A Timely Knight

A Withered Flower

The train slowed down. The horrible screech it made as it stopped, signaling their arrival, awoke her abruptly and made her bump her head against the window. She groaned furiously and attended to her aching skin. One of her ladies approached her and reached out, trying to comfort her, but she coarsely slapped the woman's hand away. What could the woman do, anyway? Rub her head?

She pulled the curtains up and opened the window, taking a quick look at the city before her. It looked and smelled like shit. Monochromatic like the rest of Makina, pointy and burgundy ceilings rose as the only flashes of color. Heavy smoke coming out of the multitude of factories that lined the north side fused with the dark clouds above them, a dark embrace for an even darker city. The scene was slight albeit appropriately sinister.

However, and unlike some of the other cities, this one represented a triumph for glass. Long and wide windows covered most walls, marquees spread around the edges of shops and buildings, and street lamps scintillated along the sideways, barely keeping the bleak streets alight.

The light rain invaded the cart and she closed the window at once, to the delight of her companions who clearly enjoyed the smell of the city as much as her. The sound of her husband's deep and annoyed voice made her stomach revolve. When he screamed, it usually came from a place of anxiety and an anxious Samuel was an insufferable Samuel. Grinding her teeth, she stood and slammed the door of the cart open, startling her ladies and leaving them behind to collect her luggage and belongings.

"Woman, we arrived at last," Samuel grunted and she simply nodded at the obvious. "Where's that girl? They're waiting for us."

"Perhaps she still sleeps," she replied in a humdrum voice.

"Wake her," he commanded one of the servants before heading towards the door.

The wind burst into the train with all the strength of a blizzard, forcing her to take several steps back. Her wide dress, far too heavy to have any reaction to nature, hindered her balance and she sought support on the wall, not wanting to fall in front of the entire welcoming committee.

Behind her three figures appeared, all struggling to resist nature's fury. The servant bowed before her and quickly left the train, leaving only women. One, an innocent-looking and dull twenty-five-gear-old Princess. The other, older by no more than 4 gears, a meaningless servant. And herself, a tired and jaded woman with a weakened façade. All three remained in silence as the men outside spoke for them amidst laughter and glee.

********

The sun resented Makina. Clouds persisted throughout the gear, sinking the kingdom in perpetual rain. However, the sky over Aronport was even duller. The drizzle took a brief rest so they got to ride in the open cart for what their hosts called "a tour of the city". She had very little interest in what the wretched place had to offer. Then again, she had no interest in being there at all, and yet there she was. Clearly, her interests were of no interest to anyone.

"That's our great clock tower. Built over three hundred gears ago, during the Fifth Transmission, it's the work of Don Elijah Solomon Dusk, the great patron of builders."

The man assigned as her guide was a short but muscular young blonde, a cousin to their host, the Earl of Aronport. His small hand now pointed to the monstrous tower before them. Her unimpressed reaction to the building, however, struck a nerve, because his smile faded and a confused frown took its place.

"Has Her Majesty been here before?" He asked, choosing to hope for the best.

She spat absent-minded words. "Once, as a child. My father brought me to visit some Don on the eastern part of the city."