Jennie bowed dutifully. “Anything you need, Your Majesty.”
“You really are my favorite,” Victoria told her. “Without you, I’d be left with those tiresome fops who want nothing more than to take the glory without delivering what is needed. You deliver for me every time without fail.”
Jennie gave a curt nod. “My purpose is to serve.”
“Oh, enough of the formalities.” Victoria waved away Jennie’s words. “I’ve called you here because I’ve got a job for you, and there’s a certain level of urgency to the task.”
Victoria detailed the job in full while concentrating on her painting. A group of specters calling themselves “The Summoners” were wreaking havoc in the East End and disrupting the public. Several mortals had called attention to the incidents, and now the British Government had contacted the court for assistance.
Jennie memorized every word Victoria said and had already begun working on a plan as she was dismissed and headed toward the door. She paused with her hand on the handle. “Your Majesty?”
“Hmm?”
“Why did you summon me here?” she asked. “This is against our usual process.”
“I know your history, King. You’re an avid theater-goer, a fan of the arts. I thought it’d help you to view your queen with more fondness if I shared my love of art, too.” She moved her hand to the corner of her mouth. “Plus, it’s so rare I get a chance to really indulge in my passion. You’ll understand I wanted more time here.”
“I understand.” Jennie nodded respectfully and opened the door.
“Before you go,” Victoria called.
Jennie leaned her head back into the room.
Victoria smiled. “Why don’t I show you my private collection?”
“Why me?”
Victoria considered this. “Because for some reason I can’t quite explain, I trust you.”
Buckingham Palace, London
The memory came back to Jennie with crystal clarity as she strode into the east wing of the third floor and retraced her steps of all those years ago.
An entire suite. A private residence built into the palace to allow monarchs to have some privacy. An apartment built into a house built into the palace—that’s what this was.
Jennie remembered her excitement when Victoria had led her to these chambers, and the sight as she passed through the doorway still took her breath away a century later.
A live-in gallery was all it could be described as. Jennie couldn’t believe it when she saw a familiar face snoozing in an armchair. Clad in a black dress robe and a white headpiece, she hadn’t aged.
“Your Majesty?” Jennie called softly.
Victoria started from her slumber, sitting up straight and looking wildly around her. “Porter? Is that you? I told you not to disturb me when I’m…” Her words trailed away when she saw Jennie. “Genevieve? What are you doing here?”
Jennie looked at Victoria incredulously as the wraiths made themselves visible behind her.
Victoria looked at the wraiths and muttered a simple, “Oh, blast!”
Jennie sat with Victoria for a long while with the wraiths standing guard.
Victoria told Jennie everything—how as the years had passed, she had tired of the day-to-day operations of running the paranormal court. There was only so long she could deal with petty politics and scheming. The constant demands were a weight she had to bear.
After ruling the mortal world for sixty-three years and ruling the spectral realm for another fifty or so, she had grown tired and wanted to let someone else take the wheel for a while.
Porter and Yasmine had offered to take over for her, introducing Victoria to the shapeshifting specter. Seeing her opportunity, she took it. “They’d check in with me every few days to ask questions as necessary, and there you have it. Simple, really.”
“What have you been doing all these years?” Jennie asked.
Victoria looked around with a crazed expression. “Painting. Resting. Learning. Ruling from afar.”
Jennie took the opportunity to explain the turmoil the paranormal kingdom had found itself in. She explained how Porter and Yasmine had abused their power and recruited criminals into the order of the court. She described the fight with the Messino brothers in New York and the civil unrest that had begun to break out across the spectral world.
“The spectral kingdom is on the brink of anarchy,” Jennie finished. “No matter what your loyal subjects set out to do with your empire, they’ve created what could very likely be the next Paranormal War.”
Victoria thought about that for a long moment, occasionally glancing at her predecessors, who had remained quiet through the recounting.
When she finally spoke, Jennie wasn’t expecting what came out of her mouth.
“Well?” Victoria asked. “What’s the problem?”
Jennie stared at her, stunned. “Are you kidding me? Porter and Yasmine and their Obake friend have degraded the integrity of the court. They’ve lied, cheated, and hurt those around them, and now the secret is out. Your Majesty, if stability isn’t found soon, there will be an all-out war.”
“They’ve performed exactly as I asked,” Victoria replied. “The empire still exists, and I’m still queen. I was the longest-ruling queen in life until my damn great-great-granddaughter took the title. I will be the longest-ruling queen in death.”
“You’re not ruling,” Jennie contested quietly. “You’re just hiding.”
Victoria spun on her. “What do you want from me? Do you know how difficult it is to run an empire? We have specters across the globe demanding my attention at all hours of the day. You try dealing with India, Africa, America, Europe, and every fucking island in the Mediterranean. The Paranormal Empire might be impressive, but it’s a lot to maintain.”
“Then leave some of it to me.” The words left Jennie’s mouth before she was aware she was thinking them.
She had never taken the slightest interest in ruling, but after everything she’d seen in the last few weeks, she felt a sudden need to provide stability.
Victoria looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. “Excuse me?”
This time Jennie said it with conviction. “Leave some of it to me. You said it yourself— the volume of problems is cumbersome. I’ll take some of the load.”
Victoria scoffed. “You?”
“Why not?” Jennie shrugged. “I’ve served by your side for over a hundred years. I’ve seen every layer of the paranormal court, and I know it like the back of my hand.”
Victoria stammered. “I couldn’t… You can’t possibly be serious?”
“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.” Now that Jennie thought about it, the words rolled off her tongue. She grew excited at the prospect. “America is in the worst state of turmoil. Following New York, turf wars are springing up all over the country. That place is touchy at the best of times. How’s it going to be after this?”
Victoria nodded.
“They were the last ones you were trying to reign in.” Jennie continued. “Efforts aren’t going well. I will do you a solid and leave this country in order to restore peace overseas.”
“Why would I let you do that?” Victoria asked. “According to Porter, we were making progress. We had established connections with the government and assisting in dealing with some of their longer-standing issues.”
Jennie met Victoria with a determined stare. “You’re not going to let me. I’m going to take it.”
A pregnant pause passed between them.
“I’m sorry,” the queen enunciated in a low voice. “Did I mishear you?”
Jennie shook her head. “You did not. The way I see it, there’s only one option here. I am under no obligation to serve you, the country, or the paranormal court anymore. I’m beyond disappointed that I looked up to you, and you turned out to be a coward. You, on the other hand… Well, you have thousands of faithful specters who still believe in you and don’t know the truth behind e
verything that has transpired. I’ll leave your piss-poor excuse for a domain and show the world what justice truly looks like. You will leave me alone, and I won’t hear so much as a peep from your court unless I call for backup. You got that?”
Jennie extended a hand toward Victoria, who appeared incredulous at the offer. Her face moved through a kaleidoscope of emotions, from entertained to concerned to confused before she frowned and gritted her teeth. “You’re blackmailing the queen of England? In front of her kin?”
Jennie gave a half-shrug. “You’ve disgraced the country and your empire in front of them. Whose side do you think they’re on right now?”
Victoria stared at Canute for a long moment before sighing and taking Jennie’s hand. “You had better know what you’re doing out there,” she warned.
“I never know what I’m doing,” Jennie replied, walking away. “I work it out along the way.”
Epilogue
London
Shortly after Jennie left Buckingham Palace, a public order was issued by the real Queen Victoria, ending the search for Rogue across London.
Porter Sykes was demoted to the lower levels of the paranormal court and spent his time formulating plans to regain his high station, although that was likely never going to happen.
After the real queen returned to her throne, she found her passion rekindled enough to warrant identifying a new set of obedient lapdogs who hadn’t threatened her entire order and failed to keep the whole damn thing secret.
Upon leaving Buckingham Palace, Jennie found her comrades in the cells below the palace and brought George back to her place beneath the Savoy theater. There they remained for several days, celebrating their victory and discussing Jennie’s plans for America, each specter completely behind the idea of bringing a new order into being.
“That’s a tall order,” Baxter exclaimed, laughing one night as they drew plans on a large sheet of paper in the center of Jennie’s living room. “You’ve seen what the US is capable of, and that was just on a tiny island. Imagine what it’ll be like on the West Coast or in the South.”
“Every great idea starts somewhere,” Jennie told him with a broad grin on her face. She held a mimosa in each hand, and there were a few empty glasses on the table in front of her. “All we’ve got to do is find a way to execute and bring peace to our transatlantic spectral cousins.”
“But won’t starting a new order get us to the same endpoint as the paranormal court?” Carolyn asked, sitting so close to Feng Mian that he looked uncomfortable. “We’ll end up right where we are now.”
George shook his head emphatically. His bruises were starting to heal, and only a thin line remained where Porter had cut him. “This is Rogue we’re talking about.”
Jennie raised one of her drinks. “I’ve told you, George. My friends call me Jenny.”
George chuckled, a playful look in his eye. “Since when did the great and powerful Rogue have friends?”
Jennie blushed, wondering how she had spent so much of her life alone when being surrounded by people who cared about her was like this.
“It’ll be different because the heart of the organization will be about building peace among specters,” Jennie told Carolyn. “It won’t be mandatory to join, but we will be there for mortals and specters alike. We will fight for specters to have the right to choose how they live their lives, and we will become the reigning independent union that unites everyone and restores peace. We’ll be everything the queen’s court should have been. Everything it once was.”
Baxter looked at Jennie with eager eyes.
“What?” Jennie said uncertainly. “What are you thinking?”
Baxter grinned. “I’ve got the perfect name for it. Your real name is Genevieve King, right?”
They all waited expectantly.
“The King’s Court!”
Jennie rolled her eyes and laughed. “We’ll see.”
THE END
Steel Dragons
If you enjoyed this book, you might also enjoy the Steel Dragons series by Kevin McLaughlin and Michael Anderle. Book One is Steel Dragons, and it’s available now at Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited.
Dragons rule the world. Their claws are into every aspect of human life, from government to industry. But Kristen Hall is about to throw a wrench into all of that.
Because she’s a dragon, too. She just doesn’t know it…yet!
A dragon raised by humans, in the human world.
After graduating from the police academy, she’s dropped right into the ranks of Detroit’s elite SWAT team. A rookie, in SWAT? Unheard of. But what the dragons want, they get.
The reasons behind their machinations become clear as her dragon powers begin to surface.
Will Kristen rise to the challenges her new life delivers? What designs do the dragons have for her future? And perhaps most pressing of all — how did she come to be a dragon with human parents?
Grab your copy today at Amazon
Author Notes Michael Anderle
December 23, 2019
Thank you for reading our stories, it means the world to us!
Thank you for reading ROGUE – the first three books in the In Her Majesty's Paranormal Service series. With these books, I collaborated to bring a story that somewhat mimicked the history of the United States and England.
Except in the paranormal world, the two countries have never separated.
Rogue is trying to deal with keeping the peace, but the existing power structures are making that harder and harder to accomplish. Read the next set of stories to find out WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!
(It will be a total surprise, I promise!)
In 2020, I’m going to try to introduce our readers to many of the people who make things happen behind the scenes producing the stories for our fans. In these Author Notes, I’m going to introduce Lynne Stiegler from Editor of Editors Inc. (She has a real company name, but this name is much better.)
I bet you she just edited the paragraph above and put in the real company name, didn’t you Lynne? (Editor note: I’ll just mention it’s SkyHunter Partners. But now I’m considering changing it.)
I met Lynne (what seems like a long time ago) via Facebook. She had been sick and so decided to read the Kurtherian Gambit and enjoyed the stories. The editing?
Not so much.
Reaching out, she mentioned her background (editing) and that her husband Marc Stiegler (who I hope will answer these questions in the future) had worked with Baen Books.
A company that has a lot of authors I really enjoy, and she had done editing for them, as well.
One thing led to another, and I asked for some help with our projects. Fortunately for me, Lynne knew her stuff and (almost) anything I threw at her, she caught deftly and made it happen on the editing front. (Editor’s Note: What is this “almost” you speak of Michael? My catcher’s mitt is totally worn out!)
In fact, at the beginning of 2018, I told the company I wanted to accomplish four hundred titles in 2019. By September, she had her team capable of doing 2,000,000 (two million) words of editing per month (which they surpassed in August of this year), and those of us responsible for producing 400 titles had no clue what we needed to do yet.
Suffice to say, she and her team made the rest of us scramble ;-)
Lynne is witty with a quick smile. Loves her dogs and can read at freakishly amazing speeds. (Yes, I mean freakish. There is quick. Fast (me), super-fast, ludicrous speed, and freakishly amazing reading speed, which is where Lynne resides.)
On to The Questions.
1. What turns you on?
Intelligence and wit. Oh, and snappy comebacks that use same and aren’t cruel. And beautiful smiles that come from the heart. We have a lot of people who deliver those in LMBPN.
>>The beautiful smiles, we are usually ok with snappy comebacks – but Lynne has made Stephen Campbell and I blush more than her with some of her “snappy” comebacks.<< (Lynne Note: Privilege of being an old broad. I can say what I
want.
2. What turns you off?
Willful ignorance. People who have access to all the knowledge in the world and insist only their worldview is correct.
>>Suffice to say, Lynne and I occasionally butt heads but I always listen and occasionally come around to a modified way of thinking because she is willing to wait my stubborn ass out. For an editor, she is surprisingly easy-going.<<
3. Who do you most admire? Why?
Seriously? And I’m not sucking up. Right now, Michael Anderle. He is the energizer bunny of publishers. The man never stops working, but he’s never too busy for a quick quip or a hug. And he truly cares about people. That’s rare and precious in this world. He has a grace I envy.
>>No comment ;-) – I can’t make it any better than it is.<<
4. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Helicopter pilot. I have been a business analyst, a database programmer, a computer professor, a public administrator, a legal secretary, and a florist. Let’s go big or go home.
5. What profession would you not like to do?
Anything having to do with politics or customer service. I’m totally WYSIWIG, don’t suffer fools gladly, and diplomacy is NOT my middle name.
6. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?
All of your dogs are right over there That, or “That’ll do, Pig. That’ll do.” (Babe)
>>”That will do donkey, that will do…”
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