Agent of the Crown (14 page)

“It’s astonishing,” she said with real
feeling. The Baron smiled, his red lips glistening.

“It’s two Devices, actually,” he said. “The
cage accepts wax discs imprinted with music—or, rather, with
grooves and depressions it translates into music—and the bird
produces the sound. It’s supposed to move its body as well, to look
as realistic as Devisery can achieve. Unfortunately, it’s stopped
responding altogether.”

“Are you sure the cage is still working?
Milord?” She almost forgot to add the honorific, and mentally shook
herself. Time to be impressed with the collection after she’d
achieved her goal.

“That’s an excellent question. Of course, it
would be hard to know without the bird, yes? But I believe it’s
still functioning.”

“Then if you would have someone bring me a
table, milord, I can begin the repairs.”

The Baron looked surprised she would address
him so directly, if respectfully. “Morgan, see to it,” he said. “I
don’t suppose you’d let me watch?” he asked Telaine, and she
thought he looked wistful.

“I—to be honest, milord, I think your
attention would make me nervous,” she said, with a laugh she hoped
struck the right note of discomfort and awkwardness. The Baron
nodded, disappointed, and said, “Please ask any of the servants to
fetch me when you’re finished. How long will it take?”

Telaine said, “I won’t be able to tell until
I’ve taken it apart, because I’ve never seen anything like it. But
I hope it will only be a few hours.”

The Baron nodded again and left the room,
passing a servant carrying a folding table she set up without
looking at Telaine. Then the servant was gone, and Telaine was
alone. She thought briefly of sneaking away to explore the manor
after they all left the room, but it was a bad idea. Too many
people knew why she was here, and being caught where she shouldn’t
be would probably mean never being allowed inside again, which
would make her job infinitely harder. She’d have to work quickly
and skillfully to make a good impression so the Baron would give
her a return invitation.

The hardest part was opening it up; it was so
well made the seams were virtually invisible. Finally, with a tiny
pop
, the head came off and the body fell into two pieces
joined by a concealed hinge. Telaine was disappointed to find that
the Device was of the most basic design, once you got past the
ornate exterior, and had to remind herself again that speed was
important, that having a challenge would work against her in this
case.

The repair was simple, none of the pieces
were broken, just misaligned, even the motive force was fully
imbued…
oh,
that
would have given me an excellent
opportunity to wander around,
she thought after she’d put the
whole thing back together. She’d have to remember it for next
time.

She had to work out how to fit the Device
back into its cage, but once that was done, it began to move like a
real bird. She poked around to figure out how the cage worked. A
casket on a nearby stand contained the wax discs the Baron had
mentioned; more investigation turned up a slot where the discs
could be inserted. She slid one in, shut the lid, and the bird
rewarded her by breaking into the first notes of “Let Me Sit Beside
You.” Apparently the Baron was fond of music-hall tunes.

“Lovely,” said Morgan, clapping a slow
rhythm. “And so is the music.”

Telaine allowed herself to blush, which was
no doubt what he wanted. “Just doing the job I’m paid for,” she
said.

“Oh, yes, you’ll want paying. I suppose it’s
too much to ask you to do it for King and country.” He approached
her too closely, forcing her to step back as he unlatched the lid
and removed the disc.

“I have to eat, Mister Morgan.”

“Speaking of which, will you dine with us?
It’s nearly noon.”

The time had passed without her noticing.
Four hours. “Me? Is the Baron in the habit of dining with his hired
help?”

“Only the Devisers, who you must admit are
not ordinary craftsmen. Or women.” He inclined his head, but kept
his intense eyes on her. His attention was beginning to overwhelm
her to the point that it lost all meaning. Did he realize he was
overplaying his hand? No, that peculiar, uncomfortable extra sense
told her sleek Archie Morgan
meant
to seem not in control.
But to what end?
Leave the analysis for later. Stay
focused.

She plucked at her trouser legs. “I’d feel
uncomfortable, dressed like this.”

“Nonsense.” He ran his finger down a crease
in her sleeve. “It’s like a uniform, isn’t it? And uniforms are
acceptable everywhere.”

“If you’re sure his lordship won’t mind, then
I accept,” she said, quashing the nervousness that had sprung up
again as he touched her. This would be an excellent opportunity to
get to know her target, if she could keep from giving too much of
her game away.

If Telaine
hadn’t been used to the palace, which had at least five dining
halls twice the size of the Baron’s, she might have been impressed.
The oak-paneled room—the Baron was fond of wood paneling, wasn’t
he?—was two stories tall with a plaster ceiling crossed by dark,
intricately carved beams. A balcony that was probably accessed from
the gallery at the top of the entry staircase ran along three sides
of the room, perfect for a string quartet to provide music for
dining or for dancing. Telaine guessed the room doubled as a
reception hall, or would if the Baron had anyone to receive.

Extravagant floor-to-ceiling glass panes gave
a view of the pine forest that pressed close against the manor. It
was a depressing view, and Telaine reflected that if the manor had
been oriented differently, most of the rooms could have looked out
over the beautiful valley toward Longbourne.

She put on a properly overawed expression and
went to greet the Baron, who stood looking out the window. He
turned to face her and Morgan as they entered.

“Were you successful, my dear?” the Baron
asked.

“Yes, milord. I’d be happy to demonstrate my
work after the meal. That is—I don’t expect any special treatment,
and it’s an honor to be asked to dine with you.”

The Baron waved this away. “Not at all. I
have a great respect for Devisers. It was my ambition to become one
in my youth, but I’m afraid I lacked the necessary dexterity and
sufficient ability to sense source. Please, have a seat.” He, the
Baron, actually held a chair for the lowly craftswoman. If Telaine
didn’t know better, she would have believed this man to be a
genuine, kind egalitarian. She might even have believed it if she’d
only heard about his abusive personality secondhand. Having heard
how viciously he’d threatened Harroden, she wasn’t fooled at
all.

The Baron seated her on his right hand, and
Morgan took the chair on his left. Servants in formal livery
brought beef in gravy, green vegetables, soft rolls, and a
selection of wines from which the Baron chose a favorite. Telaine
fumbled her silverware, tried to serve herself from the platter of
fresh chard instead of waiting for the servant, and made a point of
watching the Baron closely and mimicking his actions. She decided
against appearing to have a poor head for alcohol, choosing to save
that ploy for a possible future event.

“Miss Bricker, please tell me about yourself.
How did you come to be a Deviser?” asked the Baron, his red lips
moving unpleasantly as he chewed.

Telaine said, “It’s not an interesting story.
I was apprenticed several years ago, worked my way up, got my
Deviser’s certificate and went out on the road.”

“You didn’t choose to set up shop for
yourself?”

“I found I enjoyed the challenges of
traveling more. In the city, in a shop, the work is generally the
same—clocks, lights, guns, the occasional bauble. On the road, you
never know what you might encounter.”

“If I may ask, what is the most exotic thing
you’ve had to repair?”

Telaine wiped her lips with her napkin.
“Besides your bird?” she laughed. “I think I would have to say—”
not Garrett’s tap Device; she was reluctant to draw their attention
to him in any way—“a sword cane where the sheath was meant to
sprout blades when it was released. It was a challenge because the
locking Device had failed and every time I tried to adjust the
blades, the thing would pop off and try to impale me.”

She chuckled, and the Baron joined her in her
laugh; Morgan remained silent, his elbow propped on the table—such
bad manners!—and his chin resting on his palm. When she glanced his
way, he smiled that feline smile.

“But you never create new Devices? I would
think that would be far more exciting.”

“I have, yes, and I find great pleasure in
working out the details of a new Device. But that’s a disadvantage
to traveling that a shopkeeper doesn’t have. People are more likely
to commission a Device from an established shop than from a
traveling Deviser.”

“I see you’re finished,” said the Baron. He
patted his lips, which did nothing to reduce their wet appearance.
“Would you care to accompany me? There’s something I’d like to show
you.”

Telaine rose and followed him, paying close
attention to the manor’s layout. The dining room was at the center
of the house, with wings extending to either side. The Baron led
her out of the dining room and up the right-hand stairs to the
gallery, then down the hallway on the right, which was lined with
doors. The Baron passed all of them until he came to the far end of
the hall, where he opened a door on the left and gestured for her
to enter.

Telaine gasped. The room wasn’t remarkable in
its size or décor, which matched the wood paneling the Baron
preferred. It did not have an exceptional view, facing the trees at
the rear of the house which were visible through smallish windows.
What it did have were Devices on every conceivable surface,
shelves, pedestals, and lecterns. Some were under glass. All were
unique. Telaine surveyed the room and saw no duplicates
anywhere.

“Extraordinary, isn’t it?” the Baron said in
a smug tone. “The work of a lifetime. Some I commissioned, some I
purchased, some I—dare I say it?—stole. No, my dear, don’t look at
me that way. I mean only that I found some of these under such
circumstances that acquiring them felt like I was getting away with
something, you understand? An overlooked box at an estate sale, a
watch buried in dust at the back of some old shop. I am very proud
of my collection.”

He went to a lectern and lifted the cover of
the book that lay there; it began speaking in a tiny voice. “It
reads to you. Clever, no? It’s over two hundred years old and one
of only four ever made, since the Device that powers it requires a
human to speak the words into the Device, and again for a second
copy, and so on. The Eskandelics who Devised them believed that was
simply too much work to be cost-effective. Unusually pragmatic for
Eskandelics, they were.”

“May I…?” Telaine asked. For the moment,
she’d forgotten her mission, though not the dark presence of Morgan
in the doorway, blocking her exit.

“Please,” said the Baron. Telaine wandered
the room, admiring, exclaiming, and, with a glance for permission,
touching. A “flea circus” swung into motion at the tap of a
fingernail. Binoculars automatically adjusted to her vision. A
glass case at the far end of the room contained an assortment of
projectile Devices, including one that looked like a prototype for
the currently popular weapon used by Tremontane’s military.

“You have a most wonderful collection,
milord,” she said.

“Thank you. I may need your services again.
Some of these Devices are in disrepair.”

“It would be a pleasure, milord.”

The Baron nodded and extended his hand.
“Morgan will return you to Longbourne, and I may be in contact with
you soon.”

“Oh, milord,” Telaine said, alarm rising
again, “I don’t want to put you to any trouble. I’m able to walk
back.”

“No trouble at all. Morgan does what I tell
him.” Morgan nodded, but Telaine caught a glimpse of his eyes, and
they said that Morgan did not at all like being told what to
do.

On the ride back, Telaine once again clinging
to Morgan’s waist, her purse fatter by several coins, she said,
“I’m surprised milord Baron chose to live all the way out here.
He’s so sophisticated.”

“
the baron loves it here. he loves the
wilderness.
”

I already know the Baron hates it here,
thank you, Morgan.
“Is he in charge of the fort?”

“Captain Clarke has command of the fort,
though the Baron is ultimately responsible for its upkeep.
the
baron is proud to assist in the kingdom’s defense.
”

“Those soldiers the other night frightened
me.” This was somewhat true. “Are all the soldiers like them?”

“Fighting men have to be tough.
you have
nothing to fear from them.”

Telaine gritted her teeth as Morgan took a
curve too fast, causing her to cling more tightly. “That’s…what I
thought.”

Morgan again, unnecessarily, helped her
dismount in front of the tavern. “Thank you for the ride, but I’d
like to go under my own power next time,” she said. “It’s a lovely
walk and I could do with the exercise.”

“As you wish…my dear,” he said, leaping back
into the saddle and smiling at her in a way that raised goose
pimples all down her arms, not pleasant ones. He lashed the horse
into a gallop that sprayed gravel around her ankles. She watched
him go, thinking
He probably knows I’m watching him, but not for
the reasons he imagines.
He wanted to make her uncomfortable.
He was succeeding.

When he was safely out of sight, she
shuddered and decided to go into the tavern. She needed a drink,
and she didn’t care what the other patrons thought of her. If
anyone should be ashamed of that outburst of hers,
they
should be. She wasn’t.