To Catch a Queen (18 page)

She stopped just in front of the throne and stared at it for a long while, her hands on her hips like she was challenging or scolding it. Finally, with a deep sigh, she made a gesture that removed the shimmering dome that covered the crown. She picked up the crown and held it for a moment.

“Are you sure about this?” Michael asked softly.

She turned to look at him as though she’d forgotten he was there. “No,” she admitted. “Do you have any better ideas?” She sank onto the throne the way she might collapse on the sofa at the end of a long day, almost as if she was unaware of what it was.

Even if she didn’t realize it, the throne seemed to. The changes were subtle—the silver shone brighter, the light in the room was stronger, and Sophie herself had a radiance about her. If he looked at her out of the corner of his eye, she appeared to be wearing royal robes, and she had the image of a crown resting on her head although she held the actual crown on her lap.

She must not have noticed these changes or his reaction to them, for she just kept talking, apparently thinking aloud. “It’s got to be a trap. They need the real crown for credibility, but they can’t get their hands on it while it’s still here.”

“Would anyone else be able to wear it, even if you brought it there?”

With a wicked grin, she asked, “Care to find out?” Then she shook her head. “I don’t think so. The throne literally ejected Maeve when she tried to take it. I wouldn’t want to be the impostor who dared to put on this crown. It might even be fatal.”

Figuring that if she was going to rest, so could he, Michael sat on the top step of the dais, at her feet, and turned to look up at her. “Then what’s the point of bringing a crown there that would only point out the fraud in an extremely unpleasant way?”

She lifted the crown, holding it against the light, and stared at it for a while. “I think they might want to win it from me—like if they take it from me in some kind of challenge or battle, it becomes theirs.”

“No figuring out and following an impossible riddle and then using your own blood to prove your worth?”

“That was to pick up an unclaimed crown. I don’t know if rightful inheritance comes into play after that.”

“If she had to constantly be on guard against others trying to challenge her, no wonder your ancestor retired to marry an enchanter and become mortal.”

“No kidding. And if it’s going to be like that for me, I’d as soon retire, myself. But I could never leave the Realm in the hands of whoever these people are, or anyone like them. That wouldn’t be any good for anybody. But I wonder if this kind of thing was all that common.”

“Couldn’t the crown tell you that? It wasn’t in that download you got?”

She shook her head. “I don’t recall anything about fighting to keep the throne. Things seem to have been pretty stable.” Wincing, she raised the crown and placed it on her head. If things changed when she sat on the throne, they were even more different when she wore the crown while on the throne. There seemed to be life in the vast, empty room, even though only the two of them were present, and Sophie radiated sheer power. This was what he’d imagined of her from the way Emily used to describe her formidable older sister. He felt like he should be kneeling before her, even as she lounged casually in the silver chair.

“No, this situation seems entirely unprecedented,” she said after a while. “Which makes me think that either
I’m
missing something big or
they’re
missing something big.”

“Wasn’t it that fairy who got you into this who insisted you get the crown?” He barely stopped himself from adding “your majesty” to the question, she was that regal.

She leaned forward, resting her elbow on her knee and her chin on her fist. “Yeah. That’s what has me confused, and it’s the only reason I went along with this plan that I’m still certain is a trap—for someone, at least. If she practically forced me to take the throne, surely she wouldn’t demand that I do something that could risk losing it.”

“Maybe she’s right. You can’t hold a throne by hiding out. The final step to really winning it is defending it.”

Looking down at him with eyes that were bright with unshed tears, she said, “That’s what I’m afraid of. And the irony is, I don’t even
want
this throne.” One tear slipped from her eye to trickle down her cheek. “What if I have to stay here to hold the throne, if it’s the power vacuum from me being an absentee ruler that allows things like this to happen?”

He didn’t have a reassuring answer to that. “What would you do if that’s the case?”

She sat up straight, looking more regal than ever. “My duty, I suppose.” With a bitter laugh, she added, “It’s not like I have much of a life to give up—no husband or kids, no real career. Not even that many true friends I’d miss who’d miss me.”

He remembered what Mrs. Smith had said about those who didn’t have anyone in the outside world who loved them enough to be able to rescue them and wondered if it applied to a fairy queen, as well. The last one had been saved from her throne by love. Could someone save Sophie? Almost without thinking, he asked, “Wouldn’t your grandmother be next in line for the throne?” It was a second or two later before the thought really clarified. “I know she probably wouldn’t be fit for the crown, but if you’re going to get technical, you’d be her heir, wouldn’t you?”

Sophie’s eyes went really wide. “Ohhhhh,” she said, drawing the sound out. “I suppose so.” Then she shook her head. “But she’s old and ill.”

“Isn’t this place some kind of fountain of youth?”

“You don’t age while you’re here. I don’t know if it reverses aging.”

“Even if you have fairy blood?”

“I have no idea. But it’s rather beside the point right now. It doesn’t matter which one of us is the true heir to the throne if we can’t hold on to it.”

“If you give the impostor a real public trouncing in front of the entire Realm, that should solidify your power, I’d think,” he suggested. “It’s entirely possible that the reason no one has taken the crown in a challenge is that the crown gives you enough power to prevail over anyone.”

She smiled, and the entire throne room grew even brighter. “Let’s hope so!” she said with great feeling. She removed the crown, placed it in her bag, rose, and drifted down the dais steps.

Shaking his head at being left behind yet again, Michael hauled himself to his feet and went after her. He caught up with her when she stopped dead still in front of the massive front doors. “Is something wrong?” he asked.

“You know, if someone wanted me to get this crown so they could snatch it, would they wait for me to get it back to the fake palace?” she asked.

“Probably not. You’re thinking there’s an ambush on the other side of those doors?”

“Very likely.”

“So we head back to the kitchens?”

“Don’t you agree?”

“Yeah. But I think it would help if we could arrange a diversion, too.”

“Good thinking. Come on.” He wasn’t sure what she meant by agreeing with him only to abruptly turn around and walk away, but then she bellowed, “Maeve!” Her voice had the ring of magical authority to it, and the person being ordered would have no choice but to obey. Sure enough, it was only a matter of seconds before the beautiful, golden-haired fairy came running into the throne room.

She didn’t look at all happy about it. “You summoned me, your majesty?” she snarled, sarcasm heavy in her tone.

“I need you to do something for me,” Sophie said, a funny little smile flickering across her lips. “First, we need to fix you up.” She gestured at the fairy, whose hair turned a slightly more reddish color. Her servant’s uniform transformed into a dress like Sophie’s. Sophie surveyed her handiwork. “Hmm, you’re too tall, but I don’t think anyone’s paying that much attention to me, so I think you’ll do. Now, wait for my signal, then open the front doors and walk out.”

“You’re giving me permission to leave the palace?”

“Not the grounds. Walk until you can go no more and are drawn back into the palace. Do whatever you want or need to do if anything happens while you’re out there.”

Maeve looked truly baffled, which Sophie seemed to find amusing. “That is all? Just walk out?”

“And do what you need to do while you’re out. Yes, that is all I require of you.” Michael got the impression it took all of Sophie’s willpower not to laugh out loud at this.

“How will I know your signal?”

“Trust me, honey, you’ll know it when you see it.”

Sophie was still snickering under her breath as she and Michael headed down the stairs to the kitchen. “You’re using her as a decoy?” he asked.

“I know!” she said with an uncharacteristic giggle. “It’s so deliciously ironic. She got us into all this because of her bid to be queen, and now I’m making her play queen as a diversion.” With a soft sigh, she added, “At least I’m getting to have
some
fun.”

The little creatures in the kitchen burst into a flurry of activity when Michael and Sophie emerged from the stairwell, but Sophie waved them aside. “Sorry, just passing through. Keep up the good work.” Once she and Michael were outside, she said, “I suppose when I’m here on a permanent basis, I can make them deliriously happy by eating all the things they offer me. It’s not like it will matter if I can ever leave the Realm again.” Her voice sounded bravely resigned, like she was bracing herself for a suicide mission.

“Would it work that way for you?” he asked.

“I imagine so. I’m mostly human, and I doubt the crown makes that much difference.” They reached the wall of the kitchen yard, and Sophie raised one hand to eye level. A glowing ball of light formed in her palm. She moved her hand, batting the light away, and it flew up and into a window of the palace. After about thirty seconds, she said, “Okay, that should do it. Let’s go.”

He opened the gate in the wall, then they joined hands and ran through it. He wasn’t sure when the transition happened, but he soon realized they were no longer near the palace but rather were moving at great speed through a forest. He had the strangest sense that they were being chased. Sophie gave his hand a hard squeeze and stopped abruptly, pulling him back. Whoever was chasing them flew past, and as soon as they were gone, she stepped off in a different direction. Michael experienced the increasingly familiar sensation of traveling great distances in a single step.

But they didn’t arrive at the fake palace or at any other place that looked familiar.

“Where are we?” Sophie asked, saying out loud what Michael was thinking.

“Where were you trying to go?”

“The fake palace. I must have been too distracted and blew past it. Well, here we go again, and be ready for a trap.”

They took another great step, but the palace was still nowhere in sight. The only thing that resembled their intended destination was the mass of uniformed members of the queen’s guard, who were quite taken aback by the sight of two humans arriving suddenly in their camp.

“Drat! I must have pictured the wrong thing,” Sophie muttered.

“Well, you were expecting a trap,” Michael replied.

Before Sophie had a chance to whisk them away, the guards surrounded them. “Halt in the name of the queen,” their leader said. “All humans must be ejected from the Realm, lest they pollute it with their impurity.”

Outside the Impostor’s Palace

A Moment Later

While Emily was still too shocked to speak, Eamon replied without missing a beat, “We’re here to greet our new sovereign, of course.”

The guard looked at them for a moment, blinking in confusion. “The Hunt sensed humans among us, and her majesty does not tolerate that.”

“Of course not,” Eamon agreed earnestly. “If I see a human, I will be sure to report it. We wouldn’t want to sully the queen’s triumphant day.”

“You do that,” the guard said with a snarl before turning and stalking away. Emily didn’t release the breath she’d been holding until she could no longer spot him in the crowd.

She turned to Eamon. “Good save. But I swear, I could see your nose growing with every word.”

He frowned and reached up to feel his nose. “It appears to be the same size as always, and I am not using a glamour that extends my nose.”

“Okay, looks like not every book made it to your library. But what do you think he meant about the Hunt ratting me out?”

“They may be able to see past glamour. I was able to keep the guard from seeing your true self, but we may have no such protection against the Hunt.”

“I vote we stay well away from the Hunt.”

“Agreed.”

Emily had to nudge Beau back to his feet before they could continue their exploration of the encampment. She wasn’t sure how Michael and Sophie managed to have such adventures with the bulldog in tow. She’d have blamed it on Sophie being Sophie if the same thing didn’t tend to happen with the very human (as far as she knew) Michael.

She bumped Eamon’s shoulder with hers. “All kidding aside, that was pretty sharp back there. I was sure we were doomed, and you were cucumber-cool.”

“Ice-cold,” he agreed, his silvery eyes twinkling with amusement. “I am one cool cat.”

“I think that means something different, but I guess it still works.”

The guards were now moving through the throngs—still looking for the rogue humans the Hunt had sensed? They brought a few individuals out of each group and moved them toward the palace itself. As far as Emily could see, they were all fae, so it wasn’t a human roundup.

As she watched, she suddenly had a desperate longing to go into the palace. It was like the yearning she’d had for the Realm a few days ago. She grabbed Eamon’s arm to anchor herself. “We need to find the sisters,” she said.

“Yes, they should be warned about the Hunt.”

“That and I’m getting another one of those strange urges. I don’t think I’ll ever be happy again unless I get into that palace.”

He turned to look at her with great alarm. “Is it like before?”

“Well, I can still see colors, hear sound, smell things, and presumably taste, but this world does seem a teeny bit flatter than before, and I’m sure it would be much better in the palace.”