The Prince of Machines (The Last Mechanics)

by Holly Law

  A plate of food was put before her. It refocused her. “It’s a beautiful view, is it not?” the Prince asked her, sipping a glass of wine. “I think it is among my favorites. Absolute perfection. I have enjoyed many hours looking out this window.”

  “Was the destruction of Sumvale really necessary?” Elisha asked him, unable to forget what she had seen happen.

  Ever so briefly, she saw a flicker of irritation in the Prince’s eyes. “It was,” he told her, his tone calm. He smiled at the view. “Do not think me thoughtless, Elisha. I do nothing without careful planning. There was an attempt to peacefully resolve the situation I had with your city. The mayor refused to negotiate. But I can’t say I have any regrets. I have reclaimed the view I missed. And the people of Sumvale,” the Prince snorted in disgust. “An unpleasant, poorly-civilized group of people. Their politics disgusted me. I found little enjoyable about their society. I found their treatment of you particularly revolting. Perhaps I do have one regret. I think I would have enjoyed tormenting that woman who ran your orphanage a bit. I took offense at her treatment of you. I can’t believe you miss the city much. You never felt welcome unless you were on my arm. Is that not so?”

  “It was beginning to feel better,” Elisha told him, not liking how easily he dismissed the city. Not liking how he disregarded the lives of all the girls at the school, of all the shop keepers who had helped them so many times. “Perhaps you should have given the people of Sumvale a choice. Many admired you. Perhaps they would have left, had you given them the choice.”

  “Perhaps,” Corpal said, looking out the window and not at her. His focus was distant and Elisha felt uneasy. “But it does not change what is done or my opinion on the matter. Eat your meal, Elisha. It grows cold. The past is past. Let it concern you no longer.”

  Elisha ate, not really wanting to, but feeling she had little choice. She found it difficult to enjoy the fine meal or the wine placed before her. When Corpal pulled himself away from the view, he seemed to realize her unease. He smiled at her. “I was thinking, perhaps when we get to Melink, I will need to arrange for some new dresses for you.”

  “I have plenty of dresses,” Elisha told him. “I need no more than I have.”

  “But I know you enjoy showing up to dances and parties in style,” Corpal told her. “And your arrival in Melink will certainly be worth celebrating. I intend to throw a ball to celebrate your arrival.”

  “I don’t need…”

  “And you would give me the first dance of course. You always do. But I look forward to introducing to others. I think you’ll make quite a stir. I would imagine the ladies of Melink will be highly jealous of you.”

  “I’m no one to be jealous of,” Elisha snorted and sipped her wine.

  “No?” Corpal said, raising his eyebrows. “You will live in my palace, attend events on my arm. The ladies of Sumvale were jealous of you already and they barely knew me, Elisha. I’m certain the noblewomen of Melink will be envious of my lady. You are going to be the topic of nearly every conversation for some time.”

  “I’ve never cared what noblewomen think of me, Corpal. You know that.”

  “I do,” Corpal agreed. “That is part of what I find so fascinating about you. I think that is what lets you stand in a room and radiate the confidence needed to thrive. You simply do not care. It gives you the exact image that lets others see you as a lady, even though you were not born one. It was always a pleasure to see you at a party.”

  From there, Corpal reminisced about the parties they had attended together. He recounted humorous events, and despite herself, Elisha found herself laughing at some of the memories. Soon she was engaged in the conversation, enjoying it. Slowly the feel of their conversation changed until it flowed as easily as it had only days earlier.

  But the meal ended, and Elisha knew she would be brought back to her room, that her life was getting shorter by the hour, no matter how pleasant those hours passed, they were passing. And Elisha still did not understand why. Corpal wanted to act as though she would choose to serve him, as though she could do nothing else. But Elisha was still very uneasy about him.

  “Corpal,” Elisha hesitated, “why do you kill mechanics? Is this whole drama of me either serving you or being killed really necessary? Those who imprisoned you are long dead.”

  Corpal looked at her for a long time. His blue eyes were unreadable. She had given up on an answer when he spoke. “It is necessary, Elisha, though I confess I wish it were not,” he told her, his tone solemn. “You wish to understand more, and I will explain. The mechanics who imprisoned me I trusted, considered them friends truthfully. Here, I will show you.”

  He stood and walked over to her. “Close your eyes,” he told her. She looked at him warily. “Close them.” He gently closed her eye lids with her fingers. “I will show you, so you can understand.”

  What happened next was disorienting. She felt completely disjointed from her body. There was a scene playing out before her. It took her several moments to figure out what she was looking at. Then it came together.

  She was watching Corpal walk into a cave. Excitement was clear in his eyes. He was busy talking with two people she didn’t know. She had a hard time following the words. She knew it was her language they spoke, but it was an ancient dialect. She knew they were speaking of a machine and nothing more.

  Corpal was left standing in a room examining veins of a machine that ran around the perimeter of the room. He was clearly trying to figure them out. On the side, she could see the Mechanics working at some sort of panel, their faces calm and unreadable. And then a hum started and a light flashed.

  Corpal looked confused at first and addressed the mechanics. They didn’t reply and spoke briefly amongst themselves. Then they simply left. Suspicion dawned on Corpal’s face, and he moved towards the entrance of the cave. A light flashed as he collided with an invisible barrier. Elisha watched as he pounded at it with all the power a Havalla could muster, but he could not escape.

  Then Elisha watched the slow march of time. It passed quickly, but she watched years pass. Watched as Corpal used his powers to make his prison bearable, truthfully made it luxurious. But he was unhappy. He paced endlessly. He lashed out at the barrier that imprisoned him blindly when he could take it no more. And sometimes he cried. And still time passed and passed. She watched more years than a human life pass and lifetimes on top of that. And he remained imprisoned. It was horrible to watch. It was agonizing to watch the passage of time.

  Elisha opened her eyes and blinked at the bright light. “How long were you imprisoned?” she asked him, trying to reorient herself to the room.

  “Five hundred years,” he told her simply.

  “Five hundred…” Elisha began and shuddered internally at the torture that must have been. He had sped it up significantly.

  “I refuse to be in that situation again. I will not fully trust any mechanic for that reason.”

  “Corpal, I would never do that to you. I wouldn’t hurt you. Truthfully, I’d prefer to stay as far out of your way as possible. If you let me…”

  “That is not possible,” Corpal said sharply. “Out of the question.”

  Elisha hesitated and tried something else. She could understand Corpal’s concerns, but perhaps she had some room to negotiate. “I can understand why you would want me to agree to serve you. I wouldn’t want to be imprisoned like that.”

  “I am glad you can understand.”

  “But…I…I would be far more willing to agree if you would allow me to refuse to work on harmful machines. You wouldn’t have anything to lose from it. I could still make useful machines.”

  Corpal considered her words. His blue eyes looked thoughtful, and Elisha felt hope. “I will think on what you propose,” Corpal told her. “But I make you no promises. You needn’t fear such machines, Elisha. I would ask you to work on things of that nature rarely. And any deaths they caused would be far from you. Truthfully, it wouldn’t affect you. I wouldn’t
let it. I would shield you from that knowledge.”

  “I am sorry,” he continued, “that I must put you in a situation where you must make such a choice, but it is necessary. If you choose to serve me, I will see to it that you are happy. You may have your own place within my palace, or if you prefer it, I could arrange for you to have your own manor in Melink. My previous generosity would be unchanged, I would provide for your every need and want. If you chose to serve me, you could still be my lady in Melink, as you were here.” That reference startled her, but she didn’t let it show. He had never referred to her as such. Only others had. “There are many more parties and social events in Melink. I have grown very comfortable having you on my arm. I would like to continue that. You may not believe it with my recent threats to you, but I greatly prize our friendship.”

  “But if I chose to serve you,” Elisha countered, “and then refused on some distant day to work on a machine I didn’t like that you wanted. You would kill me for it, despite that friendship.”

  “Yes,” Corpal said simply. “But I would try to avoid it as I do now. But you truly needn’t worry about that overly much. I would ensure your happiness, Elisha. You have my word.”

  “And why should I trust your word?” Elisha countered again, trying to understand her situation more. “I have heard nothing but bad about the Havalla my whole life. You are known for being deceptive, and you have proven that already. You are known for promising things to meet your own ends, then discarding those promises and the people you used in the process. Why should I trust you?”

  And with those words, the gentle, friendly expression on Corpal’s face was gone. Every thoughtful hint was gone. All that was left was anger. She had never seen the expression on his face before and it terrified her. The aura of danger and menace that radiated off of him made her want to flee in terror. It also made her afraid to even move.

  “You know me better than that,” Corpal told her harshly, the lightness of his tone completely gone. “Lunch is done, it is time for you to be back in your room. On your feet.” Elisha complied, terrified by his anger. She wished she had simply kept her mouth shut.

  They walked back down to her room. Corpal’s feet clicked with irritation in every step, and Elisha tried not to physically tremble as she walked a step behind him. She stepped into her room as soon as the door opened, eager to be away from the angry Prince of the Havalla. But he stepped into the room too.

  “I need to heal you further,” he told her briskly. “Go lay down.” He pointed to the bedroom.

  “You don’t need to,” Elisha said at once. “I…”

  “Do as you are told,” he snapped. Elisha was terrified.

  “I think I would rather just be alone with my wounds,” Elisha said softly.

  “Go lay down. I do not care what you wish or do not wish.”

  “I didn’t mean to make you angry. I’m just trying to understand this, and you frighten me.”

  For some reason, that irritated Corpal all the more. “You are a foolish girl.” Elisha found herself flung into the air, more roughly than the day before. Corpal’s steps were swift, and she found herself pinned down to her bed by unseen power. The mid-section of her dress was ripped apart. He pressed his palm to her injury. And she was once again subjected to his healing skills. There was nothing pleasant about the process. There was no compassion or kindness in Corpal’s features.

  When he finished, he withdrew his hand and her dress repaired itself. He walked to the door and paused to look back at her. “Tomorrow,” he told her coldly, “is your last day to consider my offer. I will have your decision at noon.” And then his steps carried him from the room. Elisha sat up and hugged her knees, terrified by what had just happened.

  Elisha sat there and cried. She didn’t understand how everything had become so upside-down. Only a few days earlier, she had been happy and content. She had everything she needed and good friends. She had enjoyed walking the streets of Sumvale with the Prince. She had fixed machines freely with no second thoughts. She wished more than anything she could get rid of her abilities. She would rather have been homeless on the streets than subjected to his attention.

  Time passed, and Elisha eventually forced herself up. She walked around her room, trying to calm herself, trying to get her nerves under control. She liked neither of her choices. She didn’t want to serve him, and she didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to be the cause of thousands upon thousands of deaths. She wouldn’t want to live with that, but she didn’t want to die.

  Elisha heard voices outside and peered out her window in curiosity. Below she saw the Prince and Lenora striding out of the building. The Prince’s irritability clearly hadn’t faded and Lenora looked concerned. The Prince walked towards the forest that had appeared where the city had once been. She wondered curiously where they were going.

  But another thought occurred to her as well. With the two Havalla gone, there were only humans to guard her. If there was ever a chance to escape, that was it. She glanced around trying to formulate how she would do it.

  And then all hope of escape vanished. Trinsin walked into the room, her expression severe and unkind. “The Prince has asked me to keep an eye on you while he is away,” Trinsin informed her, her steely gray eyes unfriendly. “Not that I can see why he gives you the freedom you have. A bit of street trash like you would be better kept in a closet. This room is a waste on you. Clearly, you don’t have the intelligence to accept the Prince’s offer. That means you can’t possibly be worth his time.”

  “I don’t care for your opinions, Trinsin,” Elisha told the woman coldly. “Keep them to yourself. Leave me in peace.”

  “I don’t answer to your orders anymore, street trash,” Trinsin told her with a sneer. “You gave up any authority you had when you refused to serve the Prince.”

  “You dislike me, Trinsin; you have always made that clear. Why are you wasting your breath insulting someone who doesn’t care? But that’s all you know how to do, isn’t it? You just live your life spouting off nonsense you think others value. Lenora certainly doesn’t value your ideas. She was always telling the girls at the school to ignore what you said. You’re nothing but a poorly trained servant who has never realized her presence displeases her masters.”

  Trinsin slapped her then. Elisha was stunned by the force behind that blow. Trinsin was little more than skin and bone, but that blow stung and made her head spin. “Filthy, illegitimate mechanic whelp,” Trinsin spat at her.

  Chapter 24

  Eldwin crouched behind a rock and watched the building. The building looked strangely innocent out in the middle of the clearing. It was surrounded by a smattering of gardens and out buildings. There were guards of course, but not as many as he would have expected. He had watched earlier in the day as men had started the long march home. He had avoided their patrols with ease, finding safety in the trees that had not been there the day before.

  He had watched that building all day, and now, as sunset approached, he knew the patterns of the patrols. They missed many places and wouldn’t hinder him very much. He had watched the Havalla leave earlier, had seen his sister watch them from a window. He had been relieved to see her alive. She was not dead, and the little he had seen of her showed her to be well.

  He crept from rock to bush, carefully using the landscape of the garden to hide his path to the side door. His heart thudded in his chest, but his plan worked. He pulled open a servant’s door he had seen a gardener come out of earlier.

  Inside, he cautiously took a tight servant’s staircase up, listening for the sound of any movement. He kept his feet as soft as he could, knowing he would be killed if they caught him. The Prince didn’t like him any more than Eldwin did the Prince. He expected no mercy. He exited the staircase at the floor he had seen his sister on. No sooner had he set foot on that floor than he found himself dodging through an open door to avoid a servant polishing a mirror in the hallway.

  The room was thankfully empty. He wa
ited by the door, listening for the sound of the servant. It felt like an eternity before he could hear the faint footsteps moving away. Cautiously, he stuck his head out the door and found the hallway empty. He walked slowly down the hallway, carefully checking the doors on the side of the building that he had seen his sister on. Then he heard her voice, on the other side of one of the doors he heard his sister arguing with Trinsin.

  He bit his lip as he thought for a split second. He could deal with Trinsin. He had no qualms with knocking out the woman who had treated him and his sister so poorly. But he would need to be fast. If she screamed he would be dead, and he was sure his sister wouldn’t be long behind him. He opened the door very slowly, just a sliver at first. He could see Elisha and Trinsin arguing, but Trinsin had her back to the door. Luck was on his side.

  He quickly opened the door and closed it behind him. Elisha looked shocked to see him and relieved. Trinsin began to turn and Eldwin was already on her. He wrestled the astonished woman to the floor, covering her mouth all the while. Trinsin scratched at his wrists and drew blood. Eldwin ignored the scraping pain. Elisha thought fast, even in her surprise, and tore a length from Trinsin’s dress. She made a gag and shoved it in her mouth. Trinsin gave a muted cry of rage. Another strip of the fine fabric was cut and Eldwin bound her arms and then legs. For good measure, he then tied her arms and legs together.

  He lifted Trinsin as the annoying woman continued to thrash. Elisha beckoned him into a bedroom and Eldwin tossed Trinsin unceremoniously into the closet. “Shut up,” he told the woman as she continued to whine uselessly. He closed the door. Elisha hugged him, crying.

  “What are you…” Elisha began.

  “No time now,” Eldwin told her. “We have to get out of here before the Prince gets back.” Elisha nodded.

  Together they walked to the door and listened. They heard nothing and exchanged a worried glance before Eldwin opened the door. The hallway was empty. He gestured his sister out and they ran on soft feet to the staircase, still seeing no one. They reached the door he had entered without problem.