The Tale of Amaretto

Twenty-Third Grain

In Which the Company Heads Towards the Tower...

The women quickly gathered themselves up and walked back to the carriage that was still waiting for them. Katherine smiled sweetly at the cabbie and said, "We need to head towards the Tower, quick as you can. The cabbie, still only slightly enamored, tipped his cap and helped her in. After he closed the door behind her, Katherine settled next to Amaretto. The carriage leapt to and soon was off towards the Tower of London.

The carriage continued to bump along grimly until suddenly, Amaretto heard a chime in her head. She looked up to Katherine who held her gaze and shook her head sternly.

"All right then! I think I have something," Tempus said into her mind directly. She could hear a slight tinny echo and buzz behind his voice.

"You're talking in my head?" she thought.

"I figured that you might not want to have a voice come out of your ring for no reason. Witchcraft is still illegal in this day and age."

"Is the connection alright Tempus?"

"Yes, yes, everything is alright. Do not worry too greatly about it. As I was saying, I think I have figured out a way to get at the stone, but obviously you will have to do it without me. Here's what I want you to tell everyone else..."

"Wait Tempus, how do we know if this will work?"

Tempus huffed in her mind and in his quaint accent, he said, "If you think that I didn't check it all then you are sadly mistaken."

"Well you weren't sure if we were even going to survive the jump when you sent us to the Water Mirror," Amaretto thought acidly.

"That was a mistake," Tempus said.

"Yes, a mistake that almost cost us our lives."

"Nothing happened to you in Monde Cruex though," Tempus said in response a little agitated.

"Yes, nothing happened," thought Amaretto bitterly into her mind and at the ring. "Except now I am in another world that I am not from, trying to get to the one person who knows how to get me home. I refuse to believe that this was not a giant mistake, but still, you were a part of making this mistake. So if you have another way to get us out of here, it better work, or I will make sure that you won't have any more time anymore."

Tempus was silent and then spoke directly into Amaretto's head once more. "Yes. I understand."

"Good, now what is this plan of yours?"

Tempus began to speak with a rapid fire pace. "Well, taking into account that you are within the Great Machine Empire... I have figured that the anomaly is actually the Stone of Communication itself. The whole situation makes no sense. The stone was never supposed to be found by anyone in the first place. It was merely supposed to be a marker for the way to the Sand Mirror."

"That's great Tempus, but what does this have to do with,"

"Tut tut, don't interrupt me! I'm getting to it. As the stone itself, is actually just supposed to hold a coordinate. However, because of where it is hidden within time, it emits a magnetic pulse so that if there is a need to, we can find it. I consider it a fail-safe."

Amaretto grimaced as they passed by another crossroad where she noticed an IronMan on the street corner. He was dressed in a red cape, and Amaretto slunk into her seat as they passed by. She murmured to Tempus in her mind, "So what about this fail-safe? What does this magnetic pulse do?"

"Like I said, it allows us to track down and find the object that holds the coordinate if there is ever a need to get to the Sand Mirror and all we are supposed to do is get them to the Hourglass that you are currently wearing. Once all three coordinates are placed in, then we have a clear shot to the Sand Mirror. However, because it emits a magnetic pulse, there is a chance that other things are able to read and hear said magnetic pulse and follow it to where it is supposed to be."

Tempus sounded very proud of himself and for a moment, Amaretto pictured him as a terrier, wagging his tail happily, expecting a treat. Instead Amaretto furrowed her brow. "Wait, are you saying that something else followed this magnetic pulse?"

"That is sadly exactly what I am saying," Tempus crowed. At that moment, Amaretto was tapped on the shoulder by her aunt. Katherine left her hand on the shoulder. Amaretto looked at Katherine. Katherine's eyes narrowed.

"Is everything alright?" Katherine's voice was concerned and she looked a little worried.

Amaretto smiled, albeit a little falsely. "Everything is perfectly fine."

Katherine raised an eyebrow and then settled back into her own side of the carriage. "Well then, I won't say any more."

Amaretto nodded her head.

"I'll be right back," Tempus suddenly said, "I think I might have the workings of a plan..." With that, his voice blipped out of Amaretto's mind.

Alice looked over at Johanna and then furrowed her brow. "Something doesn't make sense in all of this," she said, her voice trembling a little bit. "Why would the Chancellor steal the stone once more?"

Johanna turned her head towards Alice and said, "Perhaps she's getting us back again and thinks that now we have a little bit of a price on our heads that she can jerk all of the strings."

Alice's look of concern remained. "Perhaps she did take it, but for what end? Even when she had it the first time, she didn't know how to use it."

Katherine waved a hand. "Wouldn't the new Spiritualist Law prevent her from using it in public?"

Alice nodded her head vigorously. "Even if Johanna and I used it on many occasions, there were enough people to swear that we meant no harm and therefore, were not subject to the irrational fears that most other Londoners had."

Johanna interjected. "Perhaps the Chancellor doesn't have it then."

Alice tittered. "That's poppycock! Who else in their right mind would want it?"

Amaretto thought about what Tempus had said. The coordinate sent of a magnetic pulse which was how they were following it. The pulse was constant, but not hidden. That meant other things could follow the pulse and grasp hold of the stone before she and Katherine could get their hands on it. There was a sudden tug at her memory again and she remembered Alice saying that no one had any idea where Mother Chime had come from. Her mind clicked and a panicked look settled across her face. She tried to hide it from the others, but she looked towards Katherine and her emotions betrayed her. Katherine had a bland expression on her face, but when she saw Amaretto's face, her expression quickly changed into one of worry.

"What is it Amaretto? Is something the matter?" Katherine had a tinge of worry in her voice, even if it did sound rather imperial. The other two women in the coach turned around and looked at her.

"What if Johanna is right? What if someone else came and got the stone..."

Alice seemed to pick up on her train of thought almost instantaneously. "Oh dear lord, she could be right. What if instead of the Chancellor, Mother Chime has it?"

Katherine looked a little perturbed. "So if mother Chime has it, I take it that the world ends?"

Amaretto laughed. Alice simply looked frightened and then managed to regain control of her emotions. "Well, I can take stock of this unfortunate situation, but I fear that Amaretto is correct. We are simply going to have to change the route and head towards Her Majesty's Secret Conclave."

Katherine shivered and then said, "I am not sure that I like the sound of that at all. It makes me want to heave."

Alice smiled secretively and then tapped the top of the box and said in a loud voice. "We're going to the Cloisters! Step on it!"