Machina Obscurum by J Edward Neill

Author:J Edward Neill [Neill, J Edward]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781519432780
Publisher: Tessera Guild Publishing
Published: 2015-11-28T04:30:00+00:00

* * *

And so here I sit, alone in my new house. I’m still a little girl inside, but not really. The memories of Grams and Gio cling like cobwebs to my mind, too fragile to touch without destroying. I’m not in Ellerae anymore. No one is. When soldiers from the city of Milian found it, they burned it to the ground. I think they knew what had happened. They were wiser than we’d been. They cursed the ‘Old Man’ and chased his rumor to the west, though I doubt they ever found him. The ghoul of Tessera, Ellerae, and a hundred cities before will keep killing, keep making his precious art until everyone in the world is sticks and bones.

I suppose, had the soldiers been ever smarter, they’d have come east.

They’d have come to me, to Valai.

It’s a pretty city, it is, and thrice as huge as Ellerae.

I like it in Valai. I live in a mansion at the city’s edge, near a great, dark forest. I have vast empty rooms, a bottomless basement, and towers tall and sharp. I even have a streetlamp. It grows a little brighter every week.

I didn’t use Pa’s or Ellerae’s coins to buy it.

I borrowed from the locals.

It’s a fresh new evening. As I sit on my rocking chair, sewing something beautiful, I wait for the sun to set. Someone knocks on my door. I know who it is. It’s the young man who’s always nosing about my courtyard. He’s an orphan, like so many children in Valai. I feel bad for him, if that’s possible. Before I answer the door, I put down my needles and pick up a silver coin from the floor. It hurts to bend over, but I manage. These old bones just aren’t as supple as they used to be. Every little movement causes me pain.

I’ve gotten used to it.

“Hello, young man,” I open the door.

He looks surprised to see me. It makes sense, considering I’ve always ignored his knocks until now.

“Evening, M’lady Mia,” he says shyly. “You know who I am?”

“I do,” I tell him.

“Then you know I’ve got no money, no food, no place to live. My uncle…he says I should find work. So I’ve been thinking…well…might be you need my help. You’ve lived here well on a hundred years. I could go to market for you. I could carry things. You’ve got all this space. Might be…maybe…you’d let me have a room to be your servant.”

“You say you don’t have any money?” I swing the door open and let him peer inside. He looks nervous, but only a little.

“No, ma’am. Not since mom and my brothers turned up missing last winter.

I set my crabbed fingers on his shoulder and guide him across the threshold and into the stale, musty room beyond. His skin is warm. His bones are strong. It’s hard to control myself, but I do.

“Come inside, young man. There’s silver aplenty if you’re willing to do the right kind of work.”

He walks inside, the foolish thing.

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