Vow of Deception: Ministry of Curiosities, Book #9

by C. J. Archer

  I caught a glimpse of the clock on the table as we gathered in the entrance hall. I should have been getting married in three hours. It seemed like a fantasy now.

  "Alice, stay here until I call you," I said. "Seth, Gus, put down your weapons." I pushed open the door before either man could protest.

  I put up my hands in surrender. Beside me, Seth and Gus did the same. We looked out to the soldiers swarming our lawn, spreading as far as the eye could see to left and right. The catapult was already loaded, a team of men drawing back a boulder ready to release it.

  "Stop!" I cried. "I'll give you Alice!"

  "Charlie," Seth hissed. "What are you doing?"

  "Trust me, Seth. Please."

  The leader on the horse put up a hand to halt his men. The team stopped but did not disarm their catapult.

  "Where is she?" the commander demanded. He was not terribly old but he had the weathered features of an experienced soldier and the bearing of a man used to command. His stature, sitting erect on the biggest horse, was impressive. Where his men wore red jackets with white breeches, his uniform was entirely black. The gold buttons and watch added a handsome elegance.

  "She's inside," I called back. "She will only go with you if you stop laying seige to the house."

  "Naturally," the commander said.

  "And on one other condition."

  I felt the gazes of both Seth and Gus on me.

  "And that is?" the commander shouted.

  "That you help us capture her enemy in this realm first."

  Beside me, Seth grunted. "I like your thinking, but they'll never agree to it."

  The commander leaned on the saddle pommel and shifted his weight. "Why would I do that? We outnumber you." He indicated his army behind him. "We can just take her."

  "You could try," I said. "But she'll kill herself before she lets you. She's inside now, holding a gun to her temple. If you refuse my request and storm the house, she'll fire it."

  He cocked his head to the side. "Gun?"

  One of other riders came up to him and said something. He was considerably younger than the commander. He spoke in tones that didn't carry to us, but whatever he said held the commander's attention. When he finished speaking, they both looked at us.

  "Well?" I asked. "Will you help us in exchange for Alice?"

  The commander shifted his weight forward again and I realized he did that when he was thinking. The advisor beside him said something. He looked to be in earnest.

  The commander nodded. "Miss Alice will be returning to Wonderland to stand trial," he called out to us. "If she is found guilty, she will die anyway. Here or there, it matters not."

  "Jesus," Gus muttered.

  "I don't believe you," I said. "You would not be negotiating with me if it didn't matter. You would have taken her before now, dead or alive. But I suspect you don't want to deny your queen a trial."

  The distance between us was great, but I could just make out the commander's grunt. The advisor nodded sagely. My hunch was correct then—Alice was worth more to them alive than dead. She was, after all, the queen's niece, and the Queen of Hearts wanted her to face trial in Wonderland.

  At the advisor's prompting, the commander nodded. "We agree! But I want to see Miss Alice first."

  "No!" Seth shouted back.

  "I am here," came Alice's voice behind us. She held a pistol to her head.

  The commander straightened. The advisor closed his eyes in relief. Then he opened them and wheeled his horse back to the line of soldiers. He ordered them to stand down, to lower their weapons. They obeyed him and the commander did not seem to care that his underling was barking orders at his men.

  "What now?" Seth asked me.

  "Now we approach," I said. "Carefully. Alice, take my hand. We'll go together."

  "I don't like this," Seth said.

  "We ain't got no choice," Gus told him.

  "Charlie," whispered Cook from the doorway. "Want me to ride to Marchbank?"

  "The Gillinghams' first," I said. "Tell Harriet to meet us at Swinburn's house. Then inform Lord Marchbank."

  Alice's hand touched mine. I held it firmly and gave her a grim smile. I wanted to reassure her, tell her it would be all right, and that I knew what I was doing.

  But I couldn't offer her false hope. I did not know if my plan would work. The more I thought about it, the more I doubted that we could pull it off. So many things could go wrong.

  We walked together to stand before the commander. Seth and Gus stood behind us. The commander's steely gaze flicked over them then me and settled on Alice.

  He bowed his head. "Miss Alice."

  She clutched me tighter. "Who are you?"

  "Loren Ironside, General of the Wonderland Army. We have met but you were too young to remember."

  "Clearly."

  He grunted, as if her off-handed comment amused him. She hadn't meant to be funny.

  The advisor returned. He too bowed his head. "Princess—" At a sharp glare from General Ironside, the advisor coughed. "Miss Alice. It's a pleasure to see you again."

  "We've met too, I suppose," she said. "When I was young and living in Wonderland."

  "I was ten when you…left, and I remember you well. Markell Ironside, at your service."

  I glanced between the two men and saw the resemblance. Both had clear, clever green eyes and dark hair, although the general's was tinged with gray. Where the general had probably been handsome when he was the advisor's age, the burdens of battle had settled into the tired grooves across his forehead and hardened the set of his mouth.

  "Father and son?" Alice asked.

  "Guilty," Markell Ironside said with a quirk of his lips.

  The general grunted again and I still could not decipher what it meant. He was harder to read than Lincoln.

  "Tell me, sirs, what is all this about?" Alice asked. "Why am I under arrest for treason?"

  "There'll be time to discuss it later." The general wheeled his horse around. "Get on the cart. All of you. Take us to your enemy so we can vanquish them and go home."

  "Not vanquish," I said. "We need him alive."

  "Forgive him for being terse," the advisor whispered. "He's feeling his age."

  Under different circumstances I would have liked him.

  "This is not a joke," Seth snapped. He muttered something very rude under his breath.

  Gus jabbed him in his ribs with his elbow.

  "Mr. Ironside?" I asked as he led us to a nearby cart. "You called Alice a princess just now."

  "It's Sir Markell," said the cart driver. He glanced at Alice and dipped his head, although he kept his gaze on her. She nodded at him and he blushed.

  "Sir Markell?" I prompted.

  "She is the queen's niece," the advisor said. "Hence she is a princess. She has been stripped of that title, however, by order of Her Majesty."

  "Why does the queen think she committed treason? Alice came here as a little girl. She's done nothing wrong in your realm."

  He leaned on the pommel in the same way his father did. "It will all become clear in the trial."

  "But how can she prepare a defense if she doesn't know the charge?"

  "Enough questions!" bellowed the general, rejoining us. "Sir Markell, stay at the back of the line."

  The younger man rode off, but not before he took one last, long look at Alice.

  Seth huffed out a breath. "Prick."

  "Seth," I hissed. "Don't anger them."

  "You!" The general pointed to me. "What is your name?"

  "Charlie Holloway."

  "You are a commander, Charlie Holloway. Your people follow you. Are you queen in this realm?"

  Despite everything, I smiled. "No."

  He grunted then signaled for the cart driver to walk on. We jerked forward and fell into a steady rhythm. It didn't take long before Lichfield was far behind us, and the trees lining the edge of Hampstead Heath gave way to houses. The gray pall of central London shrouded the city ahead. It would
swallow us before long.

  "It's quite a walk," I told the general, riding ahead of us, his back stiff and head high.

  "My men are used to walking," he said without turning around.

  "We must move quickly." The sun had beaten back the dawn but still hung low on the horizon. Thanks to the early hour and being a Saturday, few commuters were out. Even so, we caused a sensation on the streets and considerable chaos for the traffic. Drivers waved their fists and shouted for us to move, once they got over their initial shock.

  "They'll think we're a circus troupe," Alice said. "I hope."

  "Ain't like Barnum and Bailey's," Gus said. "Remember that, Seth?"

  Seth didn't respond. He hunkered down, his knees drawn up, and glared at General Ironside's back. Seth was not a brooder, but these circumstances were far from normal. In Lincoln's absence, he must feel responsible for our safety.

  "It'll be all right," I told him. "Alice will not return to Wonderland."

  "Is that so?" he said darkly. "Then perhaps you can enlighten me. What happens after the army has destroyed Swinburn? How will you stop them taking Alice? Or killing us?"

  "The imp."

  "The imp that you do not have."

  I was saved from answering by the general riding back to ask for directions. We spent the rest of the journey directing him in between silences as deep and dark as a pit.

  The army was not silent, however. I could hear them marveling over some of our engineering feats, from the water pump to The Great Western Royal Hotel at Paddington Station. I could only guess what they'd make of a train if they saw one. They seemed somewhat primitive compared to us.

  "How big is this village?" asked the cart driver. He tilted his head to peer up at the roofs of the townhouses near Regents Park and whistled.

  "It's a city," I told him. "And you've only seen a small portion."

  The sight of Kensington Palace had him almost running off the road, but a sharp word from his general returned his focus.

  We arrived at Swinburn's house after an hour of brisk walking. It was still early for most of the upper classes but their servants were out and about.

  "Just a circus troupe passing through," Gus told them cheerfully. He waved. One or two waved back, but most simply stared.

  "Knock on that door there," I told the general when we arrived at Swinburn's house. "Ask for Sir Ignatius."

  The general ordered one of his men to do it. Jenkin the footman opened the door on the third knock and gasped. He fell back a step and tried to shut the door, but the soldier wedged himself into the gap.

  "Jenkin!" I called out. "Fetch Sir Ignatius immediately."

  Jenkin disappeared. A moment later, Swinburn stood in the doorway, dressed in a well-tailored dove-gray suit.

  "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. "Who are you?"

  "General Ironside of the Wonderland Army," the general said. "Is this him, Miss Alice?"

  Swinburn squinted. "Miss Holloway? Is that you? What the devil is going on?"

  I jumped down from the cart. One of the soldiers thrust his sword at my throat. The cold steel halted me in my tracks. Seth and Gus rose but I warned them not to make any rash moves.

  "This army is from another realm and they will destroy you," I told Swinburn. "Unless you have Lincoln released from jail."

  "His arrest is nothing to do with me! I can't get him released."

  "It's everything to do with you. You are pulling Mr. Yallop's strings, just like you pulled Mr. Salter's and Lady Harcourt's."

  "You're mad."

  "You committed those murders in the Old Nichol, didn't you?"

  He folded his arms over his chest. "And if I did?"

  Someone to my left gasped. It was Lord Ballantine, standing on his doorstep. Three of his pack mates stood with him.

  "Did you kill them?" Ballantine asked Swinburn.

  Swinburn ignored him and studied the general. "Tell your friends to disperse, Miss Holloway. I don't want any trouble."

  "Then come down here," the general commanded. "I will not see innocents suffer."

  "Thank you," I said. "You're a good man. Only Swinburn here must be vanquished, and only after he releases my intended."

  He grunted. "I do not have all day."

  "Send Jenkin to Mr. Yallop's house," I ordered Swinburn. "Tell him to release Lincoln now. The army will remain here until I see him safe and well."

  "Don't be absurd." Swinburn went to close the door. "I have no influence over Mr. Yallop or the police."

  "Yallop owes you money."

  He stilled. "That is irrelevant. I haven't spoken to him about the ministry."

  "Perhaps not directly. Perhaps the Duke of Edinburgh did it for you."

  "Be careful, Miss Holloway. I wouldn't suggest such a thing about a member of the royal family if I were you."

  "Then how about another suggestion. Did you kill Lady Harcourt?"

  "Pardon?"

  "Did you kill her? She was no longer of use to you, was she? And you prefer not to be burdened with a wife."

  Swinburn thrust out his chin. "I didn't kill her! What an absurd notion."

  "You do not look unhappy about her death."

  "No, you do not," said Ballantine approaching slowly and carefully. "You held a party last night after being informed of her death. I found it distasteful." Two of his pack mates nodded.

  The muscles in Swinburn's jaw bunched, his lips flattened. "Stop it, Ballantine. She's trying to drive us apart when we must be united now."

  Ballantine stopped advancing and lowered his head. "You're right. My apologies, sir."

  Damnation. I almost isolated Swinburn. It would have made it easier to attack him, if necessary. With his pack on his side, they would get hurt if they tried to defend him.

  "I am willing to take this all the way to the end, Swinburn," I said. "This army will not leave empty handed, and I am giving them you."

  "Why?" Swinburn addressed the general. "What do you get out of this arrangement?"

  "Someone we have spent years searching for." The general looked back at the cart.

  Alice thrust the gun under her chin, daring him to take her.

  The general muttered something under his breath and turned back to Swinburn.

  "You have outwitted General Ironside," came Sir Markell's quiet voice as he rode up beside me. "I commend you. It's not easy to best him but you have managed it."

  "Not yet," I said. "We seem to be at a standstill."

  "What will break it?"

  Death. I did not say it. Could not. Swinburn's blood was the only one I wanted on my hands, but I was afraid there would be much more.

  "Do as she says or I will attack," the general demanded of Swinburn. "Send your letter. Release the one named Lincoln."

  Swinburn crossed his arms and did not move.

  "Do it!" Seth shouted. He too jumped down from the cart to stand beside me.

  Sir Markell drew his sword and placed the point to Seth's throat. "No further."

  Seth scowled at him.

  "You harm a single one of my friends and I will pull this trigger," Alice cried. "I have nothing to live for anyway. My family abandoned me, no man will have a strange creature like me, and my future is unclear. So you see, I am standing on the edge and I will throw myself over it if I have to."

  The general merely grunted without turning around. His son, however, approached the cart. "Please don't, Princess." He spoke quietly so that his father wouldn't have heard. "Your parents would not want their hard work undone like this."

  Alice lowered the weapon to her lap and stared wide-eyed at the advisor. He steered his horse away and returned to me.

  "Will you send the letter?" I asked Swinburn.

  "I will not," he said.

  "Now what?" Seth muttered.

  "We think of something, and think quickly," I whispered.

  "You have tried and failed, Miss Holloway," Lord Ballantine said. "You don't really want to harm anyone. It's time for you to go.
People are beginning to stare."

  "I cannot go! Lincoln will be sent to jail if I fail. If you think I will just give up, you are sorely mistaken. Sir Ignatius!" I called to Swinburn. "Either you do as I say, or the army will kill your pack."

  Swinburn didn't move. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his pack huddle closer together.

  "Ignatius!" Ballantine shouted. "Do as she says. What does it matter if he's released or not?"

  Swinburn's lips curled up at the edges. "She won't give the order."

  "She might not," the general said, "but I will."

  "Change into your wolf forms," Swinburn ordered his pack. "Then attack them."

  "We can't beat all of them!" Ballantine cried. "There are too many!"

  Swinburn turned his icy glare onto him. "You're just like your father and grandfather. No wonder the leadership passed to me. You're spineless, as they were. I said," he roared, "change and attack!"

  "Wait!" The shout came from behind me. Dozens of feet shuffled as the army parted to allow the newcomer through. "Wait! Nobody attack!"

  "Harriet!" Relief flooded me at the sight of her.

  She held her belly with both hands and puffed heavily. She looked hot and drained, her waddling gait awkward as she approached us.

  "Seize her!" General Ironside commanded.

  "No!" his son blurted out. "She's with child."

  "Seize her gently."

  Two soldiers gripped her arms. She did not struggle, thank God.

  "Harriet, are you all right?" I asked.

  "No," she snapped. "I am very far from all right. I am as large as a house, my knees ache, and I feel ugly. I was fast asleep when Lady Vickers demanded I come here. What is the meaning of this?"

  "My mother?" Seth asked.

  "I sent her back to Lichfield with the cook."

  He nodded his thanks. "We're sorry you had to be dragged into this, but we need your help. Can you convince Swinburn to speak to Yallop and drop all charges against Fitzroy and the ministry? He might listen to you."

  "I doubt it," she muttered.

  "Just try!" I snapped. "Or are you on his side?"