Read Agatha H. And the Clockwork Princess Online
Authors: Phil Foglio,Kaja Foglio
Tarvek started. Lucrezia laughed girlishly. “Oh, he’s not
ours,
dear. Not like that.” She sensuously brushed her fingers down her front. “
He’s
gone all sentimental over The Girl.”
“Pish,” the other replied. “Between the two of us, we’ll soon change that.”
Lucrezia sighed. “Now, now, we mustn’t be selfish. Besides, he still plays with dolls, and I’m not sure that he’s ever—”
A scarlet-faced Tarvek executed a stiff bow. “If you’ll excuse me,
ladies
,” he said frostily. And strode off.
“Oh, now we’ve embarrassed him.”
Lucrezia smiled devilishly. “Yes, he’s so stuffy. Just like dear Klaus, remember?”
“Oh yes, this will be fun.”
Tarvek stood next to a roaring fire in the fireplace of one of the smaller workrooms. He was emptying out a set of file boxes, perusing their contents, and then tossing the papers into the flames. A great many people on Castle Wulfenbach would have wanted to see those papers, and Tarvek took a quiet satisfaction in watching them blacken and curl before they ignited.
Suddenly, he raised his head slightly. “Ah, there you are, Veilchen. I trust you had a pleasant trip?”
There was a pause, and then the cloaked assassin stepped from behind the doorway, a worried look on what was visible of his face. “How did you—?”
Tarvek fished a small device from his pocket. “Please. You can’t sneak up on me.”
The assassin peered at the device and then glanced at Tarvek with a renewed look of respect. “I thought that was just your watch.”
“Good.” Tarvek smiled as he tucked it back into his waistcoat pocket. From another inside pocket he drew out a bizarrely shaped key. “This will allow you access to the controls for the lightning moat and the drawbridge. From what I’ve been able to observe of the crowds outside, Anevka should be ready to move.” He glanced out the window and gauged the lightening sky. “We want everything done in daylight, so let her in when the tower clock strikes seven.”
Veilchen took the key. Tarvek continued. “Now this is important. I believe that the Baron’s Questor is already in Sturmhalten. We want him here at the Castle, but not too early. Try to keep him out until eleven.”
“I don’t suppose you know what he or she looks like?” Veilchen asked sourly.
Tarvek smiled. “Not a clue. But if it was easy, I wouldn’t have you do it.”
Veilchen shrugged modestly and bowed. “Thank you, your majesty.” He paused. “You might be interested to know that there was a rescue party coming for some girl.”
Tarvek paused. “I am interested.”
“They were some of her companions from the circus you took her from. They saved your sister from some Geisterdamen in the sewers. They were an odd lot. A lover, I’m guessing, a female barbarian from somewhere I’ve never heard of, a talking cat…” he paused, “—and three Jägermonsters.”
Tarvek frowned. “A
real
talking cat? How odd. I’m assuming that you took care of them.”
Veilchen nodded slowly. “I did.”
Tarvek turned back to the fire. “A pity. A real talking cat. I would have liked to have seen that.” Veilchen shook his head and with a ripple of his cloak, was gone.
Tarvek stood nodding for several seconds after he was sure that Veilchen had actually left, then released a gust of breath. He took a tentative sniff and grimaced. “The next time you wish to sneak up on someone, my dear Veilchen,” he muttered, as he checked his watch, “Don’t come via the sewers.”
The tops of Sturmhalten Castle were glowing with a rosy dawn light as the crowds began to form before the front gate. The crackling of the lightning moat could still be faintly seen, but the charged air kept everyone back behind the low stone walls. From an upper observation deck, Anevka and Lord Selnikov gave the crowd organizers their final orders. A quiet man sidled up to his Lordship and murmured quietly in his ear. Selnikov frowned and caught Anevka’s eye. She leaned in.
“Highness,” Selnikov reported, “A rather… unusual airship was sighted last night, and this morning my people have found it on the northern caravan grounds. It must be the Baron’s man, but he has yet to announce himself to any of the cities’ agencies.”
Anevka waved at the crowd. “I was expecting that. No doubt he is assessing the town. Put out the word that any strangers are to be detained. Politely, of course, by someone smart enough to play stupid. We’ll release them once Lucrezia is dead.”
There was a sudden cessation of sound, and a few seconds later, the crowd gave a roar as they realized that the moat had been shut down.
The roar doubled in value as with a rattle, the drawbridge began to lower, revealing the great metal and wood doors. With a boom, it dropped into place. The crowd milled about indecisively, until the foremen whipped them up into action. A crew shoved a large wheeled battering ram slowly forward towards the waiting doors.
Lord Selnikov lowered a telescope and frowned. “They’re not firing on us.”
Anevka adjusted her hat. “I have never seen the Geisterdamen use anything but swords and pole axes, but I imagine with their backs to the wall, they’ll find something suitably nasty to surprise us with.”
The battering ram was now shoved up to the door. Part of the crew locked the wheels, while the rest released the chains that had kept the immense ram from swinging freely.
The crew chief called out, and the men swarmed to their positions, and as the chief began to chant, they began swinging the ram back and forth. With a final yell, they pushed the massive beam forward. With a crash, it smacked into the doors, bursting them open.
Selnikov blinked. “They weren’t even barred.”
The crew, who obviously hadn’t expected the door to give so easily, milled about in confusion for a moment. Several braver souls peered into the courtyard, and then turned back to their fellows with postures that, even from a distance, easily indicated confusion and surprise.
The waiting crowd, seeing that there was no resistance, began to surge forward.
Selnikov swept everything he could see with his telescope. “Nothing! There’s nobody in sight!” He collapsed the tube in on itself. “Something is not right,” he declared.
Anevka turned to the runners by her side. “Find my brother,” she ordered them. “Find him quickly!”
They darted off to spread the word through the increasingly chaotic crowd that was jamming into the defenseless castle.
About an hour later, a semblance of order had been restored. Anevka had ordered the cellar casks opened, and the majority of the crowd were standing about the courtyard with mugs of ale, congratulating themselves on a valiant attack.
Within one of the main dining halls, the early morning sun illuminated the great table and caused the gilt-covered walls to glow warmly as a temporary staff served cold meat and cheese to a core group of soldiers and staff that reported to the princess.
One of these was finishing his latest report. “—And the rest of the castle appears to be completely abandoned, your Highness.” Anevka listened to this with a growing nervousness. The sparse domestic staff that had remained behind after Anevka had escaped, had been found dead in their rooms.
The tension was broken by the sudden entrance of one of the searchers. “We found him!” He shouted, “We found the Prince!”
Anevka nodded in relief. “Yes? So where is he?”
The searcher looked distressed. “Ah—”
She leaned forward. “Is he all right?”
The man was obviously at a loss for words. “We… we didn’t want to move him. He’s…” He gave up trying to explain. “You’d better come.”
He led them down to one of the more isolated laboratories in the castle cellars. Racks of esoteric equipment hummed discordantly. Hanging from the ceiling, enmeshed in a nest of cables and tubes was Prince Tarvek. The large device he was connected to periodically rippled with waves of red lights. The crowd of searchers stared up at him.
“You see, your Highness? This is Spark stuff. We didn’t know what to do.”
Anevka nodded. She had to admit that she was at a bit of a loss herself.
Tarvek stirred, causing the onlookers to involuntarily step back. His eyes opened, and then focused on his sister. “Anevka,” he whispered. “Thank goodness you’ve come.”
Feeling the eyes of the crowd on her, Anevka warily stepped forward. “What happened, dear brother?”
Tarvek sighed. “Lady Vrin. She never trusted me, and she heard me talking to Veilchen.”
Anevka nodded. “I knew she’d be trouble. But where is everyone?”
Tarvek open his mouth, paused, and then glanced at the listening crowd.
Anevka nodded, turned, and clapped her hands. A slight adjustment to her vocal apparatus, and everyone hung on her every word.
“All of you. Leave us. Shut the door. Do not listen in, and let no one disturb us.”
As one, the crowd turned and silently filed out. A small tug on her lines made her turn to her bearers.
“Not you. Stand there and don’t listen.”
The four men assumed the bored, vacant expressions they habitually wore.
When the door closed, Anevka looked back up at her brother. “So where are they?”
“They’re gone. All of them. And they’ve taken all of father’s machines.”
Anevka stepped back and made the small clicking sound that indicated annoyance. “She got away? How inconvenient.”
Tarvek nodded. “They collapsed the tunnels behind them, and sealed the shafts to the Geister village.”
“So we have nothing we can show Klaus’ Questor? Nothing at all?”
Tarvek’s eyes widened. “Is he here?”
Anevka waved a hand. “Probably, but he’s keeping a low profile so far. I have people looking for him…” Her voice trailed off. She was obviously thinking hard.
After a minute, Tarvek cleared his throat. “Um… How about getting me down from here?”
This refocused Anevka’s attention upon him. She considered him for a moment. “No,” she decided. “I think not.”
Tarvek blinked. “Why on earth not?”
“Tarvek, be reasonable. The Baron’s man will be here any minute.” Anevka rolled her eyes. “I need someone to take the blame, and I’m afraid you’re the only one left.”
Tarvek’s jaw dropped slightly and he stared at her. He then surprised his sister by laughing admiringly. Anevka tilted her head to one side. “I must say you’re taking it well.”
Tarvek chuckled again. “Oh, Anevka, you really are amazing. I can’t believe how you’ve grown.”
Anevka folded her arms. “Is maudlin sentimentality supposed to make me feel guilty about killing you? Because if it didn’t work for Mummy—”
Tarvek shook his head. “Of course not. But I can assure you that you shan’t have to worry about dealing with the Questor.” Easily a dozen armed Geisterdamen stepped out from behind various devices. “Or anyone else, really.”
Anevka whirled and saw that her band of carriers was surrounded, effectively trapping her. “What is this?”
Lucrezia stepped forth and grinned. “This, dear girl, is a change of plans.”
Anevka ignored her, and spoke to her carriers. “Be ready to move, gentlemen.”
Lucrezia smirked. “Oh surely you don’t think they can stand up to my priestesses?” As one, the assembled Geisterdamen hefted their swords.
“Of course not. My boys are strong, but they’re not dangerous.” Idly her hand drifted up to the speaker at her throat and twisted a dial. “That would be me.
SLEEP!
”
This last command boomed out through the room, and with a sigh, every one of the pale women swooned and fell to the floor. The only exceptions were Vrin, who only kept her feet with visible difficulty, and Lucrezia herself. After a shocked second, Lucrezia whirled to face Tarvek. “You gave her my voice?” she shrieked.
Tarvek looked impressed. “And did a better job of it than I’d thought.”
“Oh don’t be so smug,” Anevka hissed. “It still didn’t take out Vrin.”
That worthy arose from the side of the priestess she had been examining. “Of course not!” she sneered. “I am not some first rank priestess able to be manipulated by voice alone. I know my Lady!” She raised her sword and leapt forward. “And I know my duty! Die, monster!”
Her sword swept down, and was stopped dead when Anevka caught it in a steel hand. “I don’t think I shall,” Anevka said airily. Her other hand reached out and closed about Vrin’s throat. “I am a very well-made monster.” An electric blue flare crackled about Vrin’s neck and head, and the Geisterdamen collapsed to the ground.
“Vrin!” Lucrezia looked furious as her ally toppled to the floor.
Anevka lazily examined her smoking hand. “Oh, don’t worry. She’s probably not dead. Yet.”
She now looked directly at Lucrezia and took a step towards her. “So what do you think of my outfit? It’s my ‘Heroine of the City’ costume.”
She took another step, and Lucrezia took a step backwards. “Oh I’m sure you’ve heard stories like it: ‘The Valiant Princess, who, when all seemed lost, rallied the people and took revenge upon her father’s vile murderer?’” She took another step. “That’s you, by the way.”
Lucrezia took retreated another step and discovered that she had backed herself up against a bank of machinery. Anevka shrugged. “The people love that sort of thing, you know. Why, I expect to see an opera based on the story within the year.”
She took a moment to examine the white uniform she wore. She turned towards her sibling. “You’re the one who knows about clothes. I think a large, dramatic splash of red will really set this off, don’t you? Be honest now.”
Tarvek looked at her over his spectacles. “A minute ago you were going to throw me to the Baron.”
Anevka tilted her head. “That was then, brother, this is now. Do try to keep up. Father always said that if providence provides a convenient, powerless scapegoat, it is a sin not to use it.”
Tarvek caught Lucrezia’s eye and shrugged. “Father was not what I’d call an exemplary roll model,” he confessed.
Lucrezia darted sideways and snagged a sword from the floor. She hefted it experimentally.
Anevka paused, and rolled her eyes. “Another sword? Oh but you and your priestesses really are relics, aren’t you?” She moved forward. “Well if that’s the best a poor old thing like you can do—”
With a snap of her arm, Lucrezia threw the sword. Anevka didn’t even have to dodge as it flew past her.