Clockwork Twist : Waking by Emily Thompson Read Free Book Online Page A

holding his gaze with eager eyes. “His Sight is so strong that it's become a problem for him.  He couldn't stand to look at anyone anymore by the time he left.”
    “He can't look at people?”
    “When he looks at things,” Arabel said, “I mean, when he concentrates on something, he can eventually understand them completely.  If it's a machine, he can use it as easily as if he'd invented it himself.  Oh, he loves watching the sky too.  He used to tell me the name of any star I pointed out.  But, like you, it worked with people too.  When he looked into someone's eyes, he could see things about them.  He told me that he started to get visions of them as well, in different places, and he thought that some of them might have been future events.”
    “Some of us can see the future?” Twist asked, wonder blooming on his face.
    “They say that some can,” Arabel said, smiling with a nod. “It's still very rare, and apparently very difficult.  Like it is for Jonas,” she added with a heavy sigh. “As he got older, and his Sight grew stronger, he started to fear it because it was so hard on him.  He said that the visions were so clear that they hurt.  People were the worst.  Eventually he stopped looking at people at all.”
    “What happened to him?” Twist asked. “You said he left?”
    “He joined another crew,” Arabel said, her eyes full and distant. “A rival of ours.  Thieves and cheats.  We had a horrible fight, and he left the Vimana .  A month later, we found him on their crew.  Now I only see my brother on the other side of a fight,” she added, as if trying to make it sound like a joke.  Twist listened silently, wondering what it might be like to have a brother.
    “Well, let's carry on, shall we?” Arabel said suddenly, standing up with a smile on her face.  “It's Carnival and I want to have fun,” she said, pulling her mask back into place.
     

 

     
     
    After Twist and Arabel left the library, they continued on to finish their errand.  They met Zayle again when the sun started to fall.  Unbelievably to Twist, the city became even more crowded and the festivities even more energetic as the darkness grew.  Parties poured out of houses and common buildings with their golden light and music.  Dances sprang into existence wherever there was room on the streets and plazas.  Wines of all types found their way into every glass, and the volume of all conversation grew to such a constant din that Twist gave up trying to speak at all.
    Thanks to Zayle's diligence, Twist drank enough to give up complaining as well.  Leaning over an empty spot of ivy covered balustrade, Twist looked out over the world far below, as the moon rose into a velvet sky.  Though his vision swam when he looked straight down to the terrestrial section of Venice—glowing now with golden fires and lamps in its own version of the carnival spirit—the height didn't bother him anymore.
    “Are you having fun yet?” Aazzi's voice asked, stepping beside him while Zayle and Arabel danced together in the crowd behind them.
    “This is my version of fun,” Twist said, gesturing to the vista.
    “I thought you didn't like heights,” Aazzi said.
    “I don't,” Twist said thoughtfully. “I think Zayle might have gotten me a bit drunk after all.  Either way, I just don't care at the moment.”
    “Good,” Aazzi said, her smile apparent in her voice, though it was hidden behind her moon shaped mask. “Then I don't have to bite you.”
    Twist looked to her and narrowed his eyes. “Didn't you want to?  I mean, isn't that how you eat, after all?”
    “You probably wouldn't taste very good.”
    “Why not?” Twist asked, suddenly affronted.
    Aazzi laughed. “You haven't lived enough yet, little one.  But if you keep going to carnivals and traveling around the world to bring myths back to life, I'm sure you'll be very tasty in no time.”
    “Naturally,” Twist said. “I'm sure I'd already taste good