The Pyrette Queen and the Schismatic's Spyglass

by S. S. Engle

Asa crossed the line now pulling up Kassidy’s dress at her side. She was so worried about him discovering the spyglass that she acted on impulse. With him preoccupied with seeing more leg he spit in his face, kneed him in the groin and pushed him onto the ground. He was still dizzy trying to understand it all when she slid across the wooden floor to pick up the key that had been dislodged from his jacket pocket behind the desk. As Asa was standing up he saw Kassidy whisper something into Luca’s ear, and the fact that he smiled had Asa boiling inside. He blocked the door from Kassidy, knowing she was short on ideas. She may have gotten to him once, but she couldn’t get to him twice. She pulled out her dagger now and Asa flung out his right arm. Nothing happened. He remembered he left his cane downstairs at the party, and as it stood now, he was unarmed. He wasn’t going to call Kassidy’s bluff. He knew she would come at him. He put his hands up with a crooked grin beginning to spread across his face. Kassidy cautiously stepped towards the door as Asa stepped away.

  “You may have won tonight Kassidy, but I know you’ll be back. No woman can resist me.”

  “You underestimate how much I hate you Asa.”

  “You’ll be back. You’ve been to my home twice now in the four days you’ve been in Engia. I only expect those visits to increase in the coming days. Especially since you’re leaving so much behind. He’s illegal you know.”

  “Luca is no more illegal than you. If anything he’s a saint compared to what you’re responsible for.”

  “Is that what Lucky has you believing?”

  “He’s got me believing nothing. I’m a big girl. I can think for myself.”

  “You’re a woman. What you think you know is irrelevant to what the truth actually is.”

  “You say the word truth as if you know it’s definition. That’s amusing.”

  “Glad I could bring a smile to your face.”

  “I’m not smiling.”

  “He won’t be either after I’m through with him.”

  “What are you going to do to him?!”

  “Do I detect a little bit of panic in your voice? What do you care? You’re leaving him behind aren’t you? How’d he get trapped to my desk in the first place? I know he didn’t do that himself, he’s more careful than that. Though obviously not careful enough if he came here with you. I know my brother wasn’t capable of pulling this off. So tell me Kassidy, if you came with this man to my home, only to trap him and leave him to be discovered by me of all people, what was your objective tonight if not to entertain a chance encounter with myself?”

  “You’d love to think I came here for you wouldn’t you Asa? And above that, you’d love to know what I’m doing back here. Not just here, as in your home, but here in Engia. You’d love to think I’d come back after all this time just to keep you entertained. But if you were so stupid as to believe your own lies, you never would have held on to this city as long as you have.”

  “You compliment me Miss von Detten?”

  “On the contrary Mr. O’Brien. My intent is to insult you to the deepest and most profound levels I possibly can. If you truly want to know why I’m here, I’ve come back to Engia to kill you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must be leaving.”

  Kassidy took hold of her dress and curtsied deeply. She took care to keep the spyglass hidden as she stood back up, and waved her fingers at Asa mockingly as she disappeared into the hallway. Luca was snickering again, even being trapped to the desk he was not the most embarrassed man in the room right now. Asa was turning all shades of red as he fumbled with getting himself dressed back up. He would deal with Luca later, let his mind concoct his own punishment while he waited for the party downstairs to run itself into the ground overnight as Kassidy ran herself back into obscurity.

  11

  The party in the O’Brien mansion was only gaining intensity as the night continued. Like the storm raging outside now, there seemed to be no end in sight. Asa didn’t return to his guests for the better part of an hour. Most of them didn’t even notice he’d been gone that long as he mixed back into the drunken and smoke filled rooms of his home. As soon as Natasha caught sight of her beloved she abandoned her babysitting duties of Harlan and left him to his own devices. Harlan waited until there was enough people in-between him and his brother to make his move back upstairs to see what had become of his friend Kassidy. Knowing what his older brother was capable of he feared the worst, and ran story after story to clear the distance between them. However he went to Asa’s office first, and found it abandoned.

  In the hallway now he tried to retrace his steps to find Luca or Kassidy. Hopefully he found Kassidy first, but if not he would tolerate Luca long enough to find out where Kassidy was taken. Harlan saw the blood on the carpet and rugs now. Kassidy’s wound had been worse than he originally thought if she left such a trail like that behind her. He felt guilty, because she got injured while she was with him. Luca had been right about that much. If Harlan was any kind of man he would have tended to Kassidy’s hand. He would next time. He hoped there wouldn’t be a next time. Not that he didn’t want to see Kassidy again, because he did, he just didn’t want to see her hurt again. Harlan’s head was spinning out of control with what had become of her. He ran over to a window upstairs, desperate searching the alleyway for any signs of a girl running to safety, but he saw nothing. Maybe she wasn’t outside. His brother had a holding cell built into the basement. Harlan ran downstairs three at a time to check.

  Power can make any man paranoid, and Asa was no exception. The basement was divided into two parts, storage and the holding cell. It was just one huge expanse of a room separated by a bared entrance. It was large enough to hold fifty men at once if the occasion called for it, but of course no occasion ever had. Harlan saw Luca’s mechanical arm laying on the floor a few feet away next to a pile off the personal affects the Ringers must have torn off the Dreadcrank. Harlan looked at them, kicked them with his foot to get a better look, then bent down to begin rifling through them.

  Nobody was going to stop him, and Luca wasn’t a threat on the other side of the bars. In fact, he was awfully quiet if he was in the cell. Harlan walked over slowly to peer inside the cell to find Luca propping himself up in corner of the room, his only hand fixated on doing something on his opposite shoulder where his fake arm reattaches. Harlan watched Luca work for a couple seconds. He’d never seen anybody with mechanical limbs before, not up close. He knew there was people in Engia who had them, but Asa never let Harlan anywhere around them. Now Asa wasn’t here, and Harlan was curious. Luca was nobody’s circus attraction though.

  “What do you want O’Brien? She isn’t here.”

  “I can see that. Do you know where she is?”

  “Do I look like I know where she is?”

  “I had to ask!”

  “Hey wait!”

  “What?”

  “Let me out of here?”

  “No!”

  “Well, I had to ask.”

  “You can try to make fun of me all you want, but I’m not the one locked up right now.”

  “I can see that.”

  “You really don’t know where my brother took Kassidy?”

  “I haven’t the slightest idea where she is. But give her a little more credit than that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your brother didn’t take her anywhere. She escaped. Last I saw her she was running down the hall. If she was any kind of smart she’d be long gone by now.”

  “She wouldn’t go outside in this weather.”

  “We came here in this weather.”

  “We?”

  “Yes, her and I, the pair of us, we.”

  “Is she seeing you or something?”

  “Relax O’Brien. You’ve got as much chance with her as I do. She’s not my woman if that’s what you’re getting at. She’s too independent to be tied down like that. She doesn’t need me. I think that’s pretty obvious though after tonight.”

  “That’s good to know.”

  “
But that could all change.”

  “How?”

  “It’s only a matter of time until she realizes I’m exactly what she’s been after. It certainly won’t be someone like you who wins her over.”

  “I’m leaving now. I don’t have to stand here and have you insult me.”

  “Where’s that stutter?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. That stutter, where is it O’Brien?”

  “It comes and goes.”

  “I bet it does. Takes a special kind of person to turn it on and off like that. Why is that? It seems whenever she isn’t around you have no trouble speaking perfectly fine.”

  “I only stutter when I’m nervous.”

  “You should be nervous around me, if you knew what was good for you.”

  “I’m Asa’s brother.”

  “You don’t say?”

  “That means if a Dreadcrank did anything to me it would cause an all out gang war in Engia. The city would be torn apart to make sure I was safe.”

  “You keep telling yourself that. I’ve seen how Asa treats you. He’d kill you and blame it on me just for an excuse to start a war. You’re not untouchable little O’Brien. He’s just waiting for the most opportune moment to use you.”

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”

  “Then why are you so upset?”

  “Because you just lie all the time! You lie to get what you want out of people! You’re lying to me right now, and I bet you’re lying to Kassidy! What have you told her?! What have you said to her to make her think that she can trust you?”

  “She doesn’t trust me.”

  “She trusts you more than she does most people.”

  “Not according to what she says.”

  “But I know her.”

  “Knew, past tense. She hasn’t been in Engia for seventeen years. And I doubt you’ve been out of the city. So unless you two had some simultaneous out of body experience together, you’re a liar just like me.”

  “I don’t have to lie for Kassidy.”

  “I don’t lie for her.”

  “Yes you do. Lucky, Luca Ventimiglia. She calls you Luca. I didn’t remember it at first, but when we were in the office it hit me. You hung around her when we were all kids. You were a couple years older, but both of your fathers were friends. The Captain and his first mate. You and Kassidy…”

  “She doesn’t even remember me!”

  “It was a long time ago. She must have blocked it out, to protect herself from the memories of her father. It must have been hard for her.”

  “She wasn’t the only orphan created that night no thanks to your family!”

  “The Ringers aren’t my family! She’s more family to me than Asa.”

  “You have a funny way of showing it. I thought families were supposed to look out for each other.”

  “They do. I look after her.”

  “She was bleeding like crazy when I saw her in the office. That happened while you were with her.”

  “I didn’t do that to her!”

  “But you didn’t help her either!”

  “I know. It’s not one of my prouder moments.”

  “You have proud moments?”

  “I don’t even know why I’ve wasted this long talking to you. You’re just trying to make me angry.”

  “For that I don’t have to try, it just comes naturally.”

  “I’m leaving now.”

  “Hey wait!”

  “What now?”

  “If you’re not going to let me out then do me a favor?”

  “Why would I do such a thing?”

  “Because I want you to make sure Kassidy is out of here. If she’s already gone, which I hope she is, then great. Just let me know that she’s alright. And if she is still here, tell her to go! Tell her to leave. Tell her not to worry about me. I can take care of myself. But I don’t want her anywhere around this damned place, definitely not by herself. I know she can handle herself, but I heard what Asa was telling her up there in his office. The man’s insatiable. If not for me then do it for her O’Brien. If you care about her like you say you do, like I see you do, then make sure she gets out of this place. Can you do that?”

  “I’ll make sure she’s safe. Of course I will.”

  “Once she is, once you know she’s safe just come back here and let me know. I can stay locked up for however long it takes, but she doesn’t deserve this.”

  “You’re really worried about her aren’t you?”

  “She’s a woman is all. I know how Asa treats women. I’d like to fancy myself some sort of gentleman. It’s only right to make sure she’s safe.”

  “There’s more than that.”

  “I assure you there’s not. If you see something sweet in Engia you have to take it before it’s gone. I had a little taste of that is all. Can you blame me?”

  “No, I suppose I can’t blame you for that.”

  Harlan left Luca now in the basement holding cell. It was clear Kassidy wasn’t anywhere down there, and Luca genuinely had no idea where she had gone. Harlan hoped he hadn’t been lied to. Luca was a convincing liar, but Harlan just had a gut feeling the man had been sincere in there, fidgeting with his stub of an arm. It was off putting seeing the amputated joint covered and pulled over in mangled skin and stitches. A crude metal bracket had been inserted into him, and it looked painfully uncomfortable. Harlan rubbed his shoulder just thinking about it as he went back upstairs into the party atmosphere. The mix of spilled drinks, cigars, and women’s perfume was enough to take your breath away, and not in a good way. The wind was howling outside, whistling at some points even. Harlan had hoped Kassidy wouldn’t be foolish enough to try her luck outside in this. There was so many rooms in here she could hide in and not be found in for days if she played her cards right. Kassidy was a smart girl, Harlan knew this, and began his search of her. He decided to start on the second story because the whole bottom floor was consumed with party guests. People were getting sloppy and careless now, Harlan didn’t want to be around them anyway. He got a break when he saw a slip of black dress dart around the corner of a hallway. His smile widened and he began to dart after the woman he though he saw, but just when he did so a hand gripped his jacket tightly and pulled him backwards.

  “Asa!”

  “You don’t want to be following that one Harlan. That one, she’s dangerous.”

  “Let me go!”

  “Huh, that’s what she said right before I…what? You don’t want to here what you missed little brother!”

  Harlan took his jacket off and left it hanging in his older brother’s hands. He ran in the direction of the black dress and found himself in an empty hallway full of doors. She had to be here somewhere, this particular hallway was a dead end. Asa was not following, which was a good thing. He had rejoined his guests with drink in hand, and Harlan’s jacket tossed on the ground like it was no better than a rag. Carefully checking doors now Harlan was working his way down the hall. But he was met with stillness in each room he entered. But it sounded like, yes, he heard a chair began pulled across the wooden floor. He followed the sound as it continued, and he knew it had to be her. When he went to open the door to the room it had been barricaded. Thankfully Harlan wasn’t that big of a guy, and he was able to slip his narrow hand into the opening of the door and push the chair down out of the way. Kassidy was up on him fast, dagger in hand poised at his throat, but she didn’t stay there long. Harlan smiled as she stepped back, but he was a little hurt she didn’t match his reaction. She was busy. All the furniture in the room had been moved out of the center, the rugs pulled back and laying haphazardly on the piles of chairs.

  “Wh-wh-what are you do-do-doing?”

  “If you want things talked about ask a man. If you want things done ask a woman. I have to get the code out of the spyglass.”

  “Y-y-you still h-have it?”

  “Of course I do! I wasn’t about to let your brother get his hands on this
again.”

  “S-s-so what do y-y-you h-h-have to do? Is it, is it writ-t-t-ten on a pa-pa-paper inside or someth-the-thing?”

  “No. See these carvings?”

  “You’ll need s-s-some s-s-sort of liquid in there to ro-ro-roll out the code.”

  “Yes, but I’m short on any ink at the moment.”

  “I could g-g-go find y-y-you some.”

  “No. I don’t want to draw any attention to this room. I’ll have to…I’ll just have to make do with what I do have.”

  “And wh-wh-what do you h-h-have?”