He turned his head one last time to the city. Fat, dark clouds were rising from many places: Notre Dame, Montfaucon, the Bastille... The clouds were the only clue about the riots that were raging everywhere in the city. Out of them just peace, a strange peace, the last gift the fate gave him for accepting the mission. Drawing his sword, he accessed the gardens of the Louvre.
Corpses everywhere. Red corpses. Red for the blood and red for the tunics they wore. Counting them was difficult and useless. The only relief was the pile of wrecked puppets near each of them. The puppets weren't dead because they had never been alive, but they weren't moving and that was enough.
«They died with courage. They made the company proud» said the voice, deeply sad.
The voice had been silent for hours so he nearly jumped hearing it again. Then he found the half-transparent shape, in a corner of his sight. «Damn you...» He just said
«I'm already damned, you know»
He recognized faces. The corpses had faces he knew. Faces he saw at the palace, faces he fought with, faces he drunk with. Some of them were just scums, some others were good people. «Was it necessary?» he asked.
«I'm no longer in command of the Red Guard. But their captain is a good man. He knew that he had to take the chance to reach the Queen. The true meaning of all the riots is this. He launched a total assault»
«And he failed»
«Look. All the puppets that were defending the palace are destroyed. As I always supposed they're no match for well trained soldiers»
«You're talking like they won, but they lost. If they had broken in the palace we would know!»
«They died instead. And this gives you a chance. But you have to be careful. The Louvre is still the most dangerous place in Paris»
«Why?»
«Because the Red Guard was exterminated and this means that the Queen's finest are here»
«I can beat them»
«That's what I hope, Comte de Rochefort»
The King died. The Queen was alone, surrounded by enemies. She became sad.
The Toymaker arrived.
Only his enemies call him that way, he consider himself a scientist and a scholar. He told the Queen he studied in Germany, in England and in Switzerland and that he was looking for a patron for his studies. He wanted to uncover the mysteries of the mechanic movement and unleash the power of the cogs. He showed to the Queen his toys: little monkeys made of steel that danced and jumped like real ones, tickling like clocks.
The Queen smiled.
Saying that the Queen was in love for the Toymaker was strictly prohibited.
The Cardinal couldn't stop him. He had a lot of enemies. The death of the King put in charge his little son, with the Queen as regent. He tried to keep his power, but the Queen hated him and helped his enemies. One day, someone poisoned him and he died.
Nobody cried for him, but many got worried.
The Toymaker said «We need a clock tower at the center of the palace», the Queen nodded. The tower was built in the center of the Louvre, one of the highest building in Paris, its giant clock started giving the pace to the life of the court.
Then the puppets arrived and thing started getting scary.
The puppets were the most advanced creation of the Toymaker. They were like the monkeys, but bigger and smarter. They had the dimensions of a grown man and they were clever enough to obey orders coming from the tower. They were strong, because made of steel, and they were fast, because powered by the harmony of their gears. They just had to come back to the clock tower once every few days for recharging. They became the Queen's guard, all the other soldiers were sent away. Only the Red Guard resisted, loyal to the Cardinal's will of defending Paris.
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Tevun-Krus #43 - ClockPunk
Science FictionThe TK Crew take on ClockPunk this month. Come on in and check out a multitude of short stories, regular features and the return of an old favourite!
