'I haven't told her yet.' He shifted, searching inside a pocket of his greatcoat for something. The coach rattled and lurched around them.
'Oh, Lady.' Taya groaned. 'You know she thinks you ought to stay in Primus instead of playing traveling ambassador. I think that's the only part of the Council's plan she doesn't like.'
'Well, she'll have all winter to complain about it,' he said, sounding unconcerned. 'But not this afternoon. Ah, here we go.' He pulled out a small box and offered it to her. 'I didn't let your family pack this away.'
'What is it?' Taya took it from him. The box was heavy. She held it to her ear and smiled, hearing ticking. 'Is it for me?'
'The ambassador's envoy deserves her own watch, don't you think?'
'But I like using yours,' she protested, even though she eagerly lifted the lid.
Her smile widened as she lifted the watch out of the box. Cristof hadn't tried to make it small and delicate. Instead, like the timepieces he'd made for himself and his brother, it had a comfortable heft, a sense of solidity and presence. It was the kind of watch she wouldn't be afraid to slip into a leather flight suit pocket. As if to emphasize that it was meant to be carried while flying, its red gold case was engraved with an outswept bird's wing.
'It's beautiful,' she said, delighted.
'I would have made the case out of ondium, but I couldn't get my hands on enough,' Cristof apologized. 'Red gold isn't as valuable, but…'
'It's much prettier.'
'I thought… the color reminded me of your hair.' He sounded nervous. Taya shot him an amused glance and opened the case.
'Oh.'
A narrow ring of red gold ran around the outside of the watch's face, marking the hours. But set inside that ring was a disk of transparent glass that revealed all of the watch's inner mechanisms: the coiled mainspring, the tiny gears, the pin holding the watch hands in place, the tiny screws and plates that kept all of the workings together. And set into one of those plates, directly underneath the hands, was a small, heart-shaped ruby.
'Oh — Cris.' She felt a lump in her throat.
'The program's name… it was an old joke. Alister used to say that's all I had. A clockwork heart. Nothing but logic and predictability.' The nervousness in his voice was even clearer now. 'So I thought I'd give it to you. The heart. You know. But if you hate it — I made another watch face, a normal one. Just give it back and I'll replace it tonight.'
Taya swallowed, leaning against his chest again and watching the gears turn beneath the glass, slowly nudging the golden minute hand forward. Then she closed the cover and pressed the watch against her lips, feeling it vibrate.
Well, what did you expect, she asked herself, half amused and half exasperated.
Trust Cris to make something so painfully and awkwardly sincere.
'I think it's perfect,' she said, at last, meaning it.
'Good.' He sounded relieved. 'You — you haven't looked at the watch fob yet.'
Taya slid the chain back up through her fingers. A gold ring swung back and forth from its tiny jeweler's clip.
Astonished, Taya twisted and looked up at him. Cristof cleared his throat as the coach clattered over the cobblestone street.
'I know what you're thinking. Cross-caste marriages never work out. But logically, since you're an icarus and I'm hardly any caste at all, I thought—' Taya threw her arms around his neck and silenced him with a kiss, nearly knocking off his glasses. And for one long moment, the watch in her hand seemed to keep perfect time with the beating of their hearts.
THE END
