Almost Lovers (9 page)

"Shall I finish my mission, my Queen?" asked
Lydia as she stood tall, ready to please.

"No," said the Queen, "You played your part,
Lydia. And for that you will have what you were promised. You are
no longer banished. You will be given a title and you will be
reinstated as a functioning part of the Royal Court."

"Thank you, my Queen," said Lydia, bowing
her head in gratitude, "You are kind and merciful,"

"You will stay away from Prussia," said the
Queen.

"My Queen?" said Lydia.

"You will not harm Prussia or make any
attempts on her life. She is off limits. To disobey my order will
not be banishment this time," said the Queen, "It will be eternal
death,"

Lydia was quiet. I could hear the slow
opening and closing of her mouth. She wanted to say something but
remained silent.

"Sebastian, rise," said the Queen.

I stood up, not pleased at all with what had
happened.

"Your orders still stand," said the Queen,
"Should Lydia attack Prussia or attempt to harm her you will give
her the eternal death. That is my order as Queen,"

I bowed my head, looking sideways at Lydia
so that she could see that I intended to take my orders as
seriously as she had hers. Lydia closed her mouth and looked like
she might cry.

"My Queen, she is human," said Lydia, "Our
laws-"

"My laws," said the Queen, "They are my
laws, Lydia, and if you remember that you might live at least as
long as the one that created you,"

The Queen's words hung heavily in the room.
Lydia looked as if someone had just sucked all the oxygen out of
her lungs.

"You have no right-" Lydia began, her anger
rumbling at the insult. Her creator had died to pay for Lydia's
sins in the Royal Court to lessen Lydia’s punishment to
banishment.

"Lydia, shut up," I growled at her.

For once she listened but I could see her
lip quiver and shake. She bit it several times, tears threatening
to spill. I could see her jaw set, she had found her anger. It’s
how Lydia stayed strong – she stayed mad. She barely held it
together. And I think she only managed because her self
preservation told her she might not walk out of this room if she
didn't bite her tongue.

The Queen looked at me for a long moment. I
wanted to reach out to Lydia, hold her hand, comfort her, but the
Queen stood and kept us bound by duty and formality. We were not
given leave to move, simply to stand stiff, tall and silent. The
Queen waved her hand. Lydia turned and left as fast as she could
without running, her emotions threatening to give away her weakness
her deceased creator.

I went to follow but the Queen's hand went
up and I stopped. She wasn't done with me. I went back to my
straight and tall stance, waiting to see what she wanted. What else
had I done wrong? What other games did she want to play with
me?

Once the door to her chamber closed again
and we were alone she motioned her hand toward a chair. This wasn’t
something she had offered me in years, not since before Lydia was
banished. I had had to suffer the same formalities and rituals as
all other court members due to my involvement with Lydia. I took a
seat and tried not to look too relaxed. It had been a long night, a
trying morning, and a terrible afternoon so far.

She didn't say anything. The Queen poured a
drink and came to sit in the adjacent chair. She swirled the amber
colored liquid around, more than likely whiskey, in the tumbler. No
ice, neat.

"You had the Royal Guard standing by outside
of Prussia's building?" I asked.

"Absolutely," said the Queen, "I told them
to kill Lydia first if she got anywhere near Prussia,"

"First?" I asked.

"Yes, First." said the Queen, swirling the
liquid around in her glass and then taking a sip, "I can't have
someone I don't trust on the Royal Guard, Prince or not,"

I could believe that the Queen had ordered
it. I couldn't believe I hadn't suspected. If I didn't love Lydia I
would have killed her. I wouldn't have thought twice, I would have
simply followed orders.

"What if she had killed me?" I asked.

"I can't have anyone weak on the Royal
Guard, either," said the Queen.

I had underestimated Victoria. She had
always been cold and calculating. All of this business with
Prussia, all the rumors about the Queen losing her mind, it was all
a pretense, a facade. The Queen had a plan and whatever it was she
had the whole Royal Court fooled.

"Did I pass your test?" I asked.

The Queen set her glass down on her desk and
dipped a finger in her drink as if the conversation bored her.

"I would have preferred if you had killed
her, but..." she dragged her finger around the rim of her glass,
"given your history with Lydia I am pleased that you did the next
best thing, all things considered,"

"Not with flying colors," I said.

"No," said the Queen.

She stopped dragging her finger around the
rim of her glass and looked at me then. It was a serious gaze, a
gaze full of thought and contemplation. Of what was the real
question?

"Sebastian, the Royal Court is in danger,"
said the Queen. She finished the liquid in the glass and set the
glass down, "There are forces at work. I don't know who but I have
my suspicions."

"You think it's Lydia?" I asked.

Lydia hadn't been a key player in the Royal
Court in years, exiled even from conversing with the family for
fear of death upon members of the court. She was outcast the moment
the Queen handed out her sentence, a sentence that should have been
mine also.

The Queen waved a hand at me dismissively,
"Of course not," said the Queen, "As much as I hate the little
opportunist, she's not smart enough to assassinate a human let
alone a Royal family member. Murder, yes, but not assassination.
No. But I suspect it is someone in the court. It's someone that
knows us well,"

The silence hung in the air. Victoria's eyes
glazed and I thought I saw her eyes mist for a moment. She turned
away from me. I couldn’t see her face. She looked out the draped
window.

"Then who?" I asked.

"That's what we need to find out," said the
Queen, "I need your support here Sebastian. If the court is
taken..."

She didn't have to say it. It was laid out
in her own history. It was exactly how she had acquired the throne
thousands of years ago.

"The Queen falls, we all fall," I
murmured.

"Yes," she said, still looking out the
window into the garden beyond, "And what a fall it would be. Not
just for us but for the species,"

And just like that, the sentimental and
unstable Queen surfaced. Victoria had been one of the first
vampires on earth. She had seen it all, lived to see more than most
of us could ever imagine. And no one knew for sure if it was
possible for a vampire to become senile. Yet.

That was the rumor from those concerned
about the future of the Royal court. Not only would it mean being
ruled by someone unfit but it meant we were not as immortal as we
thought. It meant we lived with an illusion of escaping death, not
actually succeeding for long.

The longer you live, the more you want to
cling to life. Even if it is a life spent in the shadows.

I could feel the heat on my cheeks. My tears
disappeared before they made it to my chin, held high. I stormed
out of that castle and made a beeline for Sebastian's car. Sports
cars have tiny trunks. He could have put me in the back seat and at
least given me the chance to tear out his throat and escape. But
no, I ended up with a Prince that actually had half a brain.

The doorman Charles or something didn't let
me slam the front door but I'll damn well slam the door to that
pretty little sports car. And slam it I did.

I shifted the luxury car into gear and spun
rocks out from under the tires as I left. Pebbles bounced off the
door of the castle. I wasn't a Princess but I should have been. And
Sebastian wasn't making a move to stand up to his manipulative and
crazy grandmother.

I blasted the stereo. I had somewhere to be
but if the Prince wanted to play then I could teach him how the
game was played. He loved this car more than anything. If he didn't
love me enough to disobey the Queen by now then he was useless to
me and I would destroy what he loved most.

I drove the rubber off the tires as I sped
towards my rendezvous destination. I was late. And it wouldn't be
appreciated though it could at least be explained. I was back in
the Royal Court. I was
Lady
Lydia again and this time I
would finish what I had started. This time I would be the one
handing out the threats.

I arrived to the meeting point by early
evening. There was one other car there and the cemetery looked
deserted as it should have. Why the Master would want to meet in
such a depressing and obvious place was beyond me. But I followed
orders. So long as it suited me.

"You're late," she said, a cloak wrapped
around her.

"I'm sorry I'm late playing cloak and
dagger," I said, adrenaline still running through me, "I was stuck
in a trunk most of the day while the Prince chatted up some human
girl,"

"A trunk?" she asked, she pulled her hood
down and I could see her features more plainly.

I had called her master for years. It hadn't
always been easy or worked out but she had yet to stab me in the
back and that's where I tried to place my allegiances. The Queen
didn't favor me and never would. I had no illusions about that.

"Long story," I said, "The short of it is
that I'm back in the Royal Court,"

"Very good," she said, "Your timing is
impeccable. It's not like you to show initiative. What made you
move up your time line?"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I said,
annoyed, "I didn't move it up, actually. Victoria offered me a deal
and I took it. It was out of the blue,"

I recounted the night's events and the
Master listened intently. She pursed her lips and ‘mmhmmed’ me as I
recounted parts.

"What's with the sudden fascination with the
human?" asked the Master.

"No clue, but her order for me to leave her
alone still stands," I said, "And I live down the hall from the
girl,"

The Master started laughing.

"That's like telling a dog not to lick
itself," the Master continued to laugh.

I didn't find the comparison funny.

"Thanks for that," I said.

"I don't mean it as an insult but you are a
creature of habit and… untamed emotions," said the Master, "It's
one of the things I value in you. You’re predictably
unpredictable,"

I leaned against a headstone and scratched
at the stone, sharpening my finger nail.

"Still don't appreciate the comparison," I
said.

"Well, appreciate this," the Master said,
patience lost in her voice causing me to straighten up and listen,
"Victoria may not have any interest in this human whatsoever
outside of using her to get to you,"

"To get to me?" I asked, "That makes no
sense. She's getting ready to lift my banishment,"

The Master nodded her head, smiling.

"Simple mind," said the Master, "Can you
fuck up if you're living in the shadows outside of the court?"

I could see the events stitching together
now. The Queen had already used Prussia to drive a wedge between me
and Sebastian once. It was clear once the Master pointed it
out.

"No," I said, "and I wouldn't voluntarily
come out of hiding in the event that Victoria decided she wanted me
dead one night,"

The Master nodded her head, two steps ahead
as usual.

"I suggest you play nice with this human.
She sounds like bait," said the Master, "And while Victoria is not
legally able to kill you over a human, she would probably ask
forgiveness not permission from the court. Tread carefully,"

"Damn," I said, "I wanted to have some fun
with her,"

"You need to look into more indirect ways of
getting to her so that Victoria doesn't have any way to pin it back
on you," said the Master, "Now that you're finally back in the
court, we don't want to take two steps back. We need to move
forward as quick as possible,"

"I don't think Sebastian is an asset
anymore," I said, "I tried to get him to disobey Victoria's
order…my hold isn't as strong as I had thought,"

"There still might be something there, keep
working on him," said the Master, "Remember, we need you on the
inside generating rumors and breeding discontent. We need to break
down the loyalty to the Queen. At this point it just needs a little
bit of a push and we'll be primed for the new power to take
over,"

"I understand," I said, "It's not going to
be easy, even in the middle of a court full of skeptics. We’re
talking treason here,"