Lycans and Legends

Chapter 23: What the Queen and King Said

Agent Rose and I followed a palace guard down the winding halls of Buckingham, deeper and deeper into the castle.

“Ever been here before?” I asked Agent Rose.

An odd little smile came to her face. “Yes. Long ago.”

The guard stopped at the door then signaled for Agent Rose and me to wait.

Agent Rose studied me. “You ought to have someone look at that arm.”

“Yeah. Afterward.”

“You know how this goes. There is no afterward.”

The door opened. “Come,” the guard said, motioning for the two of us to come inside.

Her Majesty was sitting at a desk. The room was dimly lit, a fireplace casting the light.

The Queen shuffled some papers. “So, he destroyed my museum and has now destroyed the Red Cape headquarters. I understand you gave the order to call all the agents to the tower, Agent Louvel?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“On whose authority?”

Shite. “Um, I just thought we needed to rally, Your Majesty. Somewhere safe.”

“I see. And you’ve also called the Pellinores and Miss Pendragon to London?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Well, Agent Louvel, seems you’ve placed yourself in charge of the Red Capes…”

“Your Majesty, forgive me, I—”

“No, no,” she interrupted. “I was planning to promote you to director anyway. Edwin is going to take over in India. I simply hadn’t had the opportunity to inform you of the promotion,” she said then rose, coming around the back of her desk.

She gazed at Agent Rose. “Aurora.”

“Your Majesty,” Agent Rose said, curtseying lightly.

Her Majesty rolled her eyes then turned back to me. “I assume this means you have some semblance of a plan in the works.”

“I’m getting there, but I have a complicated problem,” I said.

“And that is?”

“That,” I said, pointing to the faerie gemstone hanging from the Queen’s neck.

“Has he found the other pieces?”

“Yes.”

“Then I suppose he’ll be after my neck now,” she said. “Quite literally.”

“Why don’t you give it to Louvel?” Agent Rose suggested.

“The faerie jewel?”

Agent Rose shrugged. “Put it on Louvel. Let them see she has it, and they’ll leave you alone.”

“If Melwas realizes you have the stone, he’ll come for you. But if I have it…” I said.

“Putting the stone on you and sending you after Melwas brings two things together that should be kept far, far apart,” Queen Victoria said.

“True,” Agent Rose interjected. “But it will save your life.”

“Unless Louvel dies,” the Queen replied.

“Are you planning on dying?” Agent Rose asked me pertly.

“Not today. I just got promoted,” I said with a grin.

Queen Victoria looked from Agent Rose to me. With a sigh, she pulled off the massive blue-green gem then handed it to me. When the stone touched my open palm, it glowed bright blue.

I stared at the gem. Not only did it glow blue, but I could have sworn it was beating like a heart. I felt a strange thumping in my hand. The blue light emanating from the stone lit the room.

“Curious,” Queen Victoria said. “Who is your family, Agent Louvel?”

“The answer to that is rather complicated,” I replied. I slipped the necklace on. The light dimmed when it lay on my breastplate but didn’t entirely extinguish.

“Well, that should get Melwas’s attention,” Agent Rose said.

“I think it would be best if Your Majesty moved to a safe location,” I told Victoria.

“I’m sure you think so, Agent, but I’m not going anywhere. You aren’t the only one who is willful and stubborn.”

“You’re the Queen. You may be as willful and stubborn as you like.”

At that, Victoria chuckled lightly. “So I shall. The wounded agents are in the west wing of the palace. I understand Agent Harper is there.”

“She should be, Your Majesty.”

“Send her along. She will see to the security detail for myself and my family. Once you rendezvous with the Red Capes at the tower, dispatch additional agents here.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“And I hope you have an excellent reason for calling in Miss Pendragon. You don’t hope to depose me in the midst of all of this, do you, Louvel?”

“Your Majesty, I am loyal to—”

Her Majesty laughed lightly. “Of course. But why have you asked for Miss Pendragon?”

“Who is Miss Pendr—” Agent Rose began, but Queen Victoria raised a hand to silence her.

“I don’t know why, exactly. Just…instinct,” I said.

Queen Victoria cocked her head as she thought it over. “Instinct. Very well. Now, go kill this bloody faerie so I can get back to business. And don’t lose my necklace,” the Queen said then waved us away.

I nodded to Agent Rose, and we headed out of the chamber.

Agent Rose and I turned and headed toward the west wing of the castle.

“So, who is Miss Pendragon?”

“A dragon blood. No, that’s not right, a dragon caller.”

Agent Rose scrunched up her forehead as she considered my words. To my surprise, she made no jests about the Pellinores. “Pendragon?”

“Descendant of King Arthur.”

“A real heir?”

“Yes.”

“No wonder Vikki has her knickers in a twist,” Agent Rose said with a laugh.

I stared at her. What in the world had transpired between the two of them that had led to such…tension?

“Sorry, Louvel. I forgot you were such a royalist.”

“And you aren’t?”

“Depends on the monarch.”

We wound down the narrow stairs until we reached the chamber in which at least a dozen Red Capes were receiving medical care. Agent Greystock lay in her bed, a massive bandage on her forehead, her arm wrapped. Harper was sitting at Edwin’s bedside.

Agent Rose glanced at me. “Shall I go give Harper the news?”

I nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” Whenever Harper and I did have a chance to talk, it was going to be awkward, and right now, I had no time for awkward.

Crossing the room, I went to Agent Greystock. I pulled up a chair beside her. She opened her eyes a crack and looked at me.

“Well, he didn’t get you yet,” she said with a half-smile. “Too tough to kill, I suppose.”

“That makes two of us,” I replied.

She looked me over, eyeing the pendant hanging on my neck. “She gave it to you.”

I nodded. “I’m the bait now.”

“Considering how badly he wants it, don’t think for a moment he won’t take your head to get it. It’s a bit more luminescent than I remember.”

“So it is. Have any thoughts on that?”

“A few.”

“I went to Glastonbury. Met some people there. I was wondering, given your friendship with Grand-mère, if you ever did a little poking around. Maybe in Glastonbury. Maybe in the agency records.”

Agent Greystock studied my face. “I might have. I love Felice. And you. What I might have discovered wouldn’t have helped anyone.”

“What did you discover?”

“That you are an orphan, which you already know.”

“And?”

“And…the rest seemed like fairy tales.”

“But isn’t that our business? Fairy tales?”

“That depends. Some people don’t want to be wrapped up in fairy tales. Some people carve their own paths, make their own way. They don’t need fairy tales to be extraordinary. What little I discovered…I’m not sure it would have helped you. I hope you understand my meaning. And if not, I hope you will forgive me.”

I did understand her. What did knowing about my parents and the link to Avalon really matter? In the end, I was still doing my job just like I would have anyway. I didn’t need a myth to define who I was. I was who I was because of people like Grand-mère and Quinn and Agent Greystock. Not because, once upon a time, my family line—which I knew nothing about—had been charged with some sacred duty. All it had ever done for me thus far was make me smell good. I had guided my own path thus far. And I was proud of what I had accomplished. Hell, Queen Victoria had just made me the new director of the Red Capes.

“I do,” I said then set my hand on her shoulder. “You should rest.”

“And you should have someone look at that arm.”

I nodded. She was right.

Exchanging one last glance with Agent Greystock, I rose and crossed the room to join one of the doctors. “Have a minute?” I asked.

He looked up at me.

I pointed to the bloody scarf around my arm. “Probably just a flesh wound, but just in case.”

“What got into you?”

“Same as this lot.”

“Sit,” he said then unwrapped the bloody gauze, motioning for me to pull off my coat. I was surprised how much it hurt to remove the sleeve.

The doctor frowned at the wound. He poured some fresh water into a basin then began cleaning me up. The scratches, made from four razor-sharp talons, were swollen and achy.

“This will hurt a bit,” he said then dabbed on some alcohol.

I gritted my teeth. “A bit?”

“Sorry. I lied. I meant a lot.”

Grabbing a blue jar full of strangely stinky salve, he liberally applied the ointment to the wound. When he was done, he wrapped my arm with a clean bandage.

“I am supposed to tell you to rest your arm and stay off your feet, but something tells me giving advice to this group is pointless. Just try to use it as little as possible. Your cut is very deep. If you take a fever, you need to come back.”

“All right. Thank you, Doctor…”

“Larson.”

“Larson. Thank you.”

He inclined his head to me.

I eyed my jacket. Until Grand-mère had time to give it a good stitching, it wasn’t going to be of any help. I left it behind. Pulling on my cloak, I crossed the room to Agent Rose who was waiting with Edwin and Harper.

“Clemeny,” Harper said, standing.

Edwin lay unconscious on the bed.

“Agent Rose told me Her Majesty asked for me.”

I nodded. “She wants you here. Rose and I are going to the tower now. I’ll send along some additional agents.”

“All right,” Harper said, barely meeting my eye.

“How is he?” I asked, glancing down at Edwin.

“Unconscious, but alive,” Harper said. “Clem…”

“It’s all right. I love you, and I care about him. Just watch out for the godmother. She’s awful.”

At that, Harper laughed nervously.

“We need to go,” Agent Rose said.

I nodded.

“Be careful, partner,” Harper told me.

“You too,” I replied, then Agent Rose and I headed across the room.

“That was kind of you,” Agent Rose commented.

“What else could I say? I let Edwin go. He and Harper found one another. Besides, I have someone.”

“That you do. Still, it’s not easy to let go of someone you once loved.”

I was just about to grab for the door when it swung wide open.

On the other side was His Highness, Prince Albert.

“Agent Louvel,” he said. “I heard the Red Capes were here. Are you all right?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Thank you. The others will convalesce here until we get this mess sorted.”

“Yes, the Queen informed me that—” he began but stopped cold when his eyes fell on Agent Rose. “Aurora,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Albert,” she replied, her words lacking her usual confidence.

The two stared at one another for so long it became awkward.

I coughed lightly.

“Right,” Agent Rose said. “We need to go. Good to see you, Your Highness,” she said, doing an awkward little half-curtsey before she beelined past me out of the room.

“Your Highness,” I said, then followed behind Rose who was walking quickly toward the door. I fell into pace with her and had just opened my mouth when Agent Rose lifted her hand.

“Not. A. Word,” she told me.

“Curiouser and curiouser,” I muttered with a grin.

“Oh, Agent Louvel, you have no idea.”