And then, standing there, naked and chained before the Engineers, Anukis realised the full extent of her slavery. Desolation swamped her. This was not going to be a simple case of torture and execution. No. Not only Vashell's pride and vachine honour were on trial here; the whole of the Engineer culture felt cheated, abused, despoiled, and Anu realised with a lead heart that they would force her to live as long as possible...and make her suffer humiliation, degradation, and pain greater than any impure had ever suffered.

Anu shivered, goose-bumps running along her flesh, and Vashell pulled her tight before his Engineer brethren and his fangs grew long, and suddenly a hushed silence flowed through the chamber and Vashell's head dropped, his fangs plunging into Anu's neck, into her artery, and he sucked out her blood and lifted her, like a ragdoll in his powerful arms as he drank her, drank her impurity, and Anu grew limp, dizzy, and lying naked in Vashell's abusive embrace she slipped away into welcome darkness.

The rhythm danced through her. It pumped through every blood vessel, every vein, every artery, to her heart. It pumped, an echo to her own heart, a heartbeat doppelganger chasing through haemoglobin and the rainbow thick mix of blood-oil and alien blood and her mind was transfused with confusion, like a spider spinning a web over glass, and as she awoke her mouth was full of fur, her eyes sticky with blood, her ears pounding with an ocean, waves crashing a bone beach of despair and she coughed, and choked, spluttered, her eyes forced open through stickiness and she stared down at silk sheets.

Anukis coughed again, phlegm spattering the fine white silk, and she groaned, pain slamming her from every angle. She stared straight ahead, at the rock wall filled with lodes of minor silver-quartz thread, and realised with a start she was in in the mountain... the mountain...

She rolled, and sat up, her golden curls cascading down her back. She had been washed, shampooed, scrubbed of blood and dirt, and now she wore a light cotton gown that did little to protect her vulnerability. Her hand came up, touched her neck, caressed the dual puncture marks.

He bit me, she thought, eyes narrowing.

The ultimate disgust, from one vachine to another.

The ultimate rape.An implied and direct insult; of superior blood over toxic blood. No vachine bit another. It was not done.

Winter sunlight sleeted through long, low windows at the edge of the room, and Anukis eased her feet over the edge of the bed, feeling tender, feeling sore, feeling battered and bruised and weak. She filled up with self loathing and spat on the fine thick red carpets. "The bastard."

She stood, trembling, limbs frail, and tottered across to a marble stand containing a brass jug. She poured herself a little water, and drank. It made her feel sick.

Before her, through the window, she could see the spread of Silva Valley. It was beautiful, serene, a pastel painting of perfect civilisation, vast and finely sculpted, a culture at its peak. Where am I? she thought, and the answer came easily enough. This was a mountain villa, and obviously belonged to Vashell's parents. They were rich. They were Engineers. They were royalty.

The mountain villas were built at the summit of the rising city, up at the head of the valley in premium sites for exaggerated architecture, and using the mountain itself as a base. These villas overlooked the vachine world, and commanded the greatest views one could buy in Silva Valley.

Anukis stood for a while, watching the view. It was morning, and the vachine world was coming awake. She could see thousands of vachine on the streets below, buying, selling, transporting goods. If she stretched, she could just determine the bulk of the Engineer's Palace to the left, and a curved walkway leading to a dark mouth. A steady stream of vachine queued along the snake of the path, many carrying bundles in their arms. These were inventions, or broken mechanisms they wished fixing. Some came with requests for the Engineers. Some came with information.

Anukis smoothed her hands down her cotton flanks, and thought of Shabis, her younger sister. Shabis was true vachine, no impure blood ran through her veins, greasing her cogs and wheels, and Anukis knew that even her own sister knew not of her impure nature. Only Kradek-ka had been party to the secret; and they both guarded it fervently. After all, if word got out, she would forfeit with her life.

Anukis smiled, for what felt the first time in a century. She thought of Shabis, young Shabis, only sixteen years old, long beautiful golden curls, taller than Anukis, more slender, her limbs delicate and regal. Her eyes were dark, her face a little more pointed; she was a stunning Vachine Goddess!

The smile fell from Anu's face. If Shabis still lived...

There came the tiniest of clicks. Vashell stood there. He wore full battle armour, and a dazzling array of weapons. His boots were polished, his head held high, his face and eyes unreadable. Then he smiled, and moved forward, standing beside Anukis to stare out over Silva Valley and the jewelled contents of the vachine empire.

"I cannot believe it came to this," said Vashell. His voice sounded, genuinely, hurt.

"Go away, and die quietly," whispered Anukis.

Vashell turned, and took her hands in his own. He held her gently, but there was no illusion there for Anukis; she knew damn well how brutal he could be. His gentility was an affectation. His humbleness a facade.

"If you had asked me our futures three months ago, I would have been so sure, so adamant, that we would be wed, and living a life of rich royalty. We were the perfect match, Anukis."

"You abused me," she hissed, looking at him then, her eyes flashing dark. "In front of the Engineers and Priests! You took my blood, you humiliated me, you beat me. You are a canker, Vashell; maybe not visibly so, not in the open flesh, but deep in your heart your clockwork has deformed and twisted, and even now has eaten that part of you which was human."

Vashell stood, stunned by the insult. To call a vachine a canker was...unthinkable.

He took a deep breath, and Anukis watched him master his anger; his fury.

"I can make this right," he said.

"An utter impossibility."

"I still love you."

Anukis stood, and turned back to face the Silva Valley. Still, Vashell held her hands and she felt his grip grow tight, holding her, refusing to allow her a simple freedom.

"The only person you love is yourself," said Anukis.

"Listen to me." There was urgency in his voice. "You were caught red-handed with the Blacklipper king himself. You were witnessed drinking Karakan Red. We had been staking out the lair for months, tracing Preyshan's suppliers-and then you stumbled in screaming out your impure status. It was all I could do to stop the Engineers slaughtering you where you stood...and believe me, I put my own life on the line in those few moments out there under the Brass Docks. Since then, I have been observed, closely watched by the Watchmakers to see how I'd react, to see how I treated you. Don't you understand, Anukis? If I had not behaved the way I did, both our lives would have been forfeit! We would never have escaped the claws of Silva Valley! But now...now I have a plan. plan."

"Explain to me your plan." Her voice was low. Still she did not face Vashell. Her anger went beyond speech.

"Since the humiliation inside the Engineer's Palace, it is believed I have broken you, and brought you here as my sexual plaything, until I grow tired, until I murder you and send your corpse back to the Engineer's Palace for dissection. Now, their watch has grown lax. I feel the trails of blood-oil magick weaken with every passing second, every heartbeat. Within a few days we will be free, and can leave this place. Together. If you so wish."

"What of Shabis?"

"She will come with us! You must believe me, Anukis. It has all been an act! I love you dearly; more than life itself. I have been working to secure our freedom, to sneak us from under the vachine net."

Anukis turned, and looked into his eyes, and chewed her lip.

"You mean this?"

"Yes," he said. "Kiss me."

"What?"

"Kiss me. Show me what I am missing."

Anukis frowned, and it felt wrong, Vashell's words felt wrong and they came crashing down inside her brain. Why would a High Born Royal, an Engineer Priest with all the makings of earning a future rank of Watchmaker give up everything for her? Her own lack of self-esteem bit her, and bit her hard.

"I don't know whether to trust you," she said, her voice low, trembling. "You did terrible things to me, Vashell. You tore out my heart, you humiliated me; you took away what vestiges of pride still remained!"

"No." He shook his head. "Your pride was already gone. I saved your life. It's that simple. You know I speak the truth. You know how we are watched. And now, I can save both you, and your sister, if you only trust me. You took that physical beating from me; and I was observed. It was an evil necessity. Now I have only love for you." He moved close, shushing her, lips tickling her ear, and slowly his mouth moved around and he kissed her and his kiss was gentle, loving, his hands running through her hair, gently, over her body and she squirmed under his grip, a mixture of lust, and love, and confusion, and hatred, all running and combining with her fear and uncertainty and he kissed her, and she kissed him back, and she fell into him, fell into his world and he hugged her, his face over her shoulder, and his fangs eased free of brass jaw sheaths and Vashell closed his eyes, face a rapture of love and contentment.

He came to her that night, and in the darkness and the glow of molten lanterns she loosened her cotton robe which slipped from perfect, bruised shoulders. Vashell stood, his eyes wide, basking in her beauty, basking in her slender vachine warmth, and he stepped forward and his hands moved out, rested lightly on her lips and she smiled up at him, and he smiled back, and love was in his eyes as he gave a low growl of lust and pushed her back to the bed. He kissed her, his hands on her flesh, his claws tracing grooves down her curves, and Anukis moaned as she gave herself to him, fucked him, partially from want, partially to save her life, and to save her sister, and confusion raged through her and only later did she wonder about the love in his eyes. Was it his, or simply the reflection of her own?

Anukis had a dream. She dreamt of Kradek-ka. He was tall, and powerful, a noble Watchmaker in full vachine battledress. He stood over her, then sat down, cross-legged before her, his swords scraping the floor. A fire burned, an old wood fire, traditional, smoke trailing embers into the air. Flames glittered in his swirling gold eyes.

"Anukis?" he said gently.

"Father!" She fell into his arms and he held her, his powerful arms encircled her and she cried, cried tears of gold and blood, and she knew then that everything would be fine, the world would be good, and Anukis would not have to face the horrors of the world alone. "I've missed you so much, Daddy. I've been so alone and so terrified without you."

"You need to listen to me, girl." His voice was gentle, despite his size. "I am in...a curious place. I think I may be dead."

"How did you come to my dreams?"

"I do not know, girl. What I do know is your position. They have found out, yes?"

"It was horrible," she wept.

He wiped away her tears. Firelight glinted on his silver fangs. Out of all the vachine, every single one of the eighty thousand strong population in Silva Valley, Kradek-ka was the only creature who could take pure silver. Normally, silver would disrupt every other element of clockwork, twist every ounce of silver-quartz, dislocate every heartbeat rhythm; but not with Kradek-ka. He was a mystery to the Engineers. A conundrum to other Watchmakers, and even to the Patriarch Himself.

"I have advice for you."

"Tell me what to do."

"Marry Vashell."

"What?"

"It is your greatest chance of survival. And I want to see you live, Anukis. I want to see you live so very, very much."

She awoke, and the room was warm; it smelt of oil. It smelt of the narcotic, blood-oil.

Vashell was there, naked beside the bed. His erection was magnificent to behold, his balls inset with tiny gears, the smallest of spinning toothed cogs which ground and whirred, and all reflecting the light from a hundred burning candles.

Anukis lay back, panting, her golden curls highlighting her pale frame.

"I wanted you so much," he said.

"I love you, Vashell," she said, remembering the fear in her father's eyes. The lie tripped easily from her tongue. It was a lie of existence. A lie of endurance. A lie of survival; for if she survived, she could find her father, and save her sister.

"And I you." He touched her, his hands on her breasts, her hips, sliding smooth into her slick cunt, and she closed her eyes and allowed him to take her, again, and again, and again, the only sound his panting, and the tiny tick tick tick tick tick tick of his clockwork inside her. of his clockwork inside her.

"Shabis!"

Shabis ran across the room, bare feet curling in thick carpets, and fell into Anu's arms. "Nuky," she said, nuzzling her older sister, and they held each other, breathing one another's natural scent, feeling the flow of sisterly love, of a bond greater than all else.

Shabis pulled back, tears coursing her cheeks. "How are you?"

Anu glanced to Vashell over her shoulder. "I am well. I am in love! How are you? Have the Engineers harmed you? Are you well?"

"I am fine," laughed Shabis. "I have been treated like royalty. Spoilt, really. You look happy, Anukis; although battered a little." She glanced over her shoulder at Vashell. "He told me about you, kept me informed about your health. I am so glad you two are in love! It will be a marriage made perfect, and your children will be beautiful!" She giggled, pulling Anukis to the bed. She turned, and waved Vashell away. He departed.

"Truly, have they looked after you?"

"They have," said Shabis, and kissed Anu's cheek. "And you?"

Anu's face went hard. "I have been condemned, Shabis. I have been treated worse than any dog, worse than any canker." She pulled away, stood, walked to the splendid view. It had begun to snow in Silva Valley, and a thick fall muffled the world.

"What do you mean?"

Shabis was behind her. Holding her. Concern shone in her eyes.

"Vashell beat me. He hurt me, Shabis. He hurt me bad. He paraded me like a slave before the Engineers. Then he...he took my blood." She heard a hiss of in-taken breath. "He drank from me, Shabis. He drank from my veins, made my impurity whole, for all to see. Then he...he took me. Physically. Carnally. I had little choice if I wanted to save both of us."

She fell silent, brooding, watching the snow. Somehow, Silva Valley had again lost its beauty, its charm. It was a perfect pastel painting, framed by silver-quartz and yet to Anukis, now, after everything that had happened, it was a vision of hell. Worse. Of a canker-riddled cancer hell.

"What will you do?" Shabis's voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I have a plan!" Anu took Shabis, and shook her with passion. "I will kill Vashell. And we will flee. We will leave Silva Valley, we will leave this world for good. Cross the Black Pike Mountains; make a new life."

"But what of the vachine?" said Shabis, softly. "What if the clockwork becomes faulty? Who will fix us?"

"I have some skill," said Anu, eyeing her sister, sensing the fear, the lode of cowardice that ran through her like an earthquake fault in the world mantle. "Don't you understand, Shabis, they killed our father! We are alone now. Alone in the world."

"Killed...no! They did not! He still lives! He is on a journey under Black Pike, he will be back in a few months."

"And you believe them?"

"Why should I not?"

"What else have they told you?"

"Nothing! Anu, you're frightening me. Stop it!"

"I'm sorry, little one. Sweet Shabis, we must leave this place. I want you to be ready. Do you understand?"

"Yes. I understand."

Anu shook her, and Shabis's hair fell, tousled. "You're hurting me!"

"This is serious, Little One. Do you understand?"

"Yes! Anu, yes!"

"Good."

There came a hiatus. Shabis played with her hair, and they both watched the snow. Eventually, Shabis said, "Anu?"

"Sister?"

"How will you kill him? Vashell, I mean?"

"I have a secret weapon."

"What is that?"

Anu's eyes glowed dark. "You will see."

Night had fallen. Anu was awoken by a savage blow across her face, which broke her nose and left her choking on a gush of blood down her throat. She rolled instinctively, momentarily blinded, covering her face, her claws out and slashing a wild vicious arc, but connecting with nothing. After a few moments she could see, and she stood, naked, blood covering her breasts, to see Vashell holding a pick-axe helve. It was stained with her blood. His eyes shone.

"What is this?" she snarled, fear touching the edges of her heart.

"Show me your secret weapon! Come on, Anukis, show me how you intend to kill me! Show me now."

Anu backed away, and Vashell moved around the bed.

"Where's Shabis? What have you done with my sister?"