The Clockwork Fairy Kingdom (10 page)

Denise sighed. Of the pair of them, Dale had always been
more sensitive. She’d read once that while women feared death, men feared being
laughed at. That certainly was true of her twins: Dale had always taken teasing
much harder than Nora. “All right,” Denise said. “Not this week.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Dale said, obviously relieved. “Pizza?” he
asked, hopefully.

As if in response, the front door chimed.

Both Nora and Dale talked excitedly over dinner about their
summer plans. Nora had several knitting and
knotwork
projects, while Dale had some clockwork he was repairing. He didn’t mention
Adele, and Nora seemed to know not to tease him about it.

At the end of dinner, Denise told the kids, “I have some
news.” She’d been surprised that Dale hadn’t asked about her appointment. She’d
excused him, though—he was too caught up in his new crush.

Both twins looked at her with the same expression of
impatient waiting.

“I saw the cardiologist today—”

“That’s right!” Dale said. “How did it go?”

“She’s afraid there’s something wrong with the battery in my
pacemaker. It has to be replaced.”

“Is that why you’ve looked so pale recently?” Dale asked.

“Probably,” Denise admitted. “I should have listened to you
and gone in earlier.”

“Is it serious?” Dale asked, kicking his sister under the
table.

Denise chose her words carefully. “The battery needs to be
replaced.”

“What does that mean?” Nora asked, suddenly concerned.

“Friday night you’ll be on your own,” Denise told her. “Eli,
our landlord, volunteered to look after you two for the night.”

“Can’t we stay with you in the hospital?” Dale asked. “What
if something goes wrong?” Dale and Nora exchanged worried looks.

“The operation is in the afternoon,” Denise assured them. “They
only want to keep me overnight for observation. Really, it isn’t a serious
procedure. They won’t even put me to sleep.”

“Promise?” Nora asked.

“Yes, I promise,” Denise told her. Normally, Dale was the
one who first asked for such reassurances. This Adele must have upset Nora more
than she was letting on.

After dinner, they agreed to watch a movie together. While
Denise made popcorn, she heard Nora ask, “Did you see Adele?”

“She’s wonderful, Nora,” Dale whispered back.

Smiling, Denise decided that Eli should come stay with them
for the evening, instead of uprooting the kids and sending them to his place
for two days. She didn’t want to tear the two new lovebirds apart.

***

Adele still couldn’t believe her luck as she flew against
the evening winds back to her kingdom after leaving Dale on the road. Not only
had she found the human Tinker on the road, unprotected by his sister, the
Maker, he’d also given her his name, instead of merely something to call him by.
Humans had forgotten too much about fairies and their ways, as well as the
power of names. He’d also accepted the enchanted stone she’d given him just
before he left. It would bind his tongue, should he be tempted to spill her
secrets.

Tinker blood ran true in the boy. Even though he was a human,
he had more talent in one little finger than all of Thaddeus’ apprentices
combined. Of course, he hadn’t been able to fix the machine that day. He’d
seemed disappointed Thaddeus had left no notes. While fairies could read and
write, they rarely found the need to do so. Still, he quickly learned the flow
of the machine, needing little guidance from Adele. He’d sketched out a series
of special gears the final motion works would take, telling the Queen shyly
that he had some jeweled bearings from his Grandpa Lewis that he’d like to use
as well.

When Adele reached the abandoned cottage, she didn’t fly
straight in. Instead, she flew around the house, three times clockwise,
strengthening the illusion. She’d only stretched the truth earlier when she’d
been talking with Dale. She didn’t like the mess necessary to keep most humans
away. However, the house had also disturbed her. The illusion had grown hollow.
The damn dwarf had weakened it. So Adele solidified the glamour, giving the
house a much more haunted feeling. Only the very brave or stupid would risk the
teeth of the door handle now. The Tinker’s sister, the Maker, also wouldn’t
willingly cross the threshold—the house would repel her, disturb her in
ways she wouldn’t understand.

With a wave of her hand, Adele opened the door and flew down
the staircase. Around and around she spiraled, laughing and feeling deliciously
dizzy. She shot out of the tunnel and up into the sky, over the rooftops, as
daring as any young warrior after her first kill.

Finally, Adele returned to the palace. The fairies from the
southern kingdom stood in the garden, easy to spot in their traditional dress, as
gaudy and joyous as the flowers. Adele remembered that she’d been neglecting
them for too long.

“I see you are as happy as we are today,”
Gaurung
said, stepping forward and bowing. When he
straightened he towered over Adele: All the southern fairies were much taller
than the ones in her court. He had a round, dark face with a mobile mouth that easily
smiled. His dark eyes, though, always remained cool. The other fairies all held
similar expressions, caught between happiness and cool calculation.

Adele tried to contain herself and conduct herself as the
court thought a queen should. “Yes,” she said breathlessly. “You remember our
grand project?”

“The great barrier, yes? That stands between you and the
humans? We’ve been most interested in learning more about this.”

“The project had some...complications. But it’s all coming
together!”

“Very good! Very good indeed.”
Gaurung
nodded.

Adele had wanted to go straight back to Thaddeus’ workshop,
to bask in the marvel of the boy’s work. However, she also remembered her duty
to her guests. “Would you like to see the factory?” Adele asked, thinking this
was now the best time for such a tour. “I’ve been meaning to ask you for days.
But with the king’s death, things have been complicated.”

“We would be honored,”
Gaurung
said, bowing.

Adele instantly bounded back up into the air. When she
looked back down,
Gaurung
was exchanging looks with
his companions. She belatedly remembered that royals didn’t like to fly as much
as warriors—something about their wings not being as strong. Still, at
least half a dozen of the southern fairies took to the air gracefully, their
expansive wings filling the sky. A few stayed behind. Adele wondered if they
had problems flying.

At the entrance of the factory, Adele dropped gracefully to
the ground, landing on the stone path. She waited as the royals landed, shaking
their wings and grinning at each other. They’d seemed to enjoy their short
flight. “This factory is where the apprentices that have successfully passed
their qualifications make the gears we need for the great machine.”

“Where do you get the raw materials?”
Reena
asked. She was the shortest of the southern fairies, and also the most fair,
with golden hair and skin. Only glitter covered her chest, and a gauzy silver
skirt barely covered her below her waist.

“We scavenge most of it,” Adele said proudly. “Warriors go
out into the world to find the spare silver, copper, and brass.”

The royals looked impressed. Adele remembered that the
royals didn’t like to go outside as often as the warriors, too.

A sorting area stood just inside the heavy wooden door. Many
of the items in
Kostya’s
caves had found their way
here, not that Adele was about to admit that to the foreign fairies. Let them
think this was their usual bounty. Neatly formed piles crowded the wooden
floor. “You see this wire,” Adele said, pointing to the large heap. “It’s been
separated and found useful. It’s waiting to be straightened, or perhaps
braided, to make it stronger.” She moved to the next pile. “Much of the metal
we find is too small to be useful. These are already sorted metals, going to
the furnace to be
resmelted
.”

“Do you have blacksmiths?” asked one of the
fairies—Adele thought her name was
Savit
. She
was dark like
Gaurung
, tall, with eyes that held
great cunning. She was much more modestly dressed than
Reena
,
with a man’s jacket and a skirt that fell to her knees.

“Yes,” Adele said, curious. “Don’t you?”

Gaurung
stepped forward. “We’ve
lost many of the old skills. Only a few new skills have replaced them.” He
flexed his wings, the streamers hanging from them stirring.

Adele glanced at them, distracted for a moment. Then she
looked closer. While the royals of the southern kingdom wore the older, more
traditional fairy clothes—short skirts, tightly fitting jackets, and
streamers in their wings—she finally realized the materials weren’t
old-fashioned. The iridescent glow of the material didn’t come from
spiderwebs
and woven moonbeams but from plastic and human
chemicals. She turned and looked at
Reena
and the
others. None of them wore cloth like her court.

“It’s why we came here,”
Savit
said, staring hard at Adele.

Adele bristled at the implication: Did the southern fairies
consider her kingdom old-fashioned?

Gaurung
added, “As well as to see
what new things you’ve learned. So this metal—it’s sorted, then
resmelted
, you said?”

“Yes,” Adele said, only slightly mollified. “Brass, copper, and
steel. All can be reused.” She escorted them into the next room.

The apprentices hadn’t come in, as the period of mourning
was still in effect. Their machines, gears, and spare parts littered the
workbenches that lined the walls. Stools of carved wood and red leather seats
stood scattered around the room.

“Before an apprentice is allowed in the factory, she has to
demonstrate not just skill, but creativity. They must make their own gear
cutter, to the master Tinker’s specifications,” Adele explained.

The royals muttered to themselves. “The level of care you’re
taking with every step is remarkable,”
Gaurung
said
to Adele. “Amazing craftsmanship. We’ve lost so many of these skills, so much
of this pride in workmanship. Truly amazing.”

Adele beamed. Maybe the southern kingdom could be useful
allies, someday. If they didn’t decide to go to battle and try to take her
kingdom for themselves, that was. She continued leading them through the
factory, through the polishing rooms, pointing out the lathes used for making
all the screws and bushings, as well as the scales used to accurately measure
the weights for all pendulums.

“Queen Adele,”
Gaurung
said as
they walked back to the palace. “This effort of yours, this barrier between you
and the humans. Your people have sacrificed a great deal to bring it to life.”

“It will be wonderful!” Adele said, skipping and clapping
her hands.

Gaurung
smiled at her
condescendingly.

With a sigh, Adele went back to walk demurely beside him.
Royals didn’t express themselves the same as warriors. Though Adele had been in
the court for most of her long life, she still felt like a warrior.
Particularly now that Thaddeus’ steadying influence was gone.

“Is that all it will do?”
Savit
asked, using that disapproving tone of hers.

Was
Savit
taunting Adele? She
looked at the other fairies. They all wore similar expressions of exaggerated
patience, like a parent waiting for an over-excited child. Did they still look
down at her kingdom’s handmade things and quaint crafts? Adele would show them.
“Of course not,” she scoffed.

The visitors from the southern kingdom looked at her
expectantly.

“Why should I tell you?” Adele asked.

“We know you are more than you seem,”
Gaurung
said slowly. “You are a warrior, yet you’re also a queen. Your kingdom is
falling apart, yet your people willingly follow you, trust that your plans will
lead them to glory.”

Adele preened. She knew that the servants understood why she
was demanding such sacrifices. She would lead them to such a grand life.

“We promise you that your secrets are safe with us. Just
between our two courts.”

Adele looked at the other southerners. They all seemed
sincere, their eyes open and honest for the first time. She knew she couldn’t
trust them. But she wanted to tell someone since she no longer had Thaddeus to
share such secrets. “If you tell anyone in my court, I will kill you. And your
families,” she promised, smiling grimly, showing her warrior-sharpened teeth.

“Not a word. To anyone,”
Gaurung
promised,
his wide mouth showing his serious intent.

Adele nodded, thinking. It was a calculated risk bringing
them into her plans. They could be her representatives, carrying the news south
once the machine was turned on. She moved closer to
Gaurung
so she could speak softly. The other fairies gathered around her. “It won’t
just repel the humans. It will cripple their machines.”

Gaurung
looked quizzically at her.
“That would certainly encourage them to leave you alone. However, wouldn’t
their scientists come, then? To learn why? It seems rash to expose yourself
that way.”

“Not if we attack them first,” Adele said. “Drive them away,
ahead of us.”

“To what end?”

“To leave this underground tomb!” Adele replied. “To have
the skies free. To hunt, and have pride again.”

“My Lady,”
Gaurung
said, standing
up straighter. “What an audacious plan!”

Adele realized she’d never heard any of the southern fairies
address her with such respect before. Even
Savit
looked impressed.