14 DAYS. 12 HOURS. 28 MINUTES.
Prago City was three-and-a-half days away, and in that time, I whiled away the hours messing with the broken lifeclock Dad had purchased from Green, trying to find a way to piece it all together. Even knowing it measured blood somehow, I still didn’t understand what I was looking at.
“Maybe you are missing pieces?” IoN suggested across from me.
“Maybe.” Turning the clockface over, I once again examined the steam lines behind it. “I understand the clockface, and I know some of these lines connect to the back, but then what? Where do they connect? Straight to our bloodstream?”
“But then how does it convert that to time?”
I chucked it onto the bed beneath me with a grunt. “Magic? I don’t damn well know.”
IoN flew into my lap, and I rubbed familiar circles across his head. “El, it’s okay if this takes more time. You don’t have to get it straight away.”
“Time is something we are running out of. She’s running out of,” I whispered.
“I know.” He sounded sad, and I got the feeling he’d sound sadder if he had the ability to do that with his voice.
“When this is done, I’m putting everything I have into upgrading you. I’m done messing around with nonsense. I want to focus on what’s important.”
“If that is what you want.”
Meena walked into the room, slower than usual and mildly out of breath. “Come on. We’re nearly at Prago City.”
“Right.” I shot up off the bed, IoN in my arms, and we followed Meena toward the disembarkation deck. “Er, Meena?”
“Yeah?” she asked as she wrapped a scarf around the lower half of her face, keeping the dust from agitating her lungs.
“I was thinking that maybe we should find a wheelchair once we’re there.” She went to politely tell me to go to hell, I could see it in her eyes, but I interrupted. “I don’t want to agitate your condition, and to be quite frank, we’re running out of time. The last thing we need is to have less of it because you’re running around everywhere.”
IoN wiggled in my arms. “They have steamers with wheelchair access, don’t they?”
“Of course they do.” She did not sound happy. “I just didn’t think I’d ever need one. Or rather, I hoped.”
“You’ll be more comfortable, and we can get around faster, and?—”
“Yes, yes, I understand. Fine.” She turned to me just as the platform descended from the dirigible. “On one condition?”
“Mm, yeah?”
“You let me take you out tonight.”
“I...” My cheeks burned and my chest squeezed. “Of course. I’d be delighted to.”
The entrance to Prago City was nothing like back home; it had no gates to speak of, just a wooden fence guarded by armed men in white cloth that wrapped around their faces and chests in many layers. Bare arms showed tattoos of intertwining lines patterning down to wrists and across hands.
“Prago City is under military control,” Meena explained. “Since the royal family can’t possibly be in two places at once.”
“Who oversees the military?”
“The Temple of Seren.”
Meena walked up to the guards, and they bowed, then let us through the fence into a city leveled nearly as high as Palatina. Only, this city had light shafts flickering all across the ground floor in various colors.
“The lifts are a little different here,” Meena explained as we walked into a line for a glass tube system that seemed to take people up the levels. “The tubes take you all around the city, not just up and down.”
“They go horizontal too?”
“Yes. They’re ahead of us in technology, but then they always have been.”
IoN said from beside my head, “Prago City has some of the strongest inventors on the island, and some of the best schools.”
“Zime Industries has a headquarters here, since Zimeon is particularly fond of the city.” His name left her tongue like fire, but she was otherwise neutral.
“So Zime Industries has two HQs?”
“Yeah, but he prefers to spend his time here. Hence why he has a council running things back home.”
“Why does he prefer things here?”
She looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Are you using me to get information about your teenage crush?” Hand on heart, she feigned hurt. “The audacity.”
“I’m just curious,” I mumbled.
“I’m just teasing. You’ll see why he likes it here. I think you will too.” Getting to the front of the queue, we entered the glass tube by stepping onto the platform, sitting in the seats, and strapping ourselves in. “But seriously,” she said while yanking her scarf down a minute, “I’m better than him.”
IoN sat on her lap this time, a green light lighting up his face. “Of course you are, Princess.”
“See?” She smiled at me, then coughed.
“We’ll find a wheelchair on the upper floors,” I suggested, hoping she’d know how to do that because I sure didn’t.
Once we climbed to level twelve—there were only fifteen in Prago, compared to Palatina’s twenty-one—we exited onto a path where various colored stones made pictures on the floor of people dancing. Gold hair flowing as dark stone held a woman up, red dress ruffling.
Looking up, I couldn’t help the small gasp that left my lips at the colored buildings all around us; some were solid red stone while others glittered in some kind of weird dark green metal I’d never seen before. It stopped the moment you looked up to where the buildings on top of us glittered in different colors, so the entire city looked like a higgledy-piggledy rainbow.
“It’s . . . beautiful.”
IoN hovered beside me in silence, but he spun in circles taking it all in, clearly as surprised as I was.
“I told you you’d like it.”
“You were right.” What would it be like to live here? To be surrounded by so much color and light every day? I tried not to let these upper levels fool me too much—the lower levels were probably not this grand. “We should find a wheelchair from somewhere.”
Every level on Palatina had an information desk near the entrance to the elevator buildings, so you could ask for directions and amenities. Maybe Prago had something similar? I spun on the spot, looking for anything that might look like it, and luck was on my side because a stall made from white wood and brass cogs was a few meters to our left.
“Let’s ask him.” I pointed to the man running the stall. The white tattoos lining his bare face and arms reminded me of the soldiers at the fence. “Maybe he could help.”
I slowly guided us over, and the man bowed the moment he saw Meena on my arm. “Princess Jemeena. How may I be of service?”
“I require a wheelchair and was wondering where we might procure one?” she asked, just a hint of embarrassment tinting her voice, but she was her otherwise poised self when interacting with the public.
“Of course, Princess.” He bowed before turning to a clipboard with a small stack of paperwork secured to the top. “If you could wait here, I will fetch one for you.” He gestured to the stools on which we could sit just beside us.
“Okay, go on. Ask away.” She placed a hand on my knee. “I know you have a million questions.”
“Where do the different colors of stone and other materials come from?”
“They dye them. Well, most of them. That green metal is mined beneath the city. It’s unique to Prago, I think.”
“Dying stone?”
“I have no idea how they do it. Sorry. I’ve never thought to ask. But we can go see the factories on some of the lower levels that do it, if you’d like.”
“We can?” I asked, gleaming at the prospect. How did they dye stone? And with what? I knew we bleached stone for the upper levels back home, getting it as white as possible, but this was something else. “Only if we have time. We’re here for another purpose.”
“A more important purpose,” IoN said quietly from the princess’s lap. “Where will we be staying while here?”
“The palace,” Meena said. “We have a palace building here too, though it’s not as grand as the one back home.”
You could usually see the palace buildings from anywhere in the city, but here in Prago I wasn’t sure which one it was. “Which building is it?”
“It’s behind the building behind us.”
The building behind us was made of yellow stone with white marble lightning throughout, and it towered all the way up to level fifteen, so I couldn’t see beyond it.
“What about the patterns in the floor? How do they do that?”
Jemeena laughed, but only just, as she got out of breath quickly. “I asked that very same question when Dad first brought me here. I was maybe six years old and jumping on all the patterns, pretending to be the dancers.” She stared at the one in front of us, the one where several ballerinas twirled in a line. She looked stuck in the past. “They carve them separately and then lay them into the concrete. It’s a slow process, which is why Prago City is shorter than Palatina, because the levels take longer to build.”
“Oh, wow.” They really took art seriously here. It was about more than just form and function; it was about the way the environment made you feel. “I like it.”
“Me too. I summered here once for eight weeks. It was an amazing time.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Three years. I haven’t been away from Palatina much. Father liked to keep me close, hoping for a cure. But he gave me more freedom last year. I think he knows how much living life means when you’re dying.” She fiddled with the gold cloth on her wrist. “But there’s no point, of course.”
“Well, maybe we can find an?—”
“Princess!” The man returned with two things: a wheelchair and an assisted steamer for us. “Here.”
“Thank you very much.” She hopped off the stool and stood beside the wooden wheelchair with several cushions and blankets stacked on top, as though its very existence offended her in some way. “That’s all we require.”
“Very well.” He returned to manning his information stall where a small queue had formed while we had waited.
Meena arranged the cushions and blankets how she liked and then sat down with a heavy sigh. “I hate this.”
“I know, Princess,” IoN said as he joined her on top of the many blankets she had piled on herself. “But this will help us traverse the city faster.”
I wheeled her into the steamer and latched the chair into place, then took my seat in front. Hands on the driving stick, I said, “Where to first?”
We started with the palace so we could make sure our things had arrived and that we had a place to sleep. The building wasn’t as grand as the palace back home, according to Meena, but it was still larger than anything I had ever stepped foot in. The stone used was pink with purple marbling throughout, which I couldn’t even begin to imagine how they had achieved, but it was the bedroom set aside for the princess that blew me away.
I wheeled her inside, through grand white doors with golden handles, and watched her get to her feet and place her bag on the largest bed I’d ever seen. Sheets made from the same silk as her cloak that first day I met her, dozens of cushions, and drapes made from materials I didn’t have names for. “It’s...wonderful.”
“It’s gaudy. I never used to think much of it. I knew I was lucky, but I didn’t realize quite how much.” She looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time, seeing how large and grand and expensive it all was. Gaudy, sure. But beautiful in a way that we on floor zero didn’t have the mental understanding for. It was as though whoever designed it had a specific feeling in mind while creating it. “But the space does make being wheeled around easier.”
“Have you used a wheelchair before?” I asked.
“Dad makes me use one in the palace all the time. I hate it.”
“Oh. Sorry. That sounds annoying.”
She shrugged. “It is what it is.” Sitting back in the chair, she wrapped herself with blankets and settled IoN on her lap. “Okay, we need to visit the exportation offices. I think they’re on level ten here. I have some questions.”
I wheeled us back outside, into the steamer, and then drove us back to a different tube that took us down two levels. Level ten didn’t look too different from level twelve, but there were some interesting buildings down here that looked like various markets. What they sold, however, was beyond me.
“Level ten is the merchant floor. Well, one of a few merchant floors. This one specializes in materials for luxury items, like fabrics and precious stones.”
The patterns on the floor once again took my breath away, but this time they showed people in fancy dresses, cutting fabric, setting stones into bracelets, and doing other things that might be done here on this floor. “So each floor’s pattern represents the level’s function?”
“Yes.” She looked to the left, then to the right with furrowed brows. “I think we need to go left.”
“You think?”
“It’s been years since I’ve last been here. Cut me a little slack.”
“Once we find the merchant office, maybe we could ask them for a map. Or find another information desk.”
I steered us left, hoping the princess’s memory wasn’t something affected by her illness, or we’d never find anything. Just fourteen days left. Then she wouldn’t be here—she’d be dead—and it would be partly my fault.
We took another left, then a right, and we eventually came across a group of office buildings for official business, like merchant paperwork.
“Let me do the talking,” Meena said, clearly wanting to stand up.
“You have to stay in the chair. That’s the deal. And I will take you anywhere you want to go.”
She huffed a breath of frustration but remained seated. “Fine. But remember that I’m taking you out tonight.”
“Right.” Except, I was sure I didn’t have anything to wear. “What are we doing this evening?” I wheeled her into the building, having left the steamer on level twelve.
“It’s a surprise.” She pointed to a reception desk a few meters away. “There. Excuse me?”
The receptionist’s head lifted and a practiced greeting graced her lips. “Princess Jemeena, hello. How can I help you?” Her brunette hair swayed as she stepped in front of the desk, her dress bustling with the movement.
“We need to see whoever is in charge of Prago City’s imports and exports. We’re looking for some paperwork to double-check something.”
“Of course, Princess.” She bowed her head and shuffled away, her heels clicking on the marble floor.
“Glad you’re here with me. I could never have gotten so much cooperation.” We both laughed, and IoN’s mouth lit up green in happiness. “Hopefully this won’t be difficult.”
“I doubt we’re going to be that lucky. Merchants work outside the purview of the palace. So long as they work within the law, we leave them alone.”
“Oh.” Great. This was not going to be fun.
The receptionist came back with an escort, who guided us to an office space not far from the entrance. “Mr. Peel will be here soon.” She left as quickly as she had come.
The office in question was a drab and dreary place, nothing more than a desk, some shelves, and a rug thrown over purple stone to keep the cold out. Clearly the person who worked here either didn’t care for the aesthetics of Prago City or simply didn’t spend a lot of time at his desk.
After a few minutes, a large man with a small gray beard and beady eyes plodded into the room and took a seat behind the desk. “Princess Jemeena, what can I do for you?”
“I assume you keep a record of everything coming to and going from the city?”
“Of course.” He flicked his gaze to me suspiciously, his hands resting purposefully in his lap. “They’re extensive. Is there anything specific you’re looking for?”
“Yes, actually. We’re looking for everything coming into the city from the Temple of Seren.”
For just a fraction of a second, I swore his eyes widened. His fingers fidgeted, but he calmed them. “Of course. I’ll be right back.”
“I’d like to come with you to collect them,” I said. “I assume the princess will be okay here for a few minutes?”
He bowed his head and spun on his heels. “Come along, then.”
I turned to Meena. “I’ll be back. IoN, stay here.”
“Yes, El.” He settled in Meena’s lap, and she smoothed a calming hand over his head as she often did.
I followed Mr. Peel out of the door and sped after him, trying to keep up with his surprising speed. “Where are the records kept?”
He turned to me with a confused scowl. “In records.”
We made more silent, tense turns, then scurried up a small set of stairs that spiraled upward and passed through a door that looked old—older than I reckoned this floor probably was. Inside was shelf upon shelf of folders in carefully labeled piles that were sectioned, then dated.
“We need these ones.” He walked to the corner of the room and gestured to a shelf with a small stack of folders. “We don’t get much from the Temple of Seren, just what excess they make or grow.” He grabbed the first pile, placed them into my arms, then grabbed the second, smaller pile. “That’s it.”
I looked around, noticing another small pile beneath. “What are they?”
“From the outlying villages up near the Pental Coast. We don’t get much from them because it’s too far to travel and they don’t have steam power.”
They didn’t? Wow. What did that even look like? Eto Valley had some steam power but not a lot, but what would life be like without? Did they have some other kind of power or did they choose to remain in older ages?
We traveled back the way we had come and sat down in the office where Meena and IoN waited patiently for us.
“Did you find what we needed?” she asked Mr. Peel.
“Of course, Princess.” He bowed and placed his pile on the table. “These are all we have for the Temple of Seren, going back the last ten years. We shred them after ten years.”
“Thank you,” she said, then looked at me.
I placed my pile down, then sat next to her.
Mr. Peel left after asking if there was anything else he could do. Something told me he didn’t actually want to do anything else for us.
“Is this really all of them?” she asked me.
“I think so. It was the only folders in the section for the temple. Unless they have another records room, this is it.”
“Then I guess we should dig in.” She yawned and stretched before opening the first folder. “Should have packed a lunch.”
“If you’re hungry, I can go find us something.”
She waved my suggestion away, instead choosing to look through whatever record she was perusing. “This is just leftover cotton from their sheep.”
“This one”—I waved the folder in the air—“is just a stone they purchased for some repairs.” After flicking through, I realized I had the importation folders, which meant Meena must have had the exportation ones.
IoN helped Meena, scanning faster than we could and quickly racking up a done pile. There wasn’t much here, so it didn’t take long to reach the last couple of folders. So far, no mention of plants. But we did learn plenty about the Temple of Seren’s financial status, which was not great. They were clearly struggling.
“Maybe we should be funding them better,” Meena suggested. “I didn’t realize it was this bad.”
“Maybe you’ll be able to tell your father when you get back.”
She didn’t acknowledge me, her eyes remaining on the paperwork in front of us. She flipped to one of the few folders she had left and opened her eyes wider. “Here. It mentions a plant juice when describing the item, but it’s listed under water.”
“Water?” IoN asked. “Plant juice contains water, I suppose.”
“It’s not even well hidden,” I complained. “What does it do?”
Meena shrugged. “No idea. But we’ll find out. The paperwork says a Red buys it. No idea who that is.”
Red? I’d heard that name before. “I think she’s an underground parts dealer. I’ve heard of her before.”
“Then she’s going to be on the lower levels, I assume. We can go tomorrow. Tonight, we have a date.”