Fate War: Alliance (19 page)

“Oh no.” Nana said, trading her tears for consternation. “This won’t do.” She looked Sam up and down. “No, this won’t do at all.”

Sam oscillated between running in horror back to her room and having the woman put in stocks.

“Now, Nana…” Cole chastised.

“Don’t you, ‘Now, Nana’ me.” She rounded on Cole, jabbing a wrinkled finger at him. “It’s one thing for you to come back peckish, but to allow your wife to starve? This girl is on her last breath. I’ll have none of it. Sit!” Sam obeyed, as did Cole, at one of the stools around the center island piled with vegetables in process for another meal.

“And this is Sally,” Cole said, pulling one of the girl’s braids. She turned a sweet smile to Cole. Cole winked and the child blushed, then turned back to her work. “She can hear you, but she can’t speak. Right Sally?” He tugged her braid again, and Sally gave him a stern look. Much too stern from a servant to their prince, but Cole simply laughed and stuck his tongue out at the girl whose cheeks pinked again and continued to wash.

Nana heaped both their plates with bacon, eggs, biscuits and blackberries, humming cheerfully.

“Nana was my nanny when I was young.” Cole explained as they ate. “She’s been with me all this time and keeps this place running smoothly.”

Sam enjoyed the easy banter between the two. Nana regaled her with tales of Cole as a boy, and Cole denied his mischief. She had never felt more comfortable, more relaxed. Eating with the help, and in the kitchen much less, was just not something that was done, but it felt right.

As they chattered, she considered second helpings of most everything. She picked at her cuticles and eyed the biscuits.

“Don’t be shy.” Nana urged and filled her plate again without asking. “Can’t have the princess wasting away on my watch.” She was thankful the decision was made for her.

After breakfast, Cole finished the tour of the manor. He started with the grounds, which boasted a stable, riding ring, servant quarters and barracks for the small group of guards that were assigned to the manor. He led her back inside. When he came to a set of intricately carved double wooden doors, he paused with his back to them. A sheepish grin was in place.

“What’s mine is yours,” he said and opened the doors with a flourish.

Sam stepped into the two story room filled with books.

“A library,” she said in awe, breathing in the sweet leathery smell and dust. Sam spun taking in the round room with no windows. Oil lamps lit the space casting deep shadows on the brightly colored marble mosaic floor. The room wasn’t overly large, but there must have been thousands of books. Her mind began the calculations; how many books, how many pages, probabilities of certain genres and how long it would take her to read them all. Her turning led her back to Cole, who watched her with a self-satisfied smirk.

“You like it?” he asked.

“Of course,” she responded, trying to slow her unrestrained mind. Her thoughts had been held captive for too long. She felt them begin to run, stretch and pull. They loosened and built up muscles that had atrophied from disuse.

“One more room,” Cole said, pushing open another set of double doors in the library. They entered Cole’s laboratory. This room made the study at the castle look like a simple closet. Glass, rubber, metal, and ceramic containers lined the shelves. Bottles, beakers, cans, and boxes filled other spaces. There were scales and burners among the equipment, but the bronze microscope begged Sam’s attention.

The back wall was paned glass from floor to ceiling and flooded the two story room with sunlight. On the other side of the wall several servants went about their duties in a large greenhouse.

“Oh, Cole,” Samantha whispered. “This is magnificent.” When she could finally pull her eyes away from the site, she looked at Cole. He stood, arms crossed with that crooked smile that meant she was about to be uncomfortable.

“So. Do you think you might
comprehend
enough to assist me in this laboratory?” he asked with biting sarcasm.

Sam could only offer a laugh in response, as she bounded into the room to explore.

****

The look of absolute rapturous delight on Sam’s face made Cole wish he had put it there. Nana could take the credit though, or rather her raspberry tart with fresh whipped cream did. He waited patiently for her to finish savoring the last bite and answer his question.

They sat in the drawing room having afternoon tea. Sprocket crouched by the piano, chattering at the instrument. The racket sounded like a conversation with a long lost friend and he paused every few moments as if listening for an answer. Cole found it distracting and quickly becoming annoying. He could still imagine the creature pouncing on him at any moment.

“He was the Master Tinker of Perspicia.” Sam continued and dabbed crumbs from her lips with a napkin. “Jasper developed mech years ahead of his time. Even our most advanced Tinkers are dumfounded by scraps he left behind.”

Cole was thankful for Nana’s treat. He could tell Jasper was a difficult subject for Sam, but the tart was distracting her enough to keep her talking.

“I thought his name was familiar. I’m sure I’ve heard of him before. And you’re sure the mechmen were Jaspers design?” Cole prodded.

“I…” Sam looked past him, like the answer lay on the back wall. “I worked with him.”

Cole calculated quickly. “He disappeared ten years ago. You worked with him when you were eleven?”

“Actually, my earliest memories are of working with Jasper in his shop,” she added, still not looking directly at him.

Cole quirked an eyebrow at her, knowing she still held something back. Shifting uneasily under his stare, she finally broke.

“Mother wouldn’t allow me in his shop. I snuck out to be with him.” He held the stare to make sure that was all. “A lot,” she added.

“I’m sure.” Cole chuckled and released her from his gaze. “I still can’t figure out how you snuck around to get books from my study, or how you went to the stables with no one seeing you. I would have heard about that. Not to mention how you suddenly appeared in the middle of the battle with the Fate the other day. Don’t tell me. You just know how to be sneaky too.” He winked and took a sip of tea.

Sam shrugged and hid her expression behind her cup. Yes, she was a sneaky one.

She leaned forward, a conspiratorial look in her eyes. “I thought we were close. Jasper talked to me, understood me. I don’t think my father has said a complete sentence to me ever.”

She sat back stared into her cup. “And…”

“And,” Cole prodded when she didn’t continue.

She took a deep breath and fixed him in a pained gaze. “He also sent me a message.”

“When? How?” he coaxed.

“The soldier in the dungeon.”

“You snuck out to meet with the traitors?” Cole worked to keep his voice steady. Sneaking out to the stables was one thing, but this was dangerous.

“No. The day in the secret passage at the castle. He sent me a message then.”

Cole stared, confused and concerned for Sam’s sanity.

“It was in mine and Jasper’s secret language. He said ‘I am with the Fate. I will save you’. Then the soldier stared at the wall like he could see me and said ‘Hello, My Dear’.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Cole demanded.

“I – I,” she stammered, tears brimming. “What difference would it have made?”

“You’re right. It doesn’t make a difference except now we know for sure where Jasper’s allegiance lies. Tell me about this secret language,” he asked, trying to take Sam’s attention away from the betrayal.

“Well, it’s fairly straightforward once you know the rules.” She wiped a single tear from her cheek that had escaped. “You square the number of letters in the word. Then for consonants, you count forward that number skipping vowels and Q. For vowels you count backwards skipping consonants.”

Cole stared like he’d been kicked in the head by Octavious one too many times.

She continued, “Oh, and Y is always Y.”

“How long did it take you to translate the message?”

“As he said it. Instantly.”

“There is no way you can do that. Say ‘Cole is handsome’ in Samese.”

The resulting giggle was encouraging. “Xugi ox met’jxusi.”

“That’s remarkable. Although I wouldn’t know if you did it right.”

A thump brought their attention back to Sprocket who was now on the bench whirring angrily at the piano.

“What’s his problem?” Cole asked.

“I don’t know.” Sam said, more amused than concerned.

Cole tried to ignore the noisy creature behind him and concentrated on their question game. He couldn’t remember what he was going to ask next. “Okay. It’s your turn. Ask me a question, anything at all,” he said.

Sam spooned another lump of sugar in her tea and stirred it contemplatively. She took a breath to speak then huffed it out. He tried not to be frustrated. She was really trying to break out, but today everything grated on his nerves like rock candy on rotten teeth. The pent up tension in his body vied constantly for release, and he was about to crush that skittering gold roach brooch if it didn’t shut up.

“Okay, I’ve noticed that your relationship with your servants is highly irregular.” The words spilled out quickly. “Your servants seem to be much happier than most. Why is that?”

“Oh, that’s an easy question.” Cole was disappointed in himself. He missed her victory due to his bad mood. “I treat them like people, not servants. They are also paid a fair wage for their services. It goes a long way for morale.”

She smiled at his answer, and he soaked it up. Her eyes twinkled with pride over the rim of her tea cup. No one had ever looked at him that way, and it never really mattered before. He smiled back, and hope blossomed that her pride in him would never fade.

A thump and bang of keys on the piano interrupted the moment.

“Sprocket!” Sam screamed and almost dropped the tea cup in her haste to cross the room. The creature writhed on the floor, looking like a dying bug, stuck on its back. Sprocket’s shrieks drowned out the continued ringing of struck piano keys.

“Sprocket Home!” Sam said, but the creature continued its thrashing. “I don’t know what to do!” She turned worried eyes to Cole. He held his hands out, helpless. “Sprocket Home!” She tried again with no response.

Cole couldn’t think with all the noise. He reached a foot under the piano and pressed the damper peddle. The moment the tones ceased, Sprocket scrambled to his feet. He shook like a wet dog and with a relieved whir jumped to Sam’s heart and curled into home position.

“What happened?” Cole asked, dropping to the piano bench.

“I don’t know.” Sam stroked Sprocket and joined him at the piano. “I guess it has to do with sound, or certain tones.” Her voice still shook with the remnants of fear. “I don’t know what I would do if…”

“Hey, it’s okay. He’s fine.” Cole encouraged.

“I know.” She tried a smile, but faltered.

“Here. I’m a little rusty, but let me play you a song. We’ll watch to see if Sprocket reacts. Okay?”

She nodded her consent, and Cole made a show of cracking his knuckles in hopes of lightening her mood. He was rewarded with a grin. Playing a simple waltz, they both watched for any movement from the brooch. After a few measures with no response, she relaxed. He played through the piece, pleased with himself for not making too many mistakes.

“That was lovely,” Sam applauded.

“Why thank you, my dear,” Cole said with a mock bow. “Do you play?”

“No. Mother said music was not an appropriate pursuit. We didn’t even have instruments in the castle growing up. I was never allowed to try.”

Cole stifled a sneer. He couldn’t imagine a child growing up without music. If possible, he began to like his mother-in-law less.

“Come here.” He patted the bench next to him and was pleased when she sat so close without reluctance. “I’ll teach you.”

Cole named each of the keys on the piano and had her play each one. He was about to explain scales when he noticed a familiar movement from her. Glancing sideways he saw she was entranced again, studying the keys.

“Oh!” She exclaimed after a few moments, flashing him a childlike smile. “I get it.”

She raised her hands to the keys and proceeded to play. She played the waltz Cole had, repeating it exactly, mistakes and all.

“That was fun!” She turned to him, beaming. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, concern creeping into her brow.

Cole wasn’t aware of how he was looking at her. He wasn’t aware of much, as it was with one suffering from shock.

“I…um…” he stammered. “You…you’ve never played?”

“No.” Offense overtook concern in her features. Cole wondered just exactly how his face must look if it elicited this response from her.

The gears in his scientific mind started cranking and he shifted out of his stupor. Rifling through the sheet music above the keyboard, he pulled out the waltz they just played. He started explaining how to read music, watching her closely. Even before his cursory explanation was done, Sam slipped into the trance, her tinker trance. Cole stopped talking and watched as she studied the sheet music, tilting her head inquisitively from side to side.

“What’s this?” she asked tonelessly as her finger flew to a “p” on the page above the staff.

“Piano. It means play softly.”

“What’s this?” she asked again, urgently pointing to an “f”

“Forte. It means play loudly.” She pointed to other symbols on the page, sounding almost frustrated when he took too long to answer. Finally the tinker trance broke, and she smiled up at him.

“It’s like this. You played it wrong.” She giggled and then played the piece perfectly, no mistakes.

“That’s…” Cole tried to shake himself out of shock again. “…amazing. “

“I like playing the piano.” She said cheerily, flipping through the other pieces of music on the music stand.

“Are either of your parents like you? I mean, do they catch on to things like you do?”

“I don’t think so,” she replied, looking at the sheet music for a sonata. “Should they be?”

“I don’t know. Here, try this one.” Cole selected sheet music purchased years ago after attending a concert by the composer. The performance had nearly moved him to tears, but his piano skills were not on par with the complexity of the piece to play it himself.