The Water Queens (Keeper of the Water) (30 page)

“Hurry! This whole place is crumbling!” yells one of the retreating queens.

She’s being a bit over-dramatic – she doesn’t know what a
real
collapse is like. I hurry along the tunnel but still stay far back enough to avoid detection.

“Maybe he
was
telling the truth,” I hear one of them say. “Because if Sacajawea
was
in there, she’s under tons of dirt now.”

“Unlikely,” Catherine says. “She must be trying to get to the girl from another direction.”

“That
girl
is my daughter and her name is Janey,” John says. “And God help you if you’ve harmed a single hair on her head.”

“Sounds like resistance to me, doesn’t it, ladies?” Catherine growls.

Murmurs of agreement are immediately followed by the dull
thud
of fist against flesh. I’m worried not just about John being hit, but him losing his cool and fighting back, which would be more than enough reason for the queens to use their weapons instead of their fists. A few more thuds echo down the hallway; then, laughter.

“Besides, the little brat will
never
know the name Janey again,” Catherine says.

“You could
never
make her forget who she really is,” John groans.

More laughter.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Catherine says. “Now let’s move it. I’ve already missed enough while waiting for you. Isabella is about to make history for all of
us
.”

Now John laughs. “Trust me, I wouldn’t be so certain Isabella is doing this for anyone but
herself
.”

Another thud of fist against face brings John’s chuckling to an immediate halt.

“You, stay here and guard the tunnel in case Sacajawea somehow makes her way through,” Catherine orders.

“But it’s completely blocked in there,” one of the queens whines. “And then I’ll miss – ”

“I don’t care
what
you miss,” Catherine yells. “And call those foolish men at Alhambra and tell them to keep looking for her. I don’t want anyone to rest until she’s caught or dead.
Nothing
can get in the way of tonight’s coronation, not after we’ve worked so hard to reach this moment. Now come on ladies, let’s get back to our normal posts and ready the contraption that Isabella has planned for…”

Their voices fade as they walk away. I wait several minutes for the noise to reappear – or for the lone remaining queen to enter the tunnel – but I only hear her yelling orders into a walkie-talkie. With my bow raised, I quietly head down the rest of the tunnel until I see the stone wall John busted through. I keep one eye on the hole and another on the ground, careful not to kick any debris that might give away my presence. The queen suddenly walks by but doesn’t even glance into the hole; she’s too busy screaming into the walkie, not possessing a single shred of empathy for the Alhambra guard on the other end, who explains how several of his men are missing or dead.

I take aim at the back of her torso, pulling back an arrow meant to pierce her heart, an easy shot from this close. But something stops me from shooting a fellow Amazon – not that I consider her a
true
Amazon anymore – in the back. Despite my fatigue, I still feel confident in my ability to subdue her in a way that won’t force me to end her –

“I don’t care if you
all
die, find that bitch and kill her!” she screams maniacally. The queen throws the walkie against the wall, smashing it into hundreds of pieces. “All this for a little brat we should’ve killed in the first place?”

She’s talking to herself – obviously annoyed with being assigned such a terrible guard detail – but hearing her speak about Janey makes me realize that now
isn’t
the time to show mercy or compassion to a woman who doesn’t know the meaning of either word. I step through the broken wall, quietly exhale and fire a perfect shot. I’m so close to her – and my shot is so strong – that the arrow cuts right through her. She drops, dead before hitting the floor. She’s face down but I don’t bother to roll her over to see which queen it was.

I hurry through the lower level of Generalife. I’d studied diagrams of the palace’s interior but this section isn’t on any of the blueprints hanging in my recruits’ headquarters. I finally spot a few drops of blood – which must belong to John – and follow them to an old stone staircase. It’s tough for me to balance moving quickly and being careful to avoid detection. It was one thing running into normal guards at Alhambra but it sounds like Generalife is swarming with queens, who won’t be so easy to deal with in my weakened condition. Plus, not all of them will have their backs turned. I’m just glad Cassie hasn’t tried connecting again, though
not
knowing what she’s up to is nearly as worrisome…

It takes me a moment to gain my bearings in the palace but when I do, I’m thrilled to realize I’m closer to Janey’s room than expected. I keep a close watch for any sign of where Catherine has taken John but I’ve lost their trail. Still, I doubt the queens are foolish enough to bring him anywhere near our daughter. I hate heading the opposite way of my husband but I’m sure he’d insist I go after Janey instead of him, exactly what I’d want him to do if our roles were reversed.

I glance down at my watch and feel my insides turn to lead. Despite the few things that
have
gone my way so far, time isn’t one of them; I’m already far behind schedule. That’s no sooner evident than when I reach the upper hallways and approach the area just inside Generalife’s beautiful garden courtyard. I try to stay focused on my surroundings – on looking out for queens or guards or where Janey is being held captive – but I become distracted by what’s going on just outside. I get close enough to a window to see Cassie – who looks absolutely stunning, I hate to admit – accepting the Spanish crown, the fountain of special water glowing beautifully just behind her.

My heart sinks. In the not-so-far-off distance, I hear the crowds outside both palaces going wild; I’m sure their booming cheers can be heard for miles. My brain tells my feet to keep going but I feel glued to the window, watching the nightmarish scene below. I’ve known for days that this was Cassie’s plan but I never expected it to actually happen, never expected evil to actually win. I want nothing more than to fire an arrow through her heart but just the thought of that sends a wave of overwhelming tingling through me.

She approaches a microphone set up in front of a wall of cameras. Even though she’s less than a hundred feet from me, I hear the sound of her voice echoing through the huge speakers set up outside the palaces.

“I humbly accept the crown of your queen in these difficult times. It is a duty I’ve nearly given my life for once and would gladly risk again for the chance of a lifetime to help lead the greatest country in the world,” she begins.
             

The distant crowd roars so loudly that I feel vibrations against the palace’s stone floor. Cassie pauses long enough to soak in the adulation before continuing.

“Spain has a glorious place in the history of the world. When Europe was thrust into the bleakness of the Middle Ages, Spain flourished in the fields of science, math and medicine. And let’s not forget the contributions of my brilliant distant relative, my namesake, Isabella of Castille, who helped unite the country while proving insightful enough to send Christopher Columbus to the New World. Her contributions made Spain the center for the world’s greatest time of exploration.

“With me as your queen, I hope to not only bring stability to the Spanish Royalty, but also return our country to the prominence and wealth and power our people so richly deserve; I will not live in fear of assassins if you will not live in fear of greatness.”

She no sooner finishes this sentence when her final word is drowned out by the sound of even greater applause. The crowd is eating up every word she says. It sickens me to witness Cassie gaining more power, more influence, more love with every passing second. I can’t stand it any longer and continue down the hallway, knowing Janey’s room is just around the corner.

I nearly freeze when I turn the corner and see several guards standing in front of Generalife’s windows. I pull back an arrow but relax when I realize how focused they are on the outside world, just as entranced by Cassie’s words as the rest of the crowd beyond the palace walls. I try to ignore the sound of my enemy’s voice as I proceed down the hallway and approach Mary’s room. I expect her to burst out her door at any moment or run off with Janey squirming in her arms but the door remains closed.

As I get closer to my daughter’s door, I’m shocked when I see a black-clad woman standing in front of the last window at the end of the hall. A lump forms in my throat; I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to notice. But she’s just as distracted by the speech as the guards and with all eyes focused outside, she proves no threat to me; I plan to keep it that way. I fire an arrow into the back of a second enemy, this shot just as deadly but not quite as strong to avoid the arrow bursting out of her chest and crashing into the garden area below.

I catch her body and gently lay her down until she’s slumped against the window; there’s no time to properly hide her so I only hope everyone remains at their posts for a while. My heart beats faster as I pass Mary’s door, though I don’t know whether she’s inside the palace or not. Cassie’s voice still echoes in the distance and I hear every word, regardless of how hard I try to ignore her.

“As I’m sure everyone knows, I’ve recently lost the love of my life, Count Cristiano, who was murdered by those three cowardly women who’ve killed so many Royals –
tried
to kill me – and terrorized our great nation. Cristiano shares this crown with me now and forever.”

The crowd’s cheers aren’t so wild and frenzied but still just as loud. I keep my bow raised as I approach Janey’s door. I hear the distant sound of sad whimpering that I think comes from her room. It’s hard to stop myself from running now that I’m so close but I have no idea who’s in the room with her. It would be foolish of me to rush into danger now that I’ve nearly reached her.
             

“My husband and I fell in love from the moment we met, a forbidden love at first when my royal lineage was unknown,” Cassie continues. “But he stood by me the whole time, loyal, never wavering once even as the former king questioned my family tree. Our love produced something we kept hidden from the world – even once we were married – for fear of being judged. But now that I am queen, it is time to shed light on this secret, which will hopefully strengthen the royal bloodlines.”

It doesn’t surprise me that Cassie has something
else
up her sleeve but at this point, I don’t care what it is. I stand in front of Janey’s door, where the distant whimpering has turned into the same loud wailing I heard during my visions of Cassie. I burst into the room, ready to rescue my little girl from whatever torture she’s suffering…

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

My pounding heartbeat suddenly stops and a wave of sickness crashes over me. From the moment I first heard Janey’s cries, my worried mind conjured all types of horrific devices being used on her. But nothing could be further from the truth. The loud crying still echoes in the large, empty room. At first I wonder if the noise is in my mind, that maybe I’ve somehow connected with Cassie and am hearing what she does. Only three things are in the room; a crib and rocking chair in the corner are empty. But a television is turned on and the loud crying comes from a combination of the TV speakers as well as the distant echo emanating from the massive speakers outside Generalife.             

I stare at the TV, where Cassie looks regal wearing her crown, the fountain water behind her suddenly pulsing even brighter blue.
             

“Cristiano and I had a child together out of wedlock,” she tells the world. The loud gasp that follows is audible through the TV and the open doorway behind me. “A little girl that we hid from the world, just as
I
was once hidden. We thought it especially appropriate to keep her existence a secret once the assassinations began. But given the current circumstances and the brutal slaying of my dear husband…” The feigned sadness in her voice is disgusting, though the part that makes me angriest is how damn convincing she sounds. “…our daughter is even more of a blessing now, a part of Cristiano that will live on. And I’d like to introduce her to all of you right now.”

The cheering grows raucous again, so booming that the small TV actually vibrates forward on its stand. The applause somehow becomes even louder when another person steps in front of the camera, though I doubt that excitement is for Mary Bowser. It’s good to know she’s not in the next room over, ready to attack me from behind, but I’m much more concerned with the tiny bundle she carries. I shake my head slowly, barely able to take a deep breath. My mind feels like it’s spinning, stuck in quicksand, the inevitability of doom quickly approaching without any way of stopping it. In an instant, I know that Cassie has not only taken what’s most important to me, but she’s essentially wiped out the last five years of my existence.

Mary hands over the infant, who wails even louder once in Cassie’s arms.

“Apparently she’s a bit camera shy,” Cassie says, drawing laughter from the crowd. She tries to bounce the baby – tries to appear maternal – but I can tell how uncomfortable she feels, how angry she becomes when the baby cries louder. The baby squirms in her arms as Cassie finally turns her around to face the camera.

“It’s with great pleasure that I introduce to you the
Princess
of Spain, my daughter, Cassie,” she says.

The dam behind my eyes suddenly crumbles. Through a deluge of tears, I watch the camera zoom in for a close-up of Princess Cassie. Big cheeks, wide brown eyes (which actually appear angry as much as sad or frightened) and a head full of dark hair, a single curly lock dangling in front of her face. I can’t believe I’m staring into the face of Janey, into the face of my
baby
. Despite the enormity of the situation, I can’t help but smile, especially when I think about how Janey used to cry like that when her father held her. She’d only stop when in my arms.

I long to hold her again, to calm her down again, to lay her head against my chest so she can hear the beating of my heart; I’m not sure that now is the greatest time for sentimentality but I can’t help it. I’m sure every mother reaches a time in her child’s life – whether that child be five years old or fifty – when she wishes to hold him or her as a baby for one last moment. Whether it ends up killing me or not, I
will
hold my baby again.

As if there’s any question whether or not this is my Janey – not that I have
any
doubt about it – Cassie (the
queen, not
the baby princess) or Mary must’ve decided to rub salt in my wounds by keeping the beaded necklace around her neck. I can’t believe they’d be careless enough to leave the choking hazard on her, especially as my baby’s flailing arms and hands try to grasp at anything. I look for the one clear bead with the drop of bright blue water inside but the queens must’ve drained it before putting the necklace back on her.

Once the shock of seeing Janey as a baby again wears off, it dawns on me why
Isabella
and Catherine the Great had both been so confident – almost cocky – about their ability to brainwash my daughter. The irony isn’t lost on me either; the same punishment I once doled out to Cassie is exactly what she’s done to Janey. For that matter, I can’t say for sure
who
forced Janey to drink so much special water that she became a baby again. Mary obviously brought my daughter here and while the Greek fisherman hadn’t spotted a young girl with her, it would be a lot easier to hide a small baby.

A
wailing
baby.

My tears come to an abrupt halt; I can’t believe I’ve allowed myself to become so weak. If I fail to get back Janey, she’ll have no chance to ever remember the last six years of her life, or who her real parents are. Every little girl dreams of a life as a princess but being the daughter of Queen Isabella could only lead to a lifetime of nightmares. As if to confirm that, Janey wails so severely that her entire face turns beet red; I hate seeing her upset like this but at the same time I’m proud that the infant version of my daughter is doing all she can to protest being held by Isabella.

“I suppose it
is
passed her bedtime,” she says to more laughter.

Cassie waves over Mary. But before she hands the baby over, Cassie makes a grandiose show of hugging and kissing her ‘daughter.’ My little girl being that close to pure evil enrages me; the only thing stopping me from rushing out of the room and crashing through a window into the courtyard is knowing how quickly the surrounding queens would cut me down. As Cassie hands my Janey back to Mary, the traitor leans in and whispers something in her ear. A smile crosses Cassie’s lips, a grin I know to be the essence of evil. Cassie glances behind her – out of the camera’s view; like everyone else, I can’t see what she’s looking at but I know it’s going to be bad.

When she turns back to the camera, her gaze turns steely and serious. I’m not sure if I’d rather see her like this or pretending to be caring.

“The attempt on my life occurred here during a press conference Cristiano and I called to tell the world that we refused to live in fear. Therefore, that horrific scene was witnessed by all and I’ve heard that many of you are still worried after seeing me shot,” she says. “But on this day when you have made me your queen, I am relieved to inform you that there is no longer cause for concern. While the three women killers are still at large – and still considered armed and dangerous – I’ve just been informed that the person responsible for organizing the killings – the mastermind – has been caught and is in our custody. This man has confessed to his crimes and has claimed that he committed them in an attempt to bring about the downfall of Spain. Tonight, we show this man – and the rest of the world – that we are still as strong as when Isabella of Castille was queen.”

The crowd cheers but the sinking feeling of dread tears at my insides. For all I know, Mary is on her way back here right now; there are no windows in this room to see what’s happening in the courtyard with my own two eyes. A tiny voice in the back of my mind tells me to get going but I can’t stop from watching the TV to see what Cassie is going to do next.

For the first time since I started watching, the camera pans away from Cassie, turning toward the back of the beautiful courtyard. A bright spotlight suddenly
clicks
on and illuminates the top of a large contraption where there had once been only shadows. It takes a moment for my brain to realize what the sharp blade is attached to; I hear the distant gasp from the crowd, which recognizes the guillotine a moment before I do.

“I know some might consider the guillotine a barbaric tool; the international community might scorn a live execution. But as far as I’m concerned, no action is too drastic to punish the man responsible for so much pain and heartache for our country. We must do whatever necessary to detract those who would do harm to our Royalty or to
anyone
else in Spain,” she says.

Applause from the crowd isn’t as loud as before, but there’s still enough to make me realize Cassie isn’t going to stop this. As the camera pulls back to show the entire guillotine – including the bottom – I see that something attached to it is moving, squirming. My breath catches in my throat as I realize a person’s head has already been secured inside the wooden blocks at the bottom. That person’s face is aimed down and the camera doesn’t zoom in very tight but it’s not hard for me to recognize John.

I bolt from the room, panic and urgency finally making me stronger though I have no idea how to stop my husband being beheaded. I no longer have the benefit of moving slowly or quietly and several distracted guards in this hallway finally turn away from their windows. I don’t think twice about putting arrows through all of them in the matter of seconds. The supply in my quiver is quickly running low; I’ve already had to use so many arrows that I must pull some out from the dead guards before continuing.

I stand by one of the windows and punch a hole in the glass, out of which I take aim for Cassie in the courtyard below. She slowly walks back toward John, who squirms to try to free himself. He tries to punch and pull at the wooden block securing his neck but it doesn’t budge. I load my bow and pull back the string, taking sight for Cassie’s black heart, an easy shot since she moves so slowly and has no idea I’m aiming for her. Instinctively my breathing slows, ready to take the shot that could finally end my worst enemy; I even ignore the inevitable tingling that warns me of impending danger to the Keeper.

But I can’t do it; I have too many unanswered questions. I don’t know if killing Cassie will save John; I don’t know if killing her will destroy the role of Keeper and the water of life; I don’t know if killing Cassie will somehow harm Janey since the two of them obviously share some sort of link with the water. For that matter, I don’t even know where my daughter was taken.

Cassie stops near the guillotine and kneels just inches in front of John’s head. She begins to whisper to him but I obviously can’t hear what’s being said. Though now’s the time for action, I
need
to know what she’s saying. Without thinking of the consequences, I close my eyes and reach out to her mind, connecting with her within seconds. I sense that Cassie feels my presence but she does nothing to fight me; it’s not exactly surprising that she wants me to hear this.

“I never wanted to hurt you,
mi amor
,” she whispers seductively. “The two of us came a long way together; I was devastated when I thought that alligator killed you.”

“So
this
is how it ends for us then?” he says, choking the words out since his head is in the blocks so tightly. “With
me
taking the fall for all the murders that
you
set up?”

“Technically, you were nearly to blame for the most important killing of them all: mine,” she says. “You sired the birth of that little girl, whose existence nearly ended my life.”

“You’re blaming Janey for
your
failed plans?” he asks. “I swear to God, if you do anything to hurt her…”

“You’ll do what?” Cassie chuckles, softly enough so the cameras won’t hear. “I don’t think you’re in much position to make threats.”

“What you’re doing isn’t right, Isabella. This was never part of our plans,” John pleads.

“A lot of things aren’t part of our plans but
you’re
the one to blame for those plans being changed,” Cassie says with more than just a hint of jealousy. “
You
forced me to take more drastic action.”

“Please, if you ever felt
anything
for me, you’ll let me and my family go. Janey has done nothing to you;
none
of us has done anything to get in the way of your plans. We will leave you alone, that I can swear to you,” John says.

I feel Cassie’s anger before she snaps.

“I don’t
want
to let you go; I’ve
never
wanted to let you go,” she seethes between clenched teeth. “I never gave up on our love, even during the years I pretended to care about being part of the Amazons. And how do you repay my loyalty, for the years of putting my neck on the line to sneak water to you? By choosing to be with that peasant whore, by
procreating
with her. That woman has already taken too much from me. I will never be as powerful as we planned if she’s allowed to live. But maybe… maybe you don’t have to suffer the same fate as her.”

“How do you mean?” he wonders.

“Princess Cassie doesn’t have to grow up without a father, without
her
father,” she says. “I
might
be able to forgive your epic betrayal of a few years and focus on the love we shared for centuries. You
were
, after all, trying to find me when Nia stuck her nose into our business. And now that I’m newly single again, there might be a place for you to rule the world beside me, just as we always planned.”