A Clockwork Heart

by Liesel Schwarz

  Gently the Clockmaker eases the casing over the finely machined innards and with a deft twist of his screwdriver he tightens the little screws.

  The clockwork heart whirrs and shivers as it lies in his palm. At the center of his little miracle lies a tiny crumb of carmot, no bigger than a grain of sand. No more is needed to give the heart life.

  The Clockmaker smiles. “You will be special,” he murmurs. He lifts a key that hangs from a string around his neck and eases it into the heart. The clockwork heart bucks and starts ticking.

  The Clockmaker smiles again. “Yes, you will be special.”

  Then he lowers the heart into a wooden case that lies before him. The box is already half full with ticking hearts, each one nestled inside a little hollow lined with purple velvet.

  Satisfied, the Clockmaker turns back to this workbench. With infinite patience, he selects a new casing and one by one he selects cogs and springs and eases them into place.

  “Special,” he murmurs. And the clocks on the wall tick along in applause.

  CHAPTER 7

  Elle sat up in bed with a gasp. The sight of the strange woman and the roar of power that flooded through her had upset her more than she cared to admit. She had spent the night wrapped in Shadow nightmares, running through a labyrinth of dark passageways, with the terrible sound of clocks ticking surrounding her.

  It was still dark outside and she could just make out the soft clinking of people at work in the kitchen as the staff readied the house for the day.

  “What is it?” Marsh mumbled beside her.

  “Nothing. I think I just felt something shift. It’s probably nothing, but I had better make sure.”

  She slipped out of bed and walked over to a slim brass lever, which was set in the wall next to the mantelpiece. She pulled it and with the sound of carefully greased cogs and gears, a panel slid open to reveal hidden chamber behind the fireplace.

  She lit one of the thick candles that were propped into a series of sconces in the wall. The flickering light revealed the most eye-catching thing about the little room: the circular mosaic floor, set with lapis lazuli, jade, red jasper and onyx.

  Elle looked at the finely inlaid pattern of maidens and ancient symbols with mixed feelings. This was a Delphic circle, the type used by the Oracles to divine and speak. Marsh had built it for her as a gift, so she could attend to her duties as the Oracle within the comfort of their home. But, despite her best efforts to make the best of things, these duties were something she was still not entirely happy about.

  “Anything?” he said from the other room.

  “Not yet. But I won’t be a minute,” she said with a little smile as the panel slid shut.

  There was no fireplace in this room and the floor beneath her bare feet felt cold.

  She took a deep breath to ready herself before stepping onto the mosaic. This circle was sacred; it was a portal—a place where one could access the barrier that held the two realms of Shadow and Light apart. The multitude of layers that made up the universe lay before her.

  She closed her eyes and focused, reaching into the metaphysical space that opened up before her to reveal the great divide. It unfurled in sheets of golden, gossamer light. The realms of Light and Shadow lay like mirror images of one another: Light and Dark; Yin and Yang; Alpha and Omega. The divide had been placed there by the Council of Warlocks in an attempt to restore harmony to the worlds after the terrible wars that became known as the Dark Ages had ended. On the one side lay the world of man. It was a place of progress, enlightenment and science: the modern world. On the other, was the ancient magical side where creatures spoken of in myth and folklore dwelled forevermore.

  And, like the spine that holds the many pages of a book together, she—Eleanor Marsh, née Chance—was the spine, the binding force that held everything together.

  Gently she reached out to touch the sheets of energy on either side of her. Right for Light, left for Shadow.

  Allowing her mind to run along the divide was not unlike running one’s hands along sheets of finely woven silk. It had been only half a year since she had ascended to this strange place of power, and now she did it with practiced ease, all the while keeping an eye out for any knots or snags that might cause trouble for those who dwelled on either side of the barrier. All seemed smooth and peaceful. There certainly was no sign of any clocks or clockmakers. .

  Elle considered stepping across into the Shadow, to make sure that nothing bad was lurking close, but decided against it. She always seemed run into inconvenient things when she did that. Her knowledge of creatures of the Shadow was less than perfect, so it was always a bit of a risk. And she did not have time for taking risks this morning. She had work to do.

  Carefully, she shifted out from between the worlds and opened her eyes. All was well with the barrier, and the Shadow would have to wait until later.

  “Everything all right?” Marsh asked as she stepped out of the secret chamber and bundled herself back into the warmth of the bed.

  “All is well,” she said, snuggling up against him.

  “Good grief, your feet are like icicles.” He flinched, but kissed her again, running his hands over her shoulders, willing her to sink into the covers for a little while longer.

  “I had such a strange dream this morning that I actually thought something was amiss in the Shadow, but it’s nothing.”

  “Then stay,” he said.

  Elle moved out of his embrace and sat up. “There will be plenty of time for that later, oh amorous husband of mine. I have to get to the airfield before they ship the Phoenix out.”

  He sighed. “Yes, I know. Flying always first.”

  She slipped out of bed and walked across to the darkened doorframe that led to Elle’s pride and joy: their newly installed, state-of-the-art, spark-powered en-suite bathroom. It was a miracle of copper pipes and brass taps over inlaid marble designed to create maximum comfort and pleasure. The bathroom even had a built-in lavatory and an imported Huber’s Gegenstrom rain bath unit that blasted out a cascade of heated water to bathe under.

  Much to their amusement, Mrs. Hinges called the shower apparatus the work of Beelzebub. She also believed that dousing oneself with hot and cold water was a practice that was extremely Scottish.

  “Stay with me,” he said. “Forget about the new ship. We can take the day and do something fun,” Marsh said from where he was leaning against the doorframe.

  “I can’t. I promised Ducky I would oversee the estimates for the repairs. The engineers are coming out specially to see the Phoenix. You know I need to be there.” She turned on the taps of the Huber.

  He looked disappointed and Elle felt her resolve falter. Marsh had sacrificed so much to marry her and suddenly the thought of abandoning him made her feel churlish.

  She steeled herself and shrugged off the thought. Marsh could be very persuasive when he put his mind to it and if she gave in now, today would become tomorrow and the next and before she knew it, flying would be something of the past. And as much as she adored her husband, Elle needed to fly more than anything in the world. Her passion for taking to the air was so intrinsically part of her that to prevent her from flying would be like preventing her from breathing.

  Besides, she thought with just that tiny bit of resentment that never quite seemed to go away, she had to make sacrifices too. She certainly did not volunteer for the cursed position of Oracle.

  Marsh sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Very well then, you win. But get Neville to collect you from the airfield in the motor. I don’t want you out in the dark hours of the morning all by yourself. It’s not safe.”

  Elle sighed from behind the lacquered screen where she was busy slipping out of her nightdress. “Oh for goodness’ sake, Hugh. When are you going to stop acting like I’m some delicate flower? I am perfectly capable of looking after myself.”

  His gaze darkened. “You are my wife. And you are the Oracle. And that makes you vulnerable to all manner of
threats. I will never stop worrying about you, as long as I live.”

  “But don’t you see? Those are exactly the reasons why I must carry on as before. If I allow myself to become a shrinking violet, then they will have won. And I absolutely refuse to do that. Ever,” she said as she tied the belt of her silk bathing kimono and tied her hair up.

  The room was filling up with delicious billows of steam from the shower water. She stepped out from behind the screen and closed the tap. Her ablutions would have to wait until after this discussion. She did not like to think about the Alchemists and their vortex of evil or the fact that she had been chained to a wall in that dark dungeon in Constantinople just months before. She still woke up in a cold sweat some nights, dreaming about it.

  Marsh pressed his lips together and she could see the little muscles in his cheek flicker as he clenched his teeth. This was an argument that neither of them ever seemed to win, because neither of them was entirely wrong about the matter.

  And she hated to admit it, but had Hugh and her father not arrived in that underground amphitheater when they did she probably would have died there.

  She turned away from the shower put her arms around her husband. “I will be careful. I promise.”

  “You know as well as I do that they are still out there, Elle,” he said in a low voice.

  Elle sighed again. Her husband had the most annoying habit of being completely and utterly right at the most inconvenient points in her argument. “We haven’t heard a word from the Council since you saw them in Venice. And that was months ago. They have no reason to come after us as long as we keep our side of the bargain.”

  He put his arms around her and kissed her hair, but she could feel the tension in his body. “I do not like it. And I definitely do not trust the silence. We cannot let our guard down Elle, not for a single moment.”

  “Good morning, Adele,” Elle said as she sat down opposite Marsh at the table in the morning room.

  At the sight of Elle, Adele shucked up her shoulders and turned away in displeasure.

  Elle grimaced. It was going to take a lot of apologizing before she was restored to the good graces of the fairy, it seemed.

  Edie appeared, carrying a small tray with a telegram, which she set down on the table.

  “Thank you, Edie,” Elle said.

  The maid gave Adele a wary look and the fairy hissed at her.

  Edie retreated as fast as decorum allowed.

  “So it’s war on all fronts then,” Elle said to the fairy as she opened the telegram. Her eyes flickered over the message and in an instance, her face opened up with excitement. “I have a telegram from Mr. De Beer. I have a new charter. To Singapore!”

  Marsh folded the paper up carefully and set it down on the table.

  The headline read BATTERSEA ELECTROMANCERS HALT SPARK PRODUCTION. SHORTAGES FEARED.

  “I think I shall take the Iron Phoenix,” she said.

  “Are you sure that’s wise? What about the urgent repairs that could not wait this morning?” There was a dangerous edge to his voice.

  “Oh, I’m sure we can make do. Would you like to come along? I’m sure we could do with an extra crew member.”

  “I thought this was something you had to do on your own,” he said stiffly.

  “And I thought you were bored and worried waiting for me while I am away.”

  His face tightened. “I wouldnt want to smother you or anything.”

  “Oh, Marsh. When did you turn into such a boring old fopdoodle?” she said.

  “How dare you call me that!”

  Adele fluttered off the table and settled herself on the mantelpiece. She crossed her arms for the spectacle that was sure to come.

  “Fopdoodle.” Elle said, and this time her voice held its own dangerous edge. “You promised that you and I were going to have a life that soared high up in the sky. Instead, you lurk in your study by day and when you emerge, it’s only to wreck the house with one of your insane inventions.”

  Marsh grew very still. He clutched the edge of the tablecloth in his fist in an effort to control his temper.

  “Is that what you really think?” he said in measured tones.

  “Yes, it is. You have changed, Hugh. You are not the man I married.”

  “I have only changed into the man you wanted me to be, my dear,” he said bitterly.

  “Have you now? Perhaps the man I thought you were was nothing but a lie. Tell me, have you been lying to me?” She laid down the challenge between them.

  “I am sorry that life with me is such a disappointment for you,” he said.

  “And I am sorry you did not keep your end of the bargain. You said that we would be able to go on as before. You promised, Hugh.”

  His face went very still. “Well, forgive me for being the only one to take this marriage seriously,” he said smoothly. “Life cannot be all frippery and games, you know. One moment, it’s ‘Oh Hugh, I have to do this by myself.’ The next I am invited to come along.”

  “Life is also not one long stint of misery either,” she shot back.

  “You forget, my dear, that I am the one who has made the sacrifice here. Hundreds of years of my life, gone. All so I can be with you and then you are never here.”

  “And I haven’t made sacrifices? This, my duties as the Oracle; it’s everything I chose not to become in life, yet here I am.” She waved her arm in a gesture that encompassed the room, her life. “You lied to me in Venice to get what you wanted. And now you have broken your promises to me again.”

  “Stop it!” He held up his hand. “Just stop it. I cannot bear any more of this fighting, Elle.”

  Elle bit her lip, her retort unsaid.

  He ran his hand through his hair with measured exasperation. “Do I really make you that unhappy? Are you so smothered that you feel the need to run away at every opportunity that presents itself? Is this what marriage has done to you? Tell me, Eleanor, I need to know,” he said.

  She shook her head. “Please understand,” she whispered.

  “No, my dear, I think you are the one who needs to understand. There is a vast difference in our ages. I have lived more than one lifetime because time for me moved at a pace that ordinary folk would not be able to comprehend. I accept that. I have made allowances for that. But you need to meet me halfway. I cannot maintain this marriage on my own.”

  She looked away, hands folded in her lap.

  “You need to decide where your priorities lie, Elle. Are you with me, or are we to be like all those other couples who live in separate worlds?” Marsh stood from the table and walked over to the door of the conservatory.

  She did not answer him.

  He stared at the plants, as if to draw strength from them before he spoke. “I must be clear on this. I am not happy about the way you acquired your new ship and I will not have my family’s name associated with gamblers and cheats. A woman’s place is beside her husband, wherever that may be. It is her duty and she must comply with that duty over and above all the passions that may drive her.”

  “But, Hugh, it doesn’t have to be that way. Why must I stop being my own person before I can be your wife?” she said.

  He stared at her for a long time before speaking. “I cannot make that decision for you, Elle. And if you cannot find it within yourself to accept things as they are, then you and I are heading for some serious difficulties in the years that are to come.”

  She swallowed. “Are you asking me to give up flying?”

  “Don’t oversimplify this. You know perfectly well that I am not asking you to do that,” he said.

  “What will you have me do then?” she said.

  The silence ticked along between them as they stared at one another from opposite sides of the breakfast room.

  “I–I think I need some time to think,” she said.

  “I agree. So do I.”

  He watched her, waiting for her to choose.

  Elle felt her throat constrict. So it would boil down t
o a choice between being happy or dutiful. Suddenly she felt overwhelmingly sad.

  “Then I shall go to Singapore and fulfill the charter,” she said slowly.

  She saw him stiffen slightly, but he stood very still, eyes trained on the lace-fine heads of angelica plants before him.

  “You are welcome to join me,” she said again.

  “No.” His answer was so final that it left no room for compromise. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some correspondence to attend to,” he said.

  She swallowed down the lump in her throat that was about to cut off her air.

  “Will you be here when I get back?” she said.

  He frowned. “Of course I will. I am your husband. I will always be here for you.” Then he picked up his newspaper and walked from the room.

  Fairies have long memories. We are a people slow to forget when we are wronged, but we are not without compassion.

  The girl sat down at the table and covered her face with her hands. She sat like that for a very long time, not moving.

  I fluttered down from my hiding place to sit next to her. I could not help her with this problem, but I could show solidarity. And so I did.

  “I’m sorry I yelled at you for making a mess,” she said to me.

  I nodded.

  “I’m making a right mess of things myself, aren’t I?” she said.

  I nodded again. There was little I could say to deny it.

  “Will you stay here and look after him while I’m gone?”

  Then, in a gesture that surprised even me, I rose and embraced her.

  When we embraced, the fizz of my small absinthe magic met with the roar of the force that was the Oracle. She did not realize this, but I was but a mere trifle compared to her shining light. But in a tiny way, as we touched, I hoped that she was comforted.

  CHAPTER 8

  Clothilde shrugged her shoulders to loosen the stiffness that was building between them. She had been meditating on the roof of the monastery in the soft drizzle for most of the night. She spent the time in a deep trance, absorbing tiny fragments of energy off everything around her. She dared not seek to reach into the void for nourishment now. The encounter at the opera house had been too close for comfort. It has all started so innocently. She was an elemental born of air and water—always drawn to music—much like the sirens and kelpies of the sea and so she had decided to treat herself to a performance. While she was listening, the urge to feed from the barrier had come upon her. She had started feeding in public when she realized that Light dwellers were completely oblivious to her appetites. The fact that there was someone present who could tell what she was doing was utterly frightening. She knew nothing of the young woman who followed her, except that she was extremely powerful. Revealing herself had been a silly mistake to make, one that the Consortium would be deeply displeased to hear about. She would have to be careful from now on.