“Their most likely destination is the keep,” said Justine. “That is where they are strongest and safest. If I were planning a defense, it is certainly where I would choose.”
“Then we’ll attack the keep,” said Catherine. “Four of us against Margaret Trelawny, Mrs. Raymond, and a wounded Queen Tera, in a fortress designed to keep out invaders. Easy peasy, as Diana always says.”
“Are you being ironic?” asked Justine.
“Of course I’m being ironic. We caught them by surprise today. We’re not going to catch them by surprise tomorrow. It looks as though Mrs. Raymond has been practicing throwing lightning bolts, although she’s nowhere near as good as Queen Tera. How are we going to fight them? I have no idea.” She sounded angry, which didn’t help anything, she knew that. But she was deeply worried. If Mrs. Raymond or Margaret Trelawny hurt Mary, she would tear them limb from limb.
As they disembarked at one of the small natural harbors that appeared around Marazion at high tide, they all shook hands with Isaac except Diana, who was already halfway up the stone steps carved out of the cliff. He leaned down to kiss Beatrice’s gloved hand. Catherine wondered what Clarence would think of that!
“I am only sorry that we cannot help you further,” he said. “But our instructions were very clear—save the Queen, and then return immediately to London. There is still a great deal of work to do there—Moriarty’s allies remain in positions of power. They must be our immediate priority until they no longer threaten to topple the government. But I shall let Mr. Holmes know of this situation and the continuing threat Queen Tera poses. She did not succeed today, but I am certain she will try again.”
“That’s all right,” said Catherine. “We’ll save Mary, and Alice, and Sherlock Holmes. Somehow.” Even to herself, she did not sound confident.
They followed Diana up the steps to the top of the cliff and then down Turnpike Road to the inn. When Catherine stepped through the inn door and followed the smell of supper being served in the dining room, she saw Diana standing at one of the tables, with an enormous grin on her face.
“Look who I found,” she said.
Seated at the table were Ayesha, Laura Jennings, and Lucinda Van Helsing.
CHAPTER XVI
The Battle of Kyllion Keep
Mary opened her eyes and immediately closed them again. Her head was throbbing
“Mary. Miss Jekyll.”
She turned toward the voice instinctively—the voice in the world she most wanted to hear, which meant that it couldn’t be real. It must be a hallucination.
“Mary, look at me. I need to determine whether you have a concussion.”
She opened her eyes. There, above her, was the solemn, concerned, and, if she had to admit it, beloved face of Sherlock Holmes.
“Miss Mary.” It was Alice, hovering anxiously at the periphery of her vision. Oh, thank goodness! She held out one hand toward Alice, who took it in both of hers.
“Alice!” she said. “Are you—I mean, can you talk to me now? Talk freely?”
“Yes, miss.” Alice looked down at her anxiously. “You do know I was just pretending to be with Helen—with my mother, so I could help Mr. Holmes? I would never betray you or the Athena Club.”
“Of course,” said Mary. “But that doesn’t matter now. Where are we? My head feels as though it’s a bowling ball and someone has been using it to knock down pins.”
She tried to sit up, but the room was spinning around her and she had to lie back down again.
“Don’t try to get up, not yet,” said Sherlock Holmes. “How many fingers am I holding up?” He held up three fingers on his other hand.
“Eight, like an octopus,” she said.
He smiled. “I think you’ll be fine. I’m going to get you some water. In a little while, you may be recovered enough to eat something.”
“Where am I?” she asked. It was embarrassing talking to him while lying on the floor like this, but she did not have much choice.
“In the dungeon of Kyllion Keep,” said Alice. “My mother and Margaret brought you last night. I don’t know what happened, but Margaret is very angry. Did they kidnap Queen Victoria?”
“I don’t think so,” said Mary. She tried to remember what had happened. She had shot Queen Tera in the shoulder—she recalled that distinctly. Then a gray fog had filled the room so she could no longer see Tera or any of the others. The next thing she could recall was lying, tied up, on the bottom of a boat. It was obviously moving on the water, because she could hear the lapping of waves and its motion made her ill.
“I told you to kill her,” Margaret Trelawny had been saying.
“I fully intend to,” Mrs. Raymond had replied. “As soon as we find out who she’s working for and what we’re up against. At first I thought she and her friends were just a group of meddling girls, come to steal my daughter back to be their servant again. But they’re obviously more than that. Who arranged to light the beacon fire? It was obviously lit to warn the Queen away from the island. Have allies of Moriarty’s discovered what we’ve done? Are they trying to thwart us for reasons of their own? Or has someone in the government discovered our plans? There’s more going on here than we thought. We have enemies, and I want to find out who they are. Once she tells us, I will gladly dispatch her myself.”
So their plan had worked! From where she was lying on the bottom of the boat, Mary could not see anything but the gray clouds overhead, so she raised herself up on one elbow. Yes, there was the tower of St. Michael’s Mount, with the beacon fire on top, still flickering against the dark sky.
“I don’t think so, missy,” Mrs. Raymond had said in her nastiest voice. “I’ll deal with you when I have the time. Until then, I want you to sleep. Close your eyes, like a good girl.” The last thing Mary remembered was the sensation of her body slumping and hitting the wooden hull.
“I think we saved the Queen,” she said to Alice. “That, at least, we got right. And Queen Tera is wounded, but I don’t know how long that will last. I suspect she has the power to heal herself.”
“If they had succeeded in kidnapping Her Majesty,” said Holmes, “they would already have left for London. Instead, they are still here. We heard them this morning, moving about, through the door. We do not know what they will do now, or why they continue to keep us here. But I think we must try, once again, to get out.”
“How?” asked Mary. “If we’re in a dungeon, that is. I mean, if Diana were here, she would be able to do it. But I can’t open locks the way she can.”
“I don’t suppose you happen to have a hairpin or anything else sharp about you?” asked Holmes. “I studied with one of the most notorious lockpicks in London. If I had the proper instruments… Here, drink this.” He handed her water in a tin cup.
Did she? Last night her hair had been braided and pinned up. Today—Mary sat up, fighting the sense of nausea that swept over her, and drank a few sips of the water, then the whole cup. She had not realized how thirsty she was! Her braid swung down her back—no pins. She was still dressed in a parlor maid’s outfit, but her cap and apron were gone. Of course, so was her pistol. Someone, probably Mrs. Raymond, had taken anything she could have used to attempt an escape. There were scratches over her hands and wrists. She remembered—a mirror had shattered, and she had held up her hands to ward off the pieces of flying glass.
“I washed your hands with some of our water,” said Holmes. “I’m afraid we don’t have any soap, but none of the wounds are serious. When you’ve recovered some of your strength, can you tell me what happened? It seems I have missed a great deal.”
“Yes, of course.” She nodded. “Could I have some more water? And perhaps something to eat.” That might help settle her stomach.
“Why don’t we all have breakfast?” he said. “Then you can tell us what has been going on in the world outside these stone walls. And then we can try once again to open the lock.”
Open the lock how? Hadn’t they already established that
none of them had the proper tools? But Mary was too tired to inquire further. She merely nodded and took whatever Alice handed her. She began eating it mechanically. It was a piece of brown bread, spread with orange marmalade. The bread was dry and not particularly appetizing, but she devoured it nonetheless.
MARY: Cat, I wish you would leave out the parts about me and Sherlock. They’re—well, they’re private.
CATHERINE: But that’s what our readers want to know most of all—did Mary and Sherlock Holmes, you know. I mean, I’ve had letters from American readers in particular asking about the two of you. Readers are curious.
MARY: Well, that’s just rude!
“Do not assume that yesterday’s wound will seriously weaken Queen Tera,” said Ayesha. “The priestesses of Isis were healers before they were anything else. She will not be able to heal herself completely overnight, unless she has more of the oil she used to kill Moriarty and the others—and good riddance to them, particularly Raymond and Seward! It was one of our most secret recipes, and has the ability to concentrate energic power. In that case, I cannot predict her strength. But even if she cannot fully heal, she will be stronger than you expect.”
They were once again sitting in the dining room of the inn, but this time morning light streamed through the window. They had just finished breakfast, according to their various dietary requirements—and thank you, Mrs. Davies, for putting up with the idiosyncrasies of the Athena Club! Catherine looked with amusement at the President of the Alchemical Society. She was probably the most unusual sight the Marazion Inn had ever seen, with her ageless beauty, her hundred long, dark braids, and her eyes outlined with kohl. Even though she was sitting, you could tell that she was taller than most men.
“What do you think she intends to do?” asked Justine. Illogically, Catherine was pleased that Ayesha was not, at least, taller than Justine, although how that was relevant to anything she had no idea.
Ayesha frowned. “I believe that with Margaret Trelawny and Helen Raymond, she is attempting to re-create what she had at the temple of Isis—an inner circle of priestesses who were absolutely loyal to her. It was they who would have broken our vows and fought the soldiers of Octavian, they who prepared her body for interment and resurrection. Their first plan may have failed, but Tera will not stop attempting to create an empire to rival that of Rome.”
“But why?” asked Justine. “Why does she wish to establish an empire in the modern world? Are the current empires, cruel and venal as they are, not enough?”
“Tera is two thousand years old,” said Ayesha, “but she has not lived two thousand years. She remembers only a world of great empires. She was once queen of all Egypt, and I believe she longs for that power again. Before we engage her in battle, I shall attempt to reason with her. I shall explain to her the folly of this plan. But I fear that she will not listen. If she does not, you must be prepared to fight her as well as Margaret and Helen. You should expect them to fight fiercely on her behalf, with every weapon at their disposal, as her priestesses did at Philae.”
“We can fight anything they have, except mesmerism,” said Catherine. “How do we fight Tera’s and Mrs. Raymond’s illusions?”
“I shall try to take care of that,” said Ayesha. “I want all of you to concentrate on Margaret Trelawny and Helen Raymond. Also, on finding Mary, Lydia Raymond, and Sherlock Holmes. Catherine, Justine, Beatrice, and Lucinda: you shall find and fight the two women. You each have powers that will help you defeat them. Laura and Diana: I want you to search the keep from top to bottom. Find Mary, Lydia, and Holmes, and get them out of there as quickly as possible.”
“Why don’t I get to fight?” asked Diana. “I have powers too!”
“Because your power is finding and opening,” said Ayesha. “You always say you can find anything, do you not? And you can open all the doors, or so you have insisted. Laura has a pistol and will protect you.”
“Oh. Right, then.” Diana looked especially aware of her own importance.
“Should we try to conceal ourselves in some way?” asked Justine. “Perhaps circle and approach the keep from the back?”
Ayesha shook her head. “There is no point in concealment. They will know we are coming. Tera will be able to sense our presence—especially mine.”
“Let’s go,” said Catherine. “The sun is up, it’s not raining or fogging or whatever else the weather does here.… What are we waiting for?”
Ayesha smiled. “Very well, then. Let us go defeat Queen Tera—or convince her to surrender, if we can. I hope this will end peacefully, so there is no need to fight after all. But you should be prepared to do so.”
MARY: Why do you think Ayesha helped us? I mean, I don’t think she even particularly likes us, except for Beatrice.
BEATRICE: That is not true! She has said several times that she respects the Athena Club and its members.
MARY: Respect is not the same as like—it just means she doesn’t blast us to bits when she sees us. But she didn’t have to come all that way to help fight Queen Tera.
CATHERINE: She didn’t come for us. She came for Tera. She came to see her old High Priestess, who was threatening to destroy the world. I wouldn’t say that Ayesha is on our side, but she’s not on the other side either. She’s not our enemy.
MARY: Maybe. I haven’t made up my mind about that yet. I think the evidence is inconclusive.
An hour later, Catherine and the others were standing in front of Kyllion Keep, which towered against the sky. The storm had passed. The sky was no longer a gray expanse. It was filled with clouds in long white furrows, and sunlight fell fitfully over the stones of the keep. The morning air was cold. Catherine, who was always cold in England except on the hottest summer days, shivered.
She looked at Ayesha, standing in the middle of the crescent they made: herself and Justine on one side, Beatrice and Lucinda on the other. Catherine was the only one with a pistol, but she was also prepared to fight with tooth and claw if necessary.
DIANA: You don’t have claws anymore. Moreau made sure of that.
MARY: Now that was entirely uncalled for. You may be mad at Catherine, but there’s no reason to be cruel.
DIANA: Well, maybe we’re even now.
Diana and Laura were somewhere on the other side of the keep. “Even a fortress has more than one door,” Laura had said. “Let’s go look for a back way in. I’m sure we’ll find one if we look carefully.”
Ayesha presented a formidable figure. Today, she was dressed in a long black coat over what appeared to be black bloomers. Her outfit had gold stars on it. It had taken a while for Catherine to realize they represented the constellations. Her black braids hung down her back, past her waist.
They had been standing there for several minutes. During those minutes, Ayesha had not said or done anything. She was just standing there. What was she waiting for?
A figure appeared at the window above the front entrance of the keep. It was Queen Tera, in a white robe like the one she had been wearing yesterday. There was no blood on her shoulder, and she did not appear to be wounded or weakened in any way.
She looked down at them and said something in a language Catherine did not understand.
“Yes, High Priestess,” said Ayesha. “I too have survived into this new era. Let us speak the language of this country so the others may understand.”
“It is an ugly language,” said Tera. Her voice was harsh, her accent strange to Catherine’s ears. “But it is good to see you, my daughter in Isis. I have been lonely among these infants, who have never seen Memphis, or Alexandria, or Rome. They imagine their empire is magnificent—this edifice of a day, this moth that flutters for an hour. It was built only a hundred years ago, but already it begins to crumble and crack. Have you come to join me in remaking the world? I will allow you to be my second in command, as Heduana was before she betrayed me. But you shall not betray me, will you, Princess of Meroë? You see, I remember you well, Ayesha. When I felt your presence outside the
se walls, I was pleased. And these others, no doubt they are your servants in this new world. How is it you have lived so long? You must have discovered some secret that even the priestesses of Isis did not know. You will share it with me, and I shall give you a portion of this world to rule for your own, as Alexander gave Egypt to Ptolemy. Would you like this wretched island of England? Or perhaps you would prefer a land with better weather?”
“Forgive me, mother in Isis,” said Ayesha, “but I have not come to help you conquer an empire. I want no more empires. In my long life, I have seen for myself the misery they cause. After your death, Rome destroyed Egypt, as this British Empire destroyed my adopted homeland around the Zambesi. Already, as you say, the empires of this world are breaking apart. I look forward to a new day of science, when man may be ruled by rationality rather than fear and brute force. Will you not join me in creating such a world? As Queen, you were the one effective ruler of Egypt for a generation. As High Priestess, you taught us to heal, to harness the energic powers of the Earth. In this new world, you could become a teacher, a scientist, a voice for reason and order. Why do you now want to create an empire?”
Tera looked down at them. Her ruby scarab glowed in the morning light. “Daughter, for two thousand years I lay entombed. All that time, I dreamed, and what I dreamed was that someday, I would create a great empire, greater than that of Octavian, which would accomplish all you desire—under my rule. In that empire, all men would be forced to lay down their arms, to take up productive employment rather than exploiting one another, to become better than themselves. War, poverty, hunger would be at an end. All would be equal—prejudice would be eradicated. Any who oppressed or used violence against another would be struck down by the power of Isis. It would be a world made perfect and peaceful, ruled by the priestesses of Isis—calmly, rationally, and for the greatest good of the greatest number.”
The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl Page 36