The Stroke of Eleven by Kyle Robert Shultz

Author:Kyle Robert Shultz [Shultz, Kyle Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781973426417
Published: 2017-12-08T21:49:59+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

I Hate Robots

“It’s not Molly,” said Crispin, without hesitation. “Molly is dead.”

Cordelia stared at our seemingly-resurrected friend. “Forgive me if I’m having a little difficulty believing that right now.”

“The spirit of Lady Margaret Beaumont no longer resides in this body,” the woman said in Molly’s voice. “She made a bargain with me. We agreed that I would help to save her beloved, and she would pass on and let me take her place in the mortal realm. I possess her memories, but not her soul.”

“Y-you’re—” I stammered. “You’re her, then. The Unqueen. The Little Mermaid.”

She raised her hand. A long tendril of water rose from the lake and wrapped around me. I struggled in vain to break free as it lifted me from the ground and began squeezing the air out of my lungs.

“I prefer not to be called ‘little,’” she said. “I will permit it only once.”

Crispin summoned a cloud of runes and aimed them at the Unqueen. “Put him down. Now.”

The woman that had been Molly lowered her hand, and I fell to the ground with a loud splash. I crouched on all fours, coughing and spluttering as water dripped from my fur.

“My name,” said the Unqueen, “which you never bothered to learn for some reason, is Lara. I suggest you remember it.”

“Hang on,” said Cordelia, “let’s go back to the ‘Your Majesty’ thing. You’re the Queen of Camelot now? Seriously?”

“Certain groups on the fringes of the country would debate that,” said Crispin. “But she’s the Queen of Talesend, at least. She rules from the Lake of Avalon and uses the selkies to enforce her rule. The Selkie Nation broke away from the Undine when they invaded the Afterlands.”

“There’s less debate now,” said Lara. “You’ve been in that castle nearly three years, Crispin. It’s 1946. My rule has expanded.”

Crispin’s face went pale. “Three years.”

Lara smirked. “Worried about your darling Alice? I haven’t captured her yet, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

I’d nearly forgotten about the girl in the photograph I’d taken from “Kanin,” but I didn’t have time to ask about it now. “What do you want with us?” I said to Lara as I got up from the ground. “We’ve no quarrel with you.”

“I’m afraid you do,” said Lara. “You see, I know about your plan to unravel the spell on the Castle of Basile.” She glanced at the castle walls looming a short distance away. “A brave effort, but I can’t allow it.”

“It’s got nothing to do with you!” said Cordelia.

“Don’t be dense, Cordelia,” said Lara. “It has everything to do with me. The only reason I’m here, freed from the dark corners of Molly Beaumont’s insufferably cheerful brain, is because you and Nick got lost in that castle to begin with. If you hadn’t, Crispin and Molly would never have gone to Warrengate—or, at least, you’d have been able to rescue them. Then Molly wouldn’t have had to make her desperate choice to free me. Most likely, she’d still be alive, and I’d still be trapped.

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