The Clockwork Countenance by AR DeClerck
A steampunk romance
The parlor is as gloriously opulent as the rest of the house. Lanuha has placed the Count on a low-sitting settee by the fire, a glass of warm brandy in his hand. He is stiff backed and rigid with moral indignity, but his eyes follow Lanuha around the room.
What man wouldn’t watch her, I think to myself. She is dainty and elegant, just as she was designed to be. Raised to be an elite yueji she was trained in art and dance and all manner of aristocratic life. LaoLang had escorted her to London in 1880 when she was only seventeen years old. Lanuha moves and yet the air around her does not even stir. She calls it “shredded golden lotus steps” and assures me that she suffered greatly to learn the art of doing it correctly.
I take a seat next to LaoLang on the longer sofa as Reginald takes up an innocuous space beside the door where he may survey us all. Ever watchful, my Reginald.
“Explain this, Ms. Addams.” The Count’s tone vibrates with irate anger. “Why did you bring me to this heathen place?”
I nod to Lanuha as she passes me a cup of the strong Jin Junmei tea that I prefer. It is full bodied and dark, the liquid appearing as red as fresh blood in my cup. The fragrance of it alone clears my head, and I dare not soil such fine tea with either sugar or milk.
After a long, glorious sip I turn my attention to the Count. He has drawn up and away from Lanuha when she sits beside him, as if she is an insect of multiple legs and tentacles.
I twist my lips to hide my smile as Lanuha revels in his uncomfortable trepidation. “The Silk Ribbon is a safe place, Count DuMonte. LaoLang and Lanuha have aided me in my search for the Countenance before.”
“We were simply repaying her kindness.” Lanuha insists. She sips her own tea with a measured turn of the cup, her small feet crossed and tucked beneath the settee. Her silk gown is heavily brocaded, falling nearly to her ankles, and the collar is high and quite prudish in its length. Though she is fully covered there is something sensual in every movement, as if every breath she takes is meant to ensnare a male and garner his undying devotion. It’s really very annoying to be in the room with her sometimes. I begin to feel as if I have ceased to exist, at least in the eyes of the males in the room. “Ember and her Reginald have saved Duan Dai from ruthless scoundrels who attempted to extort its deed from us.”
The Count’s eyes fly toward his hairline as he turns from Lanuha to me. “Scoundrels, you say?”
I raise a shoulder, as if the thing had been of no real consequence. In truth, Reginald and I had almost lost our lives in the fray, but saving the Duan Dai seemed the right thing to do. A fated decision, it would seem, as it was here that Reginald and I met Lambeau and convinced him to steal the Countenance.
“How did you come to befriend the owners of a…brothel?” The Count’s voice breaks on the last word as he lifts his brandy to his lips with a shaking hand.
“A long and fairly complicated story.” I assure him. “In the end it only matters that LaoLang and Lanuha are loyal and stalwart friends. I have no opposition to earning one’s way in life, and they do no more damage here than a man may find in the nearest tavern.”
“Absinthe is the devil’s drug!” the Count argues, “Opium leaves men unable to function, lying with women and in filth.”
Lanuha’s laugh seems to enchant the Count, blood suffusing his face as she leans past him to place her cup on the table at his elbow. She smells of orchids. I know because I am the one who purchased her last bottle of her favorite fragrance for her on her birthday. Her name means “orchid” and the smell suits her perfectly. The Count presses himself back into the seat, trying to avoid touching the woman.
“Oh Mr. Norwood, how charming of you to have such antiquated ways of thinking.”
The Count sputters, gulping back the rest of his brandy in one slug. “I read the Daily Telegraph, madam. I assure you, my thinking is sound.”
LaoLang shakes his head to me, pulling his long pipe from beneath the table. The Count’s eyes grow wide as he lights the drum. I shake my head.
“Absinthe is no more harmful than your favorite brandy, Count. As for opium, yes it is addictive and yet no more so than the ale at the tavern. I don’t partake myself, but the Duan Dai is clean and its ladies are of the best quality. No man who comes here will lie in refuse, of this I can assure you.”
LaoLang puffs his pipe, the sharp smell of his tobacco seeming to calm the Count somewhat. “The Count’s views will not change on this matter, Nushen.” The old man’s eyes turn to me and he narrows them. “Let us put this discussion aside, and turn to more pressing matters. Tell us of your troubles.”
I recount the story of locating the box, my injury and the Count’s rescue. I turn the story to Nikola and Horwinkle and LaoLang’s eyes become mere slits as he listens.
“I have heard of this man, Neshun. He maintains an army of steam mechs to do his bidding, and the crown ignores his foolishness.”
“Ember, you must give up this pursuit!” Lanuha’s eyes glimmer with tears, and I fear if she cries that every man in the room may seek to do me harm for causing her distress.
“I cannot.” I keep my voice firm, my hands tight on my cup. So tight I begin to wonder if the delicate china will shatter in my palms. No one in this room, save the Count, may begin to understand the need I have for the power the Countenance wields. It is all that can save my Reginald for me.
“You did well to come here.” LaoLang’s cloud of smoke thins as he speaks. “Horwinkle will not come to the rooks, for fear my boys will do damage to his bots.”
“We can only stay until tomorrow night, Old Wolf.” I look over my shoulder at Reginald. His eyes are upon me, as always. I cannot see a hint of his true self on the metal face, but I know he is there. “Nikola gave us the code, and we must get back to the box before Horwinkle’s men discover it.”
“No!” Lanuha moves quickly, kneeling before me, her eyes boring into mine. “This is suicide.”
I pat her small hands. I have enjoyed knowing this woman, whose spirit could never be beaten, even by a life such as the one she leads.
“This is what I’ve spent the last years of my life searching for, Lanuha.” I hug her, the smell of orchids clinging to my dress as we part. “The Count and I have much work to do.”
“What is his part in all of this, Em?” Lanuha’s eyes are sharp as she looks over her shoulder at the Count. He is staring into the fire, seeming lost in thought. She turns to Reginald then, anger lighting the dark depths of her gaze. “And YOU! You are supposed to protect her! This quest is going to get her killed. You understand that, don’t you?”
Reginald remains impassive, but I know he must feel pain at her words. “Madam does as Madam wishes.” he says. It is all he needs to say. What I want, Reginald will endeavor to give me. He is all I want.
“As for the Count,” I say, drawing his attention away from the fire, “he has a lost love he wishes to be reunited with, and so his only hope lies with the Countenance as well.”
“This box may spell doom for you all.” Lanuha goes back to her perch on the settee, but her cheeks are flushed, her fan fluttering “To tamper with life is an eerie business.”
“It’s science, Lanuha.” I put my cup on the table at my right, the day’s events dragging my shoulders down and reminding me that I am exhausted. The only thing keeping me moving at the moment is the palpable excitement that follows the idea that Reginald will soon be in my arms.
“Madam is tired.” Reginald is there for me once again, caring for me in all things. “She must rest.”
LaoLang’s eyes are speculative as he tamps out his pipe and stands, the creak of his back loud. Only the crackle of the fire wars with it for sound. He flips a long braid over his stooped shoulder and folds his hands before him.
“Come, Neshun. You and your friend may rest upstairs.” He casts a keen look at the Count. “You will be safe from any acts you may deem immoral up there.”
I am too tired to laugh, but the Count’s long suffering sigh cannot be stifled. Reginald takes my arm, assisting me up the stairs behind LaoLang. At the landing Lanuha hugs me, her small arms tight around me.
“Sleep well, Neshun.”
Find The Clockwork Countenance as part of the Infinite Possibilities Box Set from Nevermore Press
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