Accursed (59 page)
“D
ON’T WORRY,
my dear. Don’t worry,” the demon said, grinning, enjoying the feel of her pressed against him. He patted the back of her head, gently, thrilling at the smell of her. “Nothing to worry about at all. It will work out in the end.
“Trust me.”
I
N A DRAWING
room in Buckingham Palace—thoroughly unremarkable in comparison with even the least of the other rooms that lay within those walls—three people sat together in private conference. The very ordinariness of the room was symbolic of what transpired therein. Other than the preservation of hierarchy, no protocol or convention was followed, and no thought was left unuttered.
This was a room without diplomacy or secrecy . . . and yet it was entirely secret. Only a small handful of people in the world were even aware that it existed.
The table was round.
“They performed quite well, did they not?” Queen Victoria inquired.
The nineteen-year-old monarch studied the two men she had summoned to the table in that private room. The prime minister, Lord Melbourne, was four decades her senior and her closest adviser. Though publicly he was far more powerful than the queen herself, Victoria did not begrudge him that power. The Crown was far more involved with the affairs of the empire than the world knew. And she quite liked it that way.
“They did indeed,” Lord Melbourne replied. “I had my doubts, I confess. Untried and unprepared . . . Ludlow might as well have thrown them to the wolves. Even now, having endured trial after trial, there is so much they do not know. As the situation with the Algernon Club has proven.”
The young queen concurred. “But you agree they seem well suited for their duties?”
Lord Melbourne bowed his head. “I do.”
“Excellent,” Queen Victoria said. “And what of the guard?”
“Withdrawn the moment that infernal fog began to spread, as you instructed. Buckingham Palace suffered no casualties, Majesty.”
The queen narrowed her gaze. “There were many deaths in London last night, Lord Melbourne. We look upon each of them as a casualty.”
“Of course,” the prime minister replied.
Victoria turned her attention upon the third person in the room. “Now, as to the Protectors. You will keep us apprised of their progress, we trust?”
“Of course, Majesty,” said Lord Blackheath. “Though I had thought that after this episode, you might wish to meet them, so that you might evaluate them yourself.”
Victoria mused on that a moment, then shook her head.
“I think not. The Protectors operate best in shadows. Most of their work involves enemies that attack from the sewers and sepulchers. We shall leave them to their own devices.
“For now.”
GHOSTS OF ALBION ON THE WEB
In 1838, siblings William and Tamara Swift inherited a terrible legacy from their grandfather and became Protectors of Albion, the magical defenders of the soul of England. . . . In 2003, the BBC’s cult website debuted
Legacy,
an animated serial drama by actress/writer/director Amber Benson—best known from her role as Tara on
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
—and novelist Christopher Golden—author of
Strangewood, Wildwood Road, Of Saints and Shadows,
and
The Boys Are Back in Town.
For seven weeks the first Ghosts of Albion story unfolded, and the serial averaged more than 100,000 hits per week and won a special commendation at the 2003 Prix Europa.
Legacy
detailed the return of the demon lord Balberith, the murder of Albion’s protector, Ludlow Swift, and the efforts of his heirs—William and Tamara—to deal with the power and responsibility that had been left to them. Their allies, both ghosts and the vampire Nigel Townsend, rallied around them. Balberith was defeated.
Soon after,
Legacy
was followed by an original novella,
Astray,
and then a second hour of animation,
Embers,
which introduced new characters, including Sophia Winchell. To experience these early adventures of Tamara and William Swift, please visit
www.bbc.co.uk/ghosts
.
And don’t forget the second full-length Ghosts of Albion novel, coming soon. . . .
Ghosts of Albion: Accursed
is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all characters with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, are products of the authors’ imaginations and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical or public figures appear, the situations, incidents, and dialogues concerning those persons are entirely fictional and are not intended to depict actual events or to change the entirely fictional nature of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
A Del Rey Trade Paperback Original
Copyright © 2005 by Benson Entertainment, Inc., and the Daring Greatly Corporation
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Del Rey Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
D
EL
R
EY
is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Benson, Amber.
Ghosts of Albion : accursed / Amber Benson & Christopher Golden.
p. cm.
eISBN 0-345-48607-2
1. Plague—Fiction. 2. Supernatural—Fiction. 3. London (England)—Fiction.
I. Golden, Christopher. II. Title.
PS3602.E685G47 2005
813′.6—dc22
2005048407
v1.0
