​
M E Rodman
Clockwork Sister
Aeon is a simulacra, a creation of flesh, clockwork and magic designed to protect their original humans from the deadly attacks of curse-workers.
​
She is an identical copy of her original, Mara, eighth princess of the Tamyin Empire, except for the brands and seals that mark her as artificial.
​
When Mara dies of natural causes, Aeon expects to be killed. After a botched attempt to euthanise her, she is taken in by a family of rogue simulacra living in the city slums.
​
When one of their number dies after injecting a dose of a serum that allows simulacra to change their bodies, Aeon is worried that someone is targeting rogues. A trail of discoveries unearths a deadly conspiracy, where friends and enemies are no longer what they seem.
​
The heart vein was lined with citizens, each one standing with their head bowed. Silence shrouded the path, broken only by the hollow thud of the funeral drum as it beat out its rhythm. Black streamers whirled in gusting winds from open windows, swathes of black cloth covered the doors of the houses and shops that ran along the vein. The colour of mourning scattered through the capital.
Mourning for a woman no one in the city had ever seen.
Aeon's hands clenched briefly inside the pockets of her coat. The master of ceremonies had placed her directly behind the cart, close enough to touch the coffin's slick, polished surface. She walked at the head of five hundred imperial courtiers and did not look back.
