VIIIGuildmaster Ven Adage of the Clockmakers and Timecounters walked into the echoing stone chamber of the Inner Wheel. Each step on the hard flags jarred through his knees and into his hips. As they always did these days. He was getting old. Still he, of all the guildmasters, had to accept the fact. Had to accept the passage of time. He had lived his life by the ticking of clocks, by the careful, deliberate measurement of each passing second. He could have no complaint time was catching up with him.
And he only wanted to live long enough to see their long plans realized. That would suffice. Oh, he would never see the final end of the Clockwork War of course. That was a distant prospect. But he might see the decisive battle won. The turning point reached; the moment when the clock started
