God Save the Queen (The Immortal Empire) (43 page)

I barely managed to pay attention during the ceremony. I didn’t care about the other people being honoured. It wasn’t that I was completely self-absorbed; I just kept waiting for Church to jump up and shoot me in the head with a tetracycline-filled bullet. No wonder the one meant for Victoria had hurt so much – goblins were much more susceptible to the drug, and to silver. And I’d gone through life thinking that neither of them was that big a concern.

Finally it was my turn. My knees trembled as I rose and walked to the front of the room, where I took my place before the tiny Queen. She smiled at me – no teeth, of course – and told the room full of people how I was being honoured tonight because I had
“bravely and selflessly” put her safety before my own. I had risked my life to preserve hers, and therefore my service to Crown and country was to be rewarded with a knighthood. She then asked me to kneel. I did so, on the padded cushion that had been provided.

She lifted a large, gleaming sword and placed it on my shoulder. For a second I had a vision of her lifting the bloody thing and taking my head clean off my shoulders with it.

Queen V had just started to say the words to complete the ceremony when a commotion rose up in the crowd. My spine went rigid. This was it. This was when Churchill would make his move. My right hand eased behind me, slipping beneath my bustle to curve around the Bulldog …

“No!” came a familiar rasping voice. “The Xandra lady cannot be knighted.”

I closed my eyes. This was worse than Churchill making a move. Way worse. The crowd buzzed loudly with incoherent conversation. Shouts rang out, followed by a growl.

“Silence!” Victoria commanded, her voice filling the room so clearly and strongly my ears rang. “Prince, what is the meaning of this intrusion?”

I turned my head and saw the goblin prince approach. He was the damnedest sight, with his fur neatly groomed, wearing a frock coat and cravat. He did not bow to the Queen. He did not defer. He approached her as an equal, and with a scowl that made him look like a rabid hell hound.

“Not a dame,” he insisted, as though the mere idea was a personal insult against him. “Cannot be.
Will
not be.”

“And why is that?” Victoria asked in a voice so cold my blood froze.

“Yes,” I murmured. “Why is that?”

The prince heard me and met my gaze. “Because Xandra lady is a queen. Our goblin queen.”

I was
what
?

I staggered to my feet, the movement sending Victoria’s sword clattering to the carpet. Neither she nor I bothered to look where it landed; we were both watching the prince, but while Queen V looked infuriated, I was stupefied.

I’d been outed.

“Is there anything else I need to know?” I demanded of the prince before turning to my paler-than-death father. I tried to ignore the stupefied crowd. “Anything else that’s been conveniently kept from me? Because I’m pretty topped up on surprises.”

The Queen shot me a narrow glance. “Calm yourself, girl. Prince, whatever do you mean, she is your queen? She is obviously
not
a goblin.”

Now it was about to get interesting. I could deny and earn the
prince’s disapproval, or I could face the truth – put it out there so no one else could be hurt because of it.

Fuck me, but sometimes I hated having even the smallest degree of honour. “Actually, ma’am, I am,” I informed her. My voice carried much more than I’d intended, and the gathered audience seemed to gasp in unison. I grimaced.

Slowly, the Queen turned towards me, blue eyes hard as stone. She might be tiny, but she was one scary bitch. “And just when did you discover this interesting biological fact?”

“Recently.” I cleared my throat to get rid of the squeak in my voice. “I don’t know anything about this queen rubbish, I assure you.”

The prince turned his one eye on me. “Told the pretty she could not be knighted.”

“You didn’t tell me why. I thought you were concerned about my safety.”

He turned back to Her Majesty, lip curling back from his fangs.

“Queen trumps dame.”

Victoria hissed at him.

“I am not your queen,” I insisted. Any minute now I expected the two of them to go for one another’s throats. “I can’t be.”

“For years the plague has waited for one to lead us to rightful place. Xandra lady is the one. The plague has worked with blood queen, but now we have our own.” He knelt before me, head bowed. “The plague serves our lady and no other.”

Oh
Albert’s bloody fangs
. Everyone under the aristocratic blanket – even humans – had a leader who then deferred to Queen V. But the prince had just essentially told our sovereign that she no longer held their allegiance. I did.

“Quite,” Victoria agreed, turning those stony eyes of her on me. I could see that her fangs had come out – tiny and dainty but razor sharp. I entertained the notion of showing her my own. That was
what this was all about, wasn’t it? Dominance. The prince had placed me above him, so now Queen V saw me as a threat. “It seems you are indeed the goblin queen, Lady Alexandra.”

And she was not happy about it.

Historically speaking, the monarchy of England did not like it when things didn’t go their way. They especially didn’t like it when another queen showed up and threatened their Divine Rule. Someone tended to lose a head, such as Lady Jane Grey or Mary, Queen of Scots. But it wouldn’t be me, not today. The goblins had claimed me, and anyone who took a swing at me had better be ready to take on the entire plague.

So this was what power felt like. I didn’t want it, but I was glad of it. I’d been shoved into this position by circumstances I’d never invited, but if being the goblin queen kept me alive …

I turned my head to see Churchill’s reaction, but he wasn’t in his seat. Where the ruddy hell had he gone?

I put my hand on the prince’s shoulder. “Get up. Please. I’m not comfortable with you bowing at my feet.” Then to Victoria, “I didn’t know anything about this.”

“That makes two of us,” she replied tartly. “We are not amused by this debacle.”

“You think I am?” I arched a brow. “Your Majesty, my entire life has been turned upside down.”

“We will discuss this in a more private setting at another time,
Your Majesty
.” Oh, she was very pissed off. Brilliant – because I so wanted another enemy, just to balance things out.

I met Vex’s gaze. He smiled. For a moment I thought I might actually survive this.

“There will be a meeting of the faction heads on Monday,” Queen Victoria imparted. “MacLaughlin, you will attend, as well as the prince and his new queen.”

The prince’s muzzle wrinkled, pulling back from his glistening
teeth. He snarled low in his throat. I shivered at the sound – as did three quarters of our audience.

“Our queen does not take orders from a leech.” Right, gobs thought themselves the superior race. That meant they saw me not only as their queen, but as
the
queen. Furry bastard wasn’t going to keep me alive; he was going to get me fucking killed.

To my astonishment, Victoria swallowed. Resentment glittered in her eyes when she turned to me. “Your Majesty, are you free on Monday to attend a meeting of the faction heads?”

I wondered what she’d do if I said no. “Yes. Monday is fine.”

She smiled coldly – revealing fang. “Excellent.” She turned to leave, effectively dismissing us all.

“Churchill’s caught a traitor!” a voice yelled.

Perfect timing. The outburst took all the attention off me. Maybe I’d get to sneak out without the press jumping on me. The prince had to know a way out; after all, he’d got in somehow.

Wait. A traitor? My stomach sank as my heart began to pound. There were only two traitors I knew of who might risk capture to see me knighted.

Much of the audience surged to their feet, scrambling in the direction of the voice. I forgot Victoria and the prince. I went to Vex. “I need to see who the traitor is.”

He nodded, but asked no questions. “Let’s go, then.”

We pushed our way through the throng. It was much easier than I’d anticipated, since people gave me a wide berth.

A hand came down on my arm. “Alexandra …” It was my father.

I shook off his hold. “Later.” I had no time for him now. There was nothing he could say that would make this better or excuse his part in it.

A shot rang out as we reached the door. I shoved Earl Spencer out of my way. He flew like rag doll straight into the Duke of
Devonshire. I really had to come to terms with this new strength.

Outside the air smelled of humidity, gunpowder and blood. I paused on the steps to search out Churchill, and found him partway down the walk, standing over a body. Flashes went off in a bizarre strobe effect, illuminating the scene with wince-worthy brightness. I caught a glimpse of flat black hair on the ground, and then I saw the traitor’s face.

Oh, fuck. No.
Nononononono
. I hitched up my skirt, and ran. My heart struck hard against my ribs, as though desperate to break free. Camera flashes blinded me as I fell to my knees so hard the impact rattled my bones.

“She’s a traitor,” Churchill said very loudly – so that all the reporters could hear. “She even falsified her own death to ingratiate herself to the insurgent cause.”

Familiar green eyes stared up at me, glassy and pained. “Xandy?”

I gathered her up in my arms, not caring about my dress or anything else. “It’s all right, Dede. You’ll be all right.”

Church had shot her twice with silver bullets filled with tetracycline – both in the chest, very close to her heart. I bit my wrist and offered her the blood, hoping to buy her a little time until we could get her to hospital, but as soon as she drank, she began to cough and gag.

I was a goblin, and my blood was toxic. Fuck. How could I forget that?

“Hold on,” I told her, cradling her against my chest as she spewed fresh blood all over the silk of my gown. I looked up, and saw Ainsley watching in horror. His son – Dede’s son – stood beside him, clinging to Lady Ainsley’s skirts. “Call for an ambulance!” I shouted.

“Ainsley …” Dede whispered. She’d turned her head and was now looking at her child. I watched a slow smile curve her bloody lips. “Beautiful boy.”

Tears streamed down my face as I tried to wipe the blood from hers. “Beautiful just like his mum,” I whispered.

She looked at me, and I could tell she was slipping away. The antibiotics and the silver were killing her. My blood was killing her. Her lips parted. The diamond in her front tooth caught the light and sparkled with pink wetness – blood. That damned stone had started this. If not for that I might have thought she was really dead and I wouldn’t have gone after her. This might never have happened if not for me not being able to leave things alone.

Her fingers closed around mine. “Just wanted to see him. I wanted … to see you get … your dream.”

I swiped at the tears on my cheeks and smeared her blood on my skin. “I’m so sorry, Dede.”

“I’m sorry too,” she whispered. “I …” And then she was gone. Just like that, my baby sister was dead, and I was left holding a shell. For a moment, everything went quiet. I looked up and saw easily a hundred faces staring back at me, all of them still and silent. It didn’t last. A flash went off, followed by another, and then the shouting started up again.

The ambulance came. They took my sister out of my arms. I didn’t try to hold on. She was gone.

Suddenly Vex was there, helping me to my feet. He put his coat over my shoulders, and I shivered at the warmth. I hadn’t realised how cold I was. So cold. Dede’s blood soaked my front, stained my skirt and hands. I turned my head and sawAvery and Val. Avery was sobbing in Emma’s arms, and Val … our poor brother just looked shocked. Of course they were shocked – they’d thought Dede was already dead. Our father looked stunned as well. He was pale and shaken. I didn’t fool myself that it was fatherly love. It was scandal. One daughter a goblin, another a traitor – this would affect him socially for the rest of his days. A mark on the Vardan name.

Good
.

I let Vex lead me away, despite the people calling my name. Scotland Yard was there. They were friends with Val, they’d look after it all.

But where was the bastard who’d shot my sister? I searched the crowd and finally found him, beside his carriage, talking to a couple of Yard constables. He met my gaze, and what I saw in his made something inside me howl with rage.

He looked sad, as though he felt actual remorse for what he had done. As though he hadn’t had any choice but to kill her. He’d done it to keep the truth about her son secret. He had done it to ingratiate himself with Victoria. She’d never believe now that he was behind the attack on her, not when she saw me as her enemy. No doubt he thought this would keep me in line as well, that I’d back down and keep his secrets.

He thought wrong.