The King's Mechanic Read online

  The steam-car purred around another bend in the road and Luna sighed. The monster had already carried the king to the next bend. There, the handlebar jerked. The king lost his grip and flailed. The monster fell, skidding sideways, crashing into the ground. At the last possible moment, the king managed to free his legs. Free from the monster, the momentum of his body carried him along. His anguished scream drowned out the steam-car's huffing and puffing.

  Gustavo accelerated, but they'd never make it in time. Luna could do nothing but watch. This was the end of the kingdom as she knew it. The monster crashed into a rocky outcrop, twisted around and fell over the cliff's edge, leaving the king behind like a broken toy. At least he hadn't fallen over the edge as well.

  With her throat as dry as if she hadn't had anything to drink for a day or two and her heart hammering in her chest like the steam-car's pistons, she jumped out of the vehicle the minute it stopped. She crouched beside the king and felt for signs of life. Oh god, this reminded her so much of the day her mother had died. Her eyes were burning but she bit back the tears. Like her mother, the king was still breathing; shallow breath but at least unaided.

  “He's still alive.” Very carefully, Luna felt the pulse on his neck. It was erratic but there. That was a good sign.

  “Let me take him.” Gustavo tried to shove her aside, but she wouldn't budge.

  “We can't move him.”

  “Are you trying to kill him? He needs to see a doctor.”

  That had been her first thought too, after the carriage had run over her mother. As understandable as it had been, moving her mother had killed her. She remained adamant and pushed Gustavo away.

  “His backbone might be broken. If we move him without a doctor looking at him, he might die. I lost my mother that way.”

  “Oh.” For the first time since she met him, Luna thought she detected real feeling in his chiseled features. However, she wasn't sure which kind of feeling. Most likely it was fear.

  He recovered quickly. “So you want me to fetch the doctor here instead of taking Vincente there?”

  She nodded and turned back to examine the king as best she could. The poor man had slammed into the rocky outcrop together with the monster, and it probably saved his life. If he had been dragged over the edge there would have been no saving him. But the crash had twisted him. A big cut on his forehead bled. She pulled her handkerchief from a hidden pocket in her skirt and dabbed at the blood.

  Gustavo dropped a cape and a blanket beside her. “Keep him warm until I'm back. But if he dies in the meantime, you bear the consequences.”

  At this precise moment, Luna didn't care, although she suspected that she might regret her decision later. But for now, the king was breathing and his pulse was strong enough. While the sounds of the steam-car faded away, she took off the cloak and covered the injured. Then, she rolled up the blanket and put it under his knees as best she could without moving him too much. Relief flooded her when he kept on breathing. Then, she sat at his side, holding his hand, murmuring comforting words, and dabbing at the blood that slowly congealed on his brow. It would take Gustavo a while to return. Hopefully the king would live that long.

  After what seemed an eternity, his eyelids fluttered. Luna bent forward the better to see. His eyes opened and she noticed his pain in the fine lines on his temples. His mouth moved. Since she didn't hear a word, she bent even farther down.

  “My feet … I can't feel my feet.” His voice was barely more than a breath.

  “Gustavo is fetching a doctor.” Luna didn't know what else to say. Thankfully, her words seemed to soothe the king. He relaxed and closed his eyes again.

  “My head hurts so much.” The voice was getting slightly stronger. Then, he fell silent as if he had fallen asleep. She watched him, holding his hand and waiting for him to wake again. An unusual softness stole into her heart. With his eyes closed, he looked like a small child or a wingless angel. If only the lines of pain from his nose to the corners of his mouth weren't so deep. The warmth in her chest spread through her whole body. If she had to name the feeling, she would have called it pity. But there was no one asking, not even herself. She reached out and caressed his cheek. His eyes flew open.

  “I'm dying, right?”

  “No!” Luna sat up as straight as she could. “The doctor will be here any minute. He'll heal you. I'm sure he will.”

  The smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth was a sad one. “When I'm dead, make sure they'll fetch my second youngest brother. He'll make a good king.”

  Just as the clanking of the steam-car returned, the king closed his eyes and fell into a fitful slumber. Instead of Gustavo's steam-car, an ambulance with the doctor and two male nurses arrived. Luna made room for them. After examining the injured king, the doctor nodded to her.

  “You did well. If his brain isn't too damaged from the crash, he might live.”

  With a special choker and the male nurses’ help, he stabilized the backbone. Only then did they lift the king onto the ambulance's stretcher and carry him into the vehicle. Luna was allowed to ride in the front.

  They drove in silence. As they neared the castle, Luna wondered how well the king would be able to recover with a broken backbone. Also, men had been known to fall down dead several days after they had knocked their heads. It would probably be a wise move to grab her brother and run, as soon as they were back.

  They had barely stopped in the main courtyard when a massive woman in a blue-and-gold dress swooped toward them. The ringlets of her white hair were artfully arranged into a bird's nest (including a stuffed bird), and her gold-rimmed bodice threatened to rip due to her heavy breathing. Disregarding everyone, she pushed aside Luna, the doctor and the nurses.

  “My wee, little darling.” She grabbed the king's hand. “We'll have you up and running again in no time.”

  “I doubt it. His backbone is broken and no one in the world can mend that,” the doctor said, but the woman ignored him.

  “Take him to his bed. Very carefully.” Only when everybody jumped at her command, Luna realized that this lady must be the king's nurse, one of the most powerful women of the court. She tried to slip away in the general commotion to look for Mondo, but the Royal Nurse grabbed her shoulder.

  “You've been with him?”

  Luna nodded, and the nurse pulled her along.

  “Tell me what he said.”

  On the way to the king's bedroom, Luna recounted the few words he had uttered, highlighting his fear of dying and his choice of an heir. The nurse squeezed her arm.

  “You're a capable gal, you know. I want you to stay with him until he's better. One cannot trust the idiots from Court.”

  Luna protested, but the nurse wasn't swayed. She wiped away her worry about Mondo by sending a servant to fetch the boy.

  “He can keep you company and entertain the king when he regains his senses. Kids are a wonderful medicine.” She smiled, and her eyes sparkled mischievously. “I should know, shouldn't I?”

  Luna smiled back, deciding she liked the nurse a lot more than anyone else she had met in the castle.

  The king's bedroom was gigantic, with walls covered in paintings, tapestries and gilded ornaments. The tiny fireplace would surely not be big enough to heat the room in winter, and the four-poster bed was so big, the king looked lost in it.

  While the doctor put the king's neck and the back of his head into a plaster, a second bed was set up in the king's bedchamber, so she could be with him at all times. Gustavo tried to stay as close to the king as possible, but he got shoved out of the way by the nurse all the time. When she bumped into him again, he took a step back, stumbled over the doctor's bag and slammed into the ground. He howled in pain.

  “Oh dear, what happened?” The nurse was all sympathy but Luna detected a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. When the doctor had finished treating the king, he examined Gustavo.

  “Your coccyx has been jolted. That'll hurt a few days and you might not be able to walk
very fast. Sitting should not be a problem as long as you use a cushion. Here's a salve. Use it twice a day.” He packed his bag and left the room. Only Luna heard his parting remark.

  “Clumsy fool,” he said. She tried to hide her smile.

  Gustavo shot her an angry glance and snarled. “Do you think your father would agree to you sharing Vincente's bedchamber?”

  “She'll be chaperoned,” the nurse said. “Her little brother will be with her at all times. Now, get out of here. He needs to rest.”

  “Stop ordering me around. As long as Vincente is not well, I am Regent of the Kingdom.” Gustavo straightened and pulled out the king's will Luna had testified for. All of a sudden, her hands felt like chunks of ice hanging at her side. Surely, the royal advisors wouldn't let him rule the country — not even if it was for only a short while. But deep in her heart, she knew they would. Resigned, she turned to the king to start with her duty.

  As the hours passed, Luna wiped the sweat off the king's brow, wondering how she had gotten herself into this mess. She ought to grab Mondo and leave as fast and as far as she could. However, the motionless, pale face on the pillow begged her silently to stay.

  The doctor entered again. He'd been visiting every half hour. This time, he brought the Royal Nurse. She carried a baby bottle. Luna stepped back to make room for them.

  “I tell you, the brain must be damaged or he would have woken by now.” He put his bag on the bed, opened it and pulled out a syringe. “I can inject the medicine, but he needs to drink soon or he'll never wake.”

  The nurse smiled confidently, sat down on the bed's edge and put the baby bottle's sucker into the king's mouth. Luna watched, fascinated, how the nurse managed to squeeze some water into the unresponsive mouth. The king gurgled, gasping for air, but his body didn't move at all. It was creepy. Hurriedly, the nurse pulled his shoulders toward her. Since the plaster fixed his neck and head, he turned sideways and the water trickled from his mouth. Immediately, his breathing relaxed.

  The doctor shook his head. “I told you it wouldn't work. I've seen it before.” He sighed and packed his belongings back into his bag. “We need him to wake, and soon, or all is lost. Let's hope that my medicine will do the trick because I'm at my wits’ end.”

  “I'll stay here for a while longer.” There were tears in the nurse's eyes. When the doctor had left, she caressed the king's cheek and smiled, but the smile never reached her eyes. “He's my baby, the son I never had.”

  “I'm so sorry.” Luna didn't know what else to say. Then, she had an idea. Maybe … But wouldn't that be indecent? She felt her heartbeat quicken. She couldn't … not the king … but what if he died? His lips did look rather parched. She braced herself and turned to the nurse. “Would you lend me the baby bottle?”

  The nurse's eyebrows shot up but she handed her the bottle without asking. Luna sucked a mouthful of water, stepped closer to the bed, and bent down. Very gently, she placed her lips on the king's unresponsive ones. My first kiss and the man doesn't even react. How very romantic, she thought as she let a few drops of water trickle into the unconscious man's mouth. At the same time, she very gently rubbed a finger along his throat. As she had hoped, he swallowed. Her lips tightened at the movement and butterflies somersaulted in her stomach, but she managed to repeat the process until her mouth was empty without spilling any water. When she straightened, the nurse stared at her, wide-eyed.

  “How did you know this would work?”

  “I hoped it would,” Luna said. “My mother did that with a very feverish boy a few years back, and he survived.”

  “If he lives, I know who to thank.” The nurse blinked away some tears and squeezed Luna's hand.

  Embarrassed, she gazed at the ground, but she stayed at the nurse's side until a servant came to fetch her for an important consultation with the king's advisors. Then, she fed her charge some more water.

  Several hours later, she eased another mouthful of water into the king, and he dutifully swallowed. By now, she'd done it often enough that she didn't mind this part of her duty any more. Actually, she rather enjoyed the sensation of warm lips against hers. Also, she didn't need to rub the throat any more because he had begun to swallow without the extra stimulation. Tentatively optimistic, she watched a male nurse come in. He was there to take care of the less appetizing functions of a human body. At least she didn't have to bother with those.

  For obvious reasons, she left the room and leaned on the wall, waiting for the nurse to finish. Her mind wandered. What would it be like to be kissed for real? Even though the king was lying unconsciously in his bed, she could feel the warmth of his lips tingle on hers. They were just as she had imagined a man's lips must be. Soft, malleable and with a taste like sweet and sour drops. For a split second, Luna imagined what it must be like if the lips would suddenly kiss her back. A pleasant shiver went through her body.

  Shocked, she called herself to reason. That would never happen. For one, she didn't love the king. She remembered her mother telling her about the hormones coursing her body when it grew into adulthood. Second, the king was intolerable and had acted irresponsibly during the little time she knew him. If ever there would be someone to kiss, it had to be a man who loved her and appreciated her the way she was — someone with tender hands and a smile that would warm her heart.

  The male nurse left the room with a paper bag and nodded at her. She shook off her musings and returned to her duties. When she had fed the unconscious man with broth and made him swallow even more water, she leaned back in a comfortable chair, read a book she had borrowed from the Royal Nurse and looked at her charge in regular intervals.

  She didn't know why, but at one point, she felt compelled to look up. The king's eyes were open, staring at the baldachin of his bed. She put her book aside and bent forward, so she'd be in his line of sight. His gaze traveled to her, but he couldn't move his head because of his plaster.

  “You kissed me.” His whisper was so low, she barely heard him.

  “You must have been dreaming,” she lied with smarting ears. “Can I do something for you?”

  “My body.” His breathing was labored. “Hurts. Can't move.”

  “The doctor put you in a plaster. I'm sure he'll remove it when you're feeling better.”

  The king closed his eyes and sighed. “I'm so tired.”

  “Everything will be fine.” Luna took his hand and stroked it. His fingers didn't even twitch. She reached out and caressed his cheek. A smile flitted over his face, and he fell asleep again. A tear clung to his eyelashes, and something soft tugged at Luna's heartstrings. The king looked so lost and pale in the big bed. She tried not to remember the softness of his lips. No chance; the memory wouldn't be denied. For a fleeting moment she allowed herself to wonder what it would be like if his lips kissed her back. Then, she shook her head. In his right mind, the king would never kiss a simple mechanic. And anyway, she didn't like lunatics. He wasn't even good-looking, with his mousy hair and the sunken eyes. The longing for a kiss was only her hormones mixed with pity. She didn't need a king to be happy.

  On the other hand, the kingdom needed him, so he had to get better.

  The king didn't wake again, and his breathing became more labored every day. A week passed and nothing much changed. Luna dared to hope that the advisors had gone against the king's will after all, since Gustavo had still not been proclaimed ruler. In spite of everything, the king was still alive although he slept. The Royal Nurse took over her duties a few hours a day so she could catch up on sleep. The doctor looked in twice a day, Gustavo too, and Mondo ran around the castle, reporting to her as often as he remembered. He had the time of his life. Everybody slipped him sweets as long as he told them about his brave sister who practically saved the king single-handedly. Whenever he told her how the servants regarded her, the worry in her heart grew.

  Also, something about the accident bothered her, but as much as she pondered, she couldn't put her finger on it. On the fifth day, she was
sitting on the bed beside the king, telling him nursery rhymes to break the silence, when the doctor entered once more. This time, he brought one of the advisors with him. Luna withdrew and let them examine the king. After along time, the doctor sighed.

  “I don't think he'll make it much longer.” He pulled the cover up to the king's chin again. “If he doesn't wake today, he most likely never will.”

  “That's quite the problem,” the advisor said. “If he doesn't wake, we'll have to adhere to his written wishes. What a nightmare.”

  “What about the king's brothers?” The doctor packed his instruments back into his bag.

  “We can't find them. No one seems to know what happened to them after they went gallivanting. It can take us years to find even one of them.” The advisor turned away from the bed. “I knew when he was crowned that he wouldn't make a decent king. Being burdened with a ruler like that upstart Gustavo…” He left the sentence unfinished and put a hand on the doctor's shoulder. “Try to keep him alive for as long as possible. I told the upstart he'd have to wait until the king is dead before we can appoint him ruler. Every minute will give us another chance at finding a solution.”

  Dread froze Luna's thoughts. The advisor was right. If Gustavo became the ruler of the kingdom, bad things would happen. And there was nothing she could do to prevent this. Guilt cut through her like a knife. If only she hadn't repaired the monster, none of this would have happened.

  In the afternoon, the Royal Nurse took her place. Luna tried to sleep, but guilt and a nagging telling her she had been overlooking something kept her awake. Finally, she got up and decided to look for the Royal Mechanic's workroom. Maybe she would be able to understand her unease better if she could see the place where the nightmare started. She took a couple of wrong turns, but finally found it. The door was locked. Fortunately, one of the big gate's planks was loose. It took some tearing, pulling and pushing, but in the end, the opening was big enough for her to slip through.