The Queen's Necklace

Map by Ann Meyer Maglinte

The following people offered aid, comfort, encouragement, and advice during the writing of this book:

Tina Benz, Jennifer Carson, Carolyn Hill, and Tom and Paula King.

Had eluki bes shahar not believed in it, this book might never have seen print.

Therefore, to all these dear friends

The Queen's Necklace

is affectionately and respectfully dedicated.

Map

Dedication

Prologue

Book One

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Book Two

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Book Three

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Epilogue

Copyright

About the Publisher

In Mountfalcon

CAPTAIN WILROWAN KROGAN
-
BLACKHEART
—(otherwise “Will”) A raffish young nobleman. Captain of Her Majesty's Guard.

BLAISE CROWSMEARE
-
TREFALLON
—His closest friend. An ornament of the court.

SIR RUFUS MACQUAY
—A fop.

FINN
,
PYECROFT
,
BARNABY
—Drinking companions of Will and Blaise.

CORPORAL NATHANIEL DAGGET
—of the City Guard. A very young officer.

LILLIANA BRAKEBURN
-
BLACKHEART
—(otherwise “Lili”) Wilrowan's wife. A young woman of character.

LORD BRAKEBURN
—Lilliana's father. An insignificant gentleman, of large, means but very small cunning.

MISS ALLORA BRAKEBURN
—Lord Brakeburn's maiden aunt. Lilliana's mentor.

SIR BASTIAN JOSSLYN
-
MATHER
—A gentleman magician.

LIEUTENANT KESTREL BRAKEBURN
—(otherwise “Nick”) Lili's young cousin. An officer in His Majesty's Guard.

WILOBIE CULPEPPER
—(otherwise “Willie”) A phantom. That is, a false identity invented by Will.

EULALIE
—A wig-maker's daughter. On terms of considerable intimacy with Wilobie Culpepper.

CORPORAL SWALLOW
—A junior member of Her Majesty's Guard, acting
as Will's body-servant.

KING RODARIC OF MOUNTFALCON
—A sober man, very much in love with his flighty young wife.

QUEEN DIONEE
—The afore-mentioned wife. Wilrowan's foster-sister, related to him on both sides of the family.

LORD THADDEUS VAULT
—A foreign nobleman. The ambassador from Nordfjall.

LORD
-
LIEUTENANT JACK MARZDEN
—of the City Guard. Formerly Will's nemesis, now his friend.

A WRYNECK
—A Goblin masquerading as a Man.

DOCTOR OCTAVIO PRENDERBY
-
FOX
—An academic magician. A professor at Malachim College.

SIR FREDERIC TREGARON
-
MARLOWE
—Also a Professor of Magic.

LADY LETITIA STEERPIKE
—A woman of the court. A scheming hussy.

CRWCRWYL
—A raven.

ALSO
:

A Prostitute. A Gaoler. An Innkeeper. The Governor of Whitcomb Gaol. A Surgeon. Various courtiers, servants, guardsmen, tradesmen, pedestrians, magicians, felons, &c.

In Winterscar

KING JARRED OF WINTERSCAR
—A grieving widower. An honorable young man.

LUCIUS SACKVILLE
-
GUILIAN
—(otherwise “Luke”) A witty young gentleman, Jarred's second-cousin and foster-brother. An amateur historian.

DOCTOR FRANCIS PURCELL
—A natural philosopher. Formerly tutor to Jarred and Luke.

LORD HUGO SACKVILLE
—Jarred's uncle. An aging rake.

PRINCESS SOPHRONISPA
—(otherwise “Ys”) The Princess Imperial.

LADY SOPHRONISPA
—(otherwise “Sophie”) Ys's aunt. An Imperial Princess.

VALENTINE SOLANGE
—(otherwise “Madame Debrûle”) Governess to Ys. A martyr to her duty.

MADAM ZAPHIR
—An Ouph fortuneteller.

LORD VIF
—(otherwise “Monsieur Debrûle”) A person of little intelligence but considerable breeding, masquerading as Valentine's husband and Ys's uncle.

LORD WITTLESBECK
—Jarred's Master of Ceremonies. A fussy old man.

ALONZO PERYS
—Jarred's coachman.

LORD RUPERT WALBURG
—Jarred's Heir-Apparent. A sporting gentleman, not much interested in affairs of government
.

ZMAJ
,
JMEL
,
IZEK
—Three handsome youths of Imperial descent.

A GRANT
—A Goblin apothecary, ancient and venerable.

DOCTOR MATTHEW WILDEBADEN
—A physician. Cousin to Francis Purcell.

ALSO
:

A Padfoot Seamstress. A Major Domo. Two Footmen. The King's Secretary. An Invalid. Various courtiers, cabinet ministers, guardsmen, & servants residing at Lindenhoff.

On Shipboard

CAPTAIN PYKE
—Master of the Pagan Queen. A man with a past.

SIMON PERYS
—Lucius Guilian's valet. A loyal retainer.

RAITH
—An Anti-demonist. Tutor and bodyguard to the children of the Crown Princess of Rijxland. A man of mystery.

ALSO
:

A Linen-draper. A Goldsmith. A Grant. Three Ouphs. Sailors & passengers.

In Rijxland

KING IZAIAH OF RIJXLAND
—The Mad King. Formerly a man of rare genius.

PRINCESS MARJOTE
—Izaiah's daughter, the Crown Princess. A woman of high principles but limited understanding.

LORD FLINX
—Izaiah's nephew. An unscrupulous politician.

TREMEUR BROUILLARD
—An orphan, his ward. A young female with a scandalous reputation.

LORD POLYPHANT
—The ambassador from Winterscar. A man of fashion.

LORD CATTS
—The Minister of Trade. A dandy.

VARIAN DOU
—An earnest young parlimentarian, being groomed for a government post by the Princess Marjote.

ALSO
:

A Hackney-coachman. The Princess's children. Various visitors, inmates, attendants, & physicians at the mad-house in Luden (including some giddy young women).

In Montagne-du-Soliel

LADY KROGAN
—(formerly Odilia Rowan) Wilrowan's grandmother. A dowager of sinister reputation.

ALSO
:

A Coachman and a Porter.

In Nordfjall, Chêneboix, Bridemoor, Catwitsen, & Herndyke

A RAG
-
AND
-
BOTTLE DEALER
—An ancient Wryneck with some claim to gentility.

LIEUTENANT ODGERS
,
CORPORAL GILPIN
—Guardsmen assigned to assist Wilrowan.

GENERAL PENGENNIS
—Assigned to protect His Royal Highness, the Prince of Catwitsen's, frontiers.

ALSO
:

A Grant. A Hired Coachman. Several innkeepers. Some border guards. Three constables. Sailors, fishermen, villagers, &c.

O
n a chilly autumn morning in the year 6509, a nondescript hackney coach jolted through the muddy streets of a great northern city and came to a halt in a dismal little square. The door flew open and two women—as discreetly colorless as to their gowns, hats, cloaks, and gloves as they had been in choosing a coach—stepped down to the slippery cobblestone pavement. The taller of the two dropped a few bright coins into the hand of the driver up on the box.

“Wait for us just here.” Her voice was low and intense, with the accent of one accustomed to command. A filmy black scarf thrown over her wide-brimmed hat concealed her face and shoulders, but her figure was straight, her movements graceful. There was a rustle of silken petticoats under the sober skirts of her gown.

When the driver protested against keeping the horses standing, she silenced him with an upraised hand. “Our business is urgent—so may be our hasty departure.”

Turning sharply on her heel, she started down the nearest narrow street, shouldering her way through a knot of rough-looking men unloading beechwood casks from a wagon. Her companion followed in her footsteps, darting nervous glances to either side.

A thick, oily fog had descended during the night, making it difficult to read the hand-lettered cards in the shop windows. But as she passed a tilted sign post, the smaller woman cried out. “Val—is the wrong street. I knew there had to be some mistake.”

“Hush, Sophie. It is a quarter of a mile distant. If there is trouble later, the driver should know as little as possible.”

Sophie lengthened her steps, trying to keep pace. “But
such
a neighborhood. Could Chimena, even Chimena, abandon her child in a place like this?”