The Clockwork Fairy Kingdom (17 page)

At another time, that might have made Nora smile. Or
possibly hit her brother. Now, it just made her try to move faster, just for
him.

When the staircase grew darker Nora paused, slipping, nearly
bringing Dale down on top of her. “Come on!” he shouted, pulling on her arm. “We’re
almost there.”

Nora didn’t want to go into the blackness before her. The
cottage at the top of the stairs had no light. But she had no choice: As always,
Nora followed Dale into the dark, as she had the first day.

They both faltered in the stinking room as the ground shook
again.

“I must go back,” Cornelius said as Nora tried to regain her
footing.

“No! You’ll be killed!” Dale said.

Nora tried to agree, but her mouth wouldn’t work right.

“Fairies are hard to kill, lad,” Cornelius said. “Plus,
someone needs to spread the rumor of
Kostya
and his
part in the machine’s destruction.”

“
Kostya
,” Nora said, shivering. “He
had a bug—”

“Aye, Miss. The
ohotnik
.
I saw it.
That’s what I’d come in to warn the queen about, when I saw you. But she wouldn’t
listen. Warriors never do. I’ll miss her.” Cornelius sighed. “The queen is
dead. Long live the queen.”

Nora shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as her brother
and the fairy mourned. “Guys,” she warned as another tremor hit.

“The fairies won’t blame you, either of you,” Cornelius
promised. “And the fairies from the southern kingdom won’t be welcome here
anymore,” he added grimly before he flew down the dark staircase.

Dale looked around the room as if seeing it for the first
time. “Come on,” he told Nora, taking her hand and dragging her outside.

Three steps outside the cottage, Nora was able to walk on
her own. After five steps, she stopped shivering. “The spell’s lifting,” she
whispered.

“Yes,” Dale said. He shook himself and suddenly stood
straighter. “Queen Adele’s dead.”

“That’s good, isn’t it, Dale?” Nora asked softly,
approaching her brother and putting her hand on his shoulder.

Dale sniffed, suspiciously sounding as if he was holding
back tears. “Yeah. I guess.”

“Dale, she wasn’t good.”

Dale rubbed the back of his hand across his eyes. “No. But
she was beautiful. And…she seemed perfect.”

Nora shivered, but not due to cold.
Perfect
had never appealed to her.

The ground shook ominously again.

“We should go,” Dale said, not moving.

Nora waited with her brother, feeling the words building.

“Do you think...I mean, is it possible for me to work on
something so amazing again?” he asked in a voice that sounded foreign and small.

Nora snorted and cuffed the back of Dale’s head, hard. “Don’t
be an idiot,” she told him when he glared at her. “You’re going to make and
invent things so much cooler than that old machine.”

“Really?” Dale asked, the hope in his voice not reaching his
eyes.

“Stop being such a drama queen,” Nora said, rolling her
eyes. “Of course you are. You’re the Master Tinker, right?”

“Right,” Dale said, sounding more confident. “But you’re
still demented.”

“Better than being an idiot.” Nora said, grinning, relieved that
Dale hadn’t said anything about her being a Maker. Ice still ruled her and her
fire hadn’t yet come back.

He wasn’t the only one who wondered if the magic would
return.

***

Despite the bright sunlight, Dale viewed the world through a
sheet of gray. The queen—
his
queen—was
dead. Dale wasn’t worried that his talent was gone. His mom had accused him of
having machine oil mixed in his blood. That hadn’t changed.

The fairy machine had been so magical. Dale’s heart still
ached at the loss. Whether he would ever work on something so awesome again,
though—that was the question.

Nora set Dale straight. He gladly took her teasing. But everything
wasn’t back to normal. For the first time, Nora reminded Dale of his mom, looking
just as pale and fragile. Still, he walked with more assurance through the tall
grass to the dirt road, certain, at least this time, that nothing watched them
as they passed through the stalks swaying over their heads. They’d only taken a
few steps down the road when Mr. Patterson drove up in his beat-up red truck.
Dale wondered why Nora stiffened beside him.

“There you are!” Mr. Patterson said, leaning out of the
driver-side window. He stared hard at the fairy coat Nora wore. “I see you
found your brother.”

“Yes,” Nora said, still oddly reserved.

“Let me give you a ride to the hospital,” Mr. Patterson
said. When it seemed Nora might protest, he added, “I insist.”

Nora glanced at Dale. He could tell she felt uncomfortable.
She got into the truck first, placing herself between Dale and the driver.

“The hospital called,” Mr. Patterson said conversationally. “Your
mom’s out of surgery. She’s going to be fine. Seems they were able to replace
the battery on her pacemaker without having to replace the pacemaker, or her
heart.”

“Good,” Dale said, looking out the window. He knew Nor
blamed him for their mom’s illness. She squeezed his knee briefly. Her hand was
normal temperature, but it wouldn’t stay that way. She’d never let go of her
magic—any more than he’d leave clockwork.

“Do you mind if we make a quick stop at the courthouse
first?” Mr. Patterson said. “I’ll get you to the hospital before your mom wakes
up. Promise.” He grabbed a sheaf of papers from behind the seat, then left them
alone.

“Nora? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know if he’s human,” Nora said quietly. “He isn’t a
fairy, and he isn’t a dwarf. He’s really strong, whatever he is.”

“He knows about the fairies,” Dale pointed out. “He used magnets
and cold iron to protect the house.”

“I don’t trust him,” Nora said coldly.

“Then I won’t either.” Dale suspected it would be a while
before he trusted his own opinions about people for a while.

***

Nora sat cross-legged in the ugly beige chair, knotting a
second bracelet, smiling to herself as Dale waited on their mom hand and foot,
fretting over her. In some ways, Nora realized, he treated her like a queen.
She had this odd image of him treating his wife the same way, then shook her
head. No, it would be many, many years before she lost him that way. However,
she would lose him, someday. She knew that without a doubt.

For now, Nora would do everything she could to protect him.
She’d untied her bracelet when they arrived at the hospital, forcing it on
Dale. She didn’t know how effective it would be—or even how much he’d
need it. Until the fairies, Dale had seen better than she had. He’d known about
Dad, seen his true nature.

The news had reported an earthquake north of them. Nora
wondered about the placement of the epicenter. Had the explosion in the fairy
kingdom triggered a real tremor, or had the fairies disguised it somehow?

“This way,” Nora heard a jovial voice saying. “There’s my
little girl!”

Nora felt herself grow colder as she looked up. She couldn’t
believe what she saw. She glanced at Dale, who nodded at her. He saw it, too.

Their dad stood in the hospital room with a police officer
behind him. His hands were behind his back; cuffed, Nora hoped. She scowled and
walked forward, intending to place herself between her dad and Dale. Dale did
the same, so it ended up being the pair of them between him and their mom.

“Kids, aren’t you happy to see your dad?” the officer asked.

Dale and Nora exchanged a look.

“Nora, I was so worried about you after the crash! Are you
all right?” Dad asked.

The sincerity in Dad’s voice almost convinced Nora—except
he wasn’t looking at her, but at Dale.

Nora crossed her arms over her chest. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m
sure the officers were looking for me as well. You’d told them all about me
being in your car—right, officer?”

“Officer Palace, ma’am. Actually, we didn’t even know you
were in the car until a bystander informed us.”

Nora swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat. “I see.”
She’d guessed as much. It still hurt to find out she’d been right.

“We were on our way to go fetch Dale, here,” Dad explained. “I
was so worried about you, son.”

Dale pressed his lips together in a tight line and didn’t
respond.

“Y’all know I just want us to be a family again, right?,”
their dad said. “Denise, you know that, don’t you darling?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Mom said, her voice still raspy.

“Please,
hon
, I am so sorry about
any pain I ever caused you. Or the kids.”

That was it, Nora realized. Dad sounded sincere—
was
sincere—at that moment. He
believed he spoke the truth. However, he was as changeable as the fairies. He
wouldn’t be sorry or apologetic for long.

“I’m sorry, too,” Mom said. “Sorry to have caused you pain.”

Nora’s stomach sunk. Didn’t Mom see that Dad was lying, or
would be lying soon?

“However, I’m not sorry I took the kids and ran,” Mom
concluded, sounding stronger.

Nora grinned. Warmth blossomed in her chest for the first
time since Queen Adele had started taking her name.

“You’re not a good father,” Mom continued. “Or a good man.”

“You’re going to break apart our family over a silly
disagreement?” Dad fumed.

“You’re the one who was going to break it further apart,”
Nora accused, stepping up to him. “You were going to steal Dale and leave me on
the side of the road.”

“He told you that?” Officer Palace asked.

“Yes,” Nora said.

“I said no such thing, young lady,” Dad said, scowling at
Nora.

“That was exactly what you had planned,” Nora said hotly. “I
heard you.” Nora paused, choosing her words carefully. “And so did my friend
sitting in the back seat.”

Nora had never seen someone grow pale like that before.

“You’re an evil child,” Chris declared. “In league with the
devil.”

Nora stepped back, feeling like she’d taken a physical blow.
How could her dad believe that of her? She wasn’t bad like the fairies. She
didn’t want to admit her lie, though, that Adele wasn’t her friend.

“Get out,” Mom said, her voice like steel. Nora had never
heard her mom so angry before. “You’re never going to have contact with my
children again. Ever!”

“That’s enough,” Officer Palace said. He jerked Dad’s
handcuffs and hauled him out of the room, handing him over to another police
officer before coming back into the room. “Ma’am,” Officer Palace said,
addressing their mom. “We’d be happy to enforce the restraining order you filed
against your husband.”

“I didn’t—” Mom said, then she stopped, looking confused.

Nora suddenly remembered the papers Mr. Patterson had
insisted on dropping off at the courthouse. “Those were the papers you asked
Mr. Patterson to file for you, remember?”

“I don’t think those are the same,” Officer Palace said. “These
were filed in California a couple weeks ago. As your friend Robert had
suggested.”

Mom nodded slowly. “Yes. Robert.”

“Mr. Patterson just brought those papers to our attention,”
Officer Palace said, looking at Nora. “We’re happy to honor the California
order.”

“Right,” Nora said, nodding. She knew her mom hadn’t filed
any papers. She also suspected that between this mysterious Robert and Mr.
Patterson, the police were willing to believe that she had.

“He won’t bother you again,” Officer Palace assured them all
before leaving. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

Nora smiled at Dale, then her mom. Yes. Now. Everything
really was going to be fine.

Queen Adele coughed as she cursed
Kostya’s
name. The dust made it hard to breathe. Adele used the smallest trickle of magic
she could for light. She didn’t want to drain herself and be buried in these
tunnels until she wasted away. At the next blocked intersection she dug deep
into her own strength to shove the boulders out of the way. A thin trail of
clear air tempted her on.

Kostya
had gone too far. He’d had
the audacity to dig tunnels under the palace itself. They’d given her a place
to escape from the secondary blast that had shaken the very foundation of the
palace. It still wasn’t right, merely ironic, that though his machine had
destroyed her kingdom, his own plotting had saved her.

How many survived? Did it matter? Cornelius had been
conveniently absent when the machine had blown up. Had he tried to warn her,
and had she not listened? That would be his story, she knew. She spit out more
dirt, the bitter earth sweet in comparison to her dark thoughts.

It didn’t matter what Cornelius or any of the royals
thought. Adele had other resources. She still had the name of the Tinker, as
well as most of the name of the Maker. Though it would take her months to make
the trip to the southern kingdom,
Gaurand
, and even
that nasty
Savit
, would help her. Then Adele could
come back. Re-take her kingdom.

Get her revenge.

***

Eli sat in his truck outside the house, monitoring the
spirits inside: the frail, completely human spark of the mother; the cooler,
more calculating magic-tinged boy; as well as the warmer glow of the girl. He’d
been too greedy, overlooking the mother’s illness and endangering all three of
them. He’d wanted Nora’s magic for his realm and hadn’t been patient. Eli shook
his head. At his age, he should have known better.

The moon glinted off Eli’s golden, hawk-like eyes. He shook
his waist-long white hair. Now, the girl would be cautious. Even through the wood
and sheetrock of the house Eli saw the tenuous ties that connected the twins
were stronger than they’d been before their ordeal. Those, too, would be more
difficult to sever.

At least they’d be safe. The fairies would keep their
distance, now that their queen had gone.
Kostya
, too,
hadn’t been seen for a while. Not that any of them understood what Eli was. He’d
watched them all arrive in his land, even the white man.

Old Eli’s usefulness was just about finished. In a couple
years he was going to have to pass away. Then his son—no, his grandson,
would have to come take over the family business. A charming stranger, with
magical eyes that Nora wouldn’t be able to resist.

Their offspring would remarkable. Too bad they generally
killed their mothers.