Forward (The Clockrealm Chronicles #2)

Chapter 1

Tick-tock-tea-talk.

Wake up, you hairy hare.

The memory of Jinx’s voice in my head always calmed me down. I had it stored in the back of my mind ever since I could remember. Something about the softness of it, the promise of what came after those words—tea and smiles and wide blue eyes.

I’d always pretended to be irritated when I wasn’t, and it had become part of the ritual, too. I was expected to act annoyed while Jinx dragged me out of bed and forced me to hold onto my teacup, but those remained my favorite mornings still.

“Here it comes!” Mother sang as she jumped to her feet now, but I’d already seen the carriage rushing down the hill across from our house.

She’d been sitting with me on the wooden bench just to the side of the front door while Father continued to pace back and forth in front of the fence gate, both of them jittery with nerves.

“Ora, it’s here, darling! It’s here!” Father called as he ran outside the gate, waving his hands like he really was afraid I’d somehow miss him.

“Yes, I see it. I see it, it’s here,” I said weakly, but neither paid me any attention. Father was rushing inside again, and Mother ran toward him, and they jumped in each other’s embrace, chanting—it’s here, it’s here, the carriage is here at last!

Yes, it was. The royal carriage, half white and half red, a perfect circle atop wheels painted golden, was here—and it was here for me. It had come to take me to Neverwhen, the capital city of the Clockrealm.

The hour of the Turning Trials had actually come.

Breathe, Ora, breathe, I reminded myself—only the white horses pulling the carriage forward seemed to be moving impossibly fast. Maybe it was just me, but I could have sworn I only blinked once before they popped up in front of the fence.

Air slid down my throat, and people called my name—all my cousins and our neighbors had come out to see me off.

All of them cheered and clapped and wished me good-timing, and it made no difference whatsoever, unfortunately.

Their voices, their smiles didn’t give me courage.

The only person who could have eased the panic attack building inside me right now was long gone.

No matter how many people stood around me, I was alone.

With my eyes closed, I paused for a moment, focused on the sound of Jinx’s voice again, imagined her standing next to me, telling me to be brave.

It was the Turning Trials, after all. The most important event of the decade, she once said, and she could very well be right about it.

It was a game like no other—and though I’d had no interest in it before this year began, I was now going to be a part of it.

Me—not Jinx.

She’d been the one who always wanted to go, who counted down years, preparing, even agreeing to spar with Father and me just so she could complete the application, before—

Before.

Mother and Father cheered. They hugged me quickly, and I felt nothing, for which I was thankful. They were happy, their eyes glistening, their smiles wide—why-why-why are you smiling?!

A silly, redundant question I already knew the answer to. It was because I was chosen to be a Hand in the Turning Trials, of course. It was an honor to the family, they said. Never mind that it was Jinx who should have been here in my stead.

Jinx—you remember her? Your eldest daughter?

Perhaps I wasn’t being fair.

Perhaps I should have found a way to let go of this resentment, though I hadn’t honestly noticed it building up in the first place. Layer by layer, it had crept up on me, had created a thick foundation long before making itself known.

Yes, perhaps I should have just…moved on, too.

“You’ve got everything, don’t you, darling?” Father said, opening my black backpack for the fifth time since we came out here to wait for the carriage. “Your new sketchbook, your pen, your picture, your clothes, your undies—”

“She has everything—of course she does,” Mother said, and grabbed the backpack from him, zipped it, gave it to me. “It’s Ora! She’s never-ever-reven forgotten anything in her life.”

Only I had forgotten plenty of things.

Not important, and they were laughing again, so I didn’t say anything.

One of the two men who’d been sitting in the front holding the reins of the horses was already by the carriage, the round door on its side open. He stood there with a smile on his face, looking at me like he already knew exactly who I was.

Shivers rushed down my back.

I’d never been outside the Court of Spades before, and now suddenly I was going to live in Neverwhen for two whole weeks.

The reasons why included: it’s what Jinx wanted; I’m doing it in her name, for her; it’s the Turning Trials—I’ll be rich and famous when it’s over; I’ll get to see the Labyrinth with my own eyes, maybe even meet the queens of the Clockrealm while at it…

All of them pretty valid reasons, of course, except they weren’t exactly true, not fully. The only true reason why I was going to the Turning Trials was because I wanted to be away from home, from my parents, from every single person I knew.

I was running.

In the best, most inconspicuous way I knew how, but I was still running—and that was okay.

The reminder finally calmed me down. When Mother and Father saw me to the fence gate, I even smiled a little. When my friends from school and my cousins with whom I’d grown up, called my name and waved from the sides, I waved back. Blew kisses and winked.

Then I was in front of the ginger-haired man wearing dark blue velvet clothes.

A Timekeeper.

I’d never seen one in person before.

“Miss Reese, I am Calren Hock, Royal Timekeeper and warden to the Hands of the Turning Trials. It will be my pleasure to escort you to the Labyrinth of Neverwhen safely.” With a hand to his chest, he bowed his head all the way.

I had never been bowed to before, either. My smile was genuine as I did the same.

“Please, Ora is fine, Mister Hock,” I said, while my family and friends all buzzed with whispers like bees all around us. I was sure most of them had never set eyes on a Timekeeper before, either, let alone a Royal one.

They were very much like us, it was true—except they were ginger, and they kept time, and it was said that they always had more than a watch on their person.

I could confirm this with Calren Hock—he had a few chains slipping through the many pockets of his vest, some gold, one silver, most likely attached to clocks.

The smile he gave me when he straightened up again was genuine. His deep brown eyes could have been made of chocolate, and they sparkled with something good, too. Something pure.

“In that case, please call me Cal, or Ren, or anything that starts again.” A wink.

I giggled—which never happened, really. His voice was soft and sharp at the same time. I’d never quite seen anybody like him. Jinx would have adored him, I thought. And maybe that’s why I felt like I would, too.

“Calren sounds about right,” I decided.

He arched a ginger brow high on his forehead. “Does it, really?”

“Mhm. It tastes right on my tongue.”

A grin broke on his face. “I already can’t wait to see who you’ll become, Ora.” A deep nod, and the gears in my stomach twisted. I felt so giddy all of a sudden, it was absurd.

Time’s Teeth, was this how all Timekeepers were? Did they all have the same effect on the rest of us?

Or was it just me?

“I’ll let you say your until-laters to your family. Whenever you’re ready, hop in and the door will close itself.”

With that, the Timekeeper walked around the carriage. While he did, he produced a round hat from thin air—just grabbed it as if it had always been hovering there near him, invisible to the rest of us—and put it on while he took his seat in the front again.

The man sitting with him wasn’t a Timekeeper. His hair was a dark brown. Maybe a Heart or a Club?

Hands on my shoulders—Mother and Father spun me around and spoke at the same time.

That’s a Timekeeper! Mother.

Please, be careful! Keep your eyes open, and remember what I taught you, darling. Father.

That’s an important Timekeeper—I’m twelve-hours certain he’s very important! Mother.

Keep your head about yourself and your eyes sharp. Watch, Ora. Always watch. Father.

He will most likely introduce you to big names, important people—it’s vital that you make a good impression, darling! Mother.

They went on for a good minute, until I raised my hands to their cheeks.

“Mother. Father.” They stopped. “I know what I learned, and I will be careful, and I will make the best impressions I can make. Have faith—I will be back soon.”

It sounded very much like something Jinx would say.

What I would say if I dared, on the other hand, was, please, don’t forget me. Don’t forget Jinx all the way while I’m gone.

These words remained neatly tucked under my tongue.

Then I hugged my friend Renee and my favorite cousins, Allan and Finn, and I stepped into the carriage before anybody else could reach me.

“See you soon, everyone! See you—oh!”

Just like the Timekeeper said, the door closed on its own, cut off the cheers and the calls, hid away the faces of my parents and all the others who’d come to see me off.

Relief came over me. The window was small and the glass thick, so all I did was wave while the carriage moved forward. Wave and think, Holy Hour, I’m doing this.

I was really doing this.

The magnitude of the whole situation hit me fully for the first time as the horses took the carriage up the hill again. In the next two weeks, I was going to be away from home and everything I knew for the first (and possibly the only) time in my life.

Difficult not to be overwhelmed, but the farther away from the house I grew up in I went, the…better I felt. More relieved. Like I weighed a little less with every second shed.

I stood up and looked out the small back window of the carriage as my parents, my entire neighborhood became smaller and smaller, as my smile stretched wider and wider.