"He's not a prude! Well, maybe he is. What did you tell him?"
"That you like irises, you look good in blue, and you hardly wear any jewelry at all."
Taya dropped her hands and swatted her friend across the head.
"The boyfriends! What did you tell him about the boyfriends?"
Cassi laughed.
"I told him every man in the eyrie adores you and it wasn't any of his business how many boyfriends you've had, because if he doesn't respect you for who you are now, he doesn't deserve to have you."
Taya stared down at her friend, then let out a long breath.
"I love you."
"I know." Cassi sounded smug. "And you better remember that answer if anyone ever asks you about me."
"I will," Taya promised, fervently.
"So, do you like him?"
"He used to be kind of a pain, but…."
"That's a ‘yes.’"
"That's a ‘there's hope.’ We haven't had much quiet time together, and I'm worried about how he's going to handle his brother being sentenced. He's the kind of man who'd rather pull away than open up."
"Aren't they all." Cassi reached up and patted her arm. "Hey, no worries. Third time's the charm, right?"
Taya made a face.
"I hope so. You hated the last two guys I was serious about. What do you think about Cris?"
Cassi shrugged, her silver wings rippling.
"He's smart. Intense. Stressed."
Taya nodded.
"Not ugly," her friend continued, "but not as cute as the other two. That's probably a good thing. He won't count on his looks to get him what he wants."
"I don't think he expects to get anything the easy way."
"Probably comes from living out of caste. I have to admit, seeing his marks out in the open like that is pretty creepy."
"He said he's not going to put a mask back on again."
"That'd be better for you. And, you know, it's a good sign that he was asking about your boyfriends. If all he wanted was a mistress, he wouldn't care, right?"
"You think so?" Taya looked hopefully at her friend.
"Your friend's right, she is," Gregor said. Both women jumped, looking up at him with startled indignation. The coachman looked apologetic. "I'd no intention of eavesdropping but, you know, there ain't a man in the world cares about a woman's past until he's thinking of her in his future. That's when a man starts to muse over reputation and reliability, now, ain't it?"
"So you've got nothing to worry about," Cassi assured Taya. "If I were him, I'd be more worried about my own reputation. The guy's an outcaste clockmaker with two murderers in the family. He's going to have to be one awfully sweet boyfriend to be worth your time."
"He's working on it," Taya said, with a half-smile.
"He'd better be."
"Anyway, it's too early to be sure of anything." Taya picked up her crutches. Gregor offered his hand, steadying her as she stood.
"As long as you're not settling for second best."
"That would have been Alister."
"Are you ready to go, then, icarus?" Gregor asked. Taya collected her thoughts.
"Yes. Do you know the lictor hospital on Secundus? A few blocks from headquarters?"
"I know of a hospital there — whether it belongs to the lictors, I've no idea, do I?"
"Let's go. Take off your armature, Cassi. I want to talk to you on the way over."
"I'm supposed to be working." Cassi glanced up toward the docking cliffs, then shrugged. "I guess they won't miss me for a few more minutes."
"I think you and Pyke might be able to help the lictors."
"Really?" Cassi began unbuckling straps. "Do they know you're asking?"
"Well, not yet. But I'll tell Cristof tonight."
"Great. We'll all have reprimands in our files by the time this is over."
They maneuvered Cassi's wings into the hack with some effort and contorted themselves around the unwieldy armature as the coach rattled down to Secundus. Taya filled Cassi in about the stolen analytical engine and the missing programmer.
"Are you sure this doesn't have anything to do with Alister Forlore? I mean, it's a pretty big coincidence, if you ask me. Secret programs, analytical engines…."
"What I think is that this theft has been planned for a long time, and the thieves took advantage of the confusion around Alister's arrest to make their move."
"I guess that's possible." Cassi frowned. "So, what can Pyke and I do?"
"Keep your eyes open for any wagon with lots of crates in it that might be moving around at an odd time of the day, or any activity around buildings that might usually be empty. The lictors can only see everything sector by sector, but icarii see the whole city. If we keep an eye out—"
"You mean, if Pyke and I keep an eye out. You're supposed to keep your feet on the ground."
"You know what I mean."
"Won't they already have military icarii looking around?"
"Sure, but the military don't know the city the way we do."
"So if we see something suspicious, alert the authorities."
"Right. And Pyke's got all his spooky conspiracy contacts, right? Maybe he can get something from them."
"Maybe." Cassi drew the word out. "Okay, I'll ask around."
"Except nobody can be told that an engine's missing. Not until the lictors release the information."
"No problem."
The coach slowed and pulled over. Taya looked out and saw that they were in front of the same hospital she'd visited with Lt. Amcathra, a few days before.
"You'll tell Pyke?"
"Sure." They pulled Cassi's armature out, and Cassi buckled back in. "I'll look for you at that punch-jockey bar later on?"
"Could you bring my armature with you? Just in case I don't make it back to the eyrie?"
"If Pyke can get it out of the shop." Cassi pulled on her flight gloves. "You be careful, okay? Don't let anyone else shoot at you."
Taya waved as Cassi left, then asked Gregor to wait for her as she limped into the hospital.
A nurse directed her to the same hospital room, but this time the Demican was sitting up in a chair and playing cards with his lictor guard.
"Excuse me," Taya said, standing in the doorway. "May I come in?"
The lictor frowned, setting down her cards, as the Demican regarded her crutches with open curiosity.
"The little warrior has met her match?" he asked, not unkindly, in Demican.
"The man who shot me is dead," Taya replied in Demican. She wasn't happy about it, but it was the response that would most impress him. As she expected, he laughed with appreciation.
"Good. That is the best fate for a man who would use a gun on his prey."
"I am glad to see you are healing," she continued, studying him.
"It seems my spirit will not be visiting you on Darkday."
"Excuse me," the lictor said with annoyance, "but who are you?"
"I'm Taya Icarus," Taya replied, dropping into Ondinium again. "I was responsible for putting this man into the hospital, and I wanted to see how he was doing."
"Taya Icarus." The lictor's voice was cool. "So I guess this man was the lucky one, huh?"
"Yeah." Taya winced, then turned to the Demican and began to speak in his language again. "The two Alzanans you were working with — did they ever mention anything about stealing one of the city's metal brains?" It was the closest Demican came to ‘analytical engine.'
"They talked about stealing many things. Your wings, ‘punch cards’" — he used the Ondinium words, so heavily accented they were almost meaningless—"people, metal brains, weapons. I should have known better than to work with carrion birds."
"Did they talk to anyone else about their plans?"
"Other Alzanans." The Demican shrugged. "Have you looked for the tavern with the red door yet?"
Taya chewed on her lip. Had Amcathra followed up that lead? Maybe, but the wireferry bombing happened right afterward, and it would make sense if less important cases had been shoved aside for the investigation.