The Queen Revealed (18 page)

Charlie thought she must have cracked completely as she broke down but her laughter was so deep and infectious that soon a grin stole over his face and he felt the urge to join in.

“Did you see their faces?” he sniggered. “When I said I’m with you in that way. That Captain looked like he was going to drop dead.”

A genuine laugh bubbled up and out of Charlie. The relief of the situation being over was heady. He was safe, for the time being, and the Queen wasn’t even angry, she was actually laughing about what a joke it all was. Again, Charlie found it hard to reconcile what The Boss had told him about this woman being an evil witch when she was laughing so hard she could barely stand. The tension melted from his bones as his body shook with laughter.

The Queen was holding her ribcage with one hand and had the other propping her up against a desk. “They couldn’t look at me,” she gasped between outbursts. “They thought you and me… sex, together!”

“I know,” Charlie rocked with mirth. “They were like…” He boggled his eyes in comic imitation of shock and they both fell about in peals of laughter.

“Oh sweet Christ,” the Queen gasped and wiped the tears away as she threw herself down on a chair. “After all these gorgeous men who throw themselves at me, they think I’m sneaking around with a boy, young enough to be my son.”

She giggled, calming down.

“Yeah, me! Of all the men in the realm,” Charlie agreed guffawing and sat down on the bed. “But I’m not that young, I’ll be seventeen in a few months.”

The Queen froze, her smile cracked.

“They think I’m a pedophile,” she whispered. “They think I sleep with… oh, they must be so disappointed in me.”

It was as if all the warmth had drained from the room and had been sucked back down inside the Queen. Though Charlie’s ribs still hurt, the memory of their shared laughter was already fading. As he gazed upon the Queen’s stricken expression Charlie felt wounded to the core though he couldn’t have explained why. He mentally hefted his emotional armor back on. How did he let this woman get to him like this?

“Well, Your Majesty, you are still bloody lucky it’s only me they think you bed. If they knew about the Black Prince you’d have to run and hide faster than I would,” his voice was sulky and he only looked up when she didn’t reply.

Her Majesty was gazing out the window as Dawn break lightened the sky and didn’t react to his thinly veiled threat. “Yes, thank you Charlie. That will be all.”

Charlie resented the dismissal though he knew he deserved it. He thought briefly about disappearing into his secret tunnel in the bathroom, but he knew it was wiser to be seen leaving the rooms now that his presence was known. He didn’t bother to bow to the Queen as he left and slammed the door behind himself for good measure. She might be a witch, but she had hurt his feelings now more than scaring him.

Charlie turned to walk away in a huff, but saw all three guards and Captain Lucky standing along the hallway. Lifting his chin, he decided to brazen it out. He straightened his ladies blouse and walked the longest five yards of his life.

“Lovers tiff boy?” he heard QG Bear snigger as he passed.

“At least I’m getting some,” snapped Charlie over his shoulder. “And I’ll bet she is hotter than your tart.”

Like a coiled spring four men stepped forward to surround him, swords drawn. Charlie almost emptied his bladder and cursed his quick temper, which was determined to get him killed today.

“You want to watch that mouth of yours, boy,” said Captain Lucky, his tone was sharp and cold. “Our Queen is the leader of our Kingdom and a lady at that. Learn to be more discreet.”

Captain Lucky waved a hand to his men so they sheathed their weapons, though nothing stopped them glaring at Charlie. “We are to let the Royal Consort pass until Her Majesty tells us otherwise. You have my word, Charlie.”

“Many thanks, Captain,” mumbled Charlie. He managed to walk the rest of the hall at a dignified pace before turning the corner and sprinting down the stairs and corridors that led him to the little room he had found for himself under the laundry. He lay on his dusty pallet for several hours before his heart stopped hammering in his chest. It was only then that he remembered he hadn’t delivered the Prince’s black box to the Queen.

Charlie cursed and cursed and cursed.

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Surprising Sources of Cool Hope”

The crowd cheered as another race came to a close. Though it was only the first of the afternoon races, Adele was already bored of watching horses run around in circles. The once-green grass of the paddock within the track had turned yellow at the edges, and looked as dry and crispy as Adele felt.

The air was so hot that Adele found it hard to breathe even in the shade of Prince Bertrand’s pavilion. Today the pavilion was filled with his extended Royal family and though they all made a lot of noise everyone was too shy to speak to her. To make matters worse Benjamin was off duty and sitting in the next pavilion just yards away from her. He had the attention of two pretty blondes, and a group of young men surrounding him, but he kept looking over at her in a way that was extremely irritating to the female company he was already with. After a polite ‘hello’ Adele had steeled herself to ignore him, but all his staring was wearing on her patience.

Adele gulped at her water and tried, unsuccessfully, to wish away the memory of this morning’s fiasco, which was still so fresh in her mind.

What in God’s name had she been thinking agreeing to go along with Charlie’s disgusting suggestion? Surely he could have come up with something better than
sleeping
with her? Adele hadn’t been able to look any of her Queen’s Guard in the eye all morning. It was all so humiliating! Again, Adele wondered at Rainere’s choice of go-between. Charlie was a cute kid and his neglected air pulled hard on her maternal heartstrings but she hardly thought he had handled anything well since she had met him in her bedroom casting a spell yesterday. But now she was stuck with his horrible “Royal Consort” story and had no idea how to back out of it without exposing what Charlie actually did for her.

Adele noticed Bertie shooting her concerned looks and took another gulp of water. She was being too serious, she should be more polite with her host.

To distract herself, Adele searched out her children in the little fenced off area that had been set aside as a playground for all the children of the Estate. It made her smile to see Natalie deep in conversation with three other little girls her own age and Aaron playing a game involving sticks and little balls with a mixed group of boys. The sight struck her as unusual since they had arrived in Unisia. She had rarely seen other children at the Golden Palace. She leaned in to ask her host about it, speaking loudly over the roar of the races and crowd around them.

“Bertie, you have so many more children running around your court than we do in the Golden Palace. Why is that?”

Prince Bertrand smiled with obvious pride and gazed down upon the children playing close to their pavilion. “I would attempt to answer modestly, You Majesty, but we are indeed blessed here at Belvoir with the proficiency of Belvoir women to carry and deliver healthy babes. Our child mortality rate is the lowest of all the Royal families. Due in no small part to our old fashioned views on mixing the bloods and cherishing those babes born out of wedlock as much as those born within legal unions.”

He shifted to the edge of his chair, obviously warming to a topic close to his heart. Bertie pointed down to the children. “Though probably not one of those kiddies could claim a straight line of succession from either Prince Bertrand I, or even Prince Bartolomus V, from the Southern Belvoirs, they are all considered to be as much kin as anyone of my own Royal progeny, and therefore are all in line for the throne of Belvoir when I pass into the Garden of the Goddess.”

Adele nodded, pleased to hear a monarchy who’s views she could actually understand, and not the complicated mess of bloodlines and hierarchy of the St. Lucidis family which Tilburn had spent many hours trying to explain to her.

“That all sounds very modern and democratic to me, Bertie,” she smiled.

“Quite the contrary, Your Majesty,” demurred Bertie. “I believe we are considered to be the most primitive of the Families at the genteel Court of the Golden Palace.”

But he waved his hand as if all of that meant little to him. “You see in the Belvoir Family we have always believed that the best amongst us should be those to rule the Family. That a man, or woman, needs only to be strong of heart and mind to be a true Belvorian leader, regardless of the purity of their blood, or the strength of their Magic. We stand by our beliefs not because they are old fashioned but because they
work
even in these modern days. The large number of happy and healthy children in our midst proves this to us daily.”

By now, Adele understood that the people of Unisia had a slightly different biology to the people of Earth. Their fertility cycles were shorter and came further apart, giving them fewer chances to conceive children in a year. It was also complicated in the Royal families, with problems of in-breeding, as extended family members married often to try and keep the bloodline as pure as possible. High Wizard Ohren had explained that the Magic in their blood had something to do with the low birth rate, too, and that with all of the inbreeding, the Magic was becoming weak or even dormant in many of the younger generations. As a result of this, the Court of the Golden Palace had tried to make Magic amongst the Families seem unfashionable and suspect. Adele’s arrival, and rumored magical strength with the blood of her powerful parents running in her veins, had thrown all of that up into the air. Adele was very aware of how impressive she was supposed to be and had looked into Ohren’s disappointed gaze as she had completely failed to manifest even a hint of the power within herself.

If only they knew that it was Rainere who made her Magic come alive.

Bertie leaned in conspiratorially and lowered his voice. “We have some very interesting bloodlines in our family, Your Majesty. Some of our children have quite the
mixed
heritage,”—he mouthed a word that looked like
Marchant
at her, surprising Adele— “But we value brains and brawn over magical abilities. After all, it would do no good to rule from the Belvoir Estate with Magic anyway, because of the Curse, you see.” He tapped the side of his nose to indicate it was a discreet matter, and gave her a friendly wink.

Adele nodded again and sipped at her glass of water. Her head had started swimming when she thought of Rainere and Magic, and the two things together. A hot flush swept her, but it felt more like a fever than passion. Adele wondered if she was becoming ill. It would certainly explain her roiling stomach and light head.

“You see Lance down there?” asked Bertie, pointing at his young successor. “At just sixteen, not only is he a strapping young man, but he is very quick and bright as well. Look how gentle he is with the little ones. He is a true leader in the making there.”

Adele craned her neck to see Lance and watched as the boy knelt in the dirt and dried Aaron’s tears when he lost a match, handing over some of his own sticks and balls to make the little boy happy. Aaron was completely enamored at the older boy’s generosity and threw his arms around Lance’s neck. Adele smiled and waved as Aaron sought her out in the crowd from Lance’s arms. Her son looked ecstatic. “He looks like a lovely boy, Bertie. I can see why you are so proud of him.” Bertie gave her a pleased grin and turned back to watch the races.

Adele heard a cough behind her and turned to see QGs Bear and Owens exchange a look with each other, suggestive smirks on their faces before they noticed her watching and turned their eyes immediately back to the front.

It took Adele all of five seconds to register the reason behind that look. Her cheeks burned and she felt tears prick sharply at her eyes.
They think I’m a child-raping monster
she thought miserably.
And now that I’ve said Lance is lovely, they think I’m going to attack him. They’ll probably take bets on it.

Adele bit her lip and berated herself again for trusting such a young, hot-headed boy like Charlie with something as important as her privacy. He obviously had no idea about boundaries and why the Hell had he been in her room while she slept anyway? Did he have a message from Rainere and, if he did, why hadn’t he given it to her when they were alone? Because Charlie had been able to perform green Magic in front of her in the Belvoir Manor she had figured that he had more to hide than she did. He was obviously some kind of Marchant Wizard. Just a stupid, half-starved, boy Wizard.

Adele let out a huge sigh and wiped the perspiration from her brow with a handkerchief. Her nausea was ebbing and surging with the heat, making her almost wish for the chance to finally throw up and be done with it. She had been feeling steadily worse ever since she had arrived two nights ago.

Bertie gave her a sideways glance as a particularly exciting race came to a close. “Feeling the heat, Your Majesty?”

Adele grabbed the excuse with both hands. “You know, I am feeling a bit light-headed, Bertie,” she said screwing up her face. “I might get out from under this tent and head inside to check on Stella. She should be waking soon.”

Bertie nodded and patted her hand in a fatherly way, already entranced by the next race.

As Adele made her way out of the pavilion, she couldn’t help but look over at the two guards behind her. Neither caught her eye but they both turned to follow her. Adele’s stomach dropped at the very idea of having to put up with them a minute more.

“Stay here, please,” she told them. “I’m going inside but I’ll need you to keep an eye on Aaron and Natalie for me.” It wasn’t necessary of course as Seraphina and Caitlin were with the children, but Adele died a second time when the QGs exchanged another smirk as they did as she asked.

See!
She thought.
It’s not just my imagination. They are judging me for what they heard this morning. Oh God, who else have they told about me and Charlie?
The injustice and shame of it all flared in Adele’s chest. Her eyes filled with tears again and she stumbled on the last step getting down off the pavilion’s stairs. A strong hand caught her arm and helped her back onto her feet.

“Thank you, I’m fine,” she said without looking up at the kind stranger.

“Your Majesty?” his voice held a familiar timbre, but when she glanced up at the man, she saw a face like no other. He had deep-set eyes above a large, beak-like nose. His cheekbones stood out like craggy cliff edges and his chin seemed unnecessarily sharp. Oddly, his face was entirely hairless, with no eyebrows or beard, and his smooth head glinted in the sunshine. Adele might have been shocked by such a face, but the smile that lit his visage was so bright, that she instinctively smiled back, despite her tears.

“Your Majesty, my dear Queen Adelena!” The gentleman stepped back and bowed deeply. “How I have longed to meet you since you came to our shores of Unisia! Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Pere Raven, humble priest and Father to the little flock at our church here in Belvoir. I declare myself, your servant.”

Adele blinked at the flurry of words and this strange looking man’s clear excitement at meeting her and suddenly she felt too exhausted for words. She just couldn’t bare another person’s baseless adoration when it could all be lost with a few words or a nasty suggestion. Adele lost her patience as her stomach lurched uncomfortably.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Father, but I’m heading inside now.” She hadn’t meant to sound rude, but it was all she could do to be civil as she swallowed down on bile.

“Well then, may I accompany you back to the Manor, Queen Adelena?” he grinned disarmingly and fell into step beside her anyway.

“Please just call me Adele,” Adele insisted. “In my world I was taught that priests are the equal of kings and queens.”

Pere Raven let out a belly laugh so loud and joyful that it almost stopped Adele in her tracks. “Your Majesty’s reputation for beauty and kindness have preceded you my Queen but no one told me you were funny!” Pere Raven grinned down at her. He was taller than she was, but not by much.

Adele grimaced. “Well, there is a lot to learn about me, Father,” she said thinking of the horrible rumor circulating her Queen’s Guard, and wanted to cry again.

“Bad day, my Queen?” asked Pere Raven gently as he noted her change in expression.

“Please, just call me Adele. And yes, it’s not been a good day,” sighed Adele, as they continued on the long walk back to the Manor. Adele forced herself to wave and smile at the groups of people they passed. She felt bad not stopping to talk to them as they so desperately wanted to catch her attention, but she didn’t have the strength right now. But as they got closer to the Manor, the crowd thinned and Adele felt it was only polite to chat with her escort.

“Why is it we haven’t met before, Pere Raven,” she asked. “I didn’t see you at the Welcome Ball, did I?”

“No, no. I’m sure you would have remembered my charming face if you’d met me before. Most do,” joked the Priest. “No, I was out on a mission to aid the passing of one of my parishioners. Lovely man by the name of Brent.”

“Oh, I’m sorry for your loss,” said Adele automatically.

Pere Raven flapped his hands to wave away her wooden sympathy. “He was a good man who had lived a good long life,” he said reassuringly. “He had no reason to fear the Beyond, our Goddess Serena has him in her Garden now.”

“Ah, that’s…good.” Adele always felt awkward when faced with other people’s religious beliefs and death had always unsettled her.

“Yes, it was good,” agreed Pere Raven with another happy grin. “We had a chance to celebrate his life together before he passed. It was a wonderful opportunity for those of us he left behind to remind ourselves of what we want from this short life of ours, and how important it is that we find and give joy as much as we can while we are in this world. Despite my sadness at losing Brent from my days I’m grateful that he gave me this lesson.”