The Queen Is Dead (The Immortal Empire) (38 page)

I’d been taught to despise humans because aristos were afraid of them, but I thought I was scarier. June had marked the eightieth anniversary of the Great Insurrection, and I was truly afraid that another one was coming.

I packed a valise and a trunk with the essentials and took that back to Vex’s house, where I was going to stay until I found a place of my own. Avery probably would have welcomed me back to the house we once shared, but I felt something of a walking target and didn’t want to bring that down on her.

When William found out that I was homeless, he sent me a digigram–I had a hard time imagining him typing–asking if I’d like to take a look at the rooms above the old Down Street station building. It was also goblin property.

The place wasn’t in great shape, but it was large and had a lot of character. It hadn’t been touched since 1932, so it was going to need some work, but it had high ceilings and gorgeous mouldings. Unfortunately, it also had some mould. William organised the goblins into shifts for cleaning. The windows were boarded up, so it would be dark inside, even
during the day, and additional dimming precautions were also taken. He told me the place would be ready in less than a week. Vex’s offer of cohabiting was still good, but I wanted my own space. I think he understood–probably better than I’d want him to.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be with him–I did. That was what scared me. He would be too easy for me to lean on, and I just couldn’t afford to be weak.

That didn’t stop me from enjoying our time playing house. It even made me less anxious about the faction meeting we had to attend.

It was at Buckingham Palace, of course. Queen V hadn’t ventured outside the palace walls in… well, I don’t know how long. I reckon she kept quiet about it when she did.

As with all court appearances, we were required to dress accordingly. I had no intention of mourning my father’s wife, and thankfully mourning wasn’t required these days as it was in the past. Still, I’d had decorum drummed into me from a young age, so I wore a grey silk gown with a tattered skirt and embroidered bodice that required me to wear my corset underneath it rather than on top.

I pinned my hair and donned a tiny hat. I tucked my dagger in my corset. I felt more secure having it on me. Dropping it at Freak Show that night had been something of a blessing. If I’d had it when the betties took me I might have lost the dagger as well as the contents of my ovaries. There was no contest over which I would miss more.

Vex was dressed in the MacLaughlin tartan, with a linen shirt and frock coat on top and black boots on the bottom.

“We’re going to melt,” I told him as we exited the house. It was raining.

“I might because I’m so sweet, but you’ll be fine,” he joked as he opened the motor carriage door for me.

I shot him a wry glance before sliding inside.

We stopped at the Mayfair gate to sign out. Did someone actually study the comings and goings of the Mayfair set? I reckoned they did. I was going to have to become more familiar with the tunnels and catacombs beneath this city if I wanted to keep even a shred of privacy once I took up residence inside these walls.

It was a short drive to the palace. We didn’t talk much on the way. At the gate, an armed member of the Royal Guard checked our identification and made us prick our fingers on the blood-scanning system. Our DNA would be checked against our records to confirm that we were indeed who we claimed to be. Victoria had installed this extra security after a human took a shot at her a couple of months ago. I’d taken the bullet and then got another for my trouble. Only the second one had come from Church’s gun.

It was in the private train tunnel beneath the palace that I had challenged Church and led him to his demise. I’d been here once since then for a meeting similar to this. My stomach didn’t roll quite so much this time.

Inside the palace we were escorted to a room underneath the grand staircase on the right. It was a large room with pale blue walls decorated with white plaster scrollwork. The carpet was old but in excellent condition, and portraits of stately ancestors hung on the walls.

There was a table in the centre of the room–not huge, but big enough to hold a dozen or so people. At the head was a very ornate chair. A similar one sat at the foot. That would have been Albert’s seat. I suppose it belonged to the Prince of Wales now.

Were the rumours that Victoria had killed her husband because of his sympathy to humans true? Or had he really been killed by humans? If humans had killed my husband, I wasn’t so certain I could try to work with them as Victoria did, but then I supposed she wanted to avoid more bloodshed.

We were the first to arrive, and William appeared shortly afterwards. The human prime minister, Lavinia Wellesley–descendant of the great man himself, the Duke of Wellington–and her companion arrived next. Vex hadn’t appointed a new second yet, so he was the sole representative of the wolves, which might be an issue if we planned to vote on anything, though I doubted it would be a problem tonight.

The Prince of Wales arrived just before his mother. He was a fairly handsome man–if you liked facial hair and weren’t put off by the fact that he looked like a male version of the Queen. He was certainly cordial enough. He shook all of our hands, and told me it was a pleasure to meet me. I didn’t remind him that we had met before.

Finally, Victoria arrived. Only twenty minutes late. Obviously she was in a hurry.

We all bowed as she entered. “Thank you for coming,” she said as she took her place at the head of the table. As I suspected, Bertie took the seat at the opposite end. Vex and I sat side by side, with William across from me. The humans sat opposite each other on the other side of Vex.

I caught the PM staring me and forced a smile. She didn’t return it. Bitch. Then again, I don’t reckon I sold it with the right amount of sincerity. That was when I noticed that she had a stack of scandal rags on the table in front of her–my face on the cover of every one.

Dear me, but it seemed I was about to get properly scolded. Bollocks.

“Several concerns have been brought to our notice,” Victoria began. She looked tiny, but she had a powerful voice, and a gaze that promised your head on a spike if you didn’t pay attention. “The first of which is the unfortunate death of the Duchess Vardan. We had no idea the poor woman was so… troubled.”

I fought the instinctive urge to arch a brow. V actually sounded sincere, which made me wonder if perhaps she really was ignorant about these experiments.

“Do you have anything you would like to say,
Your Majesty
?”

I winced. Her Nibs had this tone to her voice that made me think of the matron at the courtesan house. “The duchess has never been the same since the loss of her child, ma’am.” The lie rolled easily off my tongue. For all I knew, it could be true.

Cool blue eyes locked with mine. “And what of this debacle concerning the Tower? You and the Lord Alpha were there?”

“Yes. I was… abducted and put into a cell in the Tower. The MacLaughlin and the prince rescued me and everyone else held prisoner.”

She arched a brow. “You were a prisoner? The papers neglected to mention that.”

“I didn’t tell them, ma’am. We tried to keep the entire situation as quiet as we could, but of course that proved impossible.”

“I find this really quite astonishing,” V remarked. “Who took you and to what purpose?”

“It was a betty, ma’am–a human who—”

“I know what a betty is,” she interrupted, curt and sharp. “Continue.”

All right. “I don’t know what they intended to do with me. I only know that they were conducting some sort of experiments in the facility.”

“Yes, we have recovered much in the way of scientific apparatus, but the electrical systems seem to have been compromised and many of the logic engines are missing.” Her gaze slid to William. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

The goblin shook his shaggy head. “Nay.” He was good–looked her boldly in the eye and held her gaze as he lied.

“Hmm.” She was not amused. “I am quite distressed about the recent increase in human violence against the aristocracy.”

“It will blow over, Mama,” Bertie insisted with a wave of his perfectly manicured hand. “It always does. The sheep will calm themselves.”

Victoria looked like she might pop her top. Was it the fact that he called her “Mama” in front of us, or that he dismissed her concern so casually?

“Human violence does seem to be escalating,” I heard myself remark.

Victoria seemed as surprised as I was to find us on the same page. “Do you have any theories as to why?”

I shrugged. “Maybe because of me. A goblin who can walk about cobbleside during daylight probably has them scared. Or maybe they’ve just been waiting for the right time to strike.”

She slowly shook her head, dark hair shining under the light. There was tension in the lines of her face. “Horror shows and abductions. Strange experiments and traitors popping up at every turn. If the humans have been waiting for the best time
to strike at us, they surely have chosen well. How can we stand against them when we are so fractured?”

“Hit them where it hurts,” Bertie advised. “Force them into submission.”

“That could make things worse,” Vex said, shooting the prince a sharp look. “You might force them into desperation.”

Bertie made a face. “Impose a city-wide curfew. At least then we’ll have fewer of them to contend with after dark.”

“You cannot be serious!” The PM looked stunned. Surely this wasn’t the first time she’d heard aristos talk about humans in such a way. “You want to broker peace by taking away their basic human rights?”

“They lost those rights after the Great Insurrection, remember? The humans signed a treaty with the full-bloods. They promised never to rise up again in return for privileges few countries can offer. Now they spit on our generosity. They should be horsewhipped.”

Bertie was full-on fucking hatters. Completely mental. Listening to him was akin to watching a train derail. I couldn’t stop it, didn’t want to witness it, but couldn’t turn away. It was brilliant.

“There will be no horsewhipping.” Victoria’s smooth brow pinched as she regarded her son. “We will not respond with violence. We are sure Queen Xandra can attest to how futile that would be.”

The PM slid the stack of scandal rags across to me so that I could see my goblin face up close and personal once more.

William reached over and picked up the top one. “Beautiful,” he rasped. “Ferocious with charms is our lady.”

Fang me if that wasn’t almost poetic. “They ambushed me outside my home. They threw a brick at me. There were
enough of them that I was worried about our safety. A few days ago Vex was in the vicinity of a Human League bombing.”

“Even more recently,” Vex continued, “a girl from the pack was seriously injured in what appears to be a random League attack on a West End pub.”

Victoria directed her attention at the PM. “Have your people arrange a press conference. We wish to address the human population. You will speak as well. We must prevent any more violence.”

Bertie gaped at her. “Mama—”

“We have made up our mind, Bertie,” she snapped. “What would your father have done in such a situation?”

Bertie looked sullen–not an attractive look on a grown man. “He would have tried to bring peace.”

“And that’s what we will do. Prime Minister Wellesley, see that it is arranged.”

The PM inclined her head. “Of course, ma’am.”

“Excellent. Meanwhile, we will want extra security on the Mayfair and palace gates until things have settled. Queen Xandra, we wish to have you attend the press conference as well.”

I started. “What the bloody hell for?”

She looked at me as though I was dim-witted–and far too coarse for her liking. Fair enough. “If the truth of your… nature is indeed what has frightened the humans, we must present you in a more flattering light.”

Fang me, I hadn’t expected this. “I don’t think—”

“Do you or do you not wish to prevent a second insurrection?”

Just the thought made me shudder. “Fine. I’ll do the
conference.” Now I was the one being sullen. It probably wasn’t a fantastic look for me either.

The meeting continued for another hour and a half. We discussed what Scotland Yard had determined about the horror show and the Tower–nothing I didn’t already know–and a few other items before we adjourned.

“Queen Xandra, might I have a word?” Victoria asked as we all rose to depart.

I turned to Vex. “I’ll wait for you outside,” he said, bowing to V.

“He is a good man,” the Queen remarked when we were alone. “You’ve chosen well.”

“Thanks.” It came out so dry, I was surprised I didn’t spit sand in her face.

“If you were to marry, it could create quite an alliance between wolves and goblins.”

She was as subtle as a needle to the eye. “We are both aware of an alpha’s duty to the pack, ma’am.” Vex would marry a wolf, no matter how much that pained me.

“If not the alpha, you could have a prince.”

It took me a second to realise that she meant Bertie rather than William. To be honest, I’d take William before I would Bertie.