by S. J. West
“Shh,” I warned with a finger bisecting my lips. “Emily is in the next room. I would rather not have to explain more about the situation than I must to her.”
“What the hell were you thinking, Emma?” Aleksander demanded but at a more subdued volume. “You could have been killed if that dragon had attacked you instead of Fallon.”
I didn’t feel the time was appropriate to correct Aleksander. The dragon had indeed attacked me first but it didn’t seem prudent to share such knowledge with the Chromis king considering the rich foulness of his mood.
“We both made it back alive,” I replied, considering the matter closed.
“Him just barely,” Aleksander jerked his head towards Fallon, “and you because you got lucky. There’s a reason the wall was built: to keep people on this side of it safe from the things that live over there.”
“I did what I felt was right.” I unconsciously crossed my arms over my chest, taking a defensive stance.
Aleksander walked towards me until we were only standing a hand’s width apart from each other. I had to lift my chin in order to meet his gaze and was surprised to find his eyes filled with worry.
“I care a great deal for you, Emma,” he whispered, a small hint of desperation in his voice urging me to believe his words. “Whether you believe that to be true or not, I don’t know. But, did you even consider what your death would have done to me and Dena? What was so important that you had to risk your life to do it?”
My arms slowly fell back to my sides. I felt completely disarmed of my righteous indignation by Aleksander’s heartfelt concern over my welfare.
“It was never my intention to cause you worry. You weren’t even supposed to know I was gone.”
Aleksander reached out a hand, grabbing one of mine, tenderly entwining our fingers together as he closed the small gap between us.
“I don’t know what sort of man I would become if I lost you, Emma.”
“What do you mean?” I whispered, hopelessly confused by his statement.
His free hand cupped one side of my face tracing the outline of my cheekbone softly with the pad of his thumb.
The warmth and closeness of Aleksander’s body enveloped me in intimate intoxication. I felt lightheaded by his presence and increasingly shy of his undisguised romantic advances.
“Sometimes I feel like there’s a demon inside me waiting for an excuse to take control of who I am,” he confided. “If you weren’t here, I’m afraid it might win.”
“Why would you let it?”
“What would be the point of trying to be the kind of man you deserve if you’re not here anymore? Whatever good I have inside of me is because of you. I’ve always loved you, Emma. Even before you were forced to marry my brother, I loved you.”
Aleksander slowly bent his head down to mine. I knew what his intentions were and felt helpless to stop him, unable to reconcile my feelings for him in those few seconds.
“If you’re going to kiss her, would you mind doing it in the other room? I’m sick enough as it is without the show.”
I stepped back from Aleksander and looked at Fallon who was now awake and staring directly at us. I could only classify his expression as one of mild disgust at the scene he had awakened to.
I let go of Aleksander’s hand and walked around to Fallon’s bedside, finding a new determination to handle one problem at a time. Fallon had almost lost his life to help me find the origin of the plagues; to him I owed undying gratitude for his sacrifice.
“How are you feeling?” I asked him, willing my flaming cheeks to loose their shy heat from Aleksander’s romantic confessions.
Fallon raised a disappointed eyebrow at me. “Nauseous.”
Gabriel came into the room, once again acting as my saving grace, this time from embarrassment over my reaction to Aleksander. The male automaton whom usually brought me my dresses for formal functions walked in behind Gabriel carrying a large black leather bag overflowing with white bandages.
“Good, you’re awake,” Gabriel said, holding the door open for the automaton as it walked into the room and sat the bag down on the bedside table nearest Fallon.
“I’ve brought you some medicine which should heal the infection but the dressings will need to be changed and the medicine reapplied once an hour. Max here will be doing that for you and monitoring your condition during the night.”
Fallon looked at the automaton. “I didn’t think these things had names like that.”
“No, they usually don’t,” Gabriel conceded. “But I refuse to call him VS30, doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. Besides, I’ve found he has a talent for the healing arts.”
“I do not mind the name Max,” the automaton said, turning to look at Gabriel. “I rather like it.”
“Good,” Gabriel said with a nod of his head. “Now let me show you what needs to be done.”
I watched as Gabriel instructed Max on how to take care of Fallon and marveled at how well the automaton took directions. Why I was surprised by this, I have no idea. Most automatons were adept at picking up almost any trade skill quickly. It was their whole reason for being.
As Max was wrapping new bandages around Fallon’s wounds, I saw Gabriel take a dropper glass from his bag and place two drops of the contents into a small glass of water. He handed it to Fallon once the automaton was finished and simply said, “Drink.”
Without question, Fallon drank the water and handed the glass back to Gabriel. Even before Fallon had put his head back on his pillow, he was fast asleep.
I looked at Gabriel. “Sleeping potion?”
Gabriel shrugged. “He wouldn’t get a good night’s rest otherwise since the dressings need to be changed so often. Sleep is the best thing for him right now.”
“Come get me from my quarters if his condition worsens,” Gabriel said to Max as we all prepared to leave the room.
Once we were all in the drawing room, Gabriel turned to Aleksander.
“I have some parliamentary business to discuss with the Queen. Perhaps tomorrow would be a better time to give you the answers you want about her excursion into fae territory.”
Subtlety was always a strong suit of Gabriel’s. Aleksander took the hint graciously and bowed before me.
“I will see you tomorrow then,” he said, capturing me with his eyes as he lifted his head. Quite unexpectedly, he winked and grinned at me causing me to involuntarily smile back.
Ever the one to keep a watchful eye on things around him, Gabriel walked to the door leading out of my chambers and opened it for Aleksander.
“Have a good evening, Aleksander. We will try to find time tomorrow to speak with you. The Queen may be tied up in parliament for the better part of the morning though.”
Aleksander turned towards the door and walked outside into the hallway. He turned around once there and looked back at me. The longing in his eyes was almost palpable showing a vulnerability I had not expected to see. I felt my heart quicken with want to comfort Aleksander just as Gabriel practically slammed the door in the other man’s face.
“Bad form, Gabriel,” I admonished. “Why are you always so rude to him?”
“And why are you always one step from falling into his arms like a love sick school girl?”
Gabriel’s anger and disappointment in me made me want to deflect his feelings towards another target.
“Perhaps because the Queen conceived a child with him before she died,” I snapped.
The anger on Gabriel’s face was instantly wiped clean. It was like watching a piece of glass being struck point and center by a rock, shattering from the middle outward until what lay behind it was completely naked.
I couldn’t imagine why Gabriel looked so hurt by my words. It wouldn’t be until much later I would fully understand the implications of my statement.
“I know of no child,” he said, his voice so faint I had to strain to hear him.
I shook my head back and forth as I considered the source of my information.
“I don’t know if it’s true,” I admitted. “But the fae woman who helped me patch Fallon up after the attack, the one I told you about named Lanai, she said I was carrying a male child and that he was two months old. Gabriel,” I pleaded in confused desperation, “can it be true? Could I be carrying a baby the Queen conceived before she died? Is that even possible?”
“I’m not sure,” it wasn’t very reassuring to have Gabriel look as confused as I felt. “Like I told you before, you’re the only female shifter I know. It’s hard to say whether such a thing is possible or not.”
“But I thought you said the Queen didn’t have a lover. The way Aleksander treats me it seems like they might have been. Would the Queen have kept such information from you?”
“I don’t know why she would,” Gabriel looked taken aback by such a thought.
“Maybe because she knew you wouldn’t approve,” my words came out with an upended lilt as more of a question than a statement of fact.
Gabriel’s eyes closed as if he was realizing he might not have known the Queen as well as he thought.
“It’s possible,” he whispered. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. “Could the baby be yours, Sarah? Have you been intimate with anyone?”
“How could you even ask me such a thing Gabriel? I thought you knew me better than that.”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized with a shake of his head. “But I had to ask.”
Gabriel’s grasp at a tenuous straw confirmed how much he didn’t want to believe Queen Emma kept such an important secret from him. A mutual silence fell between us until I couldn’t bear not knowing if I was actually pregnant or not.
“Is there a way to tell whether or not I’m pregnant? Is there a spell of some sort or can you tell as a doctor?”
“If Chromis is the father then it’s true, you would only be a couple of months pregnant. It’s virtually impossible to tell by medical means. But, I have heard of an enchantment which might be of use to us. Let me make some indiscreet inquiries. We don’t need a rumor being spread that you’re pregnant. The longer we can keep this hidden the better.”
“Why do you think the Queen wouldn’t tell you Gabriel? She seemed to trust you with everything in her life.”
The haunted look in Gabriel’s eyes told me he didn’t want to believe Queen Emma had kept the truth from him.
“Perhaps she didn’t know,” he reasoned. “She would have only missed one of her cycles before she contracted the plague. And if she did know, I’m sure she didn’t see the need in telling me we would be loosing two Vankars, not just one.”
“What are we going to do if it turns out that I am pregnant? What will we tell people?”
Gabriel took a deep breath, letting the air pass over his lips slowly as he thought about our predicament.
“Let’s cross that bridge when we have to. We have a more pressing matter to take care of first.”
“Why? Did something happen while I was gone?”
“Irondale called for a vote on the population bill today.”
“I thought that wasn’t supposed to be voted on until the end of session?”
“I believe he considered your illness and subsequent absence in the Hall today fortuitous. He took advantage of the situation and pushed up the vote.”
“Did it pass?”
“Yes.”
Shocked by hearing this news, I went to sit on the settee. Gabriel sat down beside me.
“Is there anything we can do?” I asked.
“Since the vote wasn’t unanimous, you can petition parliament to recast their votes.”
“How many members didn’t vote to pass the bill today?”
“Only two.”
“Two?”
“The Turcheck brothers both voted against it.”
“And how many would we need to persuade to overturn today’s vote?”
“You need fifty-one percent of the members to vote against it.”
“And if we don’t get fifty-one percent?”
“Then the first vote stands and we lose.”
The odds seemed insurmountable.
“How are we going to convince them to vote against Irondale?”
“I’ve talked with a few of the members and they agree Irondale should have waited until you were present. And I believe a few more will vote with you if we grant them special favors.”
“You mean we’re going to have to bribe them to do what’s right?”
Gabriel shrugged. “It may not be the best way but it’s the way politics works. You have to give to get sometimes.”
“Shouldn’t they just do what’s right all of the time?”
“Some of the members have practically lived in parliament their whole lives. They don’t remember their idyllic plans to make Vankara a better place for its citizens. They’ve become jaded and simply follow whoever is the strongest leader.”
“So you’re telling me they would rather follow Irondale than me at the moment.”
“Yes.”
“How do I turn this around, Gabriel? What can I say tomorrow to change their minds?”
Gabriel sighed as though we were already defeated. “Honestly, I’m not sure you can.”
Chapter 19
As I sat on the wooden throne in the Halls of Parliament, the voices of the delegates swirled around me like a gale of incoherent words. Some watched me with hooded eyes, waiting to see what I would say to dissuade them from voting yes to Irondale’s bill again. Others stared at me openly as if they were hoping I would give them good reason to turn their backs on one of the most influential and powerful men our nation has ever known.
Jeffery Irondale stood at his podium directly across from me shuffling through the papers in front of him. It was obvious he was trying his best to ignore me without it openly appearing that way. The good mannered people in the Hall would have abhorred such open disregard for royalty. I got the distinct feeling the Chief Prime Minister didn’t consider the Queen his match in the political realm in which he ruled so easily. It was almost as if he were simply humoring me by putting his bill up again for a second vote. His silent belittling of my station seemed inconsistent with the helpful, caring man I had first met on the night of Dena’s abduction. I hoped to prove to him and everyone else in the chamber I was not going to be a Queen who simply stood by and watched laws I considered not to be in the best interest of the country get passed.
Gabriel stood by my side, acting as a shield to protect me from the political trap falls surrounding me. We discussed the points I should make to dissuade the members from voting for Irondale’s population reconstruction bill again and knew Gabriel’s silent deals with certain members had pushed our numbers up to thirty percent against. It was now up to me to persuade another twenty-one percent of parliament to vote against the bill and save Vankara from self-destruction.
Irondale raised his iron gavel and slammed it against his podium, a motion instantly garnering the immediate attention of all the delegates.
“I now call to order this session of parliament,” he bellowed. “Please take your seats gentlemen and ladies so that we might deal with today’s agenda.”
An uneasy quiet settled over the room as if the delegates were expectantly waiting for the showdown between me and Irondale to begin.
“The first matter of business concerns the Queen’s request for a revote on the Population Reconstruction Bill, which was passed yesterday almost unanimously by this great governing body. She has asked to say a few words before the vote is retaken.” Irondale inclined his head to me. “Your majesty, the floor is yours.”
I indiscreetly took a deep breath, not willingly wanting anyone to see how nervous I was, and rose from my throne.
“Gentle ladies and men of parliament, I humbly ask you to consider my argument against the bill in question. I would first like to say thank you to Chief Prime Minister Irondale for constructing such a bill for the benefit of our countrymen. I believe it has brought light to the fact our natio
n needs to seek out ways to rebuild what has been taken from us so tragically in the past few years. I realize his only concern is for the people of this country but I fear the proposal, as it stands now, would further drag our people down into a situation they may never see fit to climb out of. It is my belief if we allow people to choose not to work and simply draw their living from the government we will in fact not be helping these people but inadvertently dooming them to lives where they expect the government to take care of all of their needs. In ten years time, do we expect these same people to go back to work after treating them like our children? I suspect we will end up having to take care of these people for the rest of their lives. And what of the children they produce during this time? We will end up having a generation of citizens who will have never seen their mothers and fathers work for what they have. Will these children assume the government will take care of them for the rest of their lives also? What good can come from dragging our people down into a pit of apathy about their own well being? If we are to rebuild our country, we should be looking for ways to make our people stronger, not weaker. If you pass this bill, we will end up going backwards, not forwards.”
“How would you have us rebuild this country, your majesty?” I looked to my left and saw Constance Wright, leader of the black party standing. “Do you have a better idea?”
From Constance’s tone, I knew she believed I didn’t have a counter proposal which was most likely the same thought as many in the hall that day. It was something Gabriel and I had planned for.
“With the help of my advisor Gabriel, we are drafting a bill which should be ready by the next session of parliament. In it we intend to incorporate the best parts of Chief Minister Irondale’s bill such as giving extra aid to families which produce more children than their jobs can afford to take care of but we will not be paying them to stay home all day and not work at all. Any family who wants the governments help will have to prove they are trying to support their family on their own. If sufficient proof is presented, we will help supplement their incomes until their children are of age to work. We also intend to add incentives to factory owners to provide jobs to the living and discontinue the use of automatons.”