The Queen Must Die by K. A. S. Quinn

Author:K. A. S. Quinn
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Published: 2011-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

The Three Time Travellers

It must have been three a.m. Katie sat opposite Alice and watched her feed little Riordan, out on night patrol again, and wrapped in the royal shawl. ‘I just don’t think pork pie and port wine are the correct diet for a toddler,’ she commented, watching Riordan clutch a glass of ruby liquid in his two podgy hands and down it in big gulps.

‘He’s become so thin, though,’ said Alice, holding out a leg that looked humorously plump to Katie. ‘I don’t believe the Honourable Emma Twisted ever feeds this child.’

‘The Princess watered down the wine, Katie,’ said James impatiently. ‘Riordan isn’t going to stagger down the street, singing beer house songs. Now try to pay attention, both of you. Katie, you should never have gone off on your own like that – ever.’ He put out his hand to stop the tirade he knew was coming. ‘But at least you’ve come back with lots of information. Terrible information, but lots of it.’

‘Was there nothing you could do for Fräulein Bauer?’ Alice asked.

A wave of remorse swept over Katie. ‘I should have tried to do something. But I was hiding, it all happened so fast.’

James interrupted. ‘There wasn’t anything you could have done, Katie. If you’d tried, you wouldn’t be sitting here tonight.’

‘Poor Fräulein Bauer,’ Alice said. ‘She was a good woman, and would have been kind, but for her great love and fear of Baroness Lehzen.’

‘And this loyalty has killed her in the end,’ James added. All three were silent.

Alice hugged Katie. ‘It sounds so horrible,’ she said. ‘I still think you should go right to bed, Katie. Such a terrible shock.’

‘I am still in shock,’ Katie replied. ‘My hair must have turned white with fright. I’d look in a mirror, but I never like what I see.’

‘No,’ James commented absently, ‘you wouldn’t like it very much. You’re a mess, Katie. Now, please let’s concentrate on the problems at hand. We just need to piece everything together logically, scientifically.’

Striding over to the schoolroom blackboard, James took up a piece of chalk and began to write rapidly. ‘We’ll lay out the facts in diagram form, that way we can see the problems and solutions more clearly.’

As the chalk dust flew, Katie muttered, ‘Solutions, good luck.’

But James ignored her, covering the blackboard with names, interlocking circles and arrows.

‘I begin to see the connections now,’ he said, moving his index finger rapidly across the board. ‘Lucia belongs to this group, the Verus. She uses Bernardo DuQuelle as some kind of agent. She also knows, and fears, Mr Belzen. Now Belzen is using the Black Tide to gain whatever he is after. The Black Tide in turn is using Mr MacKenzie, who is the connection to the Royal Family. And then there’s DuQuelle to the Royal Family, Katie to Alice…’

Alice strained with concentration. This was worse than the royal progenitors. Henry I through William Rufus was nothing to this.

But James O’Reilly was excited. For some people, there’s nothing that clears the mind like a good diagram.

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