber balls at his feet and was tossing them out at random for the children to try and catch.

  He looked as content as they. Could a man be wicked and good at the same time? Taking a minute to gather herself, Alel approached slowly. The children called out greetings. Javon smiled at her, bent and picked up a handfuls of the balls and threw them off all at once, laughing at the delighted cries as the children scampered to get to them.

  Javon came to her, the smile morphing into a frown. “Are you all right? Were things in town difficult?”