Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti Page B

crew.”
    Taya laughed humorlessly and pulled away from him.
    â€œSorry, Exalted. Equal to equal, I’ve got a job to do, and I don’t have time to argue with you about it.”
    He cursed as she ran down the street and lifted her wings to catch the wind.

Chapter Four
    The cook at Taya’s eyrie brewed tea out of the bitterest black leaves ever exported from Cabiel. Normally the drink was enough to give the twenty or so icarii who lived at the boarding house the jolt they needed to face the day, but this morning Taya yawned over her cup and wondered if she could get away with going back to bed for a few more hours. Her muscles ached, her cuts throbbed, and her wings were in the smith’s shop being repaired.
    â€œHey, Taya!” Pyke burst in, waving a newspaper. “You’re awake!”
    â€œBarely.” She shifted as he sat next to her and spread out the pages of The Watchman . The ink smelled fresh, and Pyke’s fingers were smeared with black as he stabbed at the headline that blazed across the front page.
    TERRORISM!
    Torn Cards Attack Wireferry, Refinery
    Night of Horror!
    Taya frowned and skipped down the stack of headers to the story.
    â€œYou’re in there,” Pyke said, pointing. “Both of us get a mention, but you’re the hero, see?”
    â€œI don’t remember seeing any reporters there.” She read further, then gasped. “Look! They quoted me! I never said that!”
    Pyke laughed and read the paragraph aloud.
    â€œâ€˜I was only doing my duty,’ the modest icarus said. ‘I’m grateful that Lady Octavus and her son are safe and that I was given this chance to serve my city.’ Like you wouldn’t have said that if they’d asked.”
    â€œI don’t think Taya would have used that ‘serve my city’ line,” Cassilta said, breezing in and dropping into a chair at their table. “It sounds fake.”
    â€œIt’s all fake,” Taya protested. “The only person I talked to was a lictor, and that was just to give him my statement.”
    â€œWell, that’s the glory of a free press.” Cassi grinned at her. “It’s free to make up anything it wants.”
    â€œYou should be flattered,” Pyke grumbled. “Nobody faked an interview with me.”
    â€œYou were just as important,” Taya assured him. Without his help, both she and Viera Octavus would have died, or at least been crippled on impact. But only another icarus was likely to realize that.
    â€œI’d love to hear what you’d tell the papers, Pyke.” Cassilta pried the cup of tea from Taya’s hand and took a sip. “Ick, it’s cold. Stay there. I’ll get fresh cups.”
    â€œBelieve me, I’m not going anywhere.”
    â€œLate night at the wedding?” Pyke leaned back in his chair.
    â€œNot really. But—”
    â€œDon’t talk about the wedding until I’m back!” Cassilta shouted across the dining room, balancing three cups in her hands. She wove back through the tables and rejoined them. “Okay. How was it?”
    Taya began to tell them about the ceremony. After a few minutes Pyke returned to his paper, leaving the discussion of food and dresses and babies to the two women. She didn’t tell them she’d nearly been mugged. She didn’t want to hear any lectures about walking alone through Tertius at night.
    â€œHey, Taya, did you see the fire last night?” Pyke interrupted, peering over the paper. “It wasn’t far from your old neighborhood.”
    â€œI saw it.” Taya took a sip of the stomach-dissolving tea to collect her thoughts. “I flew over in case I was needed, but they got everything under control pretty fast.” She’d lingered long enough to report the icarus-hunters to the lictors. They’d promised to look for the three foreigners as soon as they had a chance.
    â€œ The Watchman says they