by Holly Law
Cautiously, she looked out onto the balcony. The Prince was no longer out there. She stepped out with a sigh of relief. She watched the guards patrol. It was the same as it had been earlier. She bit her lip as she contemplated how to escape. There was no way for her to get out without taking some risks. Her eyes focused on a tree several feet away. It was a tall, ancient looking tree. Its limbs would be sturdy enough to hold her, but it was just far enough away that she was uncertain if she would be able to make it. But she had to take a risk. If she fell and broke her neck, at least she would be free of the mess she was in.
Elisha walked to the edge of balcony and studied the tree. It was her only shot. She climbed onto the stone railing and balanced precariously. She took one last deep breath and jumped. She caught the nearest tree limb with no pretense of lady like grace. She whimpered as she swung there for a moment. Then, with shaky arms, she pulled herself up. She doubted her arms would have had that strength if the Prince’s healing hadn’t been so thorough. It had taken away every ache and weakness she had felt before her capture.
She sat in the tree, clutching the trunk as she watched guards pass below her. They patrolled without giving any hint they had heard the commotion of her grasping for the branch. It was a fortunate piece of luck that they hadn’t noticed her. When they were gone from sight she carefully climbed down the tree and landed in the bushes below. As a precaution, Elisha waited in the bushes until another patrol passed.
Then she fled through the gardens as quickly as she could. She ducked under bushes when she lost track of the guards. They passed within inches of her, blissfully unaware of how close she was. Finally, after several very tense minutes she was at the edge of the garden. She waited for one last guard to pass and then she bolted for the forest. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
Soon she was safe within the darkness of the woods there. She wept for joy and kept running. She had another chance and she didn’t doubt it would be her last one. She had escaped too many times. She couldn’t presume to think that the next time the Prince wouldn’t order her killed on sight.
Arms wrapped around her waist and then a hand went over her mouth, silencing the scream that had started to rise up. She looked behind her and saw Eldwin standing there. Elisha sobbed in relief. Eldwin let her go. She hugged him fiercely and sobbed into his shoulder. He was alive. She had been certain he had been caught and killed, but he was alive.
“We can’t stay here,” Eldwin told her softly. “Come on, we have to go.” And so they ran.
Elisha shivered and wished she had been smart enough to take a cloak from the closet before she had fled the Prince’s manor. She hadn’t even thought of needing a cloak. It was summer, and she had no use for it. But the mountains they had entered weren’t so warm. And every time the sun went down, Elisha and Eldwin were forced to huddle together for warmth. The higher they went over the mountain pass, the less food there was to forage. Elisha found herself chronically hungry and thoughts of her last meal made her mouth water. She would do anything for a bite of the chicken.
Eldwin pulled her on as she stumbled, but his footing wasn’t too much better than her own. The sun was beginning to set, and they would need shelter soon. They hadn’t seen any sign of pursuit since she had escaped the manor, but neither of them trusted that. They knew they were being followed and wouldn’t take the risk of sleeping in the open.
The sky was nearly dark when Eldwin pointed to a narrow cave entrance. Elisha no longer liked caves, but they had few options. She gritted her teeth and walked into the dark space with her brother. The entrance was narrow and it twisted and turned before it opened up to a broader space. It was just big enough for them to curl up together and it was out of the bitter mountain wind outside. They huddled together shaking.
“I wish it were warmer,” Elisha said, her teeth chattering.
“I know,” Eldwin said and rubbed his arms. He stood up and started pacing, trying to keep himself warm. “I think we need to get down out of these mountains soon. This weather is going to be the death of us.”
“There can’t be too much more before we head into a valley. We’ve been up here so long.”
Eldwin leaned against the cave wall and then he froze. He looked back and looked confused. “There’s a door,” Eldwin said, frowning at the wall. Elisha looked and Eldwin leaned forward to examine it. “Yes, it’s definitely a door.” He reached down and pulled a handle set into the door. It swung open easily, on well-oiled hinges. “Come on, maybe there is someone inside with a fire.”
Together, they both hurried into the hallway that had been hidden beyond the door. The strangeness of the hallway became instantly apparent. It was a perfectly even hallway that looked to have been chiseled out of rock. Overhead there were wires running into the distant darkness. Strange glass orbs dotted the hallway at intervals. Elisha frowned and studied it. It was a machine of some sort. She followed the wires near them with her eyes and she saw a small, gray, metal box attached. In the center was a switch. She flipped it.
Power ran through the wires and illuminated each of the lights in turn. It was an impressive sight and both of them stared at the lights. Elisha had never seen anything like it. She normally focused on gears and springs. She rarely put much thought into the power supply. Small, simple machines almost had an energy of their own. It was only the bigger machines that required thought of power.
“This is amazing,” Elisha breathed.
“Mechanics must have been here at some point,” Eldwin observed. “I wonder if they still are.”
“I think we should go find out.”
They walked down the hallway, following the lights as they went. The hallway turned several times, but never narrowed or grew bigger. Finally they reached the end and stared at what it opened up into. It was a mechanic’s dream.
The chamber beyond the hallway was massive. There were lines of shelves against the back wall containing machine parts of every size and even some machines. Those same shelves lined the walls. Large piles of scraps and odds and ends littered the floor. Some were more than twice as tall as Elisha. In the middle there was a partially constructed machine that strongly resembled a man. The middle of him was hollow, and there were several panels that were left open. The front of the room held several work benches that were littered with even more machines and parts. Some of the machines whirled slightly as they sat in a partially repaired state.
Then Elisha saw him. Elisha tapped on Eldwin’s shoulder and pointed. Eldwin stared as she did. The man was very large. He was full of solid muscle that was obscured by oil stained clothes. His hair was black and scraggly. His beard looked very similar. He was working intently on a machine and didn’t look up when they came in.
“Don’t stand in the door way,” the man said briskly, in a deep, gravelly voice. “Come over here and make yourselves useful.”
Elisha and Eldwin cautiously glanced at each other before they walked over to the man. They stood across from him at one of the work benches. The man pushed a broken machine in front of both of them. “Get to work,” the man said. The machines were strange and full of twisting interlocking pieces. Elisha had never seen anything like it.
“Who are you?” Eldwin asked warily.
“Mechanic,” the man said with a grunt, not ceasing his work.
“Yes, but who…” Eldwin began, but cut off as the man looked up at Eldwin. His look was long and considering. His large hands never stopped moving on the machine. Hands that were much too large to do the work Elisha was so skilled at. She found she knew him at once. The Prince had mentioned him.
“You’re the Havalla who made the machines,” Elisha said in shock. He was the one who had started the whole thing, the mechanic who lived in partial defiance to the Prince and would not share his greatest creation.
The Mechanic paused then. His hands stopped. He folded them in front of him and surveyed her curiously. “Who told you about me, girl?” the mechanic asked her.
&nbs
p; “Corpal,” Elisha said simply.
The mechanic’s look became piercing. He was judging her at that moment and she felt distinctly uneasy. “Why are you on such personal terms with the Prince of Havalla? Most humans wouldn’t dare call him by his name.”
Elisha opened her mouth to try to answer and found she couldn’t. She didn’t know how to begin. Everything was so twisted and confused. Her story would make no sense. “It’s complicated,” she said finally.
“Uncomplicate it.”
Elisha looked at Eldwin helplessly. Eldwin sighed and tried to explain for her. “We had been living in Sumvale,” Eldwin explained. “Lenora offered Elisha a job fixing machines in exchange for lessons on etiquette and other useless things like that.” The mechanic looked troubled. “Elisha developed a sort of friendship with the Prince, against my advice. But that has ended and badly at that.”
The mechanic grunted and stretched his broad arms. “I’m not surprised,” he said with the sound of his stretch in his voice. “The Prince doesn’t like mechanics.” He turned his attention back to what was in front of him. “Fix those machines for me.”
The two of them got to work, their worries forgotten as they confronted the mechanical puzzle in front of them. It was unlike anything they had seen before. They both moved and arranged parts instinctively, but they were still confused. The mechanic gave them suggestions as they worked, and all those suggestions made perfect sense. Elisha’s machine suddenly spurred to life as she clicked something into the right place. She dropped it on the table so her fingers wouldn’t get caught. Eldwin reached over and turned the machine off for her with a smile. Elisha reached into the machine and adjusted the alignment of cylinders and pistons inside. It was a strange device and she still did not fully understand it. But she did know when she was done. Elisha turned it back on and placed it before the mechanic.
The mechanic glanced at it for a moment. He examined the working bits and finally nodded. He stood and lumbered over to the mechanical man. He carefully attached the piece to the mid-section of the man.
Elisha followed him, fascinated by what she saw. She had never seen a machine like it. She studied it, trying to figure out what connected where and how. The complexity of it made the Crusher look simple. “Here,” the mechanic said, ready to explain to both of them. She hadn’t noticed Eldwin coming up behind her. “See, this attaches here and serves to give the joints here the resistance needed to move. That back there spreads the power out evenly. Can you attach that little bit for me there? My hands can’t fit in there.”
Elisha deftly reached her slender fingers around the inner workings of the mechanical man. She attached two parts and twisted the fastener together so they wouldn’t come apart. The mechanic reached out and touched it. The mechanical man was not done, but he was complete enough that he could partially activate. The parts inside whirled to life. It was a complex dance that fascinated her.
“Attach that bit for me now,” the mechanic told her. Elisha complied and more of the machine came to life. The mechanic slapped his thigh and laughed happily. “You’re a real help, girl. Now why don’t I get the two of you a bit of lunch, and then I’ll show you more of the shop. You both look like you could about eat an entire cow.”
The mechanic walked over to a work bench and unceremoniously wiped all the machines off of it and onto the floor. There was a horrible clattering and Elisha winced. Food appeared on the table. It was a broad, but practical feast. There was a whole ham and rich dark loaves of bread. Apples and cheeses scattered around the edges. They both ate hungrily. Elisha thought it the best thing she ever tasted.
When they were done eating the mechanic put them back to work. He took out strange machines they had never seen before. He explained the inner workings. It was completely fascinating. It absorbed Elisha’s whole attention. There was far more detail in his machines than those she had seen in Sumvale. Together, they worked on the machines and Elisha absorbed every bit of knowledge he gave her. She felt like a whole new world of machines opened up for her.
The footsteps started distantly and at first Elisha barely heard them. The Mechanic looked up sharply and stared at the hallway. “Hide,” he told them sharply. “That’s the Prince.”
They both scrambled to find cover. Eldwin went to the back of the room and squeezed himself between two very full shelves. Elisha climbed a ladder that led to a loft in the rock. There were more machine parts up there covered by a white cloth. She squirmed under it, her heart beating hard. She slid forward under the cloth until she could just barely see the ground below. It wasn’t a perfect view, but she didn’t want to be seen either.
The Prince entered the room, his footsteps slow and confident. He looked completely calm and unconcerned. The two soldiers with him looked alert. The mechanic kept working, unconcerned by the Prince’s presence. The Prince walked to the mechanical man, his hands clasped behind his back. There was curiosity in his gaze.
“You seem to have found a way to make it work,” the Prince observed, bending down to stare into the innards. He seemed completely fascinated.
“Found a way to connect a few parts is all,” the mechanic grunted.
“Hmm,” the Prince replied. He started walking around the room surveying all he saw. Elisha realized at once that he was not as casual as he appeared. His blue eyes were inspecting every detail. He walked dangerously close to where Eldwin was hidden. She bit her lip, hoping he wouldn’t be found. Then his steps led him back to the mechanic.
“I heard you had some visitors,” the Prince commented. He leaned back against the work bench and glanced around the room. His eyes very alert.
“What sort of visitors?” the mechanic asked. “I scared a family of mice out earlier.”
“Human visitors, a pair of twins actually. A boy and a girl. Mechanics.”
“Ah, them. I’ve seen them.”
“Where are they?”
“They took off after lunch. You just missed them.”
The Prince started pacing the room again, his gaze sweeping everything. Elisha felt very nervous. Somehow the Prince knew they were there. She could barely breathe as time and again his eyes skimmed over where she and Eldwin hid, but thankfully did not see them.
“You’re close to that girl,” the mechanic observed, not taking his eyes from the machine. “She mentioned you by name.”
The Prince paused. He focused his gaze on a broken machine. He touched the broken spring lightly. “She interests me,” the Prince said finally.
“As more than a mechanic, I gather.”
“She is my lady. I would like her back.”
“She didn’t seem too interested in you. Afraid I’d say.”
“I tried to have her killed,” the Prince confessed, turning to pace the room again.
“That doesn’t sound like a successful relationship to me.”
“It’s fixable.”
The mechanic grunted as he shoved stubborn piece in place. He turned on his stool and watched the Prince. The mechanic’s expression was serious. “She doesn’t strike me as your sort of fluff,” the mechanic observed critically. “Your bedmates don’t tend to be so level headed.”
The Prince looked at the mechanic and smirked. “I think perhaps she will last longer than most. At very least, she has been an interesting quarry.”
There came a loud crashing sound as the machines on a shelf shifted and fell. Elisha cringed at the sound ,and then her eyes saw where it had come from. She saw Eldwin plain as day crouched behind a shelf, no longer hidden. All eyes in the room were on him. Elisha closed her eyes for a moment in dread. She opened them again to see the Prince glance at the soldiers. They both headed straight to Eldwin.
They grabbed him and dragged him out from behind the shelves. He fought hard against their grip. But the soldiers were stronger. He was pulled in front of the Prince and held tightly in place.
“Where is Elisha?” the Prince asked Eldwin, his tone calm and reasonable. It was almost bored.
Eldwin spat at the Prince’s feet and glared at him. The Prince grabbed Eldwin hard by the throat. Elisha could only watch in silent horror as her brother struggled against that inhuman grip. “Where is Elisha?” the Prince demanded again his tone still calm. Eldwin did not reply.
The Prince tossed Eldwin across the room. It was an effortless flick of his wrist and Eldwin crashed into a pile of machines. Elisha covered her mouth to keep herself from shouting out. Eldwin did not rise instantly as Elisha had hoped he would. He looked stunned and tears flowed from her eyes.
“I will take care of Elisha,” the Prince said calmly. “I merely need to know where she is.”
Eldwin slowly forced himself to his feet. He was unsteady and had to brace himself against a shelf. There was bleeding gash on the top of his head from where he had hit a machine wrong. “Take care of her?” Eldwin said and spat blood on the ground. “Is that what you did when you had her beaten?”
“I did not order that attack,” the Prince said, he was looking at her brother as though he were a tiresome fly in his way. “Those responsible have been punished.” He crooked his finger at Eldwin and Eldwin flew across the room towards the Prince. Eldwin’s eyes were wide in fear. The soldiers caught him roughly. The Prince stepped forward and put a blade to her brother’s throat.
“I wouldn’t recommend that,” the mechanic commented grimly. The Prince paused and looked at him. “Those two are the only Mechanics left. If you kill him, you risk losing all those machines you’re so fond of.”
The Prince looked at Eldwin for a long moment. His eyes were calculating, and Elisha could only hope the mechanic’s words were enough. “That does change things,” the Prince said finally. The blade vanished. “Where Elisha is does not matter. She will come for you if I take you. I have learned that much for certain about the two of you. Where one goes the other will follow.” He smirked at Eldwin.
