God Save the Queen (8 page)

Chapter 13

The Big Bang

             
I arrived for dinner just in time, and I still got the look of death from LaGard. I was surprised to see the group that was at the dinner table along with me.

             
I knew that Mari and Avery wouldn’t be joining us (Lynette wouldn’t have stood for the competition), but I was surprised to see that Barnes and Antonio were there. Ever since the Halloween party I knew they had a secret relationship with Mari and Avery, and they knew as well as I that Mari and Avery loathed Lynette. So, wanting to get some answers, I took a seat right next to Antonio. Barnes still hadn’t said a word to me, so I knew I wasn’t going to get anything from him.

             
Once I took my seat I quickly whispered to Antonio, “What’s going on? I thought Mari and Avery don’t want you here.”

             
Antonio nodded and turned slightly to face me, “They didn’t want us here and we weren’t planning on coming. But when we were walking to their… Well, Lynette caught us in the hallway and insisted that we join her at dinner tonight. We tried to turn her down but she wouldn’t hear it. So we had no choice in the matter.” He didn’t look at all pleased to be here.

             
I shook my head at the thought of Lynette trying to steal either Barnes or Antonio away from Mari and Avery. I had known her for less than four hours and I already knew she was a Class-A bitch.

             
I continued to look around to see who else Lynette had conned into coming here. Across from me was LaGard, all smiles, and Terrence, who looked less happy than usual to be here. I guessed (correctly, as it turned out) that by the end of the night he would be falling asleep. Also there was Beaumont, Lady Mancini, and Sergeant Kazakov, along with a whole bunch of other people I didn’t know. But I did know the person sitting on the other side of me.

             
“Wonderful of you to join us, Kevin.” LaGard sneered as he took his seat. “Maybe next time you can show up on time.”

             
“Sorry,” Kevin apologized, not sounding the littlest bit sincere, “but I was working on the paperwork that
you
wanted for tomorrow. Remember?” I held back a snicker as Kevin embarrassed LaGard in front of everyone at the table.
I
didn’t even have the guts to do that. So dinner began and we ate lots of turkey and ham, and some snails. Well, I didn’t eat the snails but I was surprised on how many people actually did. Even Terrence was daring.

             
After dinner was when the real show began. LaGard and Lynette began to tell wonderful stories of their families and country houses and trips to the Loire Valley and such. Or at least they thought they were wonderful. The rest of the group, not so much. Antonio and Barnes kept sending notes to each other which made each other snicker while Terrence, as I had predicted, fell asleep. Sergeant Kazakov looked utterly confused and the only person really paying attention was Beamount. It wasn’t until world politics got involved that I actually participated in the conversation.

             
“I mean, I just don’t understand it,” Lynette was saying. “People are always complaining about world hunger. I mean, it’s not that big of an issue, people! It’s maybe a blessing in disguise. I mean, I wish I could stick to a diet. So you could say we are helping out the poor by
not
feeding them,
oui?
” That’s what started it all.

             
Sergeant K looked up immediately, looking slightly angry. Terrence woke from his slumber abruptly and stared at Lynette as though she had gone off her rocker. Kevin coughed awkwardly next to us, while Barnes and Antonio gawked at her lack of common sense and compassion.

             
I couldn’t hold myself back. “Um, actually, Lynette, world hunger is one of the biggest problems facing the world right now. It is a huge issue.”

             
She rolled her eyes and sighed before responding, “Well, why can’t they just grow plants to eat? It is really not that difficult. They are just lazy.”

             
“Um, in some countries they can’t grow
anything,
because of soil erosion. There are no nutrients in the soil, so the plants can’t grow.”

             
“Well, that is just too bad for them. I mean it is their own problem. They should move to where they can grow plants. They can’t be making the whole world worry about them.
We
didn’t do anything.”

             
I was done. “Yeah, okay. Excuse me, I’m going to leave before I lose any more IQ points than I already have, listening to her talk.” I pushed my chair out and stormed out of the dining room. Just as I walked out the door I heard LaGard mumble something and then Kevin say, “Um, excuse me, everyone.”

             
I knew he was going to follow me so I began sprinting, which was not easy in the dress I chose for that evening. I passed all the other servants rooms as I headed for the library. I shut the door quickly, when I heard the footsteps catching up. Moments after I had shut the door, it opened again.

             
“What the hell was that?” Kevin yelled in a voice that echoed throughout the library.

             
I rolled my eyes before facing him. “Were you listening to what that idiot was saying? It was ridiculous! World hunger not an issue?”

             
“Yeah, I know what she said, but you can’t go insulting her like that! It’s rude!”

             
“She was being stupid. It’s not my fault that her brain is no bigger than a walnut!”

             
“See, there you go again!” Kevin was getting really frustrated now. “Look, you can’t be running your mouth like that. You are going to be dealing with a lot of idiotic rulers of different countries, and I will be the first to tell you that some of them make her look like a scholar.”

             
I sat down in one of the chairs. I could see his point, but I didn’t want to hear it. “Well, since when did you become my mentor?”

             
“Haven’t you heard a word I’ve just said?” he asked, clearly exasperated.

             
“No, I’ve perfected the art of zoning you out, so I didn’t,” I answered, now looking among the shelves for a book that would be more interesting than listening to Kevin. I grabbed the first volume of
A Comprehensive Survey of Precambrian Geology in the Greater Aleutian Islands.
Bingo.

             
“God!”
he roared, and I looked up to see Kevin throwing his hands up in the air. “You know, I’m starting to get the sneaking feeling that you just might not want me around.” Sarcasm oozed in his tone.

             
I leaned forward in the chair, trying to look oh-so sweet and attentive to whatever he had to say. “Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner here at today’s episode of
The Pity Party!
Good job. And there are even sometimes I wish that you were dead! Then I wouldn’t have to listen to you!”

             
The minute the words left my mouth I started to feel rotten. It came out a lot harsher than I wanted. You never want to wish someone dead, especially someone you know, and you especially never want to say it to their face. I should have known that better than anyone else. I was about to say something, anything--a stumbling apology, I suppose--and so was Kevin, probably a bitter rebuttal, when the floor suddenly shook. A loud noise came from outside and it sounded like there was screaming too.

             
“What the hell was that?” I shouted. The noises suddenly became louder. Again I felt another tremor under my feet as Kevin and I gingerly made our way to the door. The scene that awaited us outside the library was truly frightening.

             
In the hallway were about thirty people running away from the dining room. A few of them were servants coming out of their bedrooms to see what was going on, but most were the dinner guests running in our direction. But what were they running
from?
The doors of the dining hall were open and this daunting black smoke spilled out, as another tremor shook the floor. The guests were covering their mouths as they ran past us. Kevin looked down the hallway and then caught the arm of one of the men from dinner.

             
“What’s going on?” Kevin yelled, as loud noises came out of the dining hall. It had an ominous crunching sound that made me think parts of the ceiling were falling down.

             
“There…there was a…bomb. I think…first this noise and then the whole room shook and…there’s more, though. Watch yourselves.” Then he took off.

             
Both Kevin and I watched the little man run by, when another bomb suddenly went off. This one had to be closer than the other ones, because the tremors sent us falling to the floor. When I landed I felt something hit the top of my head, probably a big chunk of ceiling plaster, though it wasn’t as painful as I thought that would be. I felt it lift off my head and I saw that it wasn’t the ceiling at all; it was Kevin’s body protecting me from the bit of stone that had flown towards us. I noticed that his left hand was covered in blood, and there was a horrifying gash on the side of his face.

             
He pulled me to my feet and grabbed both of my shoulders. He looked me straight in the eyes and yelled over all the noise, “You need to get out of here now! Follow these people and try to find Barnes or Antonio. Once you do, tell them to bring you to the Quarantine Room.” He let go of my shoulders and tore off in the other direction.

             
Panic swept over me as I realized the danger I was in. “Wait!” I shouted, grabbing his bloody dinner jacket sleeve, “Where’re you going?!”

             
He grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him so I could hear over the din of screaming and blasts. “I have to go and find where the source is. It’s part of my job. Now
go!
” He let go of me and turned again, but before he did I was able to hear him yell back at me, “Hell, you might actually get your wish tonight!” And then he was gone in the swarm of fleeing people.

             
I stood there for several moments before running away from the chaos. I found it much easier to run now that the hem of my dress was ripped from my fall. Still, I couldn’t help but look back several times. Almost immediately I ran into Antonio.

             
“Anya! There you are! Come on, you have to come with me!” he caught hold of my arm and started to pull me towards safety. “Hurry, you have to get out of here!”

             
Suddenly another blast erupted within the halls. I suddenly turned to the direction that it had come from. Kevin was there.
He was right there!

             
The next thing I knew, I ripped my arm away from Antonio and was running towards the dining hall. He called my name, imploring me to come back, but I ignored him and ran. All I could hear were the thoughts in my head. Kevin was exactly where the explosion had been. He thought that I wanted him dead, and now I couldn’t believe I’d said that to him.

             
I broke through the crowd of the palace staff, many of them covered in soot and rubble, and many of them bleeding. I kept looking for Kevin.
He had to be here, he had to!

             
I was still running when I heard someone yell, “Everyone clear out! There might be another one! Everyone clear!”

             
It was his voice. People pushed past me but I fought through, heading in the direction of the voice. I kept looking for the blonde bob that I had grown to known.

             
I suddenly found him, helping a fallen man up from the floor. “Kevin,” I said, and he looked up at me.

             
“Anya! What are you…”

             
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean what I said! I don’t want you dead!” Tears were running down my face, either from emotion or the fumes from the explosives, or both.

             
“Okay,” he said, “I know that, but you didn’t have to put yourself in danger to--”

             
Suddenly my feet gave out and I felt myself fall. Kevin swooped in and grabbed me before I hit the ground. Then we started moving as I began to slip in and out of reality. When I looked up, I saw the hall flying past us as Kevin sprinting down it with me in his arms. Then the last bomb went off and I blacked out.

*
              *              *

             
I could hear voices around me as I came out of my daze. I opened my eyes and, after they adjusted to the light, I saw that I was in my bedroom. I sat up slowly, my head throbbing at the slightest movement, and looked around. Terrence was pacing back forth, shaking his head in disagreement and Mari and Avery were scurrying, with a look of terror on their face.