Books & Stories

City Duty: A James Gentry Short

A Steam Knight short story. Kept in Rislandia City because of his romance with Queen Reina, James Gentry tests Dr. von Breech's jetpack, kills a Nightman assassin on the palace roof, and wins Reina's permission to join Zaira's airship crew.

City Duty: A James Gentry Short

City Duty: A James Gentry Short

Author: Jon Del Arroz Type: Short story (Steam Knight) Length: about 4,800 words Closing tag: "James Gentry, Steam Knight, will return in: Attack of the Nightmen"

City Duty is a first-person James Gentry story. It is set in Rislandia City after King Malaky's death, while the Nightmen are landing on Rislandia's coasts.

Synopsis

Held back

Spoiler: The Crystal Conspiracy & The Steam Knight 2

This section reveals events from “The Crystal Conspiracy” and “The Steam Knight 2”.

James goes to Cid. Cid is studying reports from the southern Wyranth border and from the west, where Nightmen vessels are landing. James has heard of Nightmen ships in the bay north of Traveler's Rest. Cid admits that James's relationship with Queen Reina is the problem. She is the last direct line to the throne, the court has noticed her attachment to James, and she "became downright moody" when he made his "sojourn to Panderica". Cid has no direct orders, but if James died before an heir was born, it would be a "fatally demoralizing blow". James storms out.

Reina

In the palace, Reina dismisses a diplomat and greets James with a kiss in front of her four guards. James tells her about Cid. Reina says she needs him in the city, and she knows he wants to be on Zaira's airship. She offers to make him her personal guard, which he finds boring. When the subject of an heir comes up, both blush. One guard snickers, and Reina scolds him: "It's not funny, Reggie." She leaves to meet lords from Portsgate about reconstruction and promises to see James that night.

The jetpack

Walking streets that have mostly been repaired since the Wyranth invasion a few months earlier, James meets Dr. von Breech. He remembers the doctor from King Malaky's lakeside retreat and the auto-electrocuter. Von Breech needs a test subject, and Cid has suggested James. In the knights' courtyard, by gaslamp, the doctor straps a jetpack onto him. It has two metal cylinders and coiled steering tubes with pressure-sensitive triggers, and James is its first tester. After a terrifying launch, James learns to hover. He flies over the palace roofline hoping to surprise Reina at her window, but the jetpack sputters and he lands on the steep tiles.

The assassin

A red-eyed Nightman with a dagger is creeping along the roof. James realizes he is there to kill Reina. The Nightman cuts James's arm and the jetpack strap, and James slides until his legs dangle over the edge. As the Nightman leans in, hissing, "Your people are weak. They will all become our slaves," James fires the jetpack and slams into the Nightman's gut, knocking the dagger away. James then turns the exhaust on him and sets him alight. The burning Nightman staggers and rolls off the roof to the courtyard below, while city guards rush in. Reina watches, horrified, from her window.

Resolution

Over tea, James tells the story to Reina and Mr. du Gearsmith. Du Gearsmith argues that James's presence in the city is invaluable. James argues it proves he is needed in the war. Reina agrees with James: "If we lose the war, there won't be a Rislandia City or me left here to protect." She lets him join the airship crew on one condition: "Just promise you'll come back to me?" He promises.

Characters

Settings

Technology

Chronology

Spoiler: The Crystal Conspiracy & The Steam Knight 2

This section reveals events from “The Crystal Conspiracy” and “The Steam Knight 2”.

Text notes

  • In the final scene, Reina is called "Princess Reina", although the story calls her Queen throughout.
  • The story mixes first-person narration ("I") with a few third-person lines ("James said").