For Steam and Country: Book One of the Adventures of Baron Von Monocle

by Jon Del Arroz

  “Well, I’ll hopefully take some responsibility off your plate as I learn more,” I said. “That’s what I wanted to come talk to you about. I wanted to go over our plan of attack once we land.” I didn’t mention our earlier discussion, as that had been more personal in nature. Separating personal and ship business was something I’d have to learn to do if I were to help Talyen like I’d just offered.

  “My plan of attack,” Talyen corrected.

  “I’m here to rescue my father as much as you are,” I said. I crossed my arms. “Don’t leave me out of this.”

  “Zaira, I’m going to be honest with you.” Talyen placed a hand on my shoulder. “You’re not ready for this. Even with having experienced combat a couple of times, we’re going to the heart of the Wyranth Empire. It’s too dangerous. Before you say anything, I know you did well out there, and I was wrong to try to lock you in your room. But this is different.”

  “How?” I couldn’t suppress the anger in my voice. I dropped my shoulder to remove her hand from it.

  Talyen didn’t persist in trying to touch me, letting her hand fall. “What you did was not a direct confrontation. It was a good plan, but the planning’s done. This requires skilled espionage.”

  “I can do it. Just give me a chance.”

  “It’s more than that, Zaira. Because of your name, of who you are, you’re too valuable a target. This ship needs a leader in case I don’t return. If you look at the Grand Rislandian Army, nobility are never allowed on field missions like this. There’s a reason for that, because that person’s authority is needed to run the ship. It’s irreplaceable.”

  “You’re nobility too.”

  “It’s different. My title comes from my work here on the airship. It was given to me as a commendation. You have a real lineage with the kingdom. Hold on a moment.” Talyen moved over to her drawer and opened it, pulling out a brass pin. She came back over and fastened it to my vest.

  “What’s this?” I asked, inspecting the pin. It was a sword thrust through a gear.

  Talyen stepped back, nodding approvingly. “Looks good on you. But then, it always did on that ensemble. This was your father’s crest, his symbol. The sword for his ability to fight, the gear for his ability to process. Without the sword and the gear like this, the Liliana would be but another mode of transportation. Worth little compared to the fame she’s achieved. Do you understand?”

  “I understand, but what you’re talking about is my father, not me.” I touched the pin, feeling the cold metal, the ridges of the gear. It was my father’s symbol, but I left it on my chest all the same. “I don’t have the same value he has. If anyone does, you do.”

  “But as I said, with the name von Monocle you would be the one to make a valuable hostage if we are to be caught. Which I might add is a near certainty if you leave the ship,” Talyen said.

  “You can’t stop me from going.” I narrowed my eyes.

  “Want to bet on that?” Talyen met my gaze with challenging eyes.

  We held there for long seconds, and both of us erupted into laughter. “Zaira, you are so stubborn. You’re just like him, more than you realize. I also think you’ll be more valuable to the ship than you know, given time.”

  “And I can be valuable in a rescue party too,” I said, holding firm. I wouldn’t let her back me down with compliments, sure as I wouldn’t let her order me about. I owed it to my father to find him. This was for him. Nothing else mattered.

  Talyen considered me for a moment, bit her lip, then nodded. “I see there’s no way of convincing you otherwise. Very well. I’ll include you so you don’t run off the ship and do something foolish as soon as I’m out of earshot. But please, you be careful and follow my orders to the letter. You understand me?”

  She was a great commander. She listened, yet held authority all the same. I was lucky she allowed this, and lucky she had been so patient and willing to train me. Even with my name, if she ordered the crew to lock me in my father’s quarters as she had suggested to the king days ago, they would have followed her words, despite this being technically my airship. I nodded. I would do my best to do right by her.

  “Okay then. I’ve been waiting to talk to someone about this idea. Perhaps you could give me some of your own thoughts before we call in the commandos. Here’s the plan…”

  It’s been another three days, still no sign of Theo. We will have to return to Rislandia City soon and report our losses. Though I’ve been with the crew a long time, I’m not sure I’m fit for leadership. There’s so much despair. How did Theo keep morale so high?

  An excerpt from Captain von Cravat’s log

  Day 33 of the Month of Kings

  17th Year of Malaky XVI’s Reign

  The sun beat down upon the Liliana’s deck as we lingered over the ocean. Talyen’s plan had us landing at nightfall in hopes that we could have a better chance at avoiding detection. Hours passed, giving me time to relax and get better acquainted with some of the crew. While we waited, one of the commandos gave me lessons on how to fire a pistol straight.

  When evening came, I watched the sun make its slow descent over the water, the sky sucking the light down across the horizon like it was desperately trying not to drown in the ocean. A chill hit me as the Liliana stopped its hovering in place and sped toward land. Soon we would arrive at the Wyranth capital. I would have wrapped my father’s cape around me, but this evening I wore something far more ridiculous than his ensemble.

  Thanks to the airship attack, we had procured a dozen Wyranth soldier uniforms. Talyen had them collected and handed these out to the rescue team. “Their attacking us was a gift. This way we can sneak into the capital without drawing suspicion,” she said.

  My problem was that my physique was a good deal smaller than the average Wyranth soldier. The uniform hung loosely on my lithe frame. The crew folded in and pinned the pants and cuffs of my sleeves so they wouldn’t drag. The helmet being made of metal, left nothing they could do about the way it slipped off my head. It fell over my eyes several times.

  I pushed the helmet back for the umpteenth time as Talyen came out onto the deck to rally the rescue team. “Pilot says we’ll be reaching the foothills outside of the Wyranth capital in less than an hour. We need to be ready. Everyone in uniform?”

  “Aye, sir!” we all shouted.

  “You all have your Wyranth weapons?”

  “Aye, sir!” we repeated.

  “For steam and country!” she bellowed.

  “For steam and country!” we all returned the call.

  “Good. Keep vigilant. We’ll need to be careful and quiet once we land. The turbine noise itself might cause a stir, so she’s going to do a full land, stop, and we’ll wait to ensure there’s no scouts down below. You have the next hour to yourselves. Make sure you’re ready,” Talyen said. She turned and headed back into the cabin.

  The other members of the team talked amongst themselves, leaving me standing alone by the starboard railing. Though I’d proven myself to them in our last battle, I still didn’t fit in as part of the crew. There hadn’t been time to ensure I’d fully integrated. Even if I did, with my name being von Monocle, many of them looked at me with some kind of awe rather than as a peer.

  Someone approached me. I couldn’t quite make out the person’s features in the dark. The airship ran without any lights, another precaution to avoid detection. The person stopped by me and leaned against the rail. “Miss von Monocle.” The voice was Marina’s.

  “I told you to call me Zaira,” I said, shifting to give her a little more space.

  “And I told you, I should be calling you Baron or Baroness if anything. The Liliana’s yours. At least until we get your father back. Then… is there a word for a Baron’s heir? Baronheir?”

  “Baronette?” I smirked.

  “Baronette. I like that. Once we have your father back, that’s what I’ll get the crew to call you,” Marina said with a twinkle in her eye.

  I laughed at her teasing.
“I’d still rather be called Zaira,” I said.”

  The moon shone upon her and reflected upon the helmet she had secured under her arm. She wore a Wyranth uniform just as I did. I hadn’t seen her in the rescue crew before. It made sense that Marina was one of the commandos, but Talyen hadn’t called her name on the rolls for this mission either. “You’re coming with us?

  “I volunteered for this mission, late addition,” Marina said.

  “It’ll be good to have some friendly company,” I said, turning back to the rail of the ship to stare out over the side. The ship flew over a rocky area, flowing hills that steadily increased in size. The Wyranth capital lay at the base of a mountain, I remembered from my school maps. With the coast behind us, we had to be getting close.

  “That it will, Baronette. I look forward to seeing you in action,” Marina said, and then turned to talk to some of the other crewmen.

  I became nervous during the rest of the hour it took to get into the foothills near the Wryanth capital. The wait was tedious, and I spiraled into my own fears. Despite trying to think about anything else, I couldn’t get them out of my head. What if Talyen was right? What if the mission failed because I couldn’t handle the task? I had never embarked upon something as important as this. I imagined my father shackled in some dank cell somewhere. What if someone asked for my credentials when we entered the city? I couldn’t freeze. I had to be convincing as one of the Wyranth. Could I act with the authority and swagger Talyen had?

  There was only one way to find out. I took a deep breath as we reached our destination, peering off toward the lights of the Wyranth capital. We kept quite a distance from the city itself. Talyen wouldn’t set down too close and risk being discovered. I grabbed my soldier’s pack and slung it over my back.

  The Liliana descended, jolting as she landed on the ground below. The rescue team, about a dozen of us, lined up, and we made our way into the cabin, down the stairs to the cargo hatch, which was open for us when we arrived. The rest of the crew watched, wishing us luck in whispers as we left the ship.

  Harkerpal stopped me to give me a hug. “Bring him back safely,” he said. “I know you can. I know you will.”

  “Thanks, Harkerpal,” I said, hugging him in return. I fell back into line as Talyen ushered us down the ramp and out of the airship.

  Though I’d only been back on the Liliana a couple of days, it felt strange to leave her. The airship had an air of home to it that it didn’t have the first time I’d been aboard. When our team had made it several paces from the vessel, I glanced back at the big wooden planks, remembering how I first felt, believing that a giant wall stood before me. How little I knew then. How little I still knew. But I learned. That was the important thing.

  Even though I may not have had the training, this crew had prepared me as much for this mission as possible during the time we had. I had to get experience by doing, head first into the deep waters. How else was I going to live up to the famous Baron von Monocle name? Or Baronette, as it may be.

  We all gathered at a point several yards from the ship. The ramp was raised, leaving the Liliana behind us. We couldn’t turn back now.

  Something shuffled in my pack, causing me to jump. My heart raced. What was it?

  I slipped the pack off my shoulder to take a look, leaning to one side. I saw a little snout. Oh, no. It couldn’t be.

  The snout squeaked at me. Toby had stowed away inside.

  Talyen buzzed over to me almost immediately, anger on her face. “You thought it’d be a good idea to bring that rodent along with us? What are you crazy?”

  “Talyen, I—”

  She didn’t let me get a word in edgewise. Her tone was scathing, and rightfully so. “You let it out the pack right now. It can go live in the foothills here. We are not bringing that into the city, and it’s too late to put it back on the ship if you wanted that thing to be your pet.”

  “He won’t get in the way, I promise. I’m not abandoning him,” I said. I couldn’t lose Toby again. Even if he had stupidly come into my pack, she couldn’t make me do it. I bit my lip, not wanting to fight with her in front of the rest of the crew.

  Talyen eyed me, appraising. I could feel the wheels turning in her head, coming to a decision. “Don’t you remember our discussion, Zaira?”

  I did. She told me I would have to follow her every order, and I agreed. “I do, but this I have to stand my ground on.”

  The others remained quiet, watching us. Not a word was said, and that silence loomed over us both. Talyen needed to show her leadership on one hand, and she had real concerns about the ferret. I could keep him quiet though. He wouldn’t be a nuisance. Toby was in tune with me in ways that she didn’t understand, couldn’t understand. I likewise would die before I would abandon Toby again. I already had made that mistake once.

  “Fine, come on then,” Talyen said, acting as if it were only a trifle to her, spinning as she trudged up the hill in front of us. Though it was dark, I could see a little bit of the terrain. It was grassy, with a few bushes and rocks here and there, and sparse trees. It offered nowhere to hide. Descending during nightfall had been imperative.

  The Wyranth capital seemed brighter from where we stood than when we had looked down on it from the airship. It illuminated the night sky like a halo, though I couldn’t actually see the city from my vantage point. At least a couple of hills jutted upward, in the way. This walk would be long and hard.

  Our march went mostly in silence, with a couple of the scouts listening for any sign of trouble nearby. Talyen took the lead. Marina fell in beside me, smiling when I caught her eye.

  Toby stayed quiet as I expected, as if he understood the gravity of the situation. He stopped moving around in my pack as well. Perhaps he’d gone to sleep. The lazy mongrel. He was my lazy mongrel, though. I loved him. That thought brought warmth to me through the chilled evening.

  It felt like hours, trudging through the foothills. My feet fast became sore in the ill-fitting Wyranth boots. The weight of my pack took a toll on my back. What I carried doubled the others because I was carrying the sleeping Toby. Fortunately, I’d been used to carrying heavy things from my farm work.

  Talyen looped around and linked arms with me, forcing me to quicken my pace. “Come on Zaira, you’re lagging behind,” she said in a whisper. “You wanted this. You’ve got to fight for it like you did your pesky pet.”

  Like a lot of what Talyen said to me, I could have taken it as an insult. But her intent was to push me, to make me stronger. I wouldn’t let her down again. I wouldn’t let my father down either.

  We’d reached the most difficult place Talyen could have chosen to pull me along. Our path steepened as we traversed the tallest hill we’d crossed yet. The ground was rough, rocks slipping beneath my boots with only a few grassy spots to regain traction. I had to focus on my feet and slipped more than once on the terrain.

  Talyen moved like clockwork gears. Her every step fit perfectly into the grooves of the hill. She never stumbled. Every time I did, she lifted me back to my feet. The others moved along without a problem, used to this kind of operation.

  With Talyen’s help, she and I reached the top of the hill the before the others. It dawned on me another reason Talyen had grabbed me. Less because I was lagging behind too far, but more because I needed to show leadership. Even with her bitter comments, she helped me more than I realized the whole time I’d been with her. Everything she did had a purpose.

  When we reached the peak, I could finally see the Wyranth city down below. Lights splattered across the basin, but the city itself had no grand beacon like our Crystal Spire. A river ran through the center of the city, and the city stretched back to the bottom of a mountain behind it, the culmination of these foothills. A tall wall jutted upward into spiked points. It would be incredibly difficult for an army to invade here.

  The main entrance to the city was to the east, a road protruding in that direction. It may have been my imagination, but even with the
grandeur of the city, nearly twice the size as Rislandia City, it seemed darker. Even Loveridge at night had more of an illuminated feel. That had to be my imagination though. I could see the glows from the city even back from the airship.

  “Everyone, come in close,” Talyen commanded, keeping her voice low.

  All of us formed a semi-circle around her, awaiting her words. I counted everyone who’d been on the march with us. Only nine, plus Talyen and I. There should have been one more. I scanned the faces to see who was missing, but I couldn’t figure out who it was before Talyen forced my attention to her.

  Talyen pointed toward the city. “There’s another entrance this side of the foothills, less heavily guarded. Our scouts found it years ago. It’s used for patrols. The main gate will be inaccessible at this time of night. We should be able to slip through as Wyranth soldiers unnoticed. I have stolen papers validating orders. These patrols often go out for two or three days at a time and return at odd hours. It should work fine.”

  She had done a lot more preparation than I had anticipated. No wonder she’d retired to her quarters so often during the final leg of our journey. I would have asked where she obtained all that information, but with her rank and status, she had access to several informants and spies I likely had no idea existed.

  Talyen continued. “Once inside, we’ll need to find an alley, change into civilian clothing and split into smaller groups. We don’t want to stand out once in the city. Keep the uniforms. You may want them as a fall back, or if we can get into the prison. It’ll come in handy. Any questions?”

  When she stopped, I resumed my count of everyone present. I scanned the rest of the group and realized who had fallen behind. “I do,” I said. “Where’s Marina?”

  Everyone on the rescue team whispered amongst themselves in concern. No one seemed to recall when Marina had disappeared. When I last had seen her, she was with me, at the back of the pack. That was when Talyen grabbed me and thrust me to the front.

  “I think she fell behind,” I said. “She brought up the rear with me early on.”