The Mechanicals by Nix Whittaker

Author:Nix Whittaker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: steampunk, dragons, midsummer nights dream, gaslamp, fantasy, alternative history
Publisher: Reshwity Publishers
Published: 2018-12-29T00:00:00+00:00

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D

emetrius hung against the ropes that held him to the chair. Everything stung with fresh pain as the Duke doused his wounds with alcohol. Demetrius tensed and gritted his teeth. The world seemed to melt around him and even words seemed half melted but he managed to make out, “Useless — Waste of time — he is your — fine.”

The next thing Demetrius was aware of was someone pressing a flask to his lips. He gulped down the water. The world around him came into sharp focus, and he could feel every injury upon his body. He swallowed the water and opened his eyes to see Helena making sure his thirst was quenched.

Helena had an odd look on her face which he couldn’t decipher. She cradled his head and offered him some more. Quenched, he leaned back so he wasn’t pressed up against the ropes.

Demetrius asked, “So, what is in it for you? Are you planning to be his whore while Hermia is his Empress?”

Helena didn’t answer. She turned and rummaged in a bag and brought out some food for him. With his hands tied, he was forced to let her feed him. He wanted to spit it on her. But he was weak from the torture and needed all the sustenance he could get.

The Captain would come for him soon and he would need his strength if he was going to escape.

When Helena spoke, it took him a while to realise that she was answering his question from before. “Nothing really. I grew up poor. You wouldn’t know what that means but when I was four, some men came to our village. They took me and my siblings. They raised us for their use and when I was old enough, they sent us into the world to do their bidding. I am here not because I think the Duke can give me anything, instead I am here for my country.”

Her accent gave away her country of origin. “Rosh?”

“We are Rosh now. We weren’t always Rosh. But my people had a choice: be taken over by the Empire or turn to Rosh.”

“The Empire isn’t that bad.” There was a look of longing in Helena’s eyes but she hid it quickly so that Demetrius wasn’t even sure he had seen it. The door opened with some force and Duke Lysander entered the room, along with several soldiers.

The Duke said to Helena, “Is he able to travel?”

Helena looked Demetrius over. “He will live.”

The Duke flicked his hand to order the soldiers to take him. Demetrius waited for them to release his bonds and then he would make his move. Unfortunately, the only move he made was to fall forward onto his face.

He struggled to bring up his arms to stop his fall but he had been in one position for too long and his limbs didn’t respond to him the way he wanted them to. Helena caught him at the last moment but before he could take advantage of her being close and maybe taking her as a hostage, two of the soldiers pulled him to his feet.

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