A Clockwork Fairytale (33 page)

Turk clenched and released his fingers a few times, then dragged in a breath and let it go slowly before standing up.

He paused at the sight of her naked back. Her ribs and the bumps of her spine showed clearly beneath her pale skin. She looked so easily breakable. It tormented him to think of Vittorio hurting her on purpose.

He collected his gear, set the brass-studded leather bellows on the floor by his foot, and sat on the edge of the bed. “It shouldn’t take long, Melba.” He held up the small brass sucker attached to the bellows by a tube so she could see it. “All I do is run this over your skin to remove the poison.”

“I seen monks using a big version of that on poor old Maddox,” she said.

No wonder she had been spooked and run away that night. Gregorio hadn’t told him that Melba had seen anything frightening. While he pumped with his foot, he recited the cleansing prayer under his breath and stroked the flat brass head of the decontaminator down her back, drawing out smoky wisps of poison.

Melba cushioned her head on her folded arms and glanced back at him. “Tell me about your Silver Jinn.”

As he repeatedly trailed the decontaminator down her back, he told her what he remembered of his childhood with Gül. Most of his memories were fragments of events without context, just the highlights and lowlights of a young boy’s existence. Then he explained why Gregorio had recently given the medallion back to him.

Melba gave a little squeal. “You ain’t a monk no more.”

“No. I’m just a man now.”
A confused man who loves a young woman he can never have
.

She fell silent and he repeated the cleansing prayer in his head and noticed he was finding no contamination now. He longed for this time alone with her to continue. Too soon he would have to part from her and he might never be alone with her again. He bit the inside of his cheek.
Enough now
. He stood and set the equipment a safe distance away. “The poison is all gone. A good night’s sleep and you should be back to normal.”

She released a long satisfied sigh. “I know that was a medical treatment but I liked just being here alone with you, talking.”

Turk cleared his throat, sharply aware that he had been wishing the same thing and they were on sanctified ground where no woman should even tread. “When you’re ready I’ll call the others back.” He returned to the chairs but just stood and stared at the wall, his thoughts and emotions tangled into knots. If Vittorio were discredited and Santo regained his strength, Turk could stay on Royal Malverne Isle and be near Melba. But how would he bear seeing her married to another man?

Melba came up behind him and touched the hair against his neck. He felt it all the way to his toes. He turned and they sat down again. Her cheeks had already regained a healthy pink glow and her eyes some of their normal sparkle. She wrinkled her nose and scratched her ear in a gesture he knew so well it made him want to hug her. “How can I get a Silver Serpent?” she asked.

He fought a grin and failed. “If I find a piece of silver that still contains its Star I’ll give it to you. In the meantime, you can hold Gül.” At his bidding, the Silver Serpent slithered onto her outstretched hand and curled its way up her arm. When it reached her shoulder and the fine silver rope tongue flicked out and licked her cheek, she giggled. “He likes you,” Turk said. No surprise there since Gül sensed Turk’s emotions and mirrored them. “I wish I could lend him to you to protect you from Vittorio. Unfortunately, he’ll only rise from his medallion at my touch. But I do have something you can use as protection.”

Turk went to the door and called Steptoe to bring in the roses he had asked him to pick from the garden earlier. The bouquet of mixed colors scented the room. Gregorio stood in the doorway with his arms folded as Melba effortlessly raised the Flower Jinns until she had a swarm of colorful butterflies fluttering around her head.

“The Flower Jinns will warn you of anything contaminated by a Foul Jinn, and a swarm of Flower Jinns might even protect you from a Foul Jinn itself, providing it’s small.”

“Very clever of you, Turk,” Gregorio said with genuine approval. “Now you must return the princess to the Palace.”

The Primate came into the room and approached Melba. She looked up at him warily and Turk sensed tension between them. “First thing in the morning you will speak with your father, young lady. He must dispatch to me a formal invitation to attend him or I will not be admitted to the Palace. As soon as I have access to the king, we will set straight the trouble the Royal Victualler has caused. In the meantime, be very wary of Vittorio.”

Chapter Twenty-four

Don’t look back when you scarper or you’ll get caught
.

—Master Maddox

Melba and Turk stood hidden in the shadows by the canal. Although it was late, the sound of music, singing, and laughter from the Great Earth Day celebrations still came from Sugar Street Market on the other side of the waterway.

They had decided the simplest way for her to reenter the Palace was the way she had left, via the lift from the private dock on the canal. The two men who turned the lift crank should be safe as they were the king’s servants, not members of Vittorio’s guard. If Dante had done his job and distracted Vittorio, he would not think anything was suspicious until the following day. By that time, she should have spoken with her father, so it seemed pointless for her to go to the trouble of sneaking back inside.

She still felt weary from the aftereffects of the poisoning, but already her head was clearer. Turk had carried her some of the way back to the Palace, but she had walked the last part. She leaned against him, clutching the lapels of his jacket, her body humming with expectation at the thought he was no longer a monk. She had already noticed he touched her casually far more than he used to and he’d kissed her hair a few times.

“You should go inside,” Turk said stroking her hair back from her face. “I want you to get a good night’s sleep. It’ll help you regain your strength.”

“Mmm.” Melba pressed her cheek to his chest and listened to the steady thump of his heart as she slipped her arms around his waist. “I don’t want to leave you.”

His thumb brushed along her cheekbone and ear, leaving a tingly trail on her skin. “Nor I you,” he whispered against her temple. Melba fiddled with the two gold buttons above the flap on the back of his jacket, unsure how nobs went about courting. She’d seen dollymops grab sailors and do lewd things to them in the street, but she knew Turk wouldn’t behave like that.

“You should go back inside, my little Star. It wouldn’t do for Vittorio to discover you’re missing. I suggest you meet with the king as soon as you wake. Tell him about the poisoning and suggest he enlists help from Gregorio.”

He’d already told her that about five times. Was he repeating himself because he didn’t know how to go about courting either? Melba looked up at him, his handsome profile limned by the light from a punt passing on the canal. She went up on tiptoes but she could not reach to kiss him. “Turk,” she whispered.

“Yes.”

“Stop talking and kiss me.”

His body tensed within her arms so she hugged him tighter in case he tried to get away. He stared down at her, his eyes mysterious pools of shadow. Her lips parted in instinctive invitation, her heart resounding through her whole body.

The sound of drunken laughter and clinking glasses came from one of the balconies above them. Turk slid his arms around her and leaned down. She sucked in a breath loaded with the heady fragrance of lemon spice and his warm lips pressed against hers. Melba’s eyelids fell. A delicious tingle started in her belly and crept along her arms and legs. Her skin was hot and sensitive everywhere her body pressed against him. She had been waiting to kiss him all her life and she hadn’t known.

When he raised his head, she was nowhere near ready to stop. She linked her hands behind his neck and pulled him down for another kiss. “Melba, you’re the heir to the throne, love. We shouldn’t be doing this.” He laughed but when she pulled his mouth to hers, he held the back of her head and kissed her again for a long time. Finally, he gave a little sigh and pulled away. “Your father would have me tossed down The Well if he saw us like this.”

“No he wouldn’t!” Suddenly she felt very possessive of him and frightened that her father might try to make her marry someone else. If Turk thought that was going to happen, he might go off with other women while she was shut up in the Palace.

“Dante smelled like he’d been to a brothel. I don’t want you going near no tarts.”

Turk laughed. “Are you my master now? Shall I pledge to you so you can give me orders?”

“I ain’t joking, Turk. I don’t care what me pa says. I want to marry
you
.”

Turk’s laughter faded. He took her face between his hands and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I’m only teasing. I’ll not change who I am and start frequenting brothels. But I still doubt your father will give me permission to marry you.”

“I won’t marry no one
but
you. I’ll make me pa understand.”

Turk went quiet for a few moments. It made her nervous, since he had rejected her proposal last time. “Do you really mean that, my little Star?”

“Course I do or I wouldn’t say it.”

Turk stroked his fingers through her hair, kissed her forehead and then the tip of her nose. “Once everything is sorted out and your father regains his health, I’ll ask him for your hand in marriage.”

Relief so intense it was almost painful flooded through Melba. She closed her eyes against sudden tears and hugged Turk so tightly his breath burst out. He embraced her more gently. “Don’t worry, my love. The Great Earth Jinn will make sure everything works out well for us,” he whispered against her ear.

The clock in Sugar Street Market chimed midnight. “Now you really must go inside in case Vittorio checks your room. We don’t want him to discover you’re cleansed until you have alerted the king.”

Turk pulled up the hood on her cloak to hide her face. Then they went to the edge of the canal and he hailed a passing punt. “Take the lady across to the royal dock,” he said, tossing the man some coin.

Before she stepped aboard, he bent and kissed her quickly on the lips. “Be safe, my little Star,” he whispered. “Gregorio will come as soon as your father sends for him and I’ll make sure to accompany him.”

Melba climbed into the punt and sat, her eyes never leaving Turk as the craft floated across the waterway. After she climbed out, she looked for him again. He raised his hand in farewell. Her heart contracted sharply as he stepped back into the shadows and disappeared. She had so much stuff now she was a princess, but she would give it all away just to be with Turk.

As soon as she lowered the hood on her cloak, the liftmen recognized her and jumped into action. They opened the lift door for her to climb into the cubicle and turned the handle to raise the lift. Melba pressed her face to the wooden slats overlooking the canal and strained her eyes to see in the dark. But Turk had gone. She called a couple of her Flower Jinns from their hiding place up her sleeve because they reminded her of him.

Distracted by memories of kissing him, she climbed out of the lift on the top floor and wandered along the hall to her suite.

Even though it was the middle of the night, she expected to find Madam Borrelli sitting in the corner of the room waiting for her. But her companion’s favorite chair was empty. A flutter of disquiet passed through Melba as she looked around the room. A single gas lamp glowed to light her way to her bedroom. Everything looked normal, but her gut told her something was wrong.

She called all her Flower Jinns out of her sleeve and the ten bright flutterbys danced in the air above her head, chattering happily. Their presence bolstered her confidence. She went to her bedroom door and pushed it open.

Shock flashed through her. Still in his Earth King’s costume, Vittorio lounged against a heap of pillows he had piled before the headboard of her bed.

“The wanderer returns,” he said. “I’m almost sorry. I was imagining the wonderful headline on tomorrow’s newssheet: The Shining Brotherhood abducts Princess. Never mind. I’m sure I can think of an equally scandalous headline to discredit the Brothers.”

Instinctively, Melba stepped back, nervous of being alone with him. “Don’t know what you’re talking about. I just went out for a walk to clear me head.”

Vittorio gave her a sullen look. “Do not play me for a fool, little princess.”

“Where’s Madam Borrelli?”

Swinging his legs off the bed, Vittorio stood and stretched, purposely taking his time to answer. “Those who work against me are punished.”

An icy chill settled in Melba’s belly. “What have you done to her?”

“Nothing as yet. She’s keeping my traitorous brother company.”

Great Earth Jinn! That must be how Vittorio discovered where she had gone. “Where’s Dante?”

Vittorio strode toward her and Melba backed up to put a sofa between them. Her Flower Jinns sensed her agitation and darted around her head, chattering with distress. “Tonight’s celebration should have been a triumph for me,” Vittorio said, “but you and your friends contrived to ruin the moment.”

“You must have had too much cider, ’cause you’re talking a load of rot. I demand you release Dante and Madam Borrelli.” Melba didn’t expect Vittorio to take any notice of her demand, but it was worth a try.