“I see.” This answer set the wheels of thought in motion. I could almost hear the gears turning in her mind.
“It’s actually quite helpful for me too,” Jamie put in casually, sipping at the remains of her coffee. She sat quite at her leisure in the chair, looking entirely elegant and self-assured. “I know so little about magic and what all it can do, I often don’t think to question if it’s there. The glasses they issue at the department can see it, but it doesn’t really tell me much except where a magical presence is. Henri, of course, can not only see it but dissect it.”
“Yes, I can imagine how that would be beneficial during an investigation. My own Kingsmen are normally magicians for that reason. That, and the dangers they face often require magical expertise to defend against.” Queen Regina put her fork down with a deliberateness that did not escape me. It seemed we were now on the second part of her agenda. “Aside from hearing the details of Joseph’s case, I wanted to speak with you more candidly on another matter. Jamie, I’ve asked you this before. I’ll ask it again. Will you join my Kingsmen?”
Jamie pursed her lips and didn’t answer immediately. My heart beat loudly enough I felt sure everyone in the room could hear it.
Queen Regina’s expression went mildly wicked, as she turned up the flames a bit higher. “Of course I mean that invitation for both you and Dr. Davenforth. Doctor, you’ve proven to be both adaptable and competent. I adore that combination beyond reasoning. It’s why I’ve continually invited Jamie to join us. I understood her hesitancy to do so, and I’ve not pushed, but I do wish for her knowledge and expertise to be more readily available to me.”
And she’d made it clear already that she didn’t want to join without me. I cast Jamie a glance, not sure if she’d changed her mind since we last spoke of this. I found the idea intriguing, to be frank. The work would surely be interesting and I did adore a good mental challenge. My position at the precinct was becoming routine and predictable. I wouldn’t mind a change of pace.
Something of this must have shown on my face as Jamie perked up, her eyebrows lifting into her hairline. “Really?”
A wide smile crossed my face. “I’m game if you are.”
“Well, if you put it like that…” she demurred and then saucily winked at me.
Queen Regina clapped her hands together, looking back and forth between us with a hopeful expression. “Yes? Is that a yes?”
“Provisionally,” Jamie answered, waving her down. “I still think I’m a bit too new to this world to leap into the fray. Let’s start as consultants, see how well that works. In another year, we can come back to this question and revisit it.”
She was so pleased to finally get an agreement, Queen Regina immediately nodded without any hesitation. “Done. I’ll put forth the correct orders and paperwork for you immediately. Both Gibson and Sherard have told me point blank that if you agreed, you’d work directly with them. Is that acceptable?”
More than. It eased my nerves as well, as I knew I could work well with both of them. “I’d be delighted to work with them.”
“Same,” Jamie agreed forthrightly. “I assume we’ll need a little training about Kingsmen protocol before we start?”
Gibson, still standing at the ready near the door, cleared his throat. “I’ll handle that.”
More protocols to memorize. I mentally sighed in resignation. “And what of Weiss?”
Queen Regina’s jaw jutted out in a stubborn tilt. “He answers to me. They are, after all, MY Kingsmen.”
And I was not fool enough to follow that up with another question.
Her good humor returned and she clapped her hands together again. The queen was too dignified to bounce in her chair, but I had the notion she was on some internal level. “I’m so happy you both agreed! I look forward to working with you.”
I looked to my partner, noted the bright smile on her face, and shared it with one of my own. “So are we.”
Two months later
Ellie and I giggled like teenage girls over a boy as we offloaded the new motorcycle. She’d put together a sidecar according to my descriptions, so the motorcycle wasn’t quite the two-wheeler I’d initially requested. But Ellie deserved to be along for the test ride, and really, if the thing broke down partway through this test, we’d need her and her tools to fix it again.
She popped into the sidecar while I threw a leg over the bike, getting settled. I wore a helmet and goggles, because I wasn’t an idiot, and because this country road had more curves than a hag’s wrinkled face. Starting the engine, I listened to it purr, a wicked smile crossing over my face.
Of course Ellie caught it and she giggled again, settling her tool bag between her feet. “You’re going to punch it, aren’t you?”
“Duh. Of course.” I looked at the speedometer as I revved the beauty up. This lovely machine could do eighty, an unheard-of thing in this world, and I literally could not wait to go a proper speed for once. “Ready?”
Ellie threw a fist into the air. “Go!”
I put both legs up against the bike and hit the throttle wide open, pouring on the gas. We didn’t pop a wheelie, not with the sidecar attached, but I could hear the tires spin before they caught traction against the pavement. The bike took off in a shot and I laughed when we passed fifty. The wind in my face felt good, the speed of the bike even better, and I barely slowed for the curves at all.
My friend gripped the front of the car, but not in a death grip, not like certain people would have done. There was a wide smile on her face too, and she seemed entranced by the speed.
I drove and let the sensations of country side, mowed grass, summer heat and the vibrations of the motor between my legs wash over me. For a moment, just a moment, I felt like I’d never left home. That I was on Earth, with a good friend next to me, and nothing but the open road ahead of us. Then a motorcar crested the hill, spoiling the illusion. A pang hit my heart but it was alright. I was more or less resigned to being in this world now. And I couldn’t unwish being here.
Shaking off the strange mood, I saw a gravelly pull-off area to the right, near a four-road crossing. I slowed and pulled over, letting the engine idle. “How is it?”
“She’s running like a dream,” Ellie responded, practically bouncing in her seat. “I want a go.”
“Well yeah, she’s your baby too.” I swung off and we switched places so Ellie could drive for a while. As I settled, my knees tucked up against my chest, I asked her, “Anything you want to change?”
“I think the tires need to be a little wider, like you suggested. Not sure where we’d get them made, but I’ll track a supplier down.” She patted the bike with a proud stroke of fingers over the gauges. “And I think the brakes could use some adjustment. You’re having to brake far ahead of where you need to stop.”
‘Modern’ brakes weren’t used to stopping anything going at this speed, so it made sense. “I think the steering needs a bit of tightening, too.”
“Oh? Alright, let me feel it for myself.” Ellie cast me a glance as she casually promised, “I think I can get you your own bike done in another month or so. Need a sidecar to go with it?”
Something about the way she asked got my curiosity up. “Well, yeah. I might need it at some point.”
A smirk toyed around Ellie’s mouth. “For Henri.”
I snorted at the idea. “Henri? You think I’ll be able to get Henri in this thing? He’ll see it as a deathtrap and find reasons to avoid it.”
“You really think so?” Her smirk widened to the point of being enigmatic. “I think he’ll climb in if you’re the one asking.”
Just what was she hinting at…? No, never mind. I’d figure it out later. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we? You ready?”
“Absolutely.” Ellie revved the engine and cackled. We took off once more, the bike steadily gaining speed as Ellie adjusted to going over thirty miles an hour. When she hit eighty, the engine roaring, I saw her light up under the goggles and knew an adrenal
ine addict had just been born. Or maybe reborn was the proper way to say it.
Either way, suggesting a bike that could go over a hundred would be an easy sell.
Settling back, I laughed and enjoyed the ride.
• Sampni – it’s a fruit, kinda a mix between mango and passionfruit. Really yummy. I can drink my weight in this tea, no kidding.
• Cold tea – is not a thing here. Kingston views cold tea the way the Brits back home think of cold tea. America, WHAT ARE YOU DOING kind of outrage. I think I might have to give this one up as a lost cause.
• FINALLY FOUND SOY SAUCE. It comes from a tree, oddly enough. Kinda like a maple extract.
Air quality in Kingston is starting to get bad. I remember reading that the air quality around the major cities during the Industrial Revolution was really awful. I now see what they mean. I’ve got a bug in Ellie’s ear about putting an air purifier on the mufflers of the cars. Maybe I can put another bug in Queen Regina’s ear too?
I have found the equivalent of IKEA. Only it’s a magical store. It is APALLING how that place is laid out. I was lost in there for hours until Sherard rescued me. I learned very quickly that you cannot trust the arrows painted on the floor; that if you mispronounce any of the product names, you can accidentally summon demons; and worse, walls shift and appear out of nowhere! I refuse to go back in there again.
Kingstonisms:
• At a rate of knots – to go at top speed, or driving very fast
• Dead on end – when something is lined up perfectly with something else
• Don’t hand me a line – when someone is too busy talking and not actually doing the work
• Dragging your anchor – being impeded by something or acting in a tired manner
• Flogging the glass – leaving your watch ahead of schedule, originated by shaking an hour glass to make time go by faster
• A fluky – light wind that doesn’t blow steadily from any direction, variable
• In the drink – someone that has fallen into the water
• Leading light – someone who marks the way or is a leader, comes from it being customary to mark the entry to a port with a line of leading lights to show the way
• Coddiwomple – to travel purposefully to an as of yet unknown destination
Days of the Week
Earth – Draiocht
Sunday – Gods Day
Monday – Gather Day
Tuesday – Brew Day
Wednesday – Bind Day
Thursday – Hex Day
Friday – Scribe Day
Saturday – Rest Day
Months
Earth – Draiocht
January – Old Moon
July – Hay Moon
February – Snow Moon
August – Corn Moon
March – Crow Moon
September – Harvest Moon
April – Seed Moon
October – Hunter’s Moon
May – Hare Moon
November – Frost Moon
June – Rose Moon
December – Blue Moon
Werespecies: werehorses, wereowls, weremules, werefoxes, weredogs, werebadger
Other books by Honor Raconteur
Published by Raconteur House
♫ Available in Audiobook! ♫
THE ADVENT MAGE CYCLE
Jaunten ♫
Magus ♫
Advent ♫
Balancer ♫
ADVENT MAGE NOVELS
Advent Mage Compendium
The Dragon’s Mage ♫
The Lost Mage
WARLORDS (ADVENT MAGE)
Warlords Rising
Warlords Ascending
Warlords Reigning
THE ARTIFACTOR SERIES
The Child Prince ♫
The Dreamer’s Curse ♫
The Scofflaw Magician
The Canard Case
The Fae Artifactor
THE CASE FILES OF HENRI DAVENFORTH
Magic and the Shinigami Detective
Charms and Death and Explosions (oh my)
Magic Outside the Box
DEEPWOODS SAGA
Deepwoods ♫
Blackstone
Fallen Ward
Origins
FAMILIAR AND THE MAGE
The Human Familiar
The Void Mage
Remnants
Echoes
GÆLDORCRÆFT FORCES
Call to Quarters
IMAGINEERS
Imagineer
KINGMAKERS
Arrows of Change ♫
Arrows of Promise
Arrows of Revolution
KINGSLAYER
Kingslayer ♫
Sovran at War ♫
SINGLE TITLES
Special Forces 01
Midnight Quest
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~Honor
Honor Raconteur is a sucker for a good fantasy. Despite reading it for decades now, she’s never grown tired of the magical world. She likely never will. In between writing books, she trains and plays with her dogs, eats far too much chocolate, and attempts insane things like aerial dance.
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