Agatha H. And the Clockwork Princess (41 page)

Suddenly the power cut off. Released from its grasp, she limply slumped forward. Throughout the apparatus, smoke poured from vents. Busbars had melted and fuses had overloaded.

The three Geisters opened their eyes and stared at the motionless girl before them. Shrdlu sighed. “I think we have killed another one.”

“NO!” Vrin violently shook her head in denial. “No! I was so sure! I
am
sure!
This was the girl!
” She looked at Agatha. “Have I erred? Can it be the machine
itself
that is flawed?”

A small moan came from the seated figure. All of the Geisters started in surprise. “She’s alive!” Vrin smacked the other two into action. “Get her out of there!”

Quickly, the restraints holding Agatha were removed. But even when released, she remained limp and made no voluntary motion. Suddenly she gasped and her eyes flew open to stare blankly at the three women leaning in towards her. “Hfgm,” she burbled.

Eotain looked distraught. “Well, at least she’s alive. Surely that counts for
something—”

“Silence!” Vrin snapped. She grabbed Agatha’s jaw and pulled her face towards her own. “Can you understand me?” She spoke in the Geisterdamen’s own language.

Agatha looked at her owlishly. “Gominal,” she whispered. Vrin dropped her hand, turned away and sighed.

Shurdlu shrugged. “Another vegetable.”

Eotain looked unsure. Agatha was staring at the three now and feebly thrashing about in her seat. “I don’t know…” Eotain said slowly. “This one seems… different.”

Vrin’s head snapped up. Cold fury was reflected on her face. “No. She is gone.” Agatha’s hand twitched towards her, and clasped her sleeve. With a casual back hand, Vrin cracked Agatha across the face, spilling her out of the machine. “She is
useless
to us.”

Without another thought, she turned away, her mind already planning ahead. “Come,” she said to the others. “We must leave this place quickly.”

Shurdlu looked troubled. “You will leave The Lady’s devices in the hands of those children?”

“For the moment, we must. But we
will
be back. And then they will—”

“You
did
it!” This declaration stopped all three of the women dead. They whirled in surprise to find Agatha standing tall.

But… they all hesitated. It… wasn’t Agatha. The body language was all wrong. The girl before them looked directly at them and they involuntarily stepped back. A fire burned in her eyes that sent a shock of recognition through Vrin.

Agatha’s face was set in a delighted grin as she jerkily examined her arms. “You did it,” she repeated in delight. “I can’t believe it! You actually found her!” The Lady Lucrezia twirled in place and hugged herself in glee. “I’m back!”

CHAPTER 9

A secret shared is a secret known to the Baron

—Folk Wisdom

I
n a dark alley near the center of Balan’s Gap, a sewer cover lifted itself slightly. A guttural voice whispered, “Iz clear.” Without a sound, the cover was lifted all the way up and gently set to the side. Quickly, Dimo, Maxim and Ognian flowed upwards and assumed positions equidistant from each other. The town was quiet. The mist had continued to roll down from the surrounding mountains, blanketing the streets. Most of the buildings were dark, with only the occasional light. The streets were empty.

After a minute, Dimo quietly whispered. “Iz goot.”

A hand reached up from the sewer, clutching a stiff and unresponsive figure. Dimo grabbed it and examined it worriedly. It was Krosp. His limbs were stiff, his face set in a grimace of pain. He was filthy, and soaking wet. “Iz he any better?”

Lars levered himself up out of the manhole. “No.”

Maxim scratched his chin. “I dun underschtand vy he iz like dis. He hef no problem mit goingk
into
der sewer.”

Lars looked at the Jäger and shrugged. “I don’t think he really understood what a sewer
was.”

The purple Jaeger chuckled. “Ho! Vell Hy guess he know
now
! ’Specially ven he fall in!”

Lars nodded. “Yes, he seemed fine until then.”

Maxim corrected him. “No, he vas fine ’til hyu said dot he vould need a bath.”

Dimo interrupted them both. “No, it vos ven hyu said dot he could giff
himself
a bath.”

Maxim grinned. “Oh, jah! Dot vas it! Becawze he iz a kitty!”

At this, all four of them reevaluated the sodden, stinking mass Dimo held in one hand, imaginations running furiously. Krosp suddenly showed signs of life. One crazed eye rolled towards Dimo. “Kill me,” Krosp whispered.

“I can’t say I blame him,” Lars conceded.

Dimo nodded. “True enough, but ve needs him.” With that he strode over to a water barrel and plunged Krosp in fully and agitated his hand thoroughly. In less than a minute, a bedraggled Krosp clawed his way out of the barrel. He shook himself and glared at the others. “Never speak of this again,” he hissed. “Or you will all die.”

During this, Maxim and Ognian had vanished. They reappeared now from opposite ends of the alley. Both looked troubled. “Zumting is wrong,” Maxim stated flatly.

Oggie agreed. “Jah. De streets iz deserted.”

Dimo looked at Lars. “Iz dot normal dese days?”

Lars shook his head. “Of course not. This is a major caravan town. The Night Market is famous for its late night specials, and the Red Quarter
never
closes. We were supposed to come up right between them, so we could blend in with the crowds.”

The group looked around. There certainly were no crowds now. Dimo scowled. “We moof qvick den.”

Lars looked at a set of enameled street signs riveted onto the walls at the nearest corner. He nodded. “The castle should be this way.”

Oggie grinned. “Hah. Ve valk in, ve valk out. Vill be piece of piroshky!”

It wasn’t, of course. The castle sat tall and forbidding in its crater. For the first ten decameters, the sheer stone walls were bereft of windows, decorations, or indeed, handy projections of any kind. The massive drawbridge was up. But the final straw was the seething, crackling lacework of energy that surrounded the base of the structure.

Ognian slumped against the nearest railing. “Hy’m chust gunna shot op now,” he muttered.

Krosp patted his arm. “Thanks.”

“A lightning moat,” Lars marveled. “I’ve never really seen one.”

Maxim nodded sagely. “Yah. Iz hard to gets de insurance.”

Suddenly a voice from behind caused them all to start. “About time you boys got here.”

Sitting in an embrasure was Zeetha. She continued. “Krosp, I expected. The Jaegers are…” she looked at them and nodded. “—Not much of a surprise. But you, Lars—” Here her grin widened. “What are
you
doing here?”

Lars looked away. “Why? Well she is a member of the show. I…we… we just couldn’t leave her.”

Zeetha looked at him fondly. “I see.” She leapt down beside them. “Well I guess there isn’t much danger—” She clapped Lars on the back. “Not if you’re here, hm?”

Then she frowned. The muscles under her hand were tight with tension. When Lars turned towards her, she was forcibly struck by the rigidly controlled fear she saw in his eyes. “Zeetha—” Lars said quietly, “I have
never
felt a town as dangerous as this. Something is very, very wrong here. Do you know
anything?
” He gestured at the empty streets. “What is going on here?”

Zeetha’s grin vanished. “Prince Aaronev is dead. A lab accident, they say, though there’s a general feeling that there must be more to it. The town is officially in mourning. No one is allowed on the streets after dark. It’s expected that the Prince’s son, Tarvek, will be the new Prince, once the Baron’s Questor is satisfied.”

Lars looked intrigued. “A Questor? Here?”

Krosp nodded. “Balan’s Gap is an important trade city because of the pass. Plus, The House of Sturmvarous is a major player amongst the Fifty Families
⁵³
. The Baron has to be able to demonstrate that the succession here is legal and legitimate.”

Zeetha nodded. “A messenger has already been sent off to the Baron. Because of the city’s status, the Questor is expected to be here in time for the funeral. That should be in about three days. The bureaucracy is in a panic.” She indicated a large, ornate building which was doubly noticeable because most of its lights were still burning and if the evidence of its chimneys was to be believed, every fireplace in the building was going full blast. “Apparently there’re a lot of files that need to be ‘updated.’”

She continued with a grin. “The city is also
supposed
to be sealed. No one in, no one out, until the funeral. That’s the local tradition whenever one of the Royal Family dies.”

Dimo considered this. “Vot do dey say about Miz Agatha?”

At this Zeetha got serious. “Nothing.” Dimo started to shrug, but Zeetha interrupted him. “No, you don’t understand. Everyone is talking about everything because they’re worried. I can tell you a whole lot of gossip about the Royal Family. The guards, the servants, who’s looking after the royal horses—But about a young actress who was visiting the Royal Family when the Prince died? Nothing. Not a word. Not a
whisper
. It’s as if she were never there at all.”

Lucrezia’s movements were already more sure and graceful. Shurdlu and Eotain knelt before her, weeping tears of joy.

“Oh, you dear girls,” Lucrezia cooed. “You did it! I’m ever so pleased with you!”

This only sent the two into new paroxysms of joyful weeping. Lucrezia knelt next to them and gathered them within her arms.

“Oh Lady,” whispered Shurdlu. “To have you back at last…”

Eotain continued. “We have worked so hard.”

Lucrezia hugged them tighter in delight. “Shhh,” she whispered. “Yes, I know. And I missed you as well.” She released them. “Now pull yourselves together. I need you to be strong for me.”

She gracefully rose to her feet. Eotain reverently offered her Agatha’s glasses. Lucrezia looked at them blankly for a moment and then gingerly, with several attempts, slipped the loops over her ears. She looked around the room with a renewed interest, and paused as she saw Vrin huddled separately on the floor. She stepped over towards the prone woman.

“And you, Vrin, are you happy?”

“Of course, my Lady.” Vrin raised her face from the floor, but seemed incapable of raising her eyes above Lucrezia’s waist. Lucrezia realized that the woman was terrified. Interesting. She began to notice other things.

“Why is your hair cut?” Traditionally, the Geisterdamen never cut their hair.

“It… it is a mark of my shame, Lady.” When Lucrezia said nothing, she continued. “When first you sent us here, your gateway, and most of your device plans were destroyed. I… none of us could rebuild it. Even I, your High Priestess had not the skills.”

Lucrezia nodded slowly. This explained much
⁵⁴
. Vrin continued. “We were cut off from you, and I couldn’t even punish the…saboteurs.”

This word caused Lucrezia to sharply draw in her breath. Vrin finally dared to look Lucrezia in the face. “But I remembered the name of Prince Aaronev. With his help, I kept our sisters safe. We rebuilt your machine—” Here she broke down and wept. Years of tightly held frustration and fear were finally allowed release, in this, her moment of triumph. “And I found the child! Everything worked! You are here and I can finally—
finally
beg your forgiveness!”

Lucrezia’s eyes had gone cold. “Surely I sent adequate guards. Surely you knew how to utilize them. Who destroyed my gate?”

This was the moment Vrin had feared for years. “Oh Lady,” she whispered, “It was one of us.”

Lucrezia froze. “One of you?”

Vrin huddled prostate upon the floor. “Yes Lady,” she whispered, “The Lore Mistress, Milvistle. She…” Vrin swallowed, “She doubted your divinity.”

Fury filled Lucrezia’s face. “Is she dead?”

Vrin nodded frantically. “Yes, Mistress! But…”

Lucrezia grabbed Vrin’s hair and yanked her upright. “
But—?”

“But there are signs that she did not act alone!”

“Traitors?” Lucrezia screamed. “
Heretics?!
Amongst
my
priestesses? How
dare
they?”

She released Vrin and stood there, a look of calculating rage upon her face. If Geisterdamen had arrived here ready to rebel, there must be rebels plotting back in The Silver City. Right below her very nose…

This line of thought was cut off by the trembling woman at her feet. “There are others about whom I have doubts, my Lady.”

That caught Lucrezia’s attention. An opportunity to work off some of the betrayal and indignation she felt would be quite welcome indeed. “Who? Tell me!”

A smooth voice, speaking in perfect Geisterese, cut Vrin off before she could speak. “I trust
I
am not on that list, Lady Vrin.”

All four women whirled to see Tarvek Sturmvarous standing before them. Before they could react, he smoothly dropped to one knee and bowed in supplication. “Welcome back, My Lady.” He raised his head and smiled. “Allow me to be the first of many to offer you my service.”

Vrin opened her mouth angrily, but was stopped by Lucrezia gliding forward, her face a picture of joyful amazement. “Wilhelm?” She reached Tarvek and he rose to face her, surprise, and a touch of confusion in his eyes. Lucrezia studied his face and reaching out, sensuously slid her hands down his arms. Tarvek shivered.

“I can’t believe it,” Lucrezia breathed. “Why you’re—” her tongue delicately licked at a corner of her upper lip—“You’re looking better than ever!”

The light dawned. Tarvek cleared his throat. “Ah. Forgive me, my Lady. You have confused me with my late
father
, Aaronev Wilhelm Sturmvarous.” He stepped back and made a slight bow. “I am Aaronev
Tarvek
Sturmvarous, his son.”

This news caught Lucrezia by surprise. “Dead?” she whispered. “Faithful Wilhelm is dead?” She looked back up at Tarvek. “When?”

Tarvek sighed. “Just last night, I’m afraid. Like myself, he never faltered in his devotion to you, my Lady. But I’m afraid that actually finding your daughter precipitated a… crises of faith in my sister, Anevka. One that proved quite fatal to my father.”