The Queen Revealed (21 page)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“Decepting as Love Tastes”

Charlie had been waiting for hours behind the secret door in the Queen’s bathroom. Though his little timepiece didn’t work in this Magic-free house, he guessed it was some time after midnight before he judged it safe to creep out and conceal himself in the window seat of the Queen’s bedroom. She wasn’t yet in bed, but he could hear her talking next door in the study, so he figured it wouldn’t be too long.

His wait was only interrupted by Blondie, who came in bringing a tray laden with biscuits and hot tea for the Queen’s late supper. Charlie watched with interest from his place inside the drapes as the blonde beauty turned back the covers of the Queen’s bed studying the sheets for longer than was necessary, and sniffing at the pillows, before she moved off to quietly lay her ear against the door to the Queen’s office, straining to hear what was being said. The sound of a door slamming in the next room sent her running to the bedroom door where she abruptly stopped and patted her hair, and calmly left the bedroom.

Curious,
thought Charlie.
What game is Blondie playing at?
But the chiming of the clock on the mantelpiece reminded him why he was here and what he had to do tonight.

Just give her the box and leave
, he told himself firmly.
Don’t dawdle and don’t get caught and
don’t
watch her open it
. He thought of the bundle of stolen clothing and food he had left under his little pallet in the basement room downstairs. With that and the gold bracelet he had a chance to make it to the border of Unisia and maybe to the farms beyond. There he could disappear, far from the clutches of The Boss and far from the bizarre love story of the witch Queen and the Black Prince.

He tensed as the Queen entered her bedroom. She was carrying a wicker waste bin and looked exhausted. She took the bin into the bathroom and Charlie heard the sound of rushing water before she returned without it and threw herself down on the couch nearest the window seat. Charlie watched as she poured herself a cup of tea and screwed up his courage to confront her. Maybe she was furious with him for getting caught, or maybe she was going to laugh about it like she had before? Whatever her reaction he needed to do this one last thing before he could be shot of her for good.

Charlie stepped out from behind the curtain and silently hopped down from the window seat. “Evening, Y’Majesty!” And casually strolled around from behind the couch so she could see him.

The Queen almost jumped out of her skin at hearing his voice behind her. Charlie couldn’t explain why her fear made him smile, but it did.

“Charlie!” she scolded, making him grin wider. “How the Hell-?”

“I was just behind this curtain, Y’Majesty, taking in the view.” He risked a wink. The Queen looked even prettier when she was all pink and embarrassed. His sharp eyes noticed that she had loosened the ribbons on the front of her gown, and her slip underneath was decorated with gold flowers. Charlie flopped onto the chair opposite the Queen and forced himself to look at her eyes. They’d parted badly last time and he needed to know she wasn’t going to kill him after he handed over the Prince’s gift.

“So, Charlie?” began the Queen. She said it in a funny way, with her lilting accent,
char-lee
instead of
char-lay
. “Did the Prince ever tell you that he was coming here himself? Because that is something I really could have done with knowing.” She clenched her hands together tightly in front of her chest and obviously didn’t realize that it pushed her breasts together in a thoroughly distracting way.

Charlie leaned forward and took a handful of biscuits off the tea tray and shoved them in his mouth. He belatedly remembered his manners, asking, “May I?” and sprayed out a few crumbs from his too-full mouth. The Queen gave him a look but nodded before she stood up and started pacing the room with small quick steps, speaking in confusing half sentences.

“I know that Rainere wants to…”

“But what can he be…?”

“This is so dangerous for both…”

Charlie slipped his hand into his pocket and found the little black box. His fingers slipped over the slick lacquered sides of it, automatically feeling for a join in the edges. His moral misgivings flooded back from where he had managed to keep them at bay in his mind as he watched the Queen work herself up into an anxious frenzy, her expression was heartbreaking.

What in the name of the Goddess did this sweet woman want with a nasty, great Wizard like the Black Prince when she can have any man in the Kingdom? Maybe she is as crazy as the Marchant Prince? The Devil himself knows that The Boss had warned me so many times that she is an evil witch.

But The Boss was a liar and Charlie’s instincts were usually pretty good when it came to people. The Queen didn’t set off any of his internal alarm bells. She just didn’t look that evil. Mostly she looked scared, and sort of like she was going to be sick.

“Charlie, please tell me?” begged the Queen. “Did the Prince give you a message for me? Anything at all that might help me to understand why he is risking coming here now?”

“Well… he wasn’t happy,” began Charlie slowly. He had an odd and unhelpful desire to protect the Queen from the truth.

“Why?”

“Well, after he brought me back to life, he read your note and seemed a bit…err…disappointed with it… and by that I mean, very pissed off.” Charlie grabbed another handful of biscuits to avoid looking at her stricken expression.

“I made him angry again,” she whispered. “But why? How could he expect more from me when I couldn’t even be sure it was safe to write?”

Charlie raised an eyebrow at her and the expression in his eyes was wise though his chin was speckled with crumbs. “I don’t think reasonable reactions are the Black Prince’s strong suit, Y’Majesty,” he said drily. Charlie tried to ignore the stab of guilt in his gut at what he was about to do. “But he did give me a present to give to you, and he said to tell you that he was serious about you and him. Though his tone was a bit dark at the time.”

He produced the Prince’s gift from his pocket. Their eyes met over the little black box as he stood up and held it out to her. Charlie had the uncomfortable sensation that she could see through his eyes right down into his soul.

“I know it looks horribly sinister, Majesty, but I’m sure it’s fine to open,” he said, doing his best not to break his word to the Prince, but he couldn’t help the urge to warn her. His arm shook a little as he held it out, but the Queen only stared at the box.

“Good things do come in small packages,” replied the Queen mysteriously.

Charlie frowned. “And so do a lot of dangerous things.”

“Are you trying to warn me about what’s inside this box, Charlie?” whispered the Queen, her hazel eyes opening even wider.

I don’t care what happens to her. I only care about what will happen to me if I don’t give it to her,
Charlie reminded himself firmly. He forced himself to smile. “Just take the damn box, Y’Majesty,” he said mildly.

The Queen reached out and took the box out of Charlie’s hand. Charlie worked hard not to flinch but he took a step away as the Queen examined the box, turning it over and over again.

“How do I open it?” she asked. “Is it Magic, or a blood seal or something?”

Charlie shrugged. “Maybe. I didn’t see what he put in there and when he came back I was still in quite a bit of pain from almost dying so wasn’t at my most observant.”

“Oh, that’s right you said Rainere saved your life!” the Queen gasped. “Charlie, I’m so sorry, what happened?”

Though he appreciated her sudden, if somewhat belated concern, Charlie was gob smacked that the Queen had got completely the wrong end of the stick. “He was the one trying to kill me!” he said incredulously, but the Queen was distracted by a noise at the front door.

She turned to him, her expression panicked. “Charlie, that might be Ohrig so go hide, I’ll find you later…” She looked about wildly for a place to hide the box and ended up shoving it under a dressing table covered in make-up pots and various crystal ornaments.

Charlie stood slowly and brushed the crumbs from his shirt. He felt an odd reluctance to leave now he knew this was the last time he would probably see the Queen as he was running away tonight.

“You wouldn’t happen to have another box about that size in your possession would you, Y’Majesty? Probably made of wood and filled with something incredibly valuable?” Charlie felt no real hope as he asked, but he had to try one last time to find the object The Boss had sent him to steal in the first place.

The Queen looked at him in confusion and irritation. “What? Are you crazy Charlie? Go, it’s time to go!” She pointed to the door, but Charlie shook his head.

“There is a better way out through your bathroom,” he said. “Come and see.”

The Queen followed him into the bathroom and he smiled at her surprise when she peered into the open door in the wainscoting. She was standing so close to him that he could see the lavender blue of the shadows beneath her eyes, and the palest freckles that dotted across her nose. Her hair brushed against his shoulder.

Charlie didn’t even know his hands had slipped around her waist until she pulled them off.

“Charlie!” she whispered crossly. “You have to disappear for a bit. Go and do your Carparell squire act and when the Prince is here you can carry messages for me. We will be watched too closely to be able to do much more I’m sure.”

She handed his hands back to him. Charlie melted at the touch of her skin against his and a delicious lassitude fell over him. He had something to do… it was important… what was it? But all he could focus on were her soft pink lips that beckoned him forward.

“Come and find me tomorrow,” whispered the Queen, as she disappeared back into her bedroom, leaving the scent of flowers behind. It wasn’t until the door clicked shut that the spell was broken and Charlie stood shivering in the bathroom, completely confused and mightily uncomfortable. He adjusted the front of his trousers and shook his head to dispel the last of the fog of desire that had gripped him so hard.

Goddess be damned!
he thought as he stumbled out of the bathroom and into the secret tunnel in the wall.
That woman really is a witch
.

Chapter Thirty

“Anticipation is the Fuel for Love’s Fire”

Adele shifted slightly, so no one could kick her in the face, but then accidentally put her hand onto a puddle of drool pooling by her knee and almost gave the game away by groaning in disgust.

Aaron giggled and was quickly shushed by Natalie. Even the three very overgrown puppies lay with their heads on their paws, quiet as mice. Stella burrowed her face deeper into Adele’s neck as the Royal Family all grinned gleefully at each other.

“…and I won’t ask you again!” Tilburn was shouting, thoroughly incensed. “Where are Her Majesty and the children?”

“I don’t know Mr. Tilburn, really I don’t,” replied Lady Olivia calmly. “But I’ll thank you to stop shouting at me.”

“Really, not very gentlemanly, Sir, yelling at a lady like that,” interjected Captain Lucky. From under the table the children watched as Lucky’s boots shifted as he re-crossed his ankles. “I’ve already told you that just as soon as I finish breakfast I’ll go and look for them.”

At this Natalie clapped both hands over her mouth to keep from laughing.

“Well, I never! In all my life! Breakfast! When there is so much to be done…” blustered Tilburn and Adele could almost hear him turning purple.

“You have my word as a Captain, Sir,” answered Lucky.

“Breakfast, indeed! Well you have your
breakfast,
Captain Lucky,” snapped Tilburn. “I shall find Her Majesty myself and she will hear about this insubordination you can be assured of that!”

Everyone under the table listened hard as Tilburn stalked from the room still muttering threats.

“Is it really insubordination Captain?” asked Lady Olivia curiously. “Can Mr. Tilburn get you into trouble?”

“Not at all, Lady Olivia,” answered Lucky. “No one commands the Queen’s Guard, but the Queen herself. Speaking of: where is our Royal Family? Are we certain they haven’t disappeared altogether? Perhaps they are hiding in the tea cups?”

“No, but I do hear giggling, Captain,” said Lady Olivia. “Perhaps we should try and find the source of it?”

“Hmmm, could they be…” Captain Lucky swung up the tablecloth, surprising the children. “
Under the table
!” he shouted.

The children screamed so loudly it set the dogs off barking and Adele had to cover Stella’s ears to stop her from wailing in fright.

The family climbed out from under the table, the children ecstatic with the success of their game. Driving Mr. Tilburn mad was becoming a popular pastime with them. Lady Olivia tried to settle the children back down to their breakfast, but with the dogs stealing bacon off the table and Aaron insisting Captain Lucky repeat the “Under the Table” gag, it was an exercise in futility.

Adele smiled at all of the noisy chaos in the sunny Breakfast Room and pulled Stella in for a firmer cuddle. The nannies had already been dismissed to organize the children’s clothing for the big day, so Adele didn’t have to share her baby’s cuddles with anyone else just now. Despite how useful they were, Adele still felt a lingering jealousy that her children had been so happy to replace her affection with the three nannies. She had never had to share her children with anyone before and it always hurt her feelings a little when the baby, in particular, went to another woman.

Adele noticed that Natalie was drawing with a charcoal pencil on her cloth napkin and leaned over to tell her to stop making a mess, but stopped when she saw what her daughter had drawn.

“Natalie, darling, that is beautiful! What is it?”

“It’s the little movie box from Prince Rainere’s labora-tormy,” Natalie replied, looking up at Adele with a proud smile.

“Laboratory,” Adele corrected her as she examined the intricate sketch of the machine from the Grey Palace.

“Yes, labora-tormy,” agreed Natalie. “See, that’s where the Bad Thought goes.”

Adele looked at her daughter with new eyes. When had her little six-year-old started growing up so much? “Natalie, it’s one of the cleverest things you’ve ever drawn.”

Natalie smiled but her expression turned wistful. “I wish I could go back to the Grey Palace again,” she said.

“So you can see the laboratory again?” Adele touched her daughter’s hand.

“So I can see
him
again,” Natalie sighed and continued with her sketch.

Adele blinked. Obviously Natalie hadn’t forgotten her professed love for the Prince, as she often did with the others like, for instance, QG Leith who had passed very quickly out of her affections for one reason or another.

“Natalie…”

Suddenly, the Breakfast Room doors banged open and General Ohrig came striding into the room, his dress boots clumping on the floorboards. “What’s all this I hear about the Royal Family going missing? Tilburn is shrieking fit to bust up and down the corridors searching for you all.”

He approached the table and greeted Adele’s smile with a bow. “But I can see you are all accounted for, except for Prince Aaron. May I ask if you ate him for breakfast?”

A loud giggling from under the table spoiled the surprise.

“Or is he...?” General Ohrig snapped up the tablecloth and shouted: “
Under the table!”
making Lady Olivia drop her cup of tea and sending Stella whimpering into her mother’s neck again. But Natalie and Aaron were both crying with laughter as their puppies went berserk. Adele giggled along with her children. Whatever else that could be said about the people of her Court, they all loved children dearly.

The dogs had just about calmed down when Bertie and Pere Raven came bursting in and set them off again. Aaron slipped under the table when he saw the newcomers, but Adele tried to head the game off before it went too far.

“Bertie, Pere Raven, how nice to see you this early in the morning,” she said warmly. She was in a good mood today and could barely keep in her seat with excitement.

“And you, Your Majesty,” smiled Bertie, looking around at the chaos of his Breakfast Room. “I have to say you are some of the noisiest and troublesome guests we’ve had in a while. I’ve only just heard this morning that you’d all disappeared. Yet here you are, yelling up a storm and eating all my good breakfast bacon.”

The Prince and Pere Raven took seats on either side of Adele and General Ohrig sat at the end of the table opposite her. Despite his good humor with the children he looked tense and Adele avoided his eye.

“Uncle Bertie, are we really your worst guests?” asked Natalie curiously. Prince Bertrand II had insisted the children address him as Uncle Bertie when they arrived. He said being called Prince in his own home felt like carrying an umbrella inside, silly and unnecessary.

Bertie chuckled. “Not at all my girl! We had some smelly cowherds from my wife’s family come down from the High Country and stay with us for two weeks. They all smelled of cow poop and refused to take baths. It was disgusting! You all smell quite lovely.”

Natalie giggled and returned to her drawing.

“So, Your Majesty, I am quite ecstatic that you could be with us on this most momentous of racing days.” Bertie was pink and shiny with glee, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he piled his plate high with bacon and soft rolls. “It’s been almost three hundred years since the Marchant Family has participated in our Carnival. Three hundred! And today we will make legal and racing history by repealing the ban on Marchant royals crossing our borders. It really is wonderful that your presence in our humble home has been the reason for Prince Rainere to finally come out of hermitage and race his famous chargers alongside our own today.”

“Oh, I really don’t think it was me…” Adele protested, but felt her words catch in her throat as General Ohrig’s gaze fell on her.

“But, it absolutely was, Your Majesty!” Bertie blithely continued. “He stated in his letter that he felt that your presence at Belvoir marked a new beginning for the nation of Unisia as well as a new…what was it?...
integration
of the Marchant Family back into society. Pretty thrilling if you ask me!”

Bertie rubbed his hands together and grinned around the table. “This is going to make the Horse Market so exciting next week. Everyone is going to want to stud my Blue Streak when he beats a Marchant charger.”

“Are you so sure that Blue Streak can win against a Marchant horse, Bertie?” asked Pere Rave doubtfully. “I’ve never seen one run, but I’ve heard of their legendary speed, as everyone has. Apparently dark Magic was bred right into their bones.”

“Pah!” Bertie waved away the very idea. “It won’t matter a jot when they are on Belvoir land. His horses will only have their breeding and training to rely on, just like everyone else.” He held his finger in the air, a proud grin on his face. “And that is how I know Blue Streak will take the prize!”

Adele sat back in her chair. She was still stunned that Rainere was risking so much to come to Belvoir, but a little part of her couldn’t help but feel thrilled that he would act so recklessly just to see her again.

“Uncle Bertie what will happen to Prince Rainere when he comes here? He told me he is a Creature of Magic, won’t the Curse in Belvoir hurt him?” Natalie asked and looked so stricken that Bertie immediately calmed himself to soothe her.

“Oh no, my poppet, I’m sure the Prince will be fine. According to the good doctor, Pere Raven, the Prince will just age like you and me when he gets here. He was such a young man when he received the Immortality Spell that I’m sure a few days won’t matter much to him.”

“But do you know for sure?” insisted Natalie.

“I know for sure, Princess Natalie,” interjected Pere Raven. “As a student of Magic and doctor of health I can tell you that the Prince will be fine. And I’m sure he won’t mind being two days older if he gets to see you again.”

The priest beamed at Natalie until she smiled back.

“He won’t mind,” she said. “He is so strong and clever.”

“Do you like His Highness, Princess Natalie?” asked Bertie curiously. “You didn’t think he was scary when you met him?” Bertie glanced over at Adele to gauge her reaction to the conversation, but she was too busy shoving toast in her mouth to say anything.

“I love him,” said Natalie with a shrug. “He is so handsome and his Palace is full of so many interesting things. Some things he lets me touch because I am big, but other things he says I can study when I’m older. He is very Magic, you know, but he doesn’t scare me.”

A nervous laugh bubbled up and out of Adele and filled the silence that had fallen over the table at Natalie’s answer. Lady Olivia was the first to join in with her and soon everyone was chuckling. Even Aaron, who was still under the table.

“Well, if that’s the case, you must be at my side to greet His Highness when he arrives later this morning, because he doesn’t scare me either,” said Bertie with a wink.

“Yes, but I’m not scared because I love him. You aren’t scared because he doesn’t have his Magic here,” said Natalie with her usual sledgehammer wit.

“Natalie!” Adele was mortified by her daughter’s reply. “Apologize to Uncle Bertie immediately. That was a rude thing to say.”

“But he’s laughing,” protested Natalie, pointing at the old Prince.

“It’s fine, Your Majesty. Princess Natalie has my measure,” chuckled Bertie. “I think we shall make a fine team when we greet the Prince and present him to your mother.”

Adele smiled quickly at Bertie, but shot Natalie a look to let her daughter know this wasn’t over despite Bertie’s forgiving nature. She signaled for Lady Olivia to help her gather the children together. She really needed a minute to get her emotions under control and sitting at the table with General Ohrig watching her so closely wasn’t helping. As the Royal Family hustled from the room Ohrig managed to catch Adele’s eye though she did her best to avoid it.

“Majesty, if we could take a quick meeting?” He kept his voice low but Lady Olivia heard him as she walked past on the arm of Captain Lucky.

“Oh, General, can it wait please? Her Majesty has got so much to do to prepare for the day,” begged Lady Olivia and fluttered her eyelashes prettily.

General Ohrig’s icy blue gaze proved he was immune to the lady’s charms, but Lucky was already bowing, his cheeks pink.

“It’s about a certain issue that we discussed last night,” insisted the General.

“I’m sorry but it will have to wait,” said Adele. “Maybe you can see me before the Prince arrives in a few hours?”

General Ohrig gave a tight-lipped nod and Adele tried not to feel chagrined by his anger. There
was
too much to do this morning. Rainere was coming and Adele had to find another waste bin before her breakfast could show itself again. Sidestepping the General, Adele hurried out after her children and their puppies, praying she made it back to her room in time.