cauldron full of rose petals.
The staff was overwhelmed, screaming orders at their inferiors and running about in a craze. The only person who spoke to me was a maid, and it was to apologize for losing her temper at another maid in my presence.
There was a shift in the Duskmen’s attitudes towards me as I neared a more secure area of the Crescendo. One of them halted me and asked, “Are you lost, Miss?”
“Yes,” I replied in my best impersonation of a noble. “Forgive me. Where am I?”
He smirked upon hearing the quality of my voice, but didn’t seem to assume anything other than that I might be ill. “You were about to wander into the prince’s chamber, Miss. You wouldn’t want to go there now, what with that violent criminal being locked up inside.”
“I am the ehrendame,” I said. “I thought I might prepare the chamber for the wedding night. I have these rose petals.” The sugarplum damsel act was actually quite amusing. I lifted my cauldron for him to see. He peeked inside.
“The prince has the key, so I couldn’t let you in even if I—” Before this hapless guard could finish his sentence, I swung my cast-iron pot into the side of his head, dropping him to the floor with a spray of petals.
I wound my bent hairpins into the keyhole, fiddling with the securities. This lock had a number of tricky key pins, and without my tools, it was a decent challenge. I twisted, scraped and timed my picks, and finally the lock gave.
On the other side of the door, Captain Dirk was chained to a safe. For a second, I thought I had broken into a torture chamber, but then I saw the luxurious bed. Torren’s bedchamber was the stuff of nightmares. Frightening projects covered every surface and shelf, baby dolls with taxidermy bird heads, stitch-work chimeras combining cat tails with rodent bodies and monkey feet, masked with the scratched faces of porcelain dolls. I didn’t let this distract me. My primary task was removing Dirk’s gag, which I regretted upon completion.
“You look beautiful, Clikk.”
“Shut up,” I said, concentrating on the padlocks confining him. These were much simpler to pick with hairpins.
“I am going to kill that imperial snot.”
“I know you will.” I moved onto the next padlock, stabbing fiendishly as I rushed to get us out of there. If we were discovered, all was lost.
“He’s a twisted pup,” said Dirk.
“I saw the dolls.”
“Ugh.” Dirk shuddered. “I hate to think of him putting his grubby mitts on Molly.”
“What did you think would happen after the wedding?”
“The boy looks like an eight-year-old! I only just learned he’s sixteen. And I never imagined he would be so…” His eyes wandered back to the doll creatures and he cringed. “…depraved.”
“He is Perceval’s son,” I muttered. “The man allowed his army to outrage the capital’s prettiest whores in the Old Square. Used to death like they were nothing. Of course they were only peasants, and whores no less. Nobody even cared.” I opened the last of the padlocks. Click. Click. Click. As the chains fell away, Dirk took hold of my arm.
“People cared, Clikk. Nobody deserves such a fate. If ever Molly…” Dirk hid his eyes in the palm of his hand. Silent tears fell down his cheeks. “She’s my little sister. She means everything to me. Oh, gods. How could I do this to her?”
I unraveled the heavy chains from around him and offered a hand up. “We can make it right, Captain. I have a plan to get her off the Crescendo. I shall accompany Torren and Molly after the ceremony. When he tries the door, you will kill him and we’ll escape. Baker and Fitz are stealing a globe copter and coming for us.”
“How do Baker and Fitz figure into this?”
“We planned to save Molly all along, against your orders. I’m sorry, Captain, but I couldn’t let you give her away.”
Dirk grimaced at first, but his anger allayed and he sighed. “You came back for me when you didn’t have to.
The staff was overwhelmed, screaming orders at their inferiors and running about in a craze. The only person who spoke to me was a maid, and it was to apologize for losing her temper at another maid in my presence.
There was a shift in the Duskmen’s attitudes towards me as I neared a more secure area of the Crescendo. One of them halted me and asked, “Are you lost, Miss?”
“Yes,” I replied in my best impersonation of a noble. “Forgive me. Where am I?”
He smirked upon hearing the quality of my voice, but didn’t seem to assume anything other than that I might be ill. “You were about to wander into the prince’s chamber, Miss. You wouldn’t want to go there now, what with that violent criminal being locked up inside.”
“I am the ehrendame,” I said. “I thought I might prepare the chamber for the wedding night. I have these rose petals.” The sugarplum damsel act was actually quite amusing. I lifted my cauldron for him to see. He peeked inside.
“The prince has the key, so I couldn’t let you in even if I—” Before this hapless guard could finish his sentence, I swung my cast-iron pot into the side of his head, dropping him to the floor with a spray of petals.
I wound my bent hairpins into the keyhole, fiddling with the securities. This lock had a number of tricky key pins, and without my tools, it was a decent challenge. I twisted, scraped and timed my picks, and finally the lock gave.
On the other side of the door, Captain Dirk was chained to a safe. For a second, I thought I had broken into a torture chamber, but then I saw the luxurious bed. Torren’s bedchamber was the stuff of nightmares. Frightening projects covered every surface and shelf, baby dolls with taxidermy bird heads, stitch-work chimeras combining cat tails with rodent bodies and monkey feet, masked with the scratched faces of porcelain dolls. I didn’t let this distract me. My primary task was removing Dirk’s gag, which I regretted upon completion.
“You look beautiful, Clikk.”
“Shut up,” I said, concentrating on the padlocks confining him. These were much simpler to pick with hairpins.
“I am going to kill that imperial snot.”
“I know you will.” I moved onto the next padlock, stabbing fiendishly as I rushed to get us out of there. If we were discovered, all was lost.
“He’s a twisted pup,” said Dirk.
“I saw the dolls.”
“Ugh.” Dirk shuddered. “I hate to think of him putting his grubby mitts on Molly.”
“What did you think would happen after the wedding?”
“The boy looks like an eight-year-old! I only just learned he’s sixteen. And I never imagined he would be so…” His eyes wandered back to the doll creatures and he cringed. “…depraved.”
“He is Perceval’s son,” I muttered. “The man allowed his army to outrage the capital’s prettiest whores in the Old Square. Used to death like they were nothing. Of course they were only peasants, and whores no less. Nobody even cared.” I opened the last of the padlocks. Click. Click. Click. As the chains fell away, Dirk took hold of my arm.
“People cared, Clikk. Nobody deserves such a fate. If ever Molly…” Dirk hid his eyes in the palm of his hand. Silent tears fell down his cheeks. “She’s my little sister. She means everything to me. Oh, gods. How could I do this to her?”
I unraveled the heavy chains from around him and offered a hand up. “We can make it right, Captain. I have a plan to get her off the Crescendo. I shall accompany Torren and Molly after the ceremony. When he tries the door, you will kill him and we’ll escape. Baker and Fitz are stealing a globe copter and coming for us.”
“How do Baker and Fitz figure into this?”
“We planned to save Molly all along, against your orders. I’m sorry, Captain, but I couldn’t let you give her away.”
Dirk grimaced at first, but his anger allayed and he sighed. “You came back for me when you didn’t have to.
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