Clockwork Twist : Trick (28 page)

“We'll take it,” Jonas said to Aden after he'd rubbed at his e
yes and put his goggles back on.

“What?” Aden asked.

“The deal you offered me before,” Twist answered. “You will set up shows for Myra to perform all over the world and send your mag—“  Twist stopped himself quickly. “Your Rooks, I mean, along to protect us.  You'll take ten percent of the proceeds from ticket sales and leave the rest for us.”  Myra's copper face broke into a bright smile at the idea.

“In return,” Jonas said, smiling at Aden blindly, “you'll get all the benefit of showing Myra to the world.  If anyone knows anything about any other clockwork people, they will surely show themselves once they get a look at her.  You'll get to keep an eye on us, and we can all just try to get along.”

Aden frowned thoughtfully. “Did you two just manage to have a conversation without actually talking?”  Myra looked to Jonas and Twist in surprise.

“What?” Jonas asked, putting on a confused look.

“That sounds crazy” Twist answered, careful not to actually lie.

“Who could do something like that?” Jonas asked as well.

“Certainly not us,” Twist added.

“Right,” Aden said with a sigh. “Well then, stop finishing each-other's thoughts.  It's rather
disturbing.”

“Whatever,” Twist and Jonas said in perfect unison.  Apparently as surprised as Aden, Jonas struggled to fight his own laughter.  Twist was better at it, but had to focus.  Myra began to grin as well, watching the both of them as if they might do another trick.

“I'm going to want a contract signed by both of you,” Aden said, staring at them very suspiciously. “And I'll want your word that you will keep to it,” he added to Twist.

“You don't want my word?” Jonas asked.

“He's the trustworthy one,” Aden said to Jonas. “Not you.”

“True enough,” Jonas said with a sigh.

“It will also take at least a week to plan the first show,” Aden continued. “I assume you want to start out as soon as possible.”  Jonas and Twist both nodded. “Then stay here in London for the week, and give me an address where you can be found.  I'll contact you again once I have things worked out.”

“What if we get jumped in a back all
ey before we get that bodyguard?” Jonas asked.  Without even having to touch him, Twist could now guess his true reason for asking.  He wanted to know if Aden would have them watched while in London.

“All right, fine,” Aden said bitterly. “You don't have to give me the address.  I know where you're staying.  You're already under guard.”

“Lovely,” Jonas said darkly.

“A week,” Twist said to him, hoping Jonas could catch the subtext that it would only be a short time.  They wouldn't be under too much stress.

“We've got to learn a dead language or something,” Jonas said. “I'm going to get headaches if we keep having to … you know.”

“So you are talking without talking!” Myra said triumphantly.  Twist and Jonas both turned to her unhappily.

Jonas uttered a word that made no sense to Twist.  Aden seemed just as confused by it, but Myra's face darkened.  She responded with a cutting line of syllables in a haughty air and crossed her arms.

“See?  I can talk to her in random languages,” Jonas said to Twist, the hint of a mischievous smile playing on his lips. “What about Sanskrit?  Or Aramaic?”

“Learning something like that will give me a headache,” Twist muttered.

Aden shook his
head, watching them silently.  When Twist glanced back at him, the annoyance and bitter disappointment in the three of them was clear on Aden's face.  After everything Aden had done, and tried to do, Twist felt rather satisfied to see it.

Twist stood just outside the theater doors and looked out onto Berlin.  The German capital had been chosen for Myra's first show mostly because Aden was certain that there was no one left in England whom he hadn't checked for any connections to clockwork people.  Huge, silver, distinctly German airships prowled over the city in the early afternoon light, peppered by only a few of foreign design.  The city around the theater was tall, sharp, and very clean considering the density of the population.  After having seen London once again, Twist's eyes now saw even this advanced, Western city as something new and different.

He went back through the doors, into the dim silence of the empty lobby.  The theater staff wouldn't arrive for another hour, and the audience wouldn't begin to appear for another three.  For the moment Twist, Jonas, and Myra were the only people in the building.  The Rook escort—whom they still hadn't met yet—was supposed to arrive any moment now.  Twist walked through the shadowy lobby, barely able to even see the gilding or the lushly patterned carpet and wallpaper in the gloom, and passed into the main theater.

Rows of seats waited in wide, concentric arcs on the gently sloping floor, while the first balcony hung low over the farthest seats.  Box seats clung to the high walls on either side of the wide stage that filled the front space.  The long red curtains were pulled back in the dim, characterless house lights, revealing mismatched scenery panels and props that would be arranged by the staff once they came.  Jonas sat at the edge of the stage, his legs hanging over the empty orchestra pit, while Myra crouched down beside him.  Jonas's wax record player was sitting nearby, emitting a light song of strings and flutes.  Thanks to the acoustics of the theater, Twist heard the music and his friends' quiet voices long before he reached them.

“No, really,” Jonas was saying. “You just stand up on the board, and you can float along on the crest of the wave.  It's really fun.”

“But wouldn't you fall when the wave does?” Myra asked.

“Sure, but that's half the fun,” Jonas answered. “Honestly, I used to dive off the board on purpose when I first got started.  Waves might look scary from the beach, but they're soft when you move with them.”

“What about sharks?” Myra asked, her voice growing worried now.

“Yeah, well, there is that,” Jonas said with a sigh. “Really, the most dangerous thing about surfing is that you might be eaten.”

“That's horrible!” Myra said.

“No, it's exciting!” Jonas said. “Life's no fun if you're safe all the time.”

“Sometimes,” Twist said, stepping up onto the stage beside them, “I wonder why we even get along.”  The song that had been playing came to a soft close, and another began.

“Opposites attract,
” Jonas said back to him with a mock-alluring smile.

“That or I'm just as mad as you are,” Twist said flatly.

“Hey, if you're the Mad Hatter,” Jonas said, eyeing Twist’s top hat, “does that make me the March Hair?”

“Oh, undoubtedly.”

“The what?” Myra asked.

“What do you think?” Jonas asked Twist with a nod to Myra. “Do
rmouse?”

“She's way too awake,” Twist said, shaking his head. “How about Alice?”

“Alice isn't as much fun,” Jonas said seriously.

“Are you two doing that secret talking thing again?” Myra asked suspiciously.

“Cheshire Cat!” Twist and Jonas said together with identical inspired smiles.

“She's always smiling,” Twist said.

“And, with her ghostly powers, she can disappear.”

“Oh, good point,” Twist said
earnestly.

“Let me know when you're done,” Myra said with a sigh as she idly examined her silver fingernails.  Her head moved slowly to follow the tune of the music that played in the still, dusty air.

When Twist and Jonas both looked at her with fond smiles, a bright and colorful laugh echoed towards them from the shadowed depths beneath the balcony.  As they all watched, two figures stepped out into the dim lights: one tall and thin in a black suit, and the other wearing a sapphire gown that shimmered gently with every step.

“What are you doing here?” Jonas asked, slipping his goggles on as he got to his feet.  Myra smiled broadly at the two in question and waved, while Twist only frowned in confusion.

“Aden called me,” Tasha said as she and Niko walked closer. “He said that you were putting on a show and needed another act to draw in the crowds.  He also said you might need an escort for the next few weeks, should any unsavory elements attempt to steal your treasure,” she added with a returning wave to Myra.

“You two are our mag thugs?” Jonas asked.

“Do I look like a ruddy old magpie to you?” Tasha asked back as she climbed the stairs at the side of the stage, holding her shimmering skirts in her black-gloved hands.  Her long black hair was piled on her head in an elegant, loose construction that left a few twirling strands to hang by her long, pale neck and black-pearl earrings.

“You told us you weren't a Rook,” Twist pointed out.

“I'm not,” she said with a smile as she and Niko stopped to stand before them. “I'm a magician who happens to help Rooks out when they ask nicely.  When Aden mentioned you three, I simply couldn't resist.”

“How about you, S
parky?” Jonas asked.

“I told you not to call me that,” Niko responded darkly. “And no, I'm not a Rook either.  But I can protect her,” he said, turning his luminous blue eyes on Myra. “Being made mostly of copper, of all things, almost makes it too easy.  And is that music I hear really coming from that?” he asked, pointing to the player.

“You're not the only one with toys,” Jonas said proudly.  As he spoke, the playful tune drifted quietly to a stop, and another new song began.  This one had a clearer rhythm to it, and a smoother, curling melody.  Niko gave it a somewhat impressed look.

“Well, isn't this wonderful?” Myra said brightly to Twist and Jonas. “You were expecting more of those nasty men in the black suits, but they sent us our friends instead!”

“Has anyone ever told you that you're a little too happy?” Jonas asked.  Myra stuck her silver tongue out at him, though Jonas's eyes were still covered.

“Don't you take us for friends as well, Jonas?” Tasha asked,
smiling and taking a step closer to him.  He looked to her, standing now only one step in front of him, though he couldn't see her.

“You lie for a living,” he said with no emotion. “Your true loyalties are as mysterious and undefinable as the stars.”

“Eloquence...” she toned sweetly. “I didn't expect that.”

“Are you sure we're friends?” he asked. “How well do you think you really know us?”  Twist, Myra, and Niko all moved quietly to the side to watch as they each sensed that the verbal battle was beginning to get serious.

“I know you better than you'd like me to,” Tasha said.

“You know what I show you,” Jonas
corrected her.

“And, naturally, you can se
e right through me, can't you?”

“Interesting choice of words,” Jonas responded coolly.

“What do you think?” Niko asked quietly of Twist. “Will this end in blood or kissing?”  Myra looked to him in surprise.  Her hand paused where it had been tapping her hip to the rhythm of the song.

“It's hard to tell,” Twist answered. “Blood would be more fun to watch.”  Jonas managed to clearly toss him a glare without uncovering his eyes.  Tasha stared at Jonas pensively for a moment while the music curled around them.

“You know,” she said to him smoothly, “we've had many verbal dances so far, but we never did get to have that real one.  Shall we avoid bloodshed and have it now?” She held out a black-lace-gloved hand to him while the song wound enticingly through her gentle voice.

“Damn,” Twist
sighed.

Niko laughed quietly to himself.  Jonas seemed to ignore them both completely as he took Tasha's hand with no difficulty at all, despite his apparent blindness.  Tasha's elegant smile deepened immediately.  They both bowed to each other with a single fluid motion, before they moved together: her hand on his shoulder, his on her waist, and their other hands clasped.

“I am armed, by the way,” Jonas said in the moment before they moved, waiting for the right beat.

Tasha laughed as they glided easily into the song, their forms moving gracefully together.  Twist watched and shook his head, wondering if he would ever actually understand Jonas at all.  Myra didn't waste a second before she reached for him.  Before he realized what was happening, she was standing in front of him and had put his hand on her own waist while still holding
his other hand.  She put her free hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

“I can't dance,” Twist said stiffly.

“Shut up,” Myra responded, pulling him into motion.

Twist's full attention was instantly swallowed up with not stepping on her little copper feet as she pulled him along through a simple waltz that drifted by Jonas and Tasha
occasionally.  His Sight quickly began to aid him, warning him of how she would move next by following the motions of her inner clockwork.  After a few steps, he started to follow the rhythm more smoothly and Myra's smile grew wider and fuller, so close before him.

As he began to relax—began to feel the effortless flow between their separate but similar movements—he
found that he was enjoying this wholly new experience.  So many new things were forever clamoring in to confuse him these days; he often felt that it was too much to bear.  Even so, he always managed to survive.  And as he danced with his fairytale princess, and felt her growing delight reverberate in his mind, he began to wonder how many other new things could also turn out to be more enjoyable than he'd previously expected.

~
oOo ~