The Queen Is Dead (The Immortal Empire) (39 page)

Fang me, but she’d just offered me her son–the future King of England, if his mother ever had the good grace to die. That would keep me close, wouldn’t it? And what better place for one’s enemies?

“You flatter me, ma’am.” Oh, I sounded almost sincere. “But when I marry it will not be for political reasons. I should like to have a partner as you had.”as e="- That was probably laying it on a bit thick, and I felt as though I were a heroine in a Jane
Austen novel, but it was better than the “fuck no!” that had been my initial reaction.

A faint smile actually curved her lips. “I do not wish to like you, Lady Alexandra.” I didn’t miss that she’d said “I” instead of the royal “we”. “I do not wish to think favourably of you at all, but I find I must trust that you wish to avoid conflict with the humans as much as I do.”

I nodded. “I do. For what it’s worth, I’m not ready to trust you either.”

“No. However, I suspect it’s in both our interests to forge a kind of truce–at least where the humans are concerned. I believe we are headed for a war. You will need to decide which side you are on.”

“Are you insinuating that I’m a traitor?” Because I’d job her right between the eyes, sovereign or not.

“I’m saying that you have connections to every faction involved in this conflict, and that those connections might cloud your judgement.”

“I judge just fine, thank you.”

Her smile faded. “Be flippant if you must, but have a care, young queenling. You are not the first to be offered the goblin crown. I do not suspect you will be the last. Your Prince William is the not the amiable old hound you believe him to be.”

“You don’t have any clue what I believe.” And if she thought I was going to start distrusting the prince, who had never done anything but help me, on her word alone… well, then she had an incredibly infla
ted sense of self.

“You are right, of course. Forgive me.” She rose to her feet. “Good evening, Your Majesty. I will see you at the press conference. I trust you can find your own way out?”

She glided from the room, leaving me standing there alone like the last kid on the playground to be picked for sport.

I did find my own way out–stomping and silently swearing the entire way. Vex was waiting in the motor carriage. One of the footmen opened my door for me. I tossed myself inside with such force, the Panther rocked.

“She still alive?” Vex asked with a smile.

“Yes.” More’s the pity.

“You okay?” The smile was gone, replaced with genuine concern. God, he was fabulous.

“I’m fine. I just want to go home, eat and lie in front of the box for a few hours. Want to join me?”

“Sounds perfect.”

As he manoeuvred the motor carriage out of the palace compound, I leaned back against the seat and stared out of the window at the world I’d grown up in and thought I knew so well–but really didn’t know at all.

And I wondered what Victoria had meant when she’d said that I wasn’t the first to be offered the goblin crown.

I officially became the goblin queen three nights later. The press conference was scheduled for the next evening, but I tried not to think about what I might be asked in front of the entire VBC viewing network. I was nervous enough about as e=onferenthe coronation without thinking of being on camera–and not crushing it to bits.

The ceremony took place in the den, deep below what was now my new home. The place looked amazing–two floors, spacious and clean. All my furniture was arranged–I used some that had belonged to Dede as well, which made it feel even more homely. I was almost right up against the great wall that separated Mayfair from the rest of the city, so I got a little street noise, but it wasn’t too bad. Plus, this area of the street, known as Gob Lane, was extremely quiet. I was pretty much the only person living there–above street level, that was.

I dressed up for the occasion, in a gorgeous tea-coloured gown I’d bought just for the evening. William had informed me that as queen, I could access the goblin treasury, which contained a ridiculous amount of money. I still had funds from the sum my father had settled upon me when I turned eighteen, but it was nice to know I didn’t have to worry about it in the future.

Vex wore his kilt, and Avery and Val dressed up too. William came wearing a once fine but now somewhat shabby and ragged frock coat of rich wine colour, with gleaming armour that looked Roman underneath and at the shoulders. Even Ophelia was there. My mother wasn’t, but then I didn’t invite her. I didn’t want her in the den, not when she wanted to use me and my goblins for political pull. Her presence would be disrespectful to William and the entire plague.

Rye wasn’t there either. He still didn’t know about me, and I had no idea when or even if I was going to tell him.

“He’s doing well,” Ophelia told me before the ceremony began. “Last night he only woke up screaming once.”

My chest squeezed. Poor Rye. “Can I visit him?”

“I don’t see why not. Just make sure I’m around first. The staff are protective of him, and you’re not exactly known as Miss Congeniality at Bedlam.”

I rolled my eyes. “Go for a girl’s throat once and they never let you live it down.”

She laughed, which was a relief. I hadn’t meant to attack her that day–I just lost all control. William told me I needed more blood or meat in order to keep myself in check. The idea of eating raw meat both disgusted and intrigued me. I knew I’d like it, but when I thought about the whole process, I couldn’t bring myself to do it just yet. So I drank instead. Thank God
for blood bags. And not just blood bags, but blood that was delivered right to my door.

I had good reason for not venturing too far out of Mayfair, not on my own. The day after the meeting at the palace, my former abode in Leicester Square was torched–the inside of it gutted. They’d burned it during the day on the wrong assumption that I was a typical goblin. If I were, and had continued to stay there, I’d have been charred right now. But luck had been on my side and I finally got to be the one who was one step ahead.

The goblins were still working on sorting out all the information from the Tower logic engines. Hopefully we’d soon have some useful information. Meanwhile, we continued to pretend that the duchess’s death was a suicide, because the truth would make the human situation all the worse and probably paint big targets on the rest of the family–not that we weren’t already marked. My desire for the truth, however, came second to my desire to live a little while longer. Not the most heroic of goals, but that was the reality of it. I’d lost a lot of that bravado I’d gained with being a goblin. Mortality was a bitch.

My family stood at the front of thee flood crowd in the great hall. Avery looked a little nervous with so many goblins around, but she tried to hide it. Beside her stood Elsbeth, and then the mother with the new pup–baby Alexandra, who was already growing like mad. Even the gobs who were assigned to the monitors for the night were allowed to take a break for the ceremony.

There were a few goblins, I was told, who refused to come. They were the ones who didn’t believe I should be queen, or didn’t approve of me in general. That was fine. I was just glad
there weren’t more of them. As it was, it was only three or four. I might be able to win them over eventually. Or not.

Just before we were due to start, William brought another goblin to me–it was the old female from the Tower. She took both of my hands–her own were more like paws–and squeezed them gently, smiling up at me with glossy amber eyes. She was missing a few teeth and her skin had lost some elasticity, but she appeared to have a good few years left in her.

She spoke to me in a language I didn’t recognise. I looked at the prince.

“Gaelic and old German,” he explained. “It is the language of the plague. Says she thanks you for saving her. Prayed she did for the day our lady would come to save the plague. Fifty and two hundred years she has waited.”

“Two hundred and fifty?” I stopped. I could feel my heart beating in my ears. “She’s more than two centuries old?”

William nodded. “Three is closer.”

“But… but that pre-dates even George the Third.” The Mad King was said to have been amongst the first aristos to exhibit any signs of the plague mutation.

The prince smiled. “Yes. We were first here, lady. Before vampire, before wolf, there was goblin.”

Fang me. Slowly, I sank on to the throne that was to be mine. This changed everything, didn’t it? Or did it? My brain couldn’t make the jump, though I was certain there was one.

“For you she has a gift,” William went on, seemingly oblivious to my shock.

The old girl was still smiling as she took something from the prince and offered it to me. It was a small black box. I opened it. Inside was a beautiful pair of ruby earrings that glittered in the torchlight.

“Oh,” I said, proud of being able to summon even that much articulation. “They’re beautiful. I couldn’t possibly…”

William stopped me when the old female spoke. “You must, she says. They belonged to our first.”

“First what?” The hair on the back of my neck tingled.

“Our first lady.”

“There really was a queen before me?” I had come to the conclusion that Victoria had only said that to make sport of me.

He nodded. “In her day, yes. Many years ago there was one.”

“What happened to her?”

Sorrow clouded his good eye. “She was ended by the leech queen.”

“Victoria?”

“Aye. Took her head. But we took it back. It is now yours.”

It took a second for his words to sink in, but by then he had taken up the crown and placed it on my head. So much for pomp and circumstance.

Had he really just said that I was wearing the first queen’s head? Was that a fanged skull set in the bloody th th aning?

“Our lady!” he cried, and a chorus of bark-like yelps filled the cavern. Baby Alexandra howled in response. Vex and Ophelia both joined in with howls of their own, starting the goblins up again until my head vibrated with the animalistic sounds.

Vex came over and crouched beside my throne as the goblins began to celebrate. There was music and food. I saw Ophelia waltzing with George. It was just surreal enough to make me doubt my sanity.

“Did you know anything about this other queen?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of, but I do remember hearing something about Victoria executing some would-be usurpers way back when.”

Had this other queen tried to take the throne? Was that why Victoria had killed her? Was that why she felt so threatened by me? And how had she managed to not only kill this queen, but take her head without the prince ripping out her spleen?

“Hey.” Vex nudged me. “You okay, sweetheart?”

I nodded. “I’m fine.” I pushed all thoughts of anything but this moment out of my head. That someone had come before me didn’t matter, nor did her death have any effect on me taking the crown. I was not going to let anything ruin this occasion. I deserved a fun night that was all about me. Not that every night wasn’t all about me, but this time everyone else felt the same way. I could ask William about this former queen tomorrow.

Val pressed a glass of champagne into my hand and offered one to Vex as well. Then he took one for himself from the small table set with glasses and several
chilled bottles.

“A toast,” he said, raising his glass. “To Xandra–queen of the goblins. Long may she reign.”

Vex raised his glass as well. “The queen is dead. Long live the queen.”

Our little circle drank to that, and I tried to pay attention as they congratulated me and studied my macabre crown–all bone and gleaming metal.

The queen was dead.
Slain by a jealous Victoria. Was it a threat when she told me I wasn’t the first? If so, it was a pretty cheeky one. And I’d thought she truly wanted to be allies, united against a human uprising. I had no doubt that if the humans attacked tomorrow, she’d toss me to them like a bone to a pack of ravenous dogs.

I smiled as my brother and sisters hugged me. Laughed as I wrapped an arm around Vex’s waist and snuggled against his side. I was not about to be intimidated by a woman who barely
stood above my shoulder, who wasn’t even aware of everything go
ing on underneath her slightly hooked nose.

Yes, the former queen of the goblins was long gone, but I had the crown now and I intended to keep both it and my head. This queen had no intention of dying, and certainly no intention of going quietly. Whether it was humans who came for me or aristos, I would be ready. I was not going down without a fight.

Long live the queen
.

God Save the Queen

The Queen Is Dead

Long Live the Queen

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