by Rose, Imogen
A light was shining from the bottom of the door to the conference room. Alexandra had expertly turned it into a makeshift workshop for Manuel. I could hear sewing machine sounds emanating from the other side. He was busy working.
I popped my head around to check in with him. His head was down. Fully immersed in his work, he didn’t even notice me coming in. He stopped doing whatever he had been doing with the sewing machine. The workroom was now silent as he concentrated on bringing his shiny tiny needle in and out of a piece of fabric, painstakingly attaching diamante crystals to it, one by one. I couldn’t help but notice the color of the fabric–emerald green. I knew of only one person wearing that color to my coronation.
“How’s it going, Manuel?” I asked gently, to not startle him. He still jumped in fright.
“Miss Faustine? You scared me half to death,” he complained, trying to casually hide the dress behind his back.
“Nice dress,” I observed. “May I see?”
I could see drops of sweat forming on his brow. “I don’t mean to be difficult, but the client has asked me to be discrete, just like I am with yours,” he pleaded.
“Client? Which client? I thought you were hired to work exclusively for us for the coronation.”
“It’s work that I’ve already promised, so I am trying to finish it in my own time....”
“Promised Katerina?” I asked softly.
“Yes. At the fashion show at Lady Annabel’s,” he explained.
“The fashion show you set up on Katerina’s behalf?”
He nodded.
“Give me the dress,” I commanded.
He hesitated, still holding it behind him.
“Hand it over,” I repeated.
He launched himself at me, thrusting a pair of sharp shears right into my abdomen. I fell back, unable to recover quickly enough to transform. My head hit the hard, wooden floor, and everything went black.
“Faustine.”
I opened my eyes and looked around, blinded by the white of the walls. I knew instantly where I was; the sterile smell was unmistakable.
“Faustine, can you hear me?”
“Yes, Mom,” I whispered through my dried up vocal chords. “Water?”
I sipped on the tepid liquid through the straw Mom held to my lips. Then, I tried to move, but yelled out in pain.
“Honey, don’t move. You’re healing fast, but the injury from the scissors was pretty bad,” Mom explained.
“Manuel?”
“He’s nowhere to be found.”
“How did he get out of the apartment?”
“We don’t know. All the doors were secured. What happened?”
I managed to recount what had happened, even though my stomach was growling in protest. “Mom, I need food.”
“You’re on liquids only,” she apologized.
I could feel my eyes welling up.
“I’ll be right back,” she said. “Alexandra, will you stay with her?”
“Of course.”
I hadn’t noticed the others in the room. I looked around. The whole gang was there, well, everyone but Ryker. I felt a tear run down my cheek. Alexandra dabbed it dry with some tissue. Hunger made me way too emotional. I closed my eyes to avoid looking at anyone. I was a mess.
I heaved a sigh of relief when the smell of meat hit my nostrils. I breathed it in and opened my mouth as a straw was inserted into it. I didn’t want any more water; I needed meat!
“Suck,” Mom instructed.
I started to protest, but the smell made my decision for me. I sucked on the straw. Warm, meaty broth ran down my throat, filling me with instant happiness. Granted, liquid meat is nowhere as good as the real stuff; after all, chomping down on a tender piece of steak is half the joy, but it sure felt like the best drink ever.
“Good?” Mom asked.
I looked over at her gratefully and nodded as I kept sipping. I could feel myself healing with every mouthful. I was grateful to be half demon. It would suck to be a human and have an injury like this most probably kill me. As it was, I was fully healed an hour later. My pain had turned to fury.
The fury was not directed at Manuel, but at myself. How could I not have defended myself better? My armor had been down. I had conducted myself like a human, not a demon, a demon princess. It was a lesson learned. I had to suppress my human instincts and let myself be a demon. I had done the opposite for so many years, that it was not natural for me. I would need to change that, and fast.
I rode to Alexandra’s apartment with Mom. We were being relocated there for the night. The basement apartment was now deemed unsafe, at least until we caught up with Manuel and figured out exactly how entangled he was with Katerina. Neave, Fitch and Luke had been sent to school. They were under Edith’s watchful eye and would hang out with her until we were ready to fly to London in the morning.
Manuel had, thankfully, left everything but the emerald gown behind in his rush to escape. What did this mean? Was Katerina still planning to come to the coronation?
I would be glad when Taylor came over to Alexandra’s apartment after school. It had been decided that she would stay with us. I was super-bored confined to bed all day. Mom had insisted that I stay in bed, even though I was totally okay. I had even bared my stomach for her in hopes of convincing her to let me up. I didn’t even have a scar. But she wasn’t buying it. She kept me in bed and on a liquid diet all day. Sigh.
So, I lazed around in what was Taylor’s room when she visited Alexandra. As soon as Mom left me alone for my ordered nap, I got up and nosed around in Taylor’s stuff. I guessed that she must keep most of her personal stuff in her own apartment, but I did find a locked chest under the bed to challenge and keep me busy for the afternoon.
The chest was wooden and most definitely very old. It wasn’t large and just fit under the bed. The metal hinges were rusted through, but the large metal lock felt sturdy and heavy. I played around with trying to force it open, but decided against it. I looked around for keys and finally found a drawer full of them. I picked the old-looking ones and tried them first. After no luck with them, I systematically tried all the others, getting more and more frustrated. Opening that chest had turned from a fun pastime into an obsession. I had to know what was in it.
When it was clear that unlocking it with a key was not an option, I looked around for a screwdriver. My search was in vain. There was no way I was stepping outside this room to look for one, and risk encountering Mom’s wrath, so I looked for an alternative. A gleaming penny sitting on the bedside table caught my eye; that would have to do. I inserted it into the bevels of the hinge screws, carefully. They were resistant at first, but I persevered, and they eventually turned. I patiently worked my way through all of them, carefully placing the screws in groups on the floor so I could put it all back together once I was done.
Then, I slowly opened the lid. So worth it! I slid the book out. It was large, silver-bound, and very heavy. It was definitely old; the silver was well-worn with multiple scratches on it. It was, however, polished and well cared for. It was obviously a cherished treasure. It was a book of incantations. I wondered who had passed this on to Taylor. It was clearly not Alexandra. Then whom? Could Robert have given it to her? I doubted it. He didn’t seem like the sharing type.
I flicked through the parchment-like pages. Each page contained a spell. There were spells for ailments, spells for confinement, spells for death. Each one was handwritten in black ink. The book must have contained hundreds of spells.
I put the book back in the chest when I heard the front door open. I would have to deal with reattaching the hinges later. I hurriedly pushed the chest back under the bed and got into bed, pulling the coverlet over me.
“Faustine? Are you awake?” Mom whispered from the doorway.
“Yes.”
“Are you feeling up to some company? Taylor’s here.”
“Yeah, that would be great! Thanks, Mom.”
“Taylor!” I said enthusiastically
as she came in.
“Hey! How are you doing?”
“I’m bored. How was school?”
“Good. I tried out for the lacrosse team,” she shrugged.
“Awesome! Did you get in?”
“Don’t know yet. There are a few more tryout dates. I guess we’ll find out after that. I’ve tried out three times already, so I’m not holding out much hope,” she smiled. “We have a wicked team at school, I’m nowhere as good as them. Anyhow, what about you? How are you feeling?”
“I’m totally fine. Can’t wait to be able to do something. Anything!”
Taylor laughed. “I know what you mean. I hate being cooped up.”
“I wish Ryker would appear and wander me off somewhere. Dinner in Paris would be awesome.”
“No kidding,” she smiled. “What’s up with you and Ryker? You a couple?”
“Don’t know. I really, really like him, but... he’s a Wanderer, a Sigma-W, which is not the issue. His uncle being the global sovereign is, though.”
“How so?” Taylor asked, puzzled.
I shrugged. “I don’t think he likes me. He told Ryker to stay away from me,” I said, my eyes welling up.
“Why? That doesn’t make any sense. Why would he not like you? You don’t have any history, do you?”
I shook my head. “I’m guessing there is history between Spencer and my dad. Bad history. My dad did something awful, maybe Spencer is holding that against me.”
“What did he do?”
I explained Kismet’s conception to her, noticing the expression of disgust on her face.
“I see. Still, there’s no reason to hold that against you. You’re not responsible for that. There must be more,” she mused.
“I guess.” I wanted to share with her that Ryker was a hybrid, but that I didn’t know what kind. That, however, was not my information to share.
“Time to cheer you up, Faustine! Let’s talk gowns! What are you wearing?”
“Secret!” I smiled.
“Oh, not fair! I’m dying to know. Do you want to see mine?”
“Yeah!”
Her face beamed as she went over to the closet and retrieved her dress from the garment carrier. It was a very pretty, electric-blue, cocktail dress. “I decided not to do the gown thing, but to be a bit different,” she said. “What do you think?”
I wouldn’t have picked electric-blue with her skin tone and red hair, but when she held it up against her, there was just one word to describe it. “Perfect.”
She hugged it tight and twirled around. “Thank you. I was hoping you’d like it. Mom was hesitant about my not doing the gown thing.”
“I think it’s perfect, Taylor. You’re going to look awesome.”
“Nora called Mom and asked me to be one of your ladies for the coronation.”
“I know so little about the protocol or what’s expected of me. I’m glad Nora is helping out,” I said.
“Don’t worry about the protocol. There’ll be a rehearsal. Nora just wanted to make sure that the ladies and their partners were coordinated. I’m going with Luke,” she said shyly.
That was unexpected. I assumed that Luke would take Neave. My surprise must have shown.
“You thought Luke would take Neave?”
I nodded.
“So did I,” she shrugged.
“So who’s going with Neave?”
“I don’t know,” Taylor said. “I guess we’ll find out tomorrow. What about you? Are you happy to be escorted by Fitch?”
“Yes, sure,” I said, disappointed. Not that Fitch was taking me, but that Ryker wasn’t. That sucked. But, I was going to make the best of it and have fun. It’s not every day a girl gets crowned.
“You are a nosy little demon, aren’t you?” Taylor suddenly said.
“Say what?”
She pointed to the bottom of the bed.
Yikes. The chest. I hadn’t pushed it in far enough. She could clearly see the floppy hinges. “Oh.”
She shrugged. “Oh? Is that all you have to say for yourself?”
“I’m a nosy little demon,” I confirmed as apologetically as I could.
She shook her head. “I guess you took a peek at what was inside.”
I nodded.
“That’s a book I found in Dad’s stuff after I possessed him. I took it and studied some of the spells. I brought it here for safekeeping,” she explained. “You can’t tell anyone that I have it.”
I nodded. “So, did you learn all the spells?”
“No, but I did try and remember some of the important ones, those that would break shields, especially. There’s one in there that is supposed to be able to break a shield other witches have put up. It’s complicated and needs all sorts of odd ingredients, but it can be done. I haven’t learned it by heart yet.”
I nodded. “I’m sorry I looked; I can’t help myself at times. I won’t tell anyone,” I promised.
Taylor and I spent the rest of the evening packing her stuff for the upcoming trip. I hoped that Mom had taken care of my stuff. I had nothing here, not even a pair of pajamas, so I borrowed a cloud-themed, flannel pair from Taylor. We sorted through her makeup, jewelry and shoes, and managed to pack it all into three large suitcases, not bad for a three-day trip to London.
The flight from Newark to Heathrow, London, was loud and fun. We were all together in a private jet: Mom, Tessa, Alexandra, Edith, Taylor, Fitch, Luke, and Neave. During the boarding process, I had looked around apprehensively, afraid that Katerina would appear. She hadn’t, so we were all in a good, celebratory mood. I was going to be Queen soon!
The rest of the New York council was flying in for the coronation tomorrow. We had a lot of work to do before then.
Although Alfred had kindly invited us all to stay at his mansion, I decided that I wanted to stay at Dad’s place. It would be my official London residence, so I may as well get used to it. There was no telling how long it would be before Dad returned, and I could go back to being a normal teen. In the meantime, I figured I might as well immerse myself wholeheartedly into my role as The Queen. And, that included having an official residence.
When we arrived and I had checked out my official digs, it was clear that it needed to be updated in order for me to stay there for any length of time. I wouldn’t have time to do any updating during this visit, however. The next two days were filled with protocol stuff.
The first task was going through the actual order of the ceremony with Dorian.
“Any signs of Katerina?” I asked him, when we had our first meeting in my dad’s study.
“No. We’ve been watching all the port authorities. But then, she is a witch, and a powerful one at that, so I can’t guarantee that she’s not here. Security is at the highest level, so you shouldn’t worry.”
“Okay, let’s go through it,” I suggested, looking at his fully-scribbled, yellow legal pad. It looked like it was going to be a long ceremony.
He explained every section, all five of them, in painstaking detail. Most of the sections sounded like they might be tolerable, even fun, except for one–the actual coronation ceremony, total nightmare. It was just as well that I didn’t suffer from stage fright. I was going to be front and center. I was even expected to make a speech.
“I took the liberty of having a writer come up with this for you,” he said, handing over a sheet.
I looked it over. It was short and concise, but really boring. I’d have to tweak it a little.
“That’s all I feel you need to remember, Princess. Other things will come up, but I’ll be at your side at all times to help you out.”
I squeezed his hand. “Dorian, you’re a rock star. I really appreciate your help.”
He blushed. “I’m just doing my job, like I used to for Sebastian,” he said sadly.
“Dorian, finding Dad will be my first order of business after the coronation.”
He nodded. “King Alfred has requested your company for dinner tonight. It will be London counc
il members only.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t like leaving all my friends alone on our first night here.”
“You don’t really have an option. It’s protocol,” he shrugged. “Don’t worry about your friends. I have an entertaining evening planned for them.”
“Okay. What time do I need to be there?”
“I’ll drive you over at seven.”
I left Dorian in my dad’s ample study–it was more like a library–poring over his notes, and made my way to my bedroom. My bedroom was in fact Dad’s residential quarters. It was huge, and filled with stuff that I couldn’t wait to rifle through.
