Read The Queen's Necklace Online
Authors: Teresa Edgerton
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.
In Mountfalcon
CAPTAIN WILROWAN KROGAN
-
BLACKHEART
â(otherwise “Will”) A raffish young nobleman. Captain of Her Majesty's Guard.
BLAISE CROWSMEARE
-
TREFALLON
âHis closest friend. An ornament of the court.
SIR RUFUS MACQUAY
âA fop.
FINN
,
PYECROFT
,
BARNABY
âDrinking companions of Will and Blaise.
CORPORAL NATHANIEL DAGGET
âof the City Guard. A very young officer.
LILLIANA BRAKEBURN
-
BLACKHEART
â(otherwise “Lili”) Wilrowan's wife. A young woman of character.
LORD BRAKEBURN
âLilliana's father. An insignificant gentleman, of large, means but very small cunning.
MISS ALLORA BRAKEBURN
âLord Brakeburn's maiden aunt. Lilliana's mentor.
SIR BASTIAN JOSSLYN
-
MATHER
âA gentleman magician.
LIEUTENANT KESTREL BRAKEBURN
â(otherwise “Nick”) Lili's young cousin. An officer in His Majesty's Guard.
WILOBIE CULPEPPER
â(otherwise “Willie”) A phantom. That is, a false identity invented by Will.
EULALIE
âA wig-maker's daughter. On terms of considerable intimacy with Wilobie Culpepper.
CORPORAL SWALLOW
âA junior member of Her Majesty's Guard, acting
as Will's body-servant.
KING RODARIC OF MOUNTFALCON
âA sober man, very much in love with his flighty young wife.
QUEEN DIONEE
âThe afore-mentioned wife. Wilrowan's foster-sister, related to him on both sides of the family.
LORD THADDEUS VAULT
âA foreign nobleman. The ambassador from Nordfjall.
LORD
-
LIEUTENANT JACK MARZDEN
âof the City Guard. Formerly Will's nemesis, now his friend.
A WRYNECK
âA Goblin masquerading as a Man.
DOCTOR OCTAVIO PRENDERBY
-
FOX
âAn academic magician. A professor at Malachim College.
SIR FREDERIC TREGARON
-
MARLOWE
âAlso a Professor of Magic.
LADY LETITIA STEERPIKE
âA woman of the court. A scheming hussy.
CRWCRWYL
âA 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
âA grieving widower. An honorable young man.
LUCIUS SACKVILLE
-
GUILIAN
â(otherwise “Luke”) A witty young gentleman, Jarred's second-cousin and foster-brother. An amateur historian.
DOCTOR FRANCIS PURCELL
âA natural philosopher. Formerly tutor to Jarred and Luke.
LORD HUGO SACKVILLE
âJarred's uncle. An aging rake.
PRINCESS SOPHRONISPA
â(otherwise “Ys”) The Princess Imperial.
LADY SOPHRONISPA
â(otherwise “Sophie”) Ys's aunt. An Imperial Princess.
VALENTINE SOLANGE
â(otherwise “Madame Debrûle”) Governess to Ys. A martyr to her duty.
MADAM ZAPHIR
âAn Ouph fortuneteller.
LORD VIF
â(otherwise “Monsieur Debrûle”) A person of little intelligence but considerable breeding, masquerading as Valentine's husband and Ys's uncle.
LORD WITTLESBECK
âJarred's Master of Ceremonies. A fussy old man.
ALONZO PERYS
âJarred's coachman.
LORD RUPERT WALBURG
âJarred's Heir-Apparent. A sporting gentleman, not much interested in affairs of government
.
ZMAJ
,
JMEL
,
IZEK
âThree handsome youths of Imperial descent.
A GRANT
âA Goblin apothecary, ancient and venerable.
DOCTOR MATTHEW WILDEBADEN
âA 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
âMaster of the Pagan Queen. A man with a past.
SIMON PERYS
âLucius Guilian's valet. A loyal retainer.
RAITH
âAn 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
âThe Mad King. Formerly a man of rare genius.
PRINCESS MARJOTE
âIzaiah's daughter, the Crown Princess. A woman of high principles but limited understanding.
LORD FLINX
âIzaiah's nephew. An unscrupulous politician.
TREMEUR BROUILLARD
âAn orphan, his ward. A young female with a scandalous reputation.
LORD POLYPHANT
âThe ambassador from Winterscar. A man of fashion.
LORD CATTS
âThe Minister of Trade. A dandy.
VARIAN DOU
âAn 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
â(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
âAn ancient Wryneck with some claim to gentility.
LIEUTENANT ODGERS
,
CORPORAL GILPIN
âGuardsmen assigned to assist Wilrowan.
GENERAL PENGENNIS
âAssigned 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 womenâas discreetly colorless as to their gowns, hats, cloaks, and gloves as they had been in choosing a coachâstepped 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 urgentâso 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. “Valâis 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?”