Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle

Carson shrugged. “And then…nothing. One day people simply realized that the attacks upon the great houses had stopped. We assumed that the Masters had found the Other and had beaten him. But no one ever knew for sure. They never returned, or even sent us word. They had vanished.

“There were still packs of revenants, and outbreaks of wasps, but they were… undirected. Without purpose. Inevitably, of course, the remaining Sparks emerged from within their fortresses and began to accuse each other of being in league with the enemy. They resumed fighting amongst themselves. Things became worse than ever…” Carson sighed, “and that was when the Baron returned.”

Carson eased himself onto a low sarcophagus and considered his next words. “There are many who grouse about the Baron now, but when he first appeared, the people flocked to him…and with good cause. Where the Baron strode, peace reigned, and the people were desperate for peace. All too soon he was at the gates of Mechanicsburg—polite as the devil when he wants a drink, but here nonetheless.

“It’s not that I didn’t trust him. Truth be told, I always rather liked him. More important, the Masters had liked and trusted him. But even so, I would not be the one to surrender the secrets of the Heterodynes to an outsider.

“And so, the records showed that the seneschal of Castle Heterodyne, Carson von Mekkhan, had died, as had his eldest son—who bore his name. The younger children were erased from the records, and thus the House of Wulfenbach believed us—and the knowledge we possessed—to be gone.

“Eventually, after he had learned what he could—little enough, but still more than I’d have liked—Klaus set up a new City Council, reached an accommodation with what remained of the Castle, took the Jägers and the Nurse, and left.”

Agatha interrupted at this point. “Wait—the Nurse?”

The old man nodded. “A construct of the Lady Lucrezia’s. She had been the young Master’s nursemaid. When she was found trapped in the rubble of the Castle, she had gone quite off her head and was nearly incoherent. She had to be locked up or she’d have killed even more of us.”

“Was this…Von Pinn?”

The old man almost choked on his pipe. “You know her?”

Agatha nodded slowly. “She was on Castle Wulfenbach. The Baron had her guarding the children who served as hostages.”

“Ah.” The old man thought about this and nodded. “Klaus always did know the right monster for the right job.”

Krosp interrupted, “So there’s a new City Council?”

Carson waved a hand dismissively. “It was always the job of the seneschal to see to it that Mechanicsburg ran smoothly. It still is. In fact, it works so well that old Klaus has never had any cause to complain. The Baron’s new City Council was still made up of Mechanicsburg people. They answered quietly to me, and now, to my grandson, Vanamonde.” Carson paused. “I assure you, he is more competent than I let on.”

“A shadow government.” Krosp twitched his whiskers. “I really do like you people.”

Wooster looked skeptical. “But the Baron is famous for being able to infer things from the subtlest of hints. How could you have possibly kept all this a secret?”

The old man shrugged. “The Baron sails high above Europa in that floating castle of his. It’s very easy to see things from on high. More than people comprehend. Patterns are apparent, if you know what to look for. But Mechanicsburg has always been an insular place. A lot of our business takes place out of sight. The town sits atop caverns and passages that have been explored and expanded for centuries. A lot more goes through them than what is seen by the light of day. Klaus might suspect that all is not as it seems,” he conceded, “but the Baron is an outsider. Fooling him is a sport. More to the point, the Empire is big and we’ve never caused him any problems. We’ve even assisted him, once or twice. Klaus is focused on results.”

“No one notices that you have an undue amount of influence around here,” Krosp interjected.

The old man smiled. “Why, our family holds an important hereditary position. We are even honorary members of the City Council!” He fumbled about in an inner pocket of his vest and drew out a small, worn placard. “Here you go.”

Agatha examined the ivory card. It had been carefully etched, in an impressive gothic script. She looked up. “Doom Bell Ringer?”

Wooster gave a snort. “It hasn’t been rung in years.”

“And a good thing too,” Carson muttered as he replaced his card. He stared at Agatha and looked troubled. “But there are signs that business could be picking up.”

Agatha looked around. “So I assume that you can get us into the Castle from here so we don’t run into any of the Baron’s people?”