The Queen Revealed (13 page)

“It must be here,” muttered Charlie and swore under his breath as all the pockets turned up empty.

“What are you looking for? Maybe I can help?” asked the Queen, but a tremor in her voice caused Charlie’s head to snap up. He watched her inch toward the door. His time had just run out.

“There are no guards outside, Your Majesty,” he said quietly, not bothering to smile anymore. “I came here to find something and it’s not here. I didn’t come here to hurt you, I promise. So, if you let me go, I will let my boss know that you are safe and there will be no trouble.”

Charlie moved slowly, so as not to startle her, and walked backward toward the door.

Curse it all. It should have been such a simple matter!
  But the powerful Magic in the sand had failed him and now The Boss was going to kill him if this nervy-looking Queen didn’t order her guards to do so first. Despite his bravado, Charlie had no illusions about how difficult it was going to be to sneak out of the Belvoir Manor in broad daylight with soldiers on his tail. He’d grown up on the city streets of Concordis, not the low country of Belvoir, after all.

“Who sent you?” whispered the Queen and for some odd reason, a smile bloomed on her face. “I know him, don’t I?”

Not likely!
thought Charlie, but answered politely. “Yes, you know him.” It was always better to agree with powerful people.

She took a step toward him and reached out a hand to stop his backward movement. Charlie froze in his tracks. He didn’t know quite what she was capable of, but he knew it was bad. The Queen wasn’t any taller than him, and with experience and fear on his side, he was sure he could take her, if it came to a fight. He just had to trust that none of her power would work in Belvoir. If it did, he was dead.

But as she got closer, Charlie saw that it was concern and not anger that filled her eyes. He felt a strange and powerful compulsion to throw himself into her arms and sob on her shoulder. He even had a vision of himself doing it. As the last time he had cried he had been wearing swaddling clothes, Charlie felt dazed by the intensity of the emotions that swept through him.

Don’t let her touch you. Don’t ever let her catch your gaze. It’ll be the last thing you ever do, m’boy,
The Boss had said. The warning rang in his mind now, as Charlie felt his defenses falling before the Queen as she edged ever closer to him. The blade dropped lower in his hand until he grasped the hilt of the knife.

The door of the bathroom flew open and both Charlie and the Queen spun in surprise.

“I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to use your bathroom, Your Majesty,” gushed a gorgeous blonde as she skipped into the room bringing the scent of roses with her. “It’s so hard having to share a bathroom with the other ladies-in-waiting. I cannot tell you how long Lady Cara takes… oh, hello!” The blonde had finally caught sight of Charlie and Her Majesty frozen in their poses.

Charlie quickly shot the blade up his wrist again. One woman he could take; two and he was stuck. Better to run and risk capture, than to kill the Queen and have a witness scream bloody murder. He saw the Queen shoot him a glance before straightening herself into a more-relaxed stance.

“This is Charlie. He was just delivering a message from the Prince of Carparell,” said the Queen, gesturing at Charlie’s uniform.

“In your bedroom, Your Majesty!” said Blondie in a scandalized tone and gave Charlie a look she might share with a cat turd she had just stepped in. “Get out of here, you cheeky boy. The Queen only receives messengers in her study.”

Charlie dropped his head to hide his pretend shame and turned to the door.

“Oh, it’s not his fault,” said the Queen kindly and Charlie almost jumped out of his skin when he felt her hand slip around his elbow and hold it firmly. “I’m sure he was just lost. He’s from Carparell, not Belvoir.”

Charlie’s instincts screamed at him to push the Queen away with both hands and scarper as fast as he could, but instead, his feet betrayed him and allowed the Queen to pull him into the next room. His head buzzed with the confusing emotions that had swamped him before, making it hard for him to focus his thoughts and come up with a new plan. But things went from bad to worse when they walked into the adjoining sitting room and Charlie saw the General of the Queen’s Guard standing by a window, while three burly QGs relaxed on armchairs close by, their weapons glinting all shiny and dangerous in the morning light. They all fell silent at the arrival of the Queen.

“Oh, General. Thank the Goddess you are here! We found this boy lurking in the Queen’s bedroom,” trilled Blondie, as she made her way to a tall Guard who had stood to attention, a Captain by the look of his lapels, and attached herself to his arm. She wore her fear like an ill-fitting costume and Charlie wondered absently why beautiful women were almost always evil before he felt the temperature in the room plummet as four sets of icy blue eyes took his measure.

“Oh, Lady Olivia, that’s rubbish,” said the Queen, her voice quiet and soothing as she patted Charlie on the arm before abandoning him to walk to her desk. “The boy was just lost and had been knocking on my bedroom door for some time. Apparently there were no guards in the hall to tell him which way to go.”

The Queen looked up at the General, who, in turn, gave his Captain a hard look.

“That is true, General,” said the blonde, hero-type, a picture of dignified shame. “QG Owens and that Belvoir guard, Benjamin, were not here when QG Pepper and I came on duty.”

“It’s fine, Captain. I’m sure there is no danger in the manor, and after all, he was just a messenger with a letter, not an Immortal Wizard!” The Queen laughed lightly and the tension in the room eased, but Charlie thought it was an odd comment to make.

“Well, no need to worry about that, Your Majesty,” said a little man who had just bustled into the room with a scribe scurrying after him. “Belvoir Estate is blessedly free of any and all Magic. Not even the Marchant Prince himself could break the ancient Curse within these borders.”

“Really?” said the Queen, disbelief coloring her tone as she threw Charlie a glance. “Not even Marchant Magic can be used in this house?”

The little man looked irritated and hid it badly behind a stiff smile. His curly blonde hair was unnaturally perfect, no doubt a wig. “No, of course not, Your Majesty. I just
said
that. But I, for one, am extremely relieved to stay here after our time in the Grey Palace. That place made my skin crawl. I barely slept a wink the two nights we were there.”

An icicle of fear inched its way down Charlie’s spine. Though he kept his eyes on the ground, he used his peripheral vision to scout an escape. In a room full of people, it should have been easy to drop his shoulders and slink away, but his failed mission had left him in a quandary. Perhaps if he kept up the messenger routine, he might get another chance to find what he had been sent here to steal, especially as the Queen seemed strangely eager to cover for him?

“No Magic at all,” mused the Queen and her hazel eyes caught Charlie’s gaze.

Charlie felt his face tighten. This was it. He was done for now. No way the Queen was going to keep a secret of the spell he’d done in her bedroom. He braced himself for discovery.

“What was the message for Her Majesty?”

It took Charlie a minute to realize that the bossy little man was addressing him. His mouth gaped open, but no sound came out before the Queen interrupted him.

“Oh, Prince Claudio wanted me to sit in the Carparell pavilion at the start of the races, Tilburn. Impossible, I imagine?”

“
Absolutely
impossible, Your Majesty. Why, just the nerve of asking on this very morning is…”

“Ah, Mr. Tilburn!” Blondie piped up from her position, draped on the arm of Captain Handsome. She made her way over to the Queen, her big skirts sweeping over Charlie’s feet as she passed him. “Queen Adelena needs to prepare for the Breakfast party this morning and then the Opening Ceremony this afternoon, and we are already behind schedule. Perhaps your paperwork with her can wait?” She gestured to the scrolls and folios Tilburn had just dropped on the Queen’s desk.

“The business of Unisia will not wait for a horse fete, my Lady,” said Tight Curls snootily. But Blondie didn’t give up. She clasped her hands together in front of her half-exposed bosom, boosting it impressively, and looked up at the little man through her eyelashes.

“But Mr. Tilburn it’s the Opening Day! The whole court will be out and the Queen’s hair alone will take us at least an hour.”

Lady Olivia and Tilburn both examined the Queen with a critical eye. She looked uncomfortable at the scrutiny and Charlie saw a hand self-consciously pat her hair in its messy ponytail.

“Well, I suppose you are right,” said Tilburn with a dramatic sigh. “Her Majesty will go and prepare. I will finish what I can myself and we can work tonight before the evening party starts.”

Lady Olivia clapped her hands and cheered the announcement. It made the Queen frown and Charlie thought Blondie had over-played it a bit. Beautiful women were used to getting what they wanted when they wanted it. No surprise there.

The Queen stood and walked to the front of her desk.

“General, I assume you are going to look for QG Owens and Benjamin now,” she said. “Don’t be too hard on them. Does Benjamin have a rank I should know about or is he just a… Benjamin? I know he is giving the children riding lessons now.”

“He has no rank that I’m aware of, Your Majesty,” replied the General. “But that is usual here at Belvoir Estate, they function with a different hierarchy than at the Golden Palace. But I shall let him know how we do things where we are from, especially on guard duty. And Owens should definitely have known better.”

Charlie had avoided looking at the General too closely in case he caught his eye. The man was old to Charlie’s young eye, but heavily muscled and strong. His bearing was impressive and he radiated the kind of authority Charlie had spent his sixteen years avoiding. He almost felt sorry for the Benjamin down in the stables. The lad might have the eye of Nice Curves the Nanny, but Charlie didn’t envy him the glacial blue glare of General Beefy.

With a nod the Queen dismissed the General who left with two of his QGs in tow and Mr. Tight Curls and his scribe hustling behind. That just left Blondie and Captain Handsome in the room.

“Lady Olivia, could you go and tell Piers and the other dressers to set up everything that they need in my bedroom? It’s more comfortable in there,” the Queen asked Blondie, who curtseyed and skipped out, but not before sending Captain Handsome a pretty smile.

“Captain Lucky…”

Charlie almost snorted,
Course he is! Captain bloody Lucky! Too perfect.

“… if you could find my children down at the stables and let their nannies know that they must be ready and dressed for the Breakfast Party soon. Also I want them to come up to me and tell me how their riding lessons went, I missed them this morning.” She smiled and her face softened when she spoke of the children. Charlie thought it looked like genuine emotion and was confused.

“QG Pepper will guard the door for you, Your Majesty, but would you prefer I set another QG with him while I’m gone?” asked Captain Handsome, his face creased with respectful concern. Charlie hated the just-too-perfect, do-gooder type and in a normal situation might have set himself to baiting the Captain, but right now he was just praying he would stay. However, the Queen shook her head and Charlie watched in dismay as Captain Lucky snapped a bow and left.

Charlie turned to the Queen as she leant against the front of her desk and folded her arms. She gave him a look which sent a shiver down his spine. “Now, Charlie. Finally, we are alone, so you are going to tell me exactly what it was you were doing in my bedroom this morning.”

Chapter Twenty

“And What Hides in the Light”

Adele regarded the young man who called himself Charlie.

He was about her height, but hunched like a boy not yet used to his body. His face was so thin that his cheekbones stuck out sharply and had obviously never needed a razor. Though he was clean his hair was badly cut and stuck at odd angles across his forehead. The clothes he was wearing hung on his frame and looked as though they belonged to a much taller boy. A passing glance wouldn’t have revealed much, but Adele could now see this boy definitely wasn’t who he claimed to be. Charlie was too rough and starved-looking to be a palace squire.

“I know who sent you, Charlie,” said Adele, breaking the silence and keeping her voice low. “We don’t need to say his name, but that little box... thing… you used looked like one of his things.”

Charlie’s white face blanched even further. “You know
him
?” he whispered.

Adele smiled. “I do, and I will need you to deliver a message back to him for me.”

Charlie became suddenly animated, shaking his head and backing away. “I won’t let him know that you said anything, Your Majesty,” he promised her fervently. “Please, I know how to keep my mouth shut!”

Adele gave Charlie a curious look and dropped her head to the side, to measure him from another angle. Perhaps Rainere hadn’t trusted this boy with the knowledge that they already had a relationship. “But Charlie I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you were just doing as he had asked. The Prince won’t be angry with you, I promise.”

Charlie froze again. “The Prince?”

“Yes, Charlie, the
Prince.
But we are running out of time. Let me write a quick letter and you can take it back to him. The Grey Palace is just a day’s ride so you can have it to him by nightfall.”

Adele snatched up a quill and paper from the desk and began writing. She was too engrossed to notice the look of shock that was plastered across Charlie’s face.

“I wish I knew a spell to seal this thing so only he can open it,” muttered Adele. It was frustrating not to have such a simple spell at her command when she could do so many bigger things with her Magic. She looked up at Charlie and smiled. “I guess I’m just going to have to trust you, Charlie. If he does, then I can too.”

Adele held out the letter to the boy, but snatched it back just before his fingers could close over it. She noticed his hand was shaking. “Do you know, Charlie? I’ve just realized how brave you were breaking into my room this morning to carry out this little task for the Prince. How did you know that the Magic would even work with the Curse on this house?”

Charlie swallowed. “My boss, the…uh, Prince…has tricks up his sleeve those old wizards never thought of. He has Magic no one else even remembers how to use, Your Majesty.”

“And did it work? Am I safe from Magic here?” she asked.

“Safe as houses, Your Majesty. There was nothing here,” said Charlie, but his voice was curiously flat and his eyes avoided hers.

Adele just couldn’t shake the feeling that this boy was terrified of her. She handed over the letter and watched as Charlie slipped it beneath his coat. She picked up a wooden messenger token from the desk drawer and flipped it to him.

“You’ll need this to get a fresh horse from the stables and food from the kitchen,” she said. “And then you can be on your way.” Adele’s smile faltered. “Only the Prince is to read that note Charlie. Only him you understand me? If anyone else finds it… well, it would be big trouble for both of us.”

After a quick thought, Adele pulled a thin gold bracelet off her wrist and held it out to the boy. She watched with a growing sense of disquiet as he slowly inched back over to her and took it, careful not to brush her skin.
What was Rainere thinking sending such a skittish boy to do his errands for him? The kid looks about as tough as Aaron,
she thought.

“There will be more gold when you bring a letter back to me, Charlie. I can be very generous when people do their jobs properly,” added Adele.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Charlie nodded, his dark fringe swinging low across his forehead. “I will be back as soon as I can be.”

His shrewd eyes rose to meet hers and they were the only adult thing in his young boy’s face.

A moment later, Lady Olivia swung back into the room calling out ‘
Your Majesty
!’  and their time had run out. Adele smiled at Charlie before giving him a little push toward the door.

“Off you go, Charlie, and pleasant journey.”