Clockwork

Chapter Twelve

A rather tired and cranky Queen Avarice sat on her throne, still steaming over the video that Hunter had posted. She had even sent her elite guards to track that nuisance down but they had not returned. Avarice suspected that they probably would never return which added to her outrage.

How the hell had he avoided the hit squad? Her Iron Guard had failed her. She could see it now, the empire which she had built collapsing around her, the wall of malice that she had put up to protect herself were beginning to crumble. Not today, she thought, snarling. She would come for that boy, put a nice iron bullet through that pretty head of his. She would make him pay.

In the distance, the faint cries of a crowd grew stronger, the remainder of the protesters. Even Avarice knew that it would be foolish to kill them all. After all, what good is a Queen without her loyal subjects?

Turning to face one of the doors, she called out to her youngest son. Prince Tariq wasn't as well known as his brother. He was the child who was pushed to the side, not as handsome or charismatic as the other. Despite this, he seemed to not care, his personality subdued and sober. He was good company to the Queen as he was a good listener.

"I am listening, Mother." Tariq's voice echoed around the emptiness of the hall, a sound so faint made stronger by the silence.

The young prince stepped forwards, the light from the chandelier illuminating his face. Unlike his brother, Tariq had golden eyes, startling to those who first meet him. His eyes did not shine but glowed like a hallucination. A thin scar ran along his left cheek, across his lip, ending just below it; it was the result from many years training against his brother.

"Tariq, where did it all go wrong?" Avarice said, holding her arms out towards him. Dutifully, Tariq joined her, letting her put her head on his shoulder.

"We must get your brother back, I can't bear to think what has happened to him."

Tariq nodded slowly, his fingers fondling a golden ring on his right hand. He too missed his brother. Now he was the one who had to deal with Avarice's despair. If there was one thing Tariq was thankful for, it was his brother taking the time to keep him out of Avarice's way.

"Remember when you two would have races down the corridors?" Avarice sniffed. Tariq patted her on the head, pleading for an excuse to leave. He did remember the countless races.

Much to Tariq's relief, there was a knock at the Great Hall door. Jumping up, he ran to get it, disappearing behind it. A grave faced adviser entered the room, shaking his head. At once, Avarice snapped back into her usual stern self.

"What is it?" She demanded.

"Trouble." The adviser replied.

                                                                                                       *

"So Austin," Hunter said, jogging to keep up with him. "How did you manage to work for these guys?"

"With, not for, mate." Austin replied over his shoulder. "Tell the redhead to keep up."

Hunter grabbed Felicity's shoulder and half dragged her. Felicity did not take kindly to this but let him. Might as well use the free momentum.

"Why are we running? No-one's after us." She complained.

"Not yet. Trust me, if Monty finds out that I've helped you, he'll kill us all. And I know for a fact that they have a couple of guns they nicked from those drones."

"Oh."

Felicity still didn't trust Austin. He seemed to be too eager to help. And he and Hunter seemed to get on really well which was never a good sign; Hunter had a knack for making friends with the wrong sorts.

The light was starting to be more visible through the trees. Felicity guessed that they were now on the edge of the forest, much to her relief. She could do with some sunshine. Her eyes stung in its presence but her skin welcomed its glorious feeling.

"Why did you want that telescreen?" Austin asked.

Before Felicity could think of an answer, Hunter had butted in.

"She thinks it belongs to Prince Kyros." He snorted. Austin gave Hunter a look.

"Exactly what I thought." Hunter carried on. "See Flick? I'm not the only one."

"Well, the identity chip said otherwise. I'm not just making it up."

"Yes, because you're always right. Oh there's nothing to worry about, Hunter. The ship is perfectly safe, Hunter. I'm the better driver Hunter."

"At least I get money from an honest profession. What do you do? Get money from beating people up. You get beaten once, beaten by a stranger as well, and you won't stop whinging about it."

"Oh look at me! I'm Felicity Argentia. I'm an engineer. I'm so important!" Hunter mocked.

"Yeah, because I'm the one who posted that bloody video which got the Iron Guard after-"

"Will you two lovebirds please shut the hell up? You're giving me a headache!" Austin yelled.

"How many bloody times, she's not my girlfriend!" Hunter snapped.

"Because I'd love an i***t like this." Felicity crossed her arms over her chest. Austin held up his arms in defence.

"Okay, it's just arguing never got anyone anywhere. Besides, we're here."

The trio stopped, taking in the surroundings. Nothing was there except a boulder covered in snow.

"And what is 'here' exactly?" Felicity asked. Austin just winked and walked over to the boulder. He pressed the right side. The boulder began to roll sideways, revealing a tunnel.

"Impressive." Hunter whistled.

"I try my best. After you," Austin bowed to Hunter. The two boys walked into the tunnel.

"Come on, Scarlet. Unless you want to freeze."

"My name's not Scarlet." Felicity muttered, following the chuckling boys.

                                                                                                       *

Once inside the tunnel, the boulder rolled back into its position. A lamp on the wall next to them gave the trio some light. Smiling, Austin grabbed the lamp and led the way deeper into the tunnel.

                                                                                                        *

"I literally can't see a thing." Hunter complained.

"Jesus, what was that?"

Hunter had felt something nudge against his lower body.

"That would be me, mate. You're in the way." Austin felt the wall until his fingers found a latch. Pulling the latch, he extinguished the lamp. The tunnel gave a shudder and a panel opened to reveal another tunnel.

"Oh joy. More dark tunnels." Hunter said.

Austin laughed.

"Not quite."

All of a sudden, light flooded the room. Hissing, Felicity covered her eyes.

"Welcome to the bat cave." Austin announced proudly.

                                                                                                     *

Unlike the bat cave, Austin's hideout was quite small.

"It isn't much, but it's home." He said.

"You'll be safe here."

Jaw wide open, Hunter had walked into the middle of the room and was staring at a polished Jet. Austin came over to join him, patting the Jet.

"She's my pride and joy. My cousin fixed her up for me."

Felicity's ears perked up. Austin was related to an engineer? She suspected that she knew them as engineers weren't too common these days.

"Your cousin?" She asked.

"Yeah He was one of the top engineers. The Queen summoned him to do some work around the palace." He spat on the floor.

"Was almost blamed for the oil incident. Thanks, by the way."

"Sorry."

"Nah, it was funny. Chase thought so at least."

Felicity looked puzzled. There hadn't been a 'Chase' summoned to the Queen that day. Austin picked up on her confusion.

"You probably knew him as Jayda."

This sparked a memory in Felicity's mind. She remembered a tall, slim figure with short brown hair. She could see the resemblance to Austin now. She'd wondered why she could never find Jayda on the system.

"You look very funny," Austin commented.

"Just confused." Felicity admitted.

Austin chuckled.

His shoulders slumped suddenly.

"I miss him. He works for the Queen now, in security. Bloody traitor. He sent me to prison, yeah? My own cousin. Joke's on him because I escaped."

Just then, Hunter decided to flick a switch. The lights turned red and a siren began to whine.

"Was I not supposed to touch that?"

"Not really." Austin replied.

"The whole place is gonna be on lock down soon. 3 min to get out or you're trapped in here forever."

"Way to go, Hunts." Felicity snapped.

"Now what are we gonna do?"

"Get on the jet," Austin instructed, already tearing things off the wall. He shoved them into Hunter's arms.

"I'll join you guys in a bit. And for the love of God, don't touch any of the buttons!"

With that, Felicity and Hunter ran to the Jet.

"He didn't say not to touch the leavers," Hunter muttered.

"Is now really the time?" Felicity chided.

"Just trying to lighten up the mood."

Once on the jet, Felicity buckled Hunter into one of the seats to make sure that he didn't touch anything else. Grumbling, she did the same to herself. Would it kill her to have one day in which she wasn't running for her life?

Austin appeared in the doorway of the jet. Sprinting to the pilot's chair, he turned the engine on, whistling to himself.

"How long do we have?" Hunter asked.

"Like a minute."

"That's reassuring."

Flicking a switch, Austin began to reverse the jet. Directly above them, the ceiling opened, revealing a clear sky. The shrieking of the siren got louder.

"Austin! Get her in the air!" Felicity shouted.

"She is quite annoying." Austin said to Hunter.

The jet's engines grew stronger and Felicity felt in lift of the ground. Slowing her breath, she began to calm down. Up and up the jet flew, narrowly missing the closing ceiling.

"Sit back. I don't want you guys messing with the control panel." Austin said, leaving the jet on autopilot.

"Where are we going?" Felicity asked.

"To Metropolis. Didn't you want to go there? I'm not taking any chances with that telescreen, whether it belongs to the Prince or not."

"Thank you." Felicity replied.

"You're welcome."