Of Gears and Humanity

| 28.1

[Elena]

Standing next to Theo, I held my breath. I heard the incoming footsteps before I saw them; felt the ground tremble under their pressure.

I wished Damien hadn't left. The Attributions would probably connect more with him—the boy raised to repair them—rather than me—the princess ready to destroy their way of life. Disrupting the treaty may be an inconvenience but I saw a bigger picture. I just needed them to see it with me.

"Where did Damien go?" Theo said as he glanced at me. "I thought he would be the ice breaker?"

"He's searching for something or someone. He believes I can do this." Extending my hand out towards him, I faced the palm up. And wiggled my fingers. "I need the stone."

"Of morning glory?" he faced me. "Elena, it's—"

"It's safe in your care, I know." I turned and looked at his face. "But I need it. It's more than a stone, and it will help us."

Theo's eyes widened. "More than a stone?"

The metal door of the Gate rattled. Quickly, I looked back at the entrance. My eyes opened wider than Theo's. Heat rushed up to my face. Now was not the time to feel fear, but my mind registered nothing else; the face peering at me through the metal bars struck terror in my heart.

The face smiled.

"Elena, I don't know—"

A hand pushed through the bars. Long, pale fingers twisted, reaching toward me before pulling back to the opposite side. The smile widened and I saw the flicker of red eyes.

My heart stopped beating. The hand I had opened for Theo dropped to my side. Something told me the stone would do nothing.

Gulping, I watched the door open. A tall, slender "man" stepped through. With blonde hair combed back on its head and a suit similar to the clothes I had first seen on Damien, he looked normal.

Was this the Attribution who raised Damien? With such a human appearance, I could see how he would have had no issues living with them. But the look in the machine's eyes terrified me. And I thought back to the wounds on Damien's side.

His father had done that, hadn't he?

Rather than dwell on the fear, I bowed my head; a polite gesture from one royal... to another. Thinking about it, I wasn't sure if they considered themselves royal.

As the Attribution took a step closer, I expected him to speak. He didn't. Three other machines followed close behind him. And just like him, they appeared so human, so real. I shuddered.

The main Attribution passed his hand over his hair.

It is now or never.

With a quick glance at Theo, I mouthed the words "Keep the guards ready." He took a moment, but when he nodded and turned back to look at everyone, I focused ahead.

"Sir." I kept my hands in small fists at my side. My nails dug into my palms. The tiny pain distracted me from the dangerous glow of his eyes.

Clearing my throat, my gaze slid over the Attribution and the machines around him. Then I glanced back at the royal guards. Each had placed their hands on their weapons; not pointed, but definitely ready in case of attack. To the Attributions, I didn't want us to seem hostile or prepared for this supposed war. I wanted to appear as peaceful as my thoughts wanted to be; I needed them to understand that I mean well.

I do, I really do.

"Sir," I addressed the Attribution once more. "I am happy you have crossed our borders to see us—"

The Attribution smirked. "Yours?" His brows lifted.

I cleared my throat once more. "You've crossed the Gate. You've come to see us."

His brows rose even higher. "Oh?"

Each of the machines behind him pushed through the Gate's small doorway and entered the human's space; our space. One by one, they lined up along the old, weathered brick wall. With their hands resting at their sides, their red eyes scanned us, the crowd in front of them. I noticed an Attribution at the far end of the line twitch; his fingers bounced, and the corner of his mouth jerked upwards.

But I couldn't look at him. It was the Attribution in front of me that needed my attention. Arvon was his name, wasn't it?

I lowered my head, bowing. "I have brought my people with me—" I extended one arm out to my side. "—and we come to offer peace in exchange for the abolition of the old treaty."

As quickly as his brows had lifted, they dropped. As did his smirk.

Still, I continued, "You request that we bring you children so you may raise them, train them, teach them to care for each and every one of you." My eyes slid over the still line of machines. "But what good is one child?"

"One child is enough," Arvon said.

The sound of his voice, his tone, chilled me. But I couldn't lose ground. I'd only just begun.

"One child for the hundreds of you can't be enough," I said. "There may be a line here with you, but how many of you are there, really?"

The Attribution blinked. His head tilted. Was he listening to me? Did I grab his attention?

"I come as the future Queen of Homestead—"

His smirk returned. "Future Queen."

"—And we have decided, as a group of people, a united soul, that we can provide more than one child." I stepped closer, placing my hand over my heart. Next to me, Theo followed close. "Instead of children, I can provide adults. Full-grown people willing to learn, willing to adapt and care for you in exchange for peace."

"Peace." He rolled his head around his shoulders. "Hasn't there been peace? Aren't you not happy?"

Again, that chill. His tone. For a moment, I was frozen. I couldn't think. Couldn't breathe. Was it his demeanor? Or the burning red of his eyes?

"We believe the Gate is pointless." I pointed at the wall behind him. "Why was it built if we meet here once a year. To exchange? What do we have that you need so?"

"Children," he said it so bluntly as if what I'd said seconds ago didn't matter.

"But more than children." I took another step closer. There were only a few feet between him and me. "If you had an entire town of adults trained to help you, to fix you, taught to repair your every... issue... wouldn't that be better than children?" My brows knitted together as I pleaded with him. "Hundreds of grown men and women instead of a single child?"

Something flickered across his face. His eyes changed. The red color of his irises softened.

For a second, I felt peace in the air. It was what I wanted. I needed him to hear me.

Extending my hand, I lowered my head once more. "Arvon, I, Elena of Homestead, plead with you to destroy the old treaty so we may create a new one."

"Arvon?" he scoffed. When I lifted my head to look at him, I saw a wicked smile on his face. His eyes darkened just as they were when he first stepped through the door. He glanced at my hand before swatting my fingers away.

The impact burned. I withdrew my arm and clenched my hand against my chest.

"You poor child," he stepped closer as I slowly retreated, "did you come this way to speak to Arvon?"

Theo placed himself in front of me. Each step back I moved, he followed. When he lifted his sword, the guards behind us readied their weapons.

The Attribution laughed. "I am not Arvon," he said. "Our lead did not wish to come here. But I," he flattened his hand against his chest, "am Eon."

My eyes widened. Eon? The Attribution who had hunted Damien in our forests?

No...

"And child," Eon's red eyes flashed as his machines took a step forward, "I do not wish for peace."

*

<3 Thank you for reading!