Read Online The Wizard's Daughters: Twin Magic: Book 1 by Michael Dalton - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Michael Dalton
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had seen Father playing with the knobs, but did not quite understand what they did. She suspected they had something to do with how the cube sensed the flows it monitored, much as Father’s other automata could be sped up or slowed down by twisting their controls.
One thing she had learned, though, was that the knobs and controls Father created always seemed to reduce things when turned counterclockwise, and to increase them when turned the other way.
There were four knobs on the front of the cube. Not knowing what else to do, she turned all of them counterclockwise until they stopped.
“Put on the rings.”
“Why?”
“Please.”
He slid five of the rings onto his fingers. Hands shaking, Ariel did likewise. When she slipped the first one on, she waited for the shriek she had heard when Father did the same thing with Astrid. Heart leaping, she heard nothing.
A second, then a third, then the other two. Nothing happened. She was about to throw herself into Erich’s arms when it suddenly occurred to her that she might simply have turned the thing off before they started.
Erich was staring at the cube in confusion, having missed the torrent of emotions racing through her. “What are you doing?”
“Wait.”
Trying to get control of herself, Ariel reached over and twisted the first knob a bit to the right. Nothing happened. She turned the second knob about the same distance, then the third and the fourth.
She could not hear anything precisely, but something was going on in the cube. She put her free hand on it. It wasn’t vibrating. Rather, she could somehow sense something odd inside.
Intrigued, she twisted the knobs a bit more. There was still no sound, but the strange resonance—for lack of a better term—increased.
“Ariel?”
“Wait. This is important.”
She turned the knobs again, now about halfway round. The resonance surged, but still the cube was silent. Ariel was thrilled, yet baffled. She had never seen the cube do this before. As she studied it, she suddenly realized there was something going on inside—there was a strange blue luminescence leaking out through the seams and holes for the cables.
She twisted the knobs further. The blue glow doubled, and she did not even need to touch the cube to sense the resonance now.
“Ariel, what are you doing?”
She paused. What was she doing? As fascinating as all this was, what did it mean? Father would presumably know, but she had no clue. The cube was not shrieking like it had when Father and Astrid had been connected. Did that mean she and Erich were a match? Or did it mean he had no flow at all and that she was just activating it herself, somehow? And what did the blue light mean? She had never seen any of Father’s automata give off such radiance.
Filled with a sudden desire to see what it would do—to find the answer, whatever it was—Ariel twisted the knobs all the way to the right.
For a moment, the cube became a miniature blue sun. Then all at once, it let out a piercing screech and exploded with a bang that echoed through the entire house.
Ariel screamed and threw up her arm to shield herself from the flying bits of brass. She heard Erich cursing and stumbling backward, knocking over his chair. She had only begun to regain her bearings when she heard a bellow behind her.
“By God! By all that is holy, what is going on here?”
She looked up to see her father in the door to hallway. He looked around the room in confusion, at the dangling chains on her fingers, at the lingering smoke in the air, at the fragments of brass that were not only all over the room but embedded in much of the furniture, at her state of undress, and, finally, at Erich sprawled bare-chested on the floor behind her.
“Sir,” he said angrily. “You have something to answer for here.”
“Father, no!” she exclaimed. “It was me! I wanted to test him. With the resonance cube. But it exploded.”
Her father struggled with his reaction for a few
One thing she had learned, though, was that the knobs and controls Father created always seemed to reduce things when turned counterclockwise, and to increase them when turned the other way.
There were four knobs on the front of the cube. Not knowing what else to do, she turned all of them counterclockwise until they stopped.
“Put on the rings.”
“Why?”
“Please.”
He slid five of the rings onto his fingers. Hands shaking, Ariel did likewise. When she slipped the first one on, she waited for the shriek she had heard when Father did the same thing with Astrid. Heart leaping, she heard nothing.
A second, then a third, then the other two. Nothing happened. She was about to throw herself into Erich’s arms when it suddenly occurred to her that she might simply have turned the thing off before they started.
Erich was staring at the cube in confusion, having missed the torrent of emotions racing through her. “What are you doing?”
“Wait.”
Trying to get control of herself, Ariel reached over and twisted the first knob a bit to the right. Nothing happened. She turned the second knob about the same distance, then the third and the fourth.
She could not hear anything precisely, but something was going on in the cube. She put her free hand on it. It wasn’t vibrating. Rather, she could somehow sense something odd inside.
Intrigued, she twisted the knobs a bit more. There was still no sound, but the strange resonance—for lack of a better term—increased.
“Ariel?”
“Wait. This is important.”
She turned the knobs again, now about halfway round. The resonance surged, but still the cube was silent. Ariel was thrilled, yet baffled. She had never seen the cube do this before. As she studied it, she suddenly realized there was something going on inside—there was a strange blue luminescence leaking out through the seams and holes for the cables.
She twisted the knobs further. The blue glow doubled, and she did not even need to touch the cube to sense the resonance now.
“Ariel, what are you doing?”
She paused. What was she doing? As fascinating as all this was, what did it mean? Father would presumably know, but she had no clue. The cube was not shrieking like it had when Father and Astrid had been connected. Did that mean she and Erich were a match? Or did it mean he had no flow at all and that she was just activating it herself, somehow? And what did the blue light mean? She had never seen any of Father’s automata give off such radiance.
Filled with a sudden desire to see what it would do—to find the answer, whatever it was—Ariel twisted the knobs all the way to the right.
For a moment, the cube became a miniature blue sun. Then all at once, it let out a piercing screech and exploded with a bang that echoed through the entire house.
Ariel screamed and threw up her arm to shield herself from the flying bits of brass. She heard Erich cursing and stumbling backward, knocking over his chair. She had only begun to regain her bearings when she heard a bellow behind her.
“By God! By all that is holy, what is going on here?”
She looked up to see her father in the door to hallway. He looked around the room in confusion, at the dangling chains on her fingers, at the lingering smoke in the air, at the fragments of brass that were not only all over the room but embedded in much of the furniture, at her state of undress, and, finally, at Erich sprawled bare-chested on the floor behind her.
“Sir,” he said angrily. “You have something to answer for here.”
“Father, no!” she exclaimed. “It was me! I wanted to test him. With the resonance cube. But it exploded.”
Her father struggled with his reaction for a few
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