"It's much prettier."
"I thought… the color reminded me of your hair." He sounded nervous. Taya shot him an amused glance and opened the case.
"Oh."
A narrow ring of red gold ran around the outside of the watch's face, marking the hours. But set inside that ring was a disk of transparent glass that revealed all of the watch's inner mechanisms: the coiled mainspring, the tiny gears, the pin holding the watch hands in place, the tiny screws and plates that kept all of the workings together. And set into one of those plates, directly underneath the hands, was a small, heart-shaped ruby.
"Oh — Cris." She felt a lump in her throat.
"The program's name… it was an old joke. Alister used to say that's all I had. A clockwork heart. Nothing but logic and predictability." The nervousness in his voice was even clearer now. "So I thought I'd give it to you. The heart. You know. But if you hate it — I made another watch face, a normal one. Just give it back and I'll replace it tonight."
Taya swallowed, leaning against his chest again and watching the gears turn beneath the glass, slowly nudging the golden minute hand forward. Then she closed the cover and pressed the watch against her lips, feeling it vibrate.
Well, what did you expect, she asked herself, half amused and half exasperated.
Trust Cris to make something so painfully and awkwardly sincere.
"I think it's perfect," she said, at last, meaning it.
"Good." He sounded relieved. "You — you haven't looked at the watch fob yet."
Taya slid the chain back up through her fingers. A gold ring swung back and forth from its tiny jeweler's clip.
Astonished, Taya twisted and looked up at him. Cristof cleared his throat as the coach clattered over the cobblestone street.
"I know what you're thinking. Cross-caste marriages never work out. But logically, since you're an icarus and I'm hardly any caste at all, I thought—" Taya threw her arms around his neck and silenced him with a kiss, nearly knocking off his glasses. And for one long moment, the watch in her hand seemed to keep perfect time with the beating of their hearts.
THE END
Cover Art Copyright © 2008 Timothy Lantz