Steamscape (10 page)

Theo also leaned in and whispered, “But what does the mob believe, sir?”

Smith stood up straight, a scowl replacing any smirk he might have worn. “Who are you, boy?”

Theo shrugged sharply. “Just a bricoleur.”

“Is that so? I am Deputy Liaison to President LaBier.”

“So it is Codic that wants her,” Drina said.

“Just dead, I assure you.” Smith offered a stiff smile. “Although I am not surprised that this vessel survived with protection from you. Your sudden dissolution was a disaster for both the government and Steampower. But as you can see, we’ve learned to live without you.”

“But not with each other, apparently,” Jing remarked.

“You never found the Hex though, Mr. Smith,” Drina growled.

Smith doffed his bowler hat. “
I
was never hunting you. Nor am I frightened by your legend, but Codic might still have use for your skills.” He glared. “But alas, you cannot be trusted.”

“I will never work for Steampower or Codic again.” Drina drew up her chin. “Unlike you.”

Smith chuckled. “Dear, I only draw my wages from Codic. I work for the Priory.”

This room smelled like perfume and wine. Solindra hadn’t seen anything since that night on the river. Flame had stuffed a bag over her head, and she had no idea how long it had been. It felt like days. Or weeks. Or hours. She couldn’t tell.

But she knew she had gone from a long ride on the water to marching through some paved streets, and now she was in this sweet-scented room. She gulped and pressed her shoulders against the back of the chair. No escape that way; it was taller than she was.

And dangerously comfortable. Her head nodded forward and she fought against a yawn.

Someone yanked off the hood. She blinked in the soft, warm sunlight of the room. The ceiling was high, and gold paint and foil lined the gothic arches overhead.

Flame eclipsed her vision. “You got weird eyes, girlie.” Immediately, he turned away to a sylph sitting behind a huge, mahogany desk. “Your delivery. Special.”

He stood directly in Solindra’s view of the other woman.

“Unburnt this time,” a mellifluous voice said evenly.

Flame snorted. His motion caused his pistols and swords to grind against each other. “It was only his toes. And fingers.” He paused. “And nose. He was fine.”

“He only lived two hours, Mr. Flame.”

The Hex member shrugged. “My fee.”

A heavy leather pouch clinked as the woman rolled it across the desk. She sighed, and even that sounded like the most expensive thing Solindra had ever heard. She felt like she was wasting this woman’s time, and she should pay for it.

“And…?” he prompted. “Your information is the best in the world. Maybe the rumors about you are true. How else could you have known about this one?” He jerked his thumb at Solindra.

The voice replied gracefully, “The board considers you to be more perilous than what you can deliver to our war effort. Your life is to be liquidated, Mr. Flame.”

He chuckled. “Oh, I’ll just burn down their homes, steam chariots and families before they’ll ever ignite me.” He hummed to himself a little. “But they’ll whine, and then they’ll treat me like
I’m
standing in
their
way again. Pah!” He started cleaning out his ear with a finger, humming to himself.

“Yes, they say that you’re a fine asset as long as you’re in the enemy’s camp, but sometimes you venture home.”

Flame shrugged. “I am what I am.”

“Please go now, sir.”

“But don’t you want to know who was guarding this little strawberry? You’d be surprised.”

The tone of voice didn’t change. “Mr. Flame, you are dismissed.”

He sneered. “There’s only one woman I’ll take that tone from.”

“And I strongly suspect that you saw her recently.”

Flame clicked his heels and hummed to himself before turning away. He slammed the door behind him.

“Please forgive him.”

Solindra had already forgotten him. She stared. She knew the slender face of Steam Princess Adri Saturni. The young woman hadn’t been able to forget the picture of the face she’d so recently tossed overboard.

The small woman loomed so large in her vision. Adri really was svelte, but wore a beautiful forest green dress with a padded bust and rear bustle to make it look like she carried some attractive weight. Her blond-white hair was bound up in golden chains, winding smoothly into an array of curls against her dark face.

Adri folded her slender fingers together on the desktop. “I had to tell him that you were a spy. To protect you, you understand. I’m not sure how much he knows about vessels.”

“More than me,” Solindra replied sharply. Then her jaw dropped and she shriveled up inside. How dare she raise her voice at this woman she had dreamed of all these years! But her tongue continued on without her, “I’m not even sure what a vessel is.”

“A very useful person in the war effort,” Adri answered evenly.

“Why is there even a war?” She was already flying and light-headed, so why not ask? She gulped. “Why did Steampower attack Codic? Everyone says that Boras Saturni just wanted it all. That Steampower wasn’t enough anymore. I rode the Killing Train. I saw the burnt-out cities. What is it that Steampower wants? Because I can’t think of anything it doesn’t already have.”

“Love.”

Solindra froze. She blinked, suddenly off-balance even while seated.

Adri graced the room with a smile. Her eyes sparkled. “It’s such a sad tale, what my father did for my mother and this horrible catastrophe that followed.”

“This can’t be about love.” Solindra’s voice sounded hollow even to herself. “I rode the Killing Train…”

“Love stories made famous usually do not end well.” Adri straightened her shoulders against her high-backed chair. “However, it is a tale for later, little bird. I think for now you need to know what you are.”

Solindra’s throat dried. “How did you know about me?”

Adri pursed her lips. “Smith is too confident in his own cyphers.”

“You had him followed?”

“No. Why bother to follow the man when one can follow his words? He dutifully reports back to his masters like clockwork.” She pushed the chair back and rose as fluidly as water. “More over lunch, perhaps? I imagine your stomach is turning by now.”

It was true. Solindra clutched her gut and felt her stomach rumbling underneath her skin. She barely glanced up as the steam princess moved to stand beside her.

Adri reached across the desk and lifted up a dainty glass bell with a long telegraph wire attached inside the clapper. It chimed like a songbird. Within a minute, servants wheeling trolleys of food with steaming meat, vegetables and breads padded silently into the office.

“I’m in Redjakel, aren’t I?” Solindra swallowed, trying not to salivate at the sight. “That’s where Steampower’s heart is.”

“Steam Central.” Adri nodded and her smile spread while the servants laid out the feast on the buffet. Everything was on gold or silver trays. Wine sparkled in a crystal pitcher at the end of the line of steaming, sweet smelling food.

Just as quickly and silently, the servants streamed out again. Adri kept staring at Solindra’s otherworldly, steam-colored eyes. She unfolded her fingers toward the buffet. “Please, my dear.”

In a daze, Solindra managed to unlock her legs and shuffle to the table. Adri did not follow. Could all of this food be just for her? She couldn’t eat this much in two years!

Still in that almost dream-like state, Solindra loaded a silver plate with food. She stared at the array of forks, not knowing which to choose, and licked her lips.

Adri appeared at her left, holding two crystal wine glasses. She held one out in Solindra’s direction and then turned and swept back across the room to the desk. She set both glasses on what looked to be diamond coasters.

The steam princess sipped her wine as Solindra returned to her seat. The girl tried to balance the plate on her knees. She didn’t dare set it on the desk.

“You will act as my personal maid – no one else need know anything more – and in return, I will teach you how to use a sancta.”

Solindra swallowed a mouthful of bread that was as light as a cloud. “But what about my fam– my friends?”

“Oh. Oh dear. I’m afraid they were lost on the river.”

“They survived. I know them.” But she hesitated.

“And Smith had set a trap for you in the next town. It was too much for any soldier, I’m so sorry.” The smile replaced any concern. “But you have shelter here and shall want for nothing, not even during this dreadful war.”

Solindra dropped her eyes to the silver plate overflowing with food. “But...”

Adri brought Solindra’s crystal chalice in front of the young woman’s face. “Have a sip, bird. You’re safe within these walls.”

Solindra eyed the gilded framings of the office again. She accepted the wine into her fingertips and its sudden weight surprised her. Its scent wafted above the glass, sweet and tangy.

Adri folded her hands into her lap while sitting up straight at the edge of her chair. Her smile beamed. “Now eat up, and then there is a hot bath being drawn for you in the next room. After that, we can discuss everything.”

There was nothing left for Solindra to argue.

***

An hour later, Solindra drifted on the edge of sleep in the tub with just her nose poking above the water. It was so warm. She was certain heated pipes ran though the walls of the tub to keep the water from cooling. And she was glad of it.

It was silent except for the little notes of a silver music box in the shape of a tornado. The metal funnel spun, singing out cheerful melodies.

She could even forget the screams of the Killing Train here. The water carried her weight, leaving her floating in this perfumed world. She could even forget there was a war in the moment, or that she had ever left Pitchstone.

The scent of spiced chicken meandered its way into her nose. Her gray eyes bounced open, and she lifted her head.

More food and wine were waiting for her. She hadn’t even heard anyone setting them up! Had she fallen asleep?

She glanced at the table beside the tub. A towel that could probably wrap around her twice laid next a new floor-length navy dress. Her old outfit had vanished.

Solindra splashed up a tidal wave in a crashing effort to lunge out of the tub. Her old clothes were missing! Dripping wet, she pawed at the pile of towels, perfumes and dress.

She clutched the towel to her chest and leaned back against the tub, staring blankly ahead. Her mouth instantly dried.

It was missing.

Surely Adri wouldn’t have gone through that act just to steal the thing. There were easier ways!

But… but the sancta had belonged to her father. She’d stolen it from his grave.

And now it was missing.

She scrambled to fit inside the new dress, and then raced barefoot to the washroom’s door. She slammed it open.

A plump woman on the other side of the door automatically ducked into a curtsey. She nailed her gaze to the floor. “The lady of the house is waiting for you. This way.”

Solindra reached out to shake the servant, but held her hands back. She nodded. She didn’t dare trust her own voice. Instead, she followed the plump woman through the huge maze of vaulted corridors. Everything gave the illusion of openness and space – from the high ceilings to the huge windows, all gilt and gold. There was also food everywhere, just sitting in bowls along the hallways: apples, grapes, oranges and more. Solindra had eaten a proper orange only once before in her life.

The servant wound her way mutely through the palatial estate. Solindra couldn’t even believe they were inside the city – not with the gardens and courtyards. This was a country manor inside the city. Nothing was stained by grit or smoke at all, and no steampipes were visible. She tried to fix her drying hair and hide her bare feet beneath the skirt.

Birds sang through half open walls to courtyards. Solindra followed the servant around another enclosed corridor that ended with two massive doors.

The woman pushed on through into a larger, domed room. Solindra swung her head around. The space was much taller than it was wide, with a tall stained-glass dome on top and a pit below. She stared down into the red ember glow of the coals below. Steam was rising up from the water being sprinkled on them by some sort of small fountain.

In the center of the room was a training circle, suspended by thick cables. The floor was bronze lattice-work with hundreds of interconnecting poles hanging down beneath it.

Adri Saturni glided barefoot across the suspended metal frame like an angel, or a ghost. She had also changed outfits, and now wore a shorter skirt that was seamlessly woven into her lace leggings. She turned to face the newcomers. The overhead light of the above dome caught the sparkle of the chains in her hair.

“Ah, my vessel.” She beckoned with one hand, and unfolded her fingers to reveal Solindra’s cipher medallion in the other.

Solindra’s undressed foot hovered over the edge of the circle. She set it down. The metal felt cool enough, despite the steam below. She jogged out a few steps toward the proffered sancta. She stopped. Her feet were burning at the middle of the circle.

Adri didn’t move, still standing barefoot in the center of the ring.

The younger woman gritted her teeth and marched forward, sure that burnt skin was peeling from her soles as she walked.

The steam princess nodded. She waved behind her with a free hand. The servant closed the double doors and vanished. Then Adri curled Solindra’s fingers around the red medallion. “Here is your sancta, or cipher medallion. Either is acceptable. And this…”

A male servant with a face carved from granite marched out onto the ring, carrying a rifle. The wooden stock had been polished, but bore scars of use and battle. Everything metal had been plated with what appeared to be silver. It had a pump and cocked like a shotgun, so it was faster than the normal lever-action rifles.

“And this,” Adri hefted the rifle, “belonged to someone I think you knew well.” She passed it along to Solindra.

The girl imagined it would be heavier, but it wasn’t. It had just enough weight to be real. “Who?” she formed on her lips but didn’t dare whisper.