Authors: Augusta Li & Eon de Beaumont

Boots for the Gentleman (42 page)

Frolic, though, screamed with horror and tried to rush to aid the angels. Reggie caught hold of him and held him back. He fought and thrashed, crying out, begging the people to stop. Reggie faced him and held tight to his wrists. He looked deep into Frolic’s eyes and said, “There’s nothing you can do.”

“No! I have to save them! They didn’t do anything wrong! Stop! Please stop!”

“You’d only be killed yourself,” Reg said gently. “I’m so sorry, Frolic.”

Frolic dropped his head to Reg’s chest, sobbing and wailing. Reg wrapped his good arm around Frolic’s head and held him tightly until it was all over. The tower, the angels, the animals, everything had been decimated. Nothing larger than a dinner plate remained. The once-glorious clock tower had been reduced to a bent and bloody scrap heap. Afterward, the people turned away from it and went about their business as if nothing unusual had happened. The faerie gentleman also turned away, satisfied. As he passed by Querry, he looked down and said, “Your debt to me is resolved.” He went a few more steps before something occurred to him, and he turned back. He knelt down and touched Querry’s leg with his graceful finger, healing the wound and dissolving the bullet within. Then, with a smile and wink, both he and Kristof were gone. Querry felt disappointed. He still had a great many questions for his fey companion.

Poor Frolic collapsed to his hands and knees and cried until his voice was gone. He swatted Querry and Reg away when they tried to comfort him. For almost half an hour he remained completely inconsolable. People around them looked for friends and loved ones among the dead and the injured. Alarm bells rang in the distance, and many people hurried away. Jean-Andre knelt and whispered to Querry that he would be in touch. Querry had many questions for him, too, and he tried to grab his sleeve, but the other man slipped from his grasp, winked, and backed away until he disappeared amidst the chaos. Querry thought he and his companions would be wise to do the same. The authorities would come, and someone would be held responsible for the destruction. It would be easier to pin the blame on a couple of fugitives than the Grande Chancellor. “Frolic,” Querry urged gently.

The silver-haired clockwork nodded and stood. He walked to the remains of the tower and looked down at the twisted metal for a long time with a blank expression on his face. Querry couldn’t imagine what sort of connection Frolic felt with these creatures; he only knew Frolic was hurting, and he couldn’t help. Frolic knelt and shifted some of the rubble, digging around until he found what he sought. Then he returned to Querry and Reg with an intricately carved silver feather clutched tightly in his fist. “I’m the last,” he said to himself. “They’re gone, and I’m all alone.”

“Rubbish, and you know it,” Reg said, squeezing the back of Frolic’s neck and earning a smile from the other. Watching them, Querry smiled too. All of them were hurt and dirty. They’d seen and done things that would haunt them the rest of their days. All of them had suffered losses.
But damn it
, he thought,
here we are.

Epilogue

Q
UERRY
, Reg, and Frolic returned to Dink’s compound to tend to their wounds. The old machinist had also been injured in the battle and had to rely on his turtle-headed walking stick in earnest for a bit. Dink had become a sort of folk hero to the city for the part he’d played in the battle and the weapons he’d provided. One of the universities had invited the machinist to teach as a guest professor. Dink had declined, vowing to spend the rest of his days researching ways that industry could benefit humankind. After a few weeks, the dead had been buried and repairs to the damaged buildings were well underway.

Querry sat in the kitchen reading the newspaper. Tosser and Toerag prowled along the tabletops, making off with bits of uneaten meat and bread leftover from dinner. Frolic had insisted they go back for the cats, and Querry had happily agreed. The three men had spent a delightful afternoon in Reg’s old house. Smiling at the memory, Querry turned his attention back to the paper. The authorities had covered up the truth behind the fight, blamed it on a malfunction in the construction of the tower. Nobody would ever know what Querry and the others had saved them from. Despite her condition, the duchess resumed her former seat in the house and continued to fight for the rights of her people. She’d desired to run for Grande Chancellor but had been forbidden, as a woman, to declare candidacy. She remained a strong voice for the foreigners and middle-class. Even so, her proposal to limit the hours workers could toil in the factories fell rejected, as did her bid to loosen the restrictions on magical practice and allow some of the banished wizards to return. Querry wondered what Kristof would say. He’d gone back to Neroche a few times in search of the wizard and the faerie gentleman. Part of him still wondered over the jobs to steal old boots, what the gentleman had really been trying to do. Though he wouldn’t admit it aloud, part of Querry missed the fey a little. Unlike the rest of the city, the faerie quarter had healed itself almost overnight, but despite his searching, Querry had been unable to locate any sign of his former employer. Deep down, Querry knew he’d meet the gentleman again along his travels. The human citizens of the city would have to learn to live alongside the fey now. Querry wondered how it would all go.

Not that it would affect him much. He’d be leaving with Reg and Frolic in the morning. He smiled. The other two men had hinted at their desire for some time together, time they wouldn’t have to share. Querry understood. He’d been craving some exclusive time with Reg himself, and with Frolic. Their relationship had ventured into strange and uncharted territory; they would need to draw the map as they went. For a long time Querry sat staring at his paper, not really seeing the smudged words and pictures as he thought about everything they would give up, and what would lie ahead for them. Wondering how he’d make a living led him to wonder what had become of Jean-Andre. The man hadn’t kept his promise to keep in touch. Querry didn’t suppose it mattered; he had no intention of leaving Reg and Frolic behind, not for all the riches in the world.

Had they really changed anything? One madman was dead, but the technology to construct soldiers from clockwork existed, and it wouldn’t go away. That knowledge would spread and develop in ways Querry couldn’t even imagine. With Dink’s pilfered prototype, someone would perfect and expand air travel. Worst of all, the ability to siphon and harness magic by non-magic users had been discovered. A dangerous door had been opened. Jean-Andre had told Querry the world would change, and the thief didn’t doubt it would happen fast and imperfectly. He reached down and stroked Toerag’s soft back, feeling insignificant, one of a million insignificant men in a world that neither needed nor cared about him.

Before long Querry’s companions joined him, smiling and satisfied. “All right, Querry?” Reg asked.

The thief shrugged. “It’s strange. After everything that’s happened, after wanting to get away from here all of my life, I’m going to miss this place.”

Reg nodded knowingly. “We can’t stay. You’re still a criminal, and it will only be a matter of time before somebody else comes after Frolic. Curiosity or the lust for power will compel them.”

“Let’s take a last walk around the city,” Frolic suggested. “I’d like to see everything again.”

“That’s a fine idea,” Querry said, standing. He took each of their hands in his and the three of them headed for the lift. After tomorrow, he didn’t know where life and fate would lead them. He didn’t even know how they’d live. He only knew he would protect these men with his life, and that they would protect him. They would manage somehow, somewhere, because they needed and loved each other.

Tonight, though, the city beyond the scrap yard smelled of spring flowers and new leaves. A rosy, round moon hung just above the buildings, and a gentle breeze ruffled Querry’s hair. Reg’s and Frolic’s hands felt warm against his, and Querry realized that for the first time, he had nothing to fight against. He was safe and comfortable, and his stomach was full. The people he cared about would be all right. He looked over at Reg with his shirtsleeves rolled up, something Reg would never have done in public before, then at Frolic, with his fascinated smile at everything and his marvelous eyes sparkling in the moonlight. Querry had everything he’d ever wanted, and he let himself be content at last.

About the Authors

E
ON
DE
B
EAUMONT
is a versatile author, craftsmen, and raconteur. He has written a number of short stories, novellas, and novels, both solo and with his long-time writing partner and best friend, Augusta Li. Eon is an accomplished playwright and actor under an alternate identity. Above all Eon loves storytelling in all its myriad forms and sometimes has trouble sleeping for the abundance of ideas in his brain. Eon is alternately a mask maker, seamstress, doll maker, and amateur cook, as well. His passions include makeup, shoes, comics, movies, and the pursuit of an ever-higher gamer score. He’s currently working on a number of projects in various states of completion including a manga, a pirate story, a thriller/horror script, and a young adult novel. Eon welcomes and encourages feedback and questions from his readers at [email protected] hotmail.com, or through his Facebook or Gus and Eon’s website:
http://www.yaoimagic.com
, and above all he hopes that his readers find enjoyment in his work.

A
UGUSTA
L
I
is the author of several short stories, novellas, novels, and yaoi manga scripts, created either on her own or with her partner in crime, Eon de Beaumont. Gus and Eon are also artists and are currently hard at work on many manga and prose projects. They would love nothing more than to see the yaoi/BL genre flourish in the West. Video games, manga, and anime have been huge influences on Gus’s work. Xbox Live calls Gus away from work far more often than it should.

Visit Gus at
http://www.yaoimagic.com
or keep an eye out at anime conventions and Goth clubs around the East Coast.

Also by
Augusta
Li