by Holly Law
“You are truly a master of your craft,” Lenora said softly. “Such a piece…I thought all pieces of this sort lost. They were few to begin with and their master did not share them willingly. This is a treasure beyond measure.”
The Prince was the only one who had ever possessed such pieces. He had considered them his finest piece of technology, and something of pure beauty. She wondered how the Prince would react to the return of such a piece.
“It’s very pretty,” Elisha agreed readily. “The pieces inside were very small. I had to cut some of the pieces you provided for me and reshape them to make it work.”
“An amazing thing. Truly, Elisha, you are a gem. But finish your breakfast, you will have classes soon enough.”
Lenora kept an eye open the rest of the day for how Elisha fared in her classes. Elisha was very quiet in all of them and very awkward. Both were a poor combination near the particular girls in that class. Elisha’s manners and dress quickly opened her up for ridicule.
There was much time spent going over the very basics with Elisha. Lenora watched as the teachers of the school tried to coax some grace into her movements, manners into her eating, and care into some of her pronunciation. Their initial efforts produced little effect. Elisha clearly understood what she was being told, and tried her hardest, but such a thing did not come naturally to her. Lenora hoped Elisha would improve with time, but also saw the toll the classes were taking on the impoverished girl. Elisha was near tears after a few hours of classes.
Lenora excused her from the classes at her own discretion and gave her permission to work on machines in her room if she wanted, or to wander and get some air. The expression on Elisha’s face was one of complete and total relief. Elisha went to her room at once and started working. Lenora checked on her occasionally, not always announcing her presence.
Lenora was surprised when Elisha chose to rejoin the group for dinner. Elisha sat quietly at the end, not talking to anyone near her. She didn’t immediately start to eat. Lenora noted that Elisha watched the others eating and talking. When Elisha started eating it was a pale imitation of those around her, but it was a start and a welcome one at that. There were still a few snickers at her behavior and those frequently caused Elisha to pause what she was doing and watch the others again.
“My lady,” a servant came in and said with slightly wide eyes. “The Prince is here and would like a word with you.” The girls instantly started to talk and giggle at the mention of the Prince. Lenora was well aware of how admired the Prince was already in the small city, and their reaction reaffirmed it.
“Of course,” Lenora said demurely and stood up. She paused a moment, her eyes falling on Elisha. “Where is he at the moment?”
“I showed him upstairs to your office,” the servant told her.
“Good. Elisha, come with me please,” Lenora said rising and walking to the door. Elisha followed her confused. In the hallway Lenora spoke with her softly. “Elisha, I want you to stay in your room and not come out for the rest of the night. I know the Prince would like to meet you, but you are not ready yet for that meeting. He is very…particular.”
“Alright,” Elisha said, looking both a bit confused and hurt.
“Good girl,” Lenora told her. “I’ll introduce you eventually, but not just yet.” Elisha followed her up the stairs and went the opposite way at the top to reach her room. Lenora entered her room and closed the door behind her. She curtsied to the Prince when she saw him.
The Prince didn’t even seem to notice. His eyes were examining the mechanical rose that rested on her desk. He clearly recognized it. He reached out and gently lifted it. He twisted it in his hands and smiled at it. “Where did you find it?” the Prince asked her, still looking only at the rose.
“I bought it off of someone in the city. The owner did not realize its value and the girl you search for had fixed it. She did a wonderful job, did she not?”
“A masterful job,” the Prince agreed. “Its action seems smoother than I remember. I look forward to meeting this girl and acquiring her. Such talent is a rare find. Do you make any progress on finding her?”
“Some, my Prince,” Lenora lied. “I believe I am drawing nearer to finding her.”
“Excellent. How much longer do you think?”
“I don’t know. It could be a few days or a few weeks. I have heard the girl has a tendency towards running when spooked.”
“Then you will have to approach her with caution. Bring her by my manor when you find her.”
“Of course. Are the restorations proceeding as you anticipated?”
“Yes, everything is proceeding as planned. And the girls here? Are they meeting your expectations?”
“In some ways, but in others failing horribly.”
“Their short comings?”
“They are very petty and unaccepting of others.”
“A common flaw.”
“Indeed,” Lenora agreed. “But they could do much better. They do not seem to realize they are very poor themselves when compared to the nobility in your domain.”
“They will realize their flaws soon enough and be humbled by it,” the Prince observed, still twisting the rose.
“You may have the rose, my Prince,” Lenora informed him politely. “I intended to send it to you in the morning. I know it was originally yours.”
“It is good to have it back. Perhaps I will reclaim all twelve eventually.”
Chapter 6
Eldwin disliked the school. It wasn’t just his dark living quarters he disliked. It was the whole atmosphere in general. He was treated like he was beneath everyone there. They walked all over him and expected him to do whatever they said. He was also well aware of the irony of how the girls talked about him and looked at him. They thought him decent-looking enough and many of them teased him, clearly thinking it would attract him. All it did was irritate him.
What Eldwin disliked the most was Lady Lenora. The lady was very polite and demure, a vision of beauty and grace. But Eldwin didn’t trust her. The Lady was constantly keeping an eye on his sister, caring for her excessively, and praising her abilities with the machines. It was that excessive attention that made Eldwin begin to question her motives. He kept his thoughts to himself of course. Elisha liked Lenora, and he saw no point yet to argue with her about her choice.
It was with that dislike in his heart and his frustration with his job that he decided he needed to get out of the school for a bit. He walked up the stairs from the basement carefully. “Boy,” he was called instantly by one of the girls. “My chair is creaking again, fix it.” Eldwin clenched his jaw tightly.
“I’ll get to it,” he said simply.
“Boy,” another girl called, “my fireplace isn’t venting right.”
“I’ll get to it before bedtime.” That seemed to satisfy both of them and they disappeared back into the classrooms.
Eldwin went to the front door and slipped outside. He sighed in relief to be out in the sun. It was a cold, crisp day, but the skies were clear. He counted the days he had been inside the building and realized the last time he had been out in the sun had been twelve days earlier. He would have to speak with Lenora about arranging for some time off officially, but he would settle for unofficial time at the moment.
Whistling, he started walking down the street enjoying the day. Eldwin nearly got himself in trouble at the first intersection. “That was uncalled for Trinsin,” Eldwin heard Lenora scold one of the teachers of the school, who was her friend from outside the city. Eldwin froze and ducked behind some boxes, pretending his shoe was untied.
“But true,” Trinsin sneered. “The girl is utterly hopeless. She should be locked in a cave like the mechanic. She’ll never be suitable for the Prince’s court.”
“She is improving,” Lenora disagreed. “Your pessimistic attitude will not help Elisha’s progress.”
“She is just another mechanic. I don’t see why you coddle her. They are servants, nothing more. T
he Prince never valued the mechanics highly in the past. Why do you waste so much time with her?”
“Your ignorance shows, Trinsin,” Lenora reproved. “Elisha has the makings and talents of a master mechanic. Her skills would have been highly prized even during the high point of the mechanics history. The Prince always valued the mechanics of that skill. Many of them rose to join the nobility in time.”
“Yet you won’t even tell the Prince you found her,” Trinsin countered. “You claim she has such value, but you won’t tell him, despite his orders.”
“Elisha is not ready to meet the Prince. She is skittish. If she were to realize how he would use her talents, I fear she would run. The world doesn’t need another dead mechanic. Telling the Prince must wait until I am more confident she will serve him.”
Eldwin had heard enough. He carefully moved away from where they talked in the opposite direction, hoping they would not come around the corner soon. When he was well out of their range of awareness his thoughts turned to what he had heard. His brow furrowed unhappily. He had been right thinking that Lenora had some other plans for his sister. The Prince was somehow involved as well and what he wanted might be something Elisha would be unwilling to do. The whole situation irritated him.
Eldwin walked for nearly an hour by himself. He had no destination in mind beyond staying away from the finishing school. He didn’t approach any of the stores, despite some of the money he had in his pocket. He wanted to hold onto it, in case he needed it later. People in the city still avoided him and pretended his didn’t exist. Nothing had changed in the time he had been in the school. That made him grumpier.
It was when he entered an intersection that he first saw her. She was beautiful enough that even in his unfriendly mood he noticed her. He stopped and watched her. She was so beautifully foreign to him. She had long, black hair, pulled back into a simple style. She was dressed in a vibrant green dress and cloak. Eldwin noticed that her skin had a bronze quality to it. Eldwin didn’t think he had ever seen a more beautiful woman.
As Eldwin watched her, he realized that the woman was clearly lost and confused. He debated with himself for several minutes before he did one of the bravest things he ever did. “Are you lost?” he asked the woman, walking up to her. The woman looked at him startled. Eldwin noticed her eyes were so dark they were almost black and had a curious almond shape.
“I am,” the woman said with a smile that showed off her perfectly straight white teeth.
“Where are you trying to go?” Eldwin asked her politely.
“Many places,” the woman said with a sigh. “I have been here a month and I still get turned around.”
“Well, where are you trying to get to now?” Eldwin asked her.
“I am not looking for a place as much as objects. I am looking for old machines. The substantial sort, the 3L sort or bigger,” the woman told him.
“3L?” Eldwin asked confused. He had worked on machines his whole life and never heard the term.
“Ah, you know little of machines. 1L are still easy to pick up. 2L tend to be a bit awkward to move. 3L would take a horse or such to move. There are 4 and 5L as well of course, 5L being building size.”
“Wow, that would be some machine,” Eldwin whistled. “Why are you looking for machines of that size? There are a few in the city, but most are broken.”
“Cataloging old machines,” the woman explained readily with a smile. “Just in case a mechanic is ever found who could fix them and activate them.”
“I know a couple of machines. What have you found so far?”
“I have found two,” the woman told him. “One is the giant old time piece in the main market square. The other is a rising platform in the Prince’s manor.”
“Hmm, I know a couple others. I could show you if you want,” Eldwin volunteered.
“Would you?” the woman said looking eager. “I would be most grateful.”
“Sure, no problem.”
“I’m Amalia.”
“Eldwin.”
“I have heard of a couple of locations as well, but I haven’t been able to find them.”
“What’s the first?”
“There is supposed to be a walkway inside of the wall that contains an old defensive machine 3-4L size. But no one knows how to get in.”
“Oh! That’s easy,” Eldwin said with a grin. Elisha and he had found that years ago. “Follow me, Amalia.”
Eldwin led the beautiful woman to the other side of the city. They came to an old Clockwork door. Amalia gasped looking at it. Eldwin couldn’t blame her for being shocked. It was a beautiful door. It was made of a bronze coated metal and was carved with many fancy designs and had various knobs and gears.
“What an amazing machine!” Amalia marveled. “Amazing that it still works. It looks ancient.”
Eldwin shrugged. “Elisha and I fixed it when we found it five years ago,” Eldwin told her.
“Elisha?” Amalia asked at once, her eyes curious.
“My twin sister. This looks complicated, but you just need to know where to turn.” Eldwin put his hands to the door and turned the smallest knob. The rest of the door responded. Its wheels turned and ground together. Slowly, with an ancient squeak the door opened. On the other side was a dusty, empty hallway.
Amalia stepped inside, pulling out a mechanical torch. Light blossomed from the end of it and she started walking down the hallway without even waiting for him. Eldwin rushed in to keep up with her. It was then he noted another device on her wrist that she was staring at.
“What is that?”
“It’s a machine tracker,” Amalia explained negligently. “I have it set to find only larger machines.”
“That’s a nifty little device,” Eldwin commented as she (now) followed him.
“It is,” Amalia agreed. “At least, it is when machines are rare in places. In areas with lots of machines, it’s almost useless.”
They walked for a long time in the walls of the town. No one had been there since the last time Eldwin and his sister had explored it. He hadn’t remembered seeing any machines in there before, but Amalia was certain it was there. He followed her further and further. After what felt like an eternity her machine finder chimed happily. Amalia looked around with a frown.
“I don’t see anything,” Eldwin said, also looking for the machine.
Amalia didn’t answer, she just kept examining the space. Then abruptly she looked down and smiled. Eldwin looked down and saw what she had noticed. The floor had become metal. Eldwin knelt down and examined it. He touched it with his hand and instantly knew the machine was in working condition, but had been deactivated.
“It would work if it was activated,” he told her. “What a machine. Never seen one like it.” The longer he touched it the more he could draw the purpose out of the very metal.
“I wonder what it did,” Amalia mused.
“Several things,” Eldwin said. “It reinforced the walls, made them seem taller than they really were—to the sky and beyond. Somehow, it would hurt attackers who touched it, but I haven’t figured out how yet.”
“How do you know?” Amalia asked him curiously.
“I don’t know. I just touch machines and know. Most people don’t believe me, but I’m accurate enough. My sister would even be able to tell you all the pieces inside without opening it, but she’s not here. Is this the machine you were looking for?”
“Yes, it is,” Amalia nodded with a smile. “I appreciate your help.”
“What’s the next machine?”
“You’re up for another?”
“Yup, I’m avoiding work. I’ve been stuck inside for the past twelve days.”
“Then let’s get you back outside and continue with our hunt.”
They found four more machines that day, two of which Eldwin hadn’t even known existed. Amalia was thrilled by each discovery. She always marked down what she had found and where. Sometimes she left a little machine behind in places. That confused
Eldwin, but he assumed it had a purpose—maybe to help her find the machines again. It wasn’t until it was nearly dark and they were walking down one of the main streets of the city that Amalia pulled out a small machine.
“You can fix machines?”
“Yeah, it takes me a bit, but I can.”
“Could you fix this?” she handed him the machine.
He turned the small wearable machine in his hand. He shook his head. “It’s not broken,” he said shaking his head. “Just deactivated. If you take it to my sister she could fix it.”
“Where would I find your sister?” Amalia asked, looking intrigued.
“Oh, we both live at Lady Lenora’s Finishing School. Do you know it?”
“Yes, it’s created quite a stir among the nobility and the upper gentry.”
“Lenora gives my sister free room and board in exchange for fixing machines. I do odd jobs around the place.”
“That is very generous of Lady Lenora. Perhaps you could take this to your sister and have it fixed for me?” Amalia asked. “I could pick it up again later.”
“Sure, not a problem.”
Chapter 7
“You have too much free time on your hands,” Elisha’s brother told her. They sat across from each other at a table in the basement. A mechanical ball bounced off their hands, trying to escape the table. It was surprisingly intelligent, and it kept swerving at the last instant trying to get away from them. Elisha had to concentrate hard on the ball and only a quick glance told her that her brother was doing the same.
“Better to work on machines than be upstairs with those other girls,” Elisha said, deflecting the ball’s escape at the last instant.
“Where did you acquire such a fascinating little machine?” a man’s voice asked politely. Elisha was startled by the voice and looked to see who was behind them and noted her brother grabbed the ball. She hadn’t seen the man before. He was a tall man who towered over them. His complexion was on the paler side and his blond hair was almost golden. His face was handsomely constructed and its expression was curiously friendly. He was dressed in fine clothes, but that was not uncommon for those who visited the finishing school. Elisha wondered whose relative he was.
