Steamsworn (Steamborn Series Book 3) (9 page)

“What?” Alice asked as she took in the room. The ceilings weren’t as high as the Council Hall in Bollwerk, but they had a gradual arch to them with a polished copper ceiling that made it seem taller than it was. “We’re already there? Here? We’re already here?”

“It is a more convenient layout than Bollwerk,” Smith said. “There is no doubt of that.”

A few passersby slowed and stared at their group when Smith mentioned Bollwerk.

Eva shot an annoyed look over her shoulder. “You want to say that a little louder? It’ll still take a good two or three minutes for the entire city to know we have visitors.”

“Sorry,” Smith said.

“He’s not one for subtlety,” Mary said. “Intricate gadgets and perfectly tuned engines, yes, but not so subtle when it comes to words.” She paused and then added, “Or common sense.”

Eva let out a short laugh and flashed a smile at the group. She led them between a pair of bronze statues, halberds held high to create the entrance to another hall. The wide stones of the entrance hall gave way to an impossibly detailed mosaic of tiny square tiles. They’d walked halfway down the hall before Alice saw the name Bollwerk laid out in the squares, and eventually they came to Ancora.

She glanced behind them, taking in what she now realized was a map of their continent, all green and tan and surrounded by a wide blue ocean. It was enormous and beautiful, and she could have stared at it for an hour, but Smith hurried her along to catch up with Mary and Eva.

The presence of guards, armed with swords and guns, grew heavy the farther into the Hall they walked. They entered a rotunda, lined with more guards, and Eva led them to one of the many doors off to the northwest.

“Lady,” one of the guards said with a nod to Eva.

Beyond the doors was a room made of wood and brass. Alice had never seen anything like it. A gear of polished metal sat embedded in the floor, some twenty feet in diameter. Chairs built of different metals sat on each tooth on the outside of the wheel. Alice wondered if the floor moved. It looked like it might, as there were more gears on the outside of the largest.

Above it all sat a throne. Upon that throne was a tired-looking woman, but she still summoned a smile beneath her bulbous, jeweled crown. “Welcome, Eva.”

“Lady Katherine,” Eva said. “These are travelers from Bollwerk. They have news from Archibald, Speaker of Bollwerk.”

“Alice,” Eva said as she gestured for her.

Alice stepped out from behind Mary and took two short steps to stand beside Eva.

Lady Katherine leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. Those bright eyes were set in a face almost as pale as Alice’s. “Child … I did not realize the bloodline had survived outside of Belldorn. And you are a child of this city, there can be no doubt of that.”

“What bloodline?” Alice asked. “Eva mentioned it, and Mary, but what is it?”

Lady Katherine lifted the jewel-encrusted crown off her head, letting wide curls fall to her shoulders. Hints of gray wove through those curls, but the rest was unmistakably red. “The founders of our fair city, child, for no one else has hair of fire and skin of light.”

Goosebumps ran down Alice’s arms. She’d never heard of her hair, or her paleness, referred to like that. She liked it.

“Archibald is a wise man to send you.” Lady Katherine rapped her fingernails on the arm of the throne. The metallic clicking filled her pause. “You have grown up, Mary.”

Mary gave a little bow. “My Lady.”

Lady Katherine smiled. “This must be an odd thing for you, having known me when I was but a baker.”

Mary looked up. “My favorite baker. I still remember the soft Iced Bread you used to make.”

Lady Katherine sighed and her smile waned. “What brings you back to our city? And with news from Archibald?”

“We …” Mary started before she glanced at Alice.

Alice nodded, and she let it all spill out. From the end of the trade routes, the Fall of Ancora that was fast becoming legend, to Charles’s discovery of the transmitters in the invaders, the kidnapping of Gladys, and the death of Rana. It wasn’t until she reached the tale of Mordair, the Butcher’s brother’s rule in Fel, the collapse of Dauschen, and Newton Burns—the Butcher’s—influence of Parliament in Ancora that Lady Katherine’s indifference turned to something far, far darker.

“So …” Lady Katherine said. “The Butcher is showing his hand.”

“Dauschen and Ancora are in his grasp now,” Mary said. “An attack on Bollwerk seems imminent. And if Bollwerk falls …” Mary shrugged.

“He rules three of the largest cities in the Northlands and commands their armies.” Lady Katherine squeezed her forehead. “That is why Archibald sent you. They will take Cave, and the small villages in the western deserts, and then they will come for Bollwerk.”

“My Lady,” Smith said as he stepped forward.

She looked up. “Archibald hopes we will support Bollwerk with our airships.”

Smith hesitated. “Only as a last resort. Archibald does not wish to force you into a war.”

“Clearly he does,” Lady Katherine said. “It is his way, Biomech.”

“He …” Smith took a hesitant step backwards. “We need help.”

“My lady,” Alice said, stepping up beside Eva. “If Archibald moves one of the warships away, half the city will be unguarded.”

“Why would he move one of the warships away?”

Alice didn’t think, she spoke. She told the Lady Katherine of the plan to cut out the invasion force in Dauschen. Charles’s mad plan to collapse the base and send it off the cliff. She told her of Samuel and Drakkar and Jacob.

“It is a bold plan,” Lady Katherine said once Alice finished speaking. “I can tell you have feelings for these people, but that does not justify our city entering a war, old blood though you are.”

“What? No, I don’t—I mean I do, but I didn’t mean that’s why you should help us!” Someone squeezed her shoulder, and she looked back to find Mary.

“We fear there may be an alliance with Ballern,” Mary said, her voice just loud enough for Lady Katherine to hear. “If Archibald’s spies are right—and they’re rarely wrong—Fel could have the support of Ballern’s warships. If the attack fails in Dauschen, it could bring forces against us by land and air. If it succeeds, it could trigger a response from Ballern that we can’t foresee.”

Lady Katherine was silent. Her posture stiffened and her hands squeezed the ends of her armrests. “If either of those scenarios come to pass, Bollwerk will fall.”

“Yes.”

“I know you wish for decisive action, but I must think on this.” Lady Katherine looked at each of them in turn. “We have been an isolated, defense-oriented nation for almost a century. Archibald is asking us to openly enter a war. It is not a decision to be made lightly. I have heard your plea. I will have your answer by daybreak.

J
acob spent the
rest of the night on a flimsy cot on the first floor of the safe house. It wasn’t much, but at least no one else was in the room for him to disturb.
The Dead Scourge
was open, propped up on a loosely piled blanket. The book felt more real somehow, now that he’d met Archibald.

He slid the photo of Alice and the Jumper out of the back cover and stared at it for a moment. Some part of him wished he could go back to that inn. Jacob sighed as he slid the photograph into a pocket on his vest. He wished he had one of his parents. Some days it felt like he was on a grand adventure with Charles and Alice and would see his parents at the end of the day. Other times he remembered the dead and prayed his parents weren’t part of them.

“Still up?”

Jacob looked toward the gruff, sleep-laden voice. Charles stood in the doorway, barely lit by the lamp Jacob was using.

“She’s safe with Smith and Mary. Don’t worry about that.”

Jacob’s eyes flashed to his vest and then up to Charles.

“I saw you looking at the picture again,” Charles said with a small smile. “You miss her. It’s natural.”

Jacob frowned and then fumbled with
The Dead Scourge
. “I’m worried about my parents too.”

Charles nodded. “I’m worried about most everyone who’s still back in Ancora with that madman pulling Parliament’s strings.”

“I feel like we’re not helping anything by being outside Ancora. Like every time I smile or enjoy myself, or try a new food, I’m rubbing it in their faces.”

“Whose faces?” Charles asked as he stepped closer and crouched down beside the cot.

“Everyone trapped in Ancora.”

Charles offered a kind smile and shook his head. “What you’re doing here is more than most people could ever hope, Jacob. The people left in Dauschen are trapped under the heel of an oppressor they can’t fight on their own.”

“What if it doesn’t work?”

Charles settled himself onto the floor. “What if we fail?”

Jacob nodded.

“Then we will rest easy, knowing we did all we can, and that is a thing anyone could be proud of.” Charles squeezed Jacob’s shoulder and stood up. “Get some sleep, kid. We make for the upper supports tomorrow.”

Charles walked back into the shadowed hallway. Jacob clicked the lantern off and laid back on the cot in the darkness. They were doing everything they could. That was definitely something he could be proud of.

*     *     *

“What reason do
you have to be here, outsiders?”

Alice thought the hostess at the restaurant was being rather rude, and Alice spoke before she really thought about what she was saying. “I’ve been called an outsider more in the past months than in my entire life. If we only ever call each other outsiders, how can we be friends?”

“
You
are not an outsider here, child.”

Alice frowned slightly. “I’m not a child, either.”

The woman opened her hands slightly and bowed her head.

“They’re my friends,” Alice said. “I trust them with my life.”

Mary stepped up beside Alice. “I grew up here, lady. Why don’t you drop the attitude and show us to our seats? We’ve traveled a long way to get here, and it starts all over again sooner than I’d like.”

The hostess eyed Smith. “Bollwerk is a distant journey.”

“I’m from Ancora,” Alice said.

The woman’s eyebrows rose slightly, the first sign of surprise Alice had seen. “That is a distant journey indeed.”

Alice couldn’t quite place what was bothering her about the woman’s attitude. They were on their way to a booth in the back before she realized the woman reminded her of one of the Highborns in Ancora.

Eva slid in beside Mary, and Alice sat down next to Smith.

“Menus?” Smith said. “Fancy place.”

“It would certainly explain that bitch of a hostess,” Eva muttered when the woman walked away.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mary said. “Let’s get some fried bread and maybe a beer.” She ran her fingers through her hair and flipped her menu over. “I need to relax before we head back to Bollwerk.”

“So soon?” Eva asked.

Mary nodded. “We have to be there. It’s … it’s not just a debt anymore, Eva. Jacob and Charles and their friends need us. Bollwerk’s been good to me, and I’ll be damned if I let the Butcher march into that city unchallenged.”

Eva frowned and rubbed the back of her hand. “How long can you stay?”

“We’ll at least be here through the night. We have to wait for Lady Katherine’s decision. Do you think she’ll help?”

Eva shook her head slowly. Alice didn’t think she meant it as a no. She was fairly certain Eva meant she had no idea what Lady Katherine would say. Eva shrugged. “She’s turned down many pleas from the wasteland villages for assistance. Their requests are almost always due to some infighting between the tribes. I don’t know.”

They ordered and waited in relative silence until Smith began drumming his fork on the wooden table.

“Stop that,” Mary said.

“What?” Smith asked as his tempo increased.

“It’s rude and you’re drawing attention to us.”

Smith sighed and let the fork fall from his hands, clattering onto the bare wood as the server dropped off three pewter steins, filled with a dark ale, and one glass of milk.

“Milk?” Alice asked. “Ugh, I thought you were joking.”

“Just try it,” Eva said. “It’s not bug milk, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“She’s not worried about that,” Smith said. “The girl drinks Sweetwing tea like it’s water.”

Alice slid the glass closer and said, “I’m feeling a bit outnumbered here.” She took a tentative sip and jerked her head away from the straw, smacking her lips when the taste of cocoa and sugar hit her tongue. “What?”

“White Cocoa Milk,” Eva said. “It’s a lot better than the regular stuff.”

Alice took another deep drink. “Yeah it is. Wow.”

Smith started drumming his fork on the table again.

“Oh,
gods!
” Mary said. “Smith! Stop it. Drumming that fork into submission isn’t going to change anything about you meeting with the tinkers.”

Eva glanced between Mary and Smith and kept her voice low. “The tinkers here aren’t fond of Biomechs.”

“I know,” Smith said.

“So why do you want to talk to them?”

Smith set his fork down and sighed. He spun his stein of ale around, took a large drink, and let it thump down on the wood. “It is better that they hear the state of things from me.”