Treachery of Kings (22 page)

Whatever it was, it came with jolly trumpeters, who couldn't find the key, plus a herd, a covey, a flight of happy nobles, peers, and those about the palace with nothing else to do.

“Here, now, gather round, all,” shouted King Llowen-keef-Grymm. “This is something special, and I wish to share it with my nobles, and even those of you who are nothing at all.”

More cheers, more huzzahs. Courtiers far from the center of things escaped to find a mug of ale.

“I want you to move in closer, Master Finn, and you too, Miss. Right in front, if you please.”

“Yes, thank you, sire,” Finn said, and, in a quick aside to Letitia Louise, “whatever happens, stay close to me. I still have Koodigern's dagger, and I'll take as many with us as I can.”

“Finn, it's just some churchy thing, I'm sure. I don't see why they'd harm us.”

“You've much to learn about the treachery of kings, my dear, but I've no time to tell you now.”

And though he had no wish to alarm Letitia, Finn could see that a company of Badgies had slipped in behind them with no sound at all.

“I can take out eight or nine,” Julia said, “possibly ten.”

“Don't. Not unless I do, you hear?”

“Striking first is the basic rule of strategy, set down by Hephades the Sly.”

“Staying alive is the basic rule of Finn the coward. Shut it down, Julia, now.”

“What's this all about?” Letitia wanted to know.

“Julia. I need to get her in the shop.”

“Oh. What for?”

“Master Finn, up here, if you please.”

The King reached out and entangled Finn in a clutter of grim, funereal gear, sooty snips of this and that.

“We have here,” the King announced, “one Finn of Fyxedia, craftsman of lizards, a device he thought up by himself.

“With him is one of the very lizards he's produced, along with Miss Letitia Louise, a Mycer girl in his service, and, in my eye, as attractive as any human girl you'll find around here.”

What is this royal rascal up to? What does he think he's going to do
?

“… now, as a treat to all my subjects, a treat which few of you deserve, for you never do anything for me, I would show you something you have never seen before. And, I daresay, will never see anything like it again. Thus, with a touch of my royal hand… “

The King pulled a cord, the drape slipped away and the thing was revealed.

The crowd was wary of whatever was to be. They muttered, mumbled, chattered in a voice of indecision, whispered in clear uncertain terms, waited on the edge, waited with no idea what the King would have them do.

Finn's heart nearly stopped.
The clock. That damnable, tasteless lizard with a clock in its belly, was mounted on the golden cart, for all the court to see. …

T
HE TRUTH OF THIS SCAM, THIS TRICKERY OF THE
King, struck Finn like a blow, near took his breath away. Here was the clever monarch's cunning, his sly and hateful deceit. Here was the reason Llowenkeef-Grymm had stopped him, moments before he was free of the place for good.

The King had
not
tossed his present aside, as Finn had prayed he'd do. This mad collector of clocks had torn into the bundle and found the ugly item inside. And, in a fit of fury, in a moment of rage, he had planned this moment of dread disclosure for the man who had dared bring this artless, base, vulgar piece of rubbish into his land…

“We're in for it now,” Julia said. “I would like to say, our acquaintance has been a partial delight.”

“He's not going to kill us. He just wants to flog us a bit. Just keep your snout shut, I'll handle this.”

“Master Finn…”The King looked at him with a grave, thoughtful look in his noble eyes.

“You have said this gift comes to me from Aghen Aghenfleck the Fourth?”

“Sire… “

“And, though you've not said it, I'd guess you made this artifact yourself?”

“I did, Your Grace. And if I might say a word here…”

“No, you may not! It is bad manners, Finn, and blasphemy second class, to interrupt me.”

“Yes, sire.”

“Come here. Do it now.”

“Oh, Finn,” Letitia said beneath her breath.

Finn stood straight, though he feared his legs might collapse.

“In all fairness, Finn, you should know I have taken into consideration the fact that your, ah—Prince, ordered you to craft this piece.”

“I appreciate that, sir.”

“It is magnificent, Finn.”

“I regret, sire, that—what?”

“A masterpiece, a thing of wonder, glorious in its artifice and design. I have seen clocks without number, clocks from the immortal crafters of the East, clocks from the tiny folk who are said to live beneath the sea, and have fins instead of knees. Frankly, I have my doubts about that.

“At any rate, none of these, Finn, are worthy of an artist such as you.”

“He
likes
this piece of crap?”

“Hush, Julia,” Letitia whispered. “The man's a connoisseur.”

“I would deem it a favor to a grateful king, if you would show me how it works.”

“Now, sire?”

“What did I say, boy? Now, indeed.”

The King clapped his hands in pleasure, a signal to the watchful crowd that they should openly admire, with speech and gesture, this man who pleased the King.

“It's really quite simple, sire.”

Finn moved to the golden cart, a bold new note of confidence in his voice.

“The timepiece itself is embedded in the belly of the lizard. Rampant, as it were, upon its hind legs, its forelegs raised in what I like to call a, ah—whimsical salute.”

“Whimsical, yes. The very word, I feel.”

“The tail, which is gilded with golden scales, serves as the pendulum of the clock. I release this small locking device and—so, the tail begins to swing.”

“I am beside myself, Finn. I never expected as much. Who would have dreamed of having the tail itself swing?”

“He did,” Julia muttered to herself, “not me.”

“Now, sire, there is another function here. I release another switch… “

The King gave such a shrill cry of delight, Finn feared he might have shed his mortal form.

“The eyes—the eyes move back and forth as well!”

“It's a small thing, sire.”

“Small?
Genius
, I should say, for it has never been done before in the history of clocks.”

He turned to Finn, and Finn was near certain there were tears in the fellow's eyes.

“The honor of creation is yours. The honor of owning this wonder is mine. You have made yourself immortal in clockdom, Finn.”

“Well, hardly, sire.”

“Did I say immortal, boy?”

“Sire, I believe you did.”

“To say otherwise is to contradict the King.”

“I know he didn't mean that,” Letitia said. “He's good with his hands, but he's not real proficient with the spoken word, sire.”

“He's not,” Julia said. “I can vouch for that.”

“Indeed?” The King raised a curious brow. “Never taken a lizard's vouch before. I suppose it's all right. At any rate—You”—he waved at anyone at all—”you will proceed with this now.”

Two servants, plainly clad in the drab uniform of the Gracious Dead, came quickly and offered the King a velvet box. The box was clearly quite heavy, for it took the pair to set it down.

“Now, both of you, get the thing out here, what do you think I hire you for?”

The two servants lifted. And, it was indeed weighty, for they breathed hard, and the veins stood out upon their brows.

“Your Grace!” Finn was astonished, truly speechless for a time. Letitia muttered something in the Mycer tongue, which she rarely did at all.

The thing that arose from the box was a chain, a golden chain, with links Finn was sure would anchor a ship of good size. Each of these monstrous links was encrusted with gems of every sort—rubies, sapphires, diamonds and such—many gems that Finn couldn't name.

At the end of this chain was a resplendent circle of gold. A large green stone lay at its center, and small diamonds cluttered about the edge.

“Seems a bit heavy,” said the King. “I expect these fellows would be grateful if you bent for just a moment, to allow them to get it on.”

Finn did as he was told. With a great deal of heavy breathing, and fussing about, the men wrested the loop over Finn's broad shoulders. Julia leaped into Letitia's lap not a moment too soon.

Finn gasped, and caught himself before he fell to his knees. The King began to clap again, and the crowd began to cheer. Finn tried not to stagger, made a great effort not to sag. The thing surely weighed a good eighty pounds, and came down to his knees.

“Looks good on you, Finn.” The King stepped back and grinned.

“I am overwhelmed, sire.”

“I shouldn't wonder. That's a Ninety-Fifth Degree decoration you're wearing there. We only go to ninety-six. Here. You need to read it. It's hand engraved, you know.”

With some degree of effort, Finn lifted the great pen
dant that hung below his knees. It read, in florid script, enameled in lilac and blue:

∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

“I am honored,” Finn said. “I scarcely know what to say.”

“Words won't suffice, I shouldn't think,” the King said, rising from his gilded chair. “Here, come with me. You too, Miss, and lizard, as well.”

Without another word, Llowenkeef-Grymm stalked across the Great Hall, scattering courtiers aside.

Finn looked at Letitia, and Letitia looked back. Neither, with the slightest idea of what might be coming next.

Finn gathered the loops of his fine decoration and kept up as well as he could. The King didn't pause until he reached a small, arched door, set neatly within the wall.

“The family doesn't take part in these events. Isn't good for those louts to see too many royals at a time. A lot of them faint. We had a fellow die.”

“I can see that,” Finn said.

“You keep saying that, you'll stir up my ire, Finn. You couldn't possibly comprehend even half of what I'm saying, don't pretend you can.”

“I certainly won't, sire.”

Llowenkeef-Grymm waved him off, clearly annoyed, a mood which seemed to strike him at any given time.

“At any rate, you'll get to meet the royals. We'll all be dead again soon, so there isn't much time.”

Finn started to speak, but Letitia shook her head in warning.

The King threw open the door, then, and Finn suddenly understood. He didn't have to count. He knew there'd be ten, plus the King himself. Eleven. Minus one, and he was thankful for that. Still, nearly the entire congregation of the Deeply Entombed. The only true believers in the world, and they were all gathered here. Each and every one in the rags, snags, tatters and snips, bound, wrapped, happily trapped in the drear and dusty shrouds of the fashionable dead.

Huddled together, they appeared to be a great dust bunny, swept from under a giant's untidy bed. Finn met them all, overweight uncles and undersized aunts, nieces, nephews, beady-eyed cousins, and two old men who shared the same shroud. Finn hoped they weren't joined in some horrid manner, and didn't want to ask.

Then, when all was done, Finn breathed a great sigh of relief, grateful again that the one royal member he dreaded to see had failed to appear. He could clearly see every smudgy feature, every sooty nose, and she clearly wasn't there. Count all you like and there were still only ten—

“You must forgive me, Father dear, for I had a hundred tiresome little chores. There's no rest for a princess of the realm, I cannot call my life my own… “

She stopped, halfway from the door across the room, paused, hesitated, tarried in a manner, then realigned her bodily parts in a posture that was likely illegal somewhere, bit her saucy lip and blinked at Finn.

“Finn, you sweet man, what a marvelous surprise, I had no idea we'd be together again so soon!”

Finn's prayer to die failed. The earth didn't part and swallow him up. Indeed, nothing seemed to work at all. Instead, Fate flung DeFloraine-Marie into his arms, where she pressed herself against him in a most indecent
manner, kissed him on the mouth, pushed him away, and smiled at Letitia Louise.

“I'm glad we could finally meet. Finn has said so much about you. I think Mycer girls are prettier than any of your kind. I'm DeFloraine-Marie, Princess of Heldessia Land. My mother's in the Afterworld, but Father's such a dear. Do make Finn take off that terrible chain before he holds you again. I expect it left bruises everywhere on me.”

“Finn. I need to talk to you.”

He didn't look at Letitia, he didn't have to. “You really don't, my dear. It only seems like you do, and I quite understand how things might appear when they're actually not as they seem at all.”

“I'm relieved to hear that, Finn.”

“Well, then,” said the King, somewhat puzzled by this display. “So you and Master Finn have met, my dear?”