Behemoth

“We’re talking about a lot of money, Your Serene Highness.”

Alek didn’t answer, but knelt to open his satchel—the small one he’d been lugging about all day. He slid out what looked like a brick wrapped in a handkerchief.

“Junge Meister!” Klopp said softly. “Nicht das Gold!”

Alek ignored him, unwrapping the handkerchief to reveal a metal bar. When sunlight struck it, a pale yellow fire burned across its surface.

Deryn swallowed. Barking spiders, but princes were rich!

“You really are him, aren’t you?” Nene murmured. A thin few slices had been shaved from the bar’s edges, but the Hapsburg crest was still plain.

“Of course, madam,” Alek said. “I am a very poor liar.”

The conversation started up again, shifting back to Clanker as Nene, Zaven, and Klopp began to plan.

Lilit turned to face Deryn, her eyes glittering.

“Spices! You’re brilliant. Just perfectly brilliant.” Lilit gathered her into a hug. “Thank you!”

“Aye, I’m dead clever … sometimes,” Deryn said, pulling herself quickly away. “It’s just lucky Alek brought that slab of gold along.”

Alek nodded, but a pained look crossed his face. “That was my father’s idea. He and Volger planned for anything.”

“Aye, but it’s barking lucky you brought it today,” Deryn said. “Otherwise you’d have lost it.”

“Pardon me?”

“Stop being a Dummkopf,” Deryn said, shaking her head. “The taxi pilot knows what hotel we came from. And the way we’re dressed, it’s dead certain the management will remember us if the police come asking. So we’ll have to stay here. We’ve lost the wireless set, but we’ve got Klopp’s tools, Bovril, and your gold.” Deryn shrugged. “That’s everything important, right?”

Alek squeezed his eyes shut, his voice falling to a whisper. “Almost everything.”

“Blisters! You didn’t have two slabs of gold, did you?”

“No. But I left a letter behind.”

“Does it say who you are?” Lilit asked softly.

“All too clearly.” Alek turned to stare at Deryn, his gaze suddenly intense. “It’s well hidden. If no one finds it, we can sneak back and fetch it!”

“Aye, I suppose so.”

“In a week, once things have settled down. Please say you’ll help me!”

“You know me, always happy to lend a hand,” Deryn said, punching Alek on the shoulder. Though, frankly, it sounded a bit pointless to her. The Germans already knew that Alek was in Istanbul, so why risk getting caught?

It was only a barking letter, after all.

THIRTY-FOUR

“You bum-rag!” Deryn cried. “I was having a dead good dream!”

“It’s time to go,” Alek said.

Deryn groaned. She’d been helping Lilit with the Spider all day, carrying parts and trays of type, and every muscle in her body ached. It was no wonder that Clankers were grumpy all the time—metal was barking heavy.

In her dream she’d been flying. Not on an airship or a Huxley, but with wings of her own, as light as gossamer. It had been brilliant.

“Can we not leave it for another night? I’m knackered.”

“It’s a week since we left the hotel, Dylan. That’s what we agreed.”

Deryn sighed. She could see the desperate gleam in the boy’s eye again. He got it every time he talked about his lost letter, though he wouldn’t say why it was so barking important.

Alek threw her blanket aside, and Deryn jumped to cover herself. But she’d slept in her mechanic’s slops, as she always did now. She’d had to watch her step here. The pilots who came to train in Zaven’s warehouse were all curious about the strange boy in the background, who knew none of the languages of the Ottoman Empire. So Deryn stuck with Lilit, working on the Spider, and helped Zaven with the cooking, learning the names of new spices, and slicing garlic and onions until her fingers stung.

“Leave off!” she cried. “I’m getting up.”

“Hush. I don’t want any questions from the others about where we’re going.”

“Aye, right. Just wait outside a minute.”

He hesitated, but finally left her alone.

Deryn changed into her Turkish clothes, muttering about the various defects of Alek’s character. She often talked to herself these days—living among Clankers was driving her mad. Instead of the murmurs of beasties and the steady hum of airflow, Deryn spent her days surrounded by the rattle of gears and pistons. Her skin smelled of engine grease.

Of all the machines she’d worked on this last week, the Spider was the only one she had a fondness for. Its dance of cutting blades and conveyor belts was as elegant as any ecosystem, a whirl of paper and ink converging into neat bundles of information, and its huge legs stretched out like the boughs of an ancient tree. But even that faint suggestion of a living thing only made Deryn miss her airship home the harder.

And all to help some barking prince.

She went out into the training courtyard, where the latest bunch of walkers stood, their spice-bomb throwers half finished. A djinn towered above the rest, its powerful arms crossed, its nozzles still wet from being tested. As fellow Muslims, the Arabs had a dispensation from the sultan to arm their walkers with steam cannon. The cannon didn’t shoot projectiles, but in a pinch the djinn could disappear into a white-hot cloud.

The courtyard’s outer door was wedged open a squick. Deryn slipped through to find Alek waiting out on the street.

Lilit was there too, dressed up in fancy European clothing.

“What’s she doing here?”

Alek raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t I tell you? We need someone the hotel staff won’t recognize. Lilit rented a suite yesterday.”

“And exactly how does that help us?”

“My room is on the highest floor, like Alek’s was,” Lilit said. “Two doors away. And they both have balconies.”

Deryn frowned. She had to admit, climbing across balconies might be a wee bit easier than picking the lock. But why hadn’t anyone told her the plan?

“I can sneak about just as well as you two can,” the girl said. “Ask Alek how easily I trailed him.”

“Aye, he’s told me that story more than once,” Deryn said. “It’s just that …”

She tried to think of what to say. Lilit wasn’t a bad sort, really. She was a dab hand with machines, as good at piloting as any of the men. In a way, she’d managed the same trick as Deryn had—acting like a man—without pretending, and that was a splendid sort of anarchy, one had to admit.

But the girl had a habit of turning up whenever Alek and Deryn were alone together, which was barking tiresome.

Why hadn’t Alek mentioned that she was coming along? What other secrets was he keeping about her?

“Is it because I’m a girl?” Lilit asked stiffly.

“Of course not.” Deryn shook her head. “I’m just sleepy, is all.”

Lilit stood there, looking a little cross and waiting to hear more. But Deryn only turned and headed toward