The Timekeeper - from my dark academia novel

James’ timepiece is a chronomancy artifact, a relic of the first occult scholars at Hallow College. It is an old heirloom and has been in the Knightley family for many generations. James inherited it from his grandfather, George Fitzwilliam Knightley II, who had gifted James his most prized possession when he had passed away. Only a handful of them remain worldwide.

The timekeeper looks like an old timepiece, and is decorated with with silver filigree on the face and the tiniest of emeralds on each of the twelve hours. When he presses the crown on the top of the timepiece, a second clock face slides over the first. Three silver hands lie across the bare clock face. The first hand is eternally frozen in place. The second hand moves, though never while James is watching, as if it does not wish to be caught. The third hand ticks forward at a steady pace. Or at least, it is supposed to. James doesn’t know what these hands indicate, simply that the heirloom is very rare, extremely valuable, and has always rendered his brothers very jealous— to his own absolute delight.

In reality the timekeeper is sentient, almost like an oracle, showing only what it wants James to know.

The first hand, the Oathmark, represents an oath or duty that binds the wearer. It represents the blood curse James’ bloodline is under, and the hand will not move until the price has been paid.

The second hand, the Hand of Faith, indicates alternative life paths that James could take or could have taken. It has brought him luck over the last couple of years.

The third hand is the Hand of Death. It ticks forward at a steady pace, inching closer to death and the wearer’s passing through the veil to the afterlife. Whenever James is around Grace, the hand moves erratically, since Grace is to be the cause of his untimely demise at the end of the story (spoiler alert).