by Kat Zaccard
The music slowed and we found a gentle rhythm. I knew we were garnering looks, but I didn’t care. This was my first dance with Diego. The rest of the room faded into background noise. We got lost in the music and each other’s eyes for a few moments. But then the spell broke as the music and magic drifted away. Diego bowed formally to me and guided me off the floor. I wanted to say something, but I was tongue-tied. I couldn’t say anything to change how things stood between us. I was still engaged. He was still … Diego. Noble to a fault.
Nadia interrupted us and steered me away from Diego.
“It was one dance, Nadia.” I jumped to my defense.
“I don’t care about that. At least you danced with Logan first. A dance with Diego just makes your tête-à-tête with Anatoly less suspicious.”
“Oh, please!” I was annoyed by these archaic rules. For all of werewolf diversity and gender equality, there were still some backward ways of doing things.
“Hush, now, there’s a rumor going around that you brought a weapon into the palace?”
“What? That’s ridiculous!”
Before we could continue, I saw the Queen Regent heading my way, with Jillian on her heels.
Jillian looked different, like a deflated balloon. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her, just a bit. She’d lost her grandma, and she had to watch me dance with her boyfriend. Jillian was not having a good time at the ball. Her dress was a lovely black couture ball gown with feathers sewn into the skirt of the dress. The upper bodice glistened with obsidian. Her mother wore white. The Queen’s dress was form-fitting with an asymmetrical scalloped bodice and floor-sweeping hemline. Gold thread wove patterns of vines through the dress. It was lovely, if a bit severe. I noticed she wore a golden crown. It wasn’t the traditional crown of the Great Pack, and I had the feeling she’d had it made to match her dress.
“Your Majesty, Jillian, it’s nice to see you both,” I greeted them.
Nadia hated when I used the word nice. “Could there be a more bland and banal term in the English language?” she had lamented, followed by a string of Japanese that I hadn’t understood. I’d reminded her I didn’t speak Japanese, but she had waved me off. Now, however, she barely noticed my greeting as she analyzed Jillian and her mother shrewdly.
“Ah, dear niece, you look lovely. I see you got the memo this time about the black and white ball?”
I smiled back at her through gritted teeth. Then I turned to Jillian with genuine remorse. “I am so sorry for your loss.”
Jillian looked up at me, surprised. “Thank you,” she muttered.
Queen Christina narrowed her eyes. “Yes, it was a shame. But I’ve come to admire your necklace. I’ve heard the most ridiculous rumor!”
The Queen Regent leaned over, reaching for my neck. I took a step back, but she was too quick for me. She grabbed my pendant to examine it more closely. With a barely contained yelp, she dropped the pendant as if she’d been burned. The sound drew attention from nearby guests pretending not to eavesdrop on our conversation.
“What in the world are you playing at?” she hissed menacingly at me.
“What do you mean?”
She held up her hand. Lotus-shaped burn marks were scorched on her fingers and palm.
“Guards!” she called to her nearest royal guard.
Nadia stepped in. “It’s obvious she didn’t know.”
A few royal guards joined us, as did my own security detail, Diego and Becky.
“What did I do now?” I complained as I fiddled with my pendant nervously. Petulance crept into my voice, and I eyed the guards around me. I was tired of my ignorant mistakes.
Princess Saanvi joined us. “So it’s true! Look how the metal doesn’t harm her.”
We were definitely drawing a crowd now. Whispers of “alpha powers” and “Great Queen” drifted through the din.
A guard stepped in. “The Queen needs medical attention. Somebody seize that weapon.” He gestured toward me.
“Weapon! What weapon?” I asked.
“I’m not touching it!” another guard replied.
Guests had crowded around and were muttering to each other. Cameras flashed and the Queen Regent screamed for them to stop taking pictures. Nadia was arguing on my behalf while Christina was demanding I be locked up for treason.
I looked around helplessly. Diego was there by my side, a steady warmth and source of comfort. “What did I do?” I asked.
He looked at me with a grim face. “It’s your necklace, Princess. It’s silver.”
“So?”
“Silver is poisonous to werewolves.”
“Seriously?” I threw up my arms in an “I can’t believe this!” sort of way. Diego’s mask cracked a grin.
Prince Ulric was now defending me to the Queen. “We cannot arrest your successor to the throne. She has committed no treason. You grabbed her necklace. She did not force it in your hand. If anything, she was defending an assault.”
Queen Christina rounded on Ulric. “You dare!” was all she could sputter.
“There, there, Christina.” Saanvi was the voice of reason. “Let’s get you cleaned up. Clearly no one else can touch the pendant anyway. The Princess will have to remove the object herself.”
She turned to me. “I recommend you do so now, Your Highness. Have the item sent back to your vault. Such an item should not be at school either.”
Nadia was already one step ahead of her, ushering me out of the room with Diego and Becky hot on our heels. The Queen Regent was still making a scene, though she seemed to be taking Saanvi’s advice and going to the infirmary.
Chapter 18
The next day dawned, and I dressed for the council meeting. My silver necklace was carefully wrapped and sent with the Luna Diadem back to my family’s vault. I had expected a scolding from Nadia. Once we were out of earshot, however, she had laughed uproariously about the incident. This was not the Nadia I knew!
“Did you see her face?” she’d asked. “There’s nothing Christina likes better than a show of power, but you were the one on display tonight!”
I wasn’t sure burning the Queen was my best tactic, but Nadia had shrugged off my worry. “It’s too late. And now we know something valuable. You cannot be burned by silver! And after last night, soon everyone else will know it too!”
“So I’m guessing this is another alpha power thing? But aren’t we trying to keep those under wraps?”
“Well some of the cats are out of the bag. We have only nine months to go until your birthday and coronation. It may be advantageous to have some of your alpha powers revealed.”
Nadia also knew about my telepathy while in wolf form. I’d told her during one of our afternoon teas. She concurred with Jack that I should keep quiet about it. She knew I had more than average days under the moon but didn’t know I was a Sliver. I was afraid to tell her about my alpha influence. I didn’t quite have a handle on that one myself, and I wasn’t sure she’d still support a leader with even a minor form of mind control. But the closer we became, the more I felt compelled to tell her … eventually.
I was not looking forward to the council meeting this afternoon. When I arrived at the High Council chambers, everyone stopped talking and turned to look at me. I nodded a greeting and walked past the stunned group to my chair to the right of the throne. The Queen Regent came in before I had time to talk to my neighbor. She was followed by Jillian. Jillian still had that downtrodden look so unfamiliar on her usually haughty features. I expected to see her head held high in triumph, but she barely glanced up from her shoes.
The Queen sat next to me without a word. Surreptitiously, I noticed her bandaged hand. Jillian moved to take her grandmother’s seat, the Reynolds seat. Christina clacked her marble egg-shaped gavel and called the meeting to order.
“As you know, my family lost its matriarch this past month. While we mourn the loss of Barbara Reynolds, I am rather pleased to announce my daughter, Jillian, as the next Reynolds to take her seat.” The
re was a smattering of applause as Jillian sat down. Nadia looked thoughtful, and I wished she was seated next to me so I could ask her what she thought of this latest development. Barbara had supported my annulment … perhaps on the behest of her granddaughter? Maybe Jillian would support the annulment as well. But this wasn’t the fierce and snobby Jillian I knew. This was her mother’s daughter, maybe her mother’s puppet.
The meeting proceeded with its formalities. We reviewed the increasing upyr threat, which the Queen Regent tried to downplay. I grew angry, thinking that she had the upyr king in her back pocket, so of course she didn’t fear an attack. As far as I knew, I was the only one at risk … well, me and anyone who got in their way.
Still, the council wasn’t as complacent as they’d been over the summer. More and more reports of upyr attacks were coming in. The dead doe found on Mt. Henley’s grounds was of great concern to the royal clans that had family members enrolled. The council voted to increase security, impose a curfew, and to circulate pamphlets to caution the public about the upyr threat.
Duke Aleksandr argued that we still weren’t doing enough, but his protests were largely ignored. The majority of the council members led rich and lazy lives. Duke Aleksandr was a Sliver, a general in his own right, and had the most experience fighting the upyr back in Russia. I was surprised the council members didn’t value his input more. But Nadia had cautioned me that at the end of the day they were an elitist group who believed their money and status would shield them from any outside threat. I wasn’t so complacent.
After the meeting adjourned, I chatted with some of the members. Most of them wanted to ask me about my ability to hold silver. I told them I’d never really liked silver, and it usually turned my skin green. Aleksandr had laughed at that and showed me an odd scar that almost looked like a bike chain.
“This is what silver does to most wolves,” He had pulled up his sleeve to reveal the garish red scar.
“I didn’t think anything but an upyr bite could scar a werewolf,” I said, unconsciously rubbing the jagged silver scar near my collarbone.
Aleksandr narrowed his eyes, frowning at my battle scar. “Upyr bites and silver are the only weapons that leave permanent marks.” His eyes darted to my smooth, unmarked hands. “For most anyway,” he added.
I spotted Jillian standing alone by the window and cautiously approached her. “Hey.”
Jillian glanced at me then back out the window. “Hey,” she answered flatly.
“How are you holding up?”
She snorted. “As if you really care.”
“I do care, Jillian. Believe it or not, I actually liked your grandmother. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”
“No, you really can’t,” Jillian retorted, still looking out the window.
“I’m sorry for your loss. Barbara once told me that nothing was more important than family.”
Jillian stiffened and a tear rolled down her cheek. I turned to go, but thought I heard her whisper, “Thanks.”
I left the council chambers to find Sir Henry and Becky waiting for me just outside the door. They were like shadows; I couldn’t shake them if I wanted to. I told them I wanted to walk through the gardens and headed back to my room for a coat. Diego was standing guard at my door. He glanced at me but said nothing.
Grabbing my jacket, I made a snap decision. I told Henry and Becky to get my luggage to the plane and insisted Diego guard me on my walk. They had protested, but I used my royal privilege and threw my wolf into the command for good measure.
Once outside, Diego stopped to scold me. “We’re trying to protect you, Alice. You need to let us do our jobs.”
“I am letting you.” I was surprised by his attitude and a little hurt. I thought he’d want some time alone with me. Maybe I was wrong.
“I felt your wolf influence them,” Diego admonished. I was startled. He felt that? How? He was preoccupied and didn’t seem to consider how odd that was.
“I… I wasn’t really trying to,” I stammered. “I mean, I was trying a little, but I really, I thought it only worked when I was a wolf, like the telepathy.” Even as I said it, though, I wondered if it was true. There were times I felt I was drawing on my inner wolf for strength. Maybe there were times I was doing more than that?
“Believe me, there’s no way Sir Henry would leave your side if you hadn’t influenced him.”
“I’m sorry.” I really was. I hated that I resorted to mind games, like literal, actual mind games. And I hadn’t even stopped to consider the consequences. I felt like a monster, more so than an upyr.
“I believe you.” Diego’s anger dissipated as quickly as it had rolled in. He gently lifted my chin so I would look up again. “It is nice out here.” He smiled and gestured at the snow-covered gardens. I was relieved he could forgive me so readily. I couldn’t do that yet, but I did have another mission.
“I do have an ulterior motive,” I admitted. Diego raised his eyebrows, and I hurried on before he got the wrong idea. “I have to meet someone.”
“Oh.” Diego’s face fell like the London Bridge.
“Not like that, you dirty bird! I’m talking about Pierre, my birth father’s valet.” We headed toward the ornate garden maze of towering evergreens. I told Diego how Pierre Grenier had witnessed my father’s murder, had abandoned tracking them to deliver me to Gwendolyn, and had approached me in the hedge maze last year.
I worried that Pierre wouldn’t meet me in the maze if Diego was with me. Diego turned deaf ears to my protests, insisting he had to stay with me. I hoped that Pierre would risk it. We made our way to the center of the maze, where the large gilded statue of my mother stood. She towered over me, regal on her pedestal surrounded by running wolves. She looked so young, just eighteen when she posed for the statue. She could have been my sister, we were so close in age. It was strange to see this stranger with my features staring out through blank gold eyes. I blinked back a few tears, thinking of what I’d lost and the baby brother who’d never drawn a breath. I’d learned so much about them, but there was so much more I’d never know.
A twig snapped and I whirled around. Diego already had the intruder in a head lock. The intruder was flailing about in his royal blue palace uniform. I recognized his lidded eyes and small stature.
“Diego, release him. This is Pierre. Pierre, Diego.” I introduced the two as they disentangled from each other. Pierre eyed Diego warily. Diego returned the favor.
“Your Majesty, an honor as always.” Pierre swept a formal bow so low I thought his nose would brush the snow-covered path.
“Pierre, a pleasure. Diego is my friend; you can speak freely in front of him.”
“Hmm, I hesitated to approach you, but I was glad to see you finally had a guard.” I smiled at the rebuke. Everyone thought I took my safety far too lightly.
He took off his hat and twirled it nervously in his hands. He was short, stocky, and nervous-looking.
“My Queen, I fear I have failed you. I cannot find the midwife. I don’t know where she went.” He looked down at his polished shoes. My first thought was that those shoes would get ruined in the snow. But one look at his forlorn face and I knew fashion was furthest from his mind.
“Pierre, it’s okay. You tried your best.” I didn’t know if that was true, but he was so sincerely upset at his failure.
“I did discover that Cordelia had a daughter, Trinity. I’ve made inquiries to see if I can find her daughter.”
“Well, that’s something! Trinity, huh? Trinity Cope.”
Diego started. “Cope?”
“Yeah, the midwife at my birth was named Cordelia Cope. When my father took baby-me out of the room, he was locked out of my mother’s labor room. Cordelia was with my mother and brother when they died. Only she knows what really happened to them.” Instinctively, Diego reached for my hand and squeezed when I mentioned my loss.
“Well, I don’t know a Cordelia or a Trinity, but I do know a Tryna Cope.”
Chap
ter 19
The plane ride back to Mount Henley was a quiet one, each of us lost in our own thoughts. I wanted to talk to Diego more, but we didn’t have any privacy. Ms. Grizzle was glaring looks at him anyway. She was the epitome of propriety and furious that I’d danced with Diego at the ball. The pictures were all over page six of the Royal Herald. The headline read: ‘Fireworks at the Winter Ball.’ And there were lots of photographs: me dancing with Logan, Anatoly, and Diego; shots of the Queen grabbing at my neck; another one of me looking perplexed with an angry screaming Queen behind me. It was horrible.
I had to shelf that problem, though, for I had a more immediate concern. When we got home to Mt. Henley, I gathered Hayley, Shea, Sara, Lola, Fanya, and Damka for an emergency meeting of the Fur Patrol in my quarters. I filled them in on the events at the palace and told them my big revelation. Diego had reminded me that the secretary for Headmaster Giovanni was named Ms. Cope. “Miss Cope’s first name is Tryna. It could be short for Trinity!” I finished excitedly.
“I don’t know,” Lola cautioned. “That’s a bit of a stretch.”
“What other leads do we have?” I asked.
Sara gave Lola a pointed look. “I think it’s as good a lead as any.”
“Let’s go check it out!” Hayley jumped to her feet.
I grabbed her hand to pull her back down to the sofa. “We can’t just go barging in there demanding answers. If she is Trinity, she might not know anything about it.”
“But if she is, she must know where her mother is!” reasoned Damka.
“Maybe,” Shea, an orphan, responded bitterly.
I turned to Shea with concern. She was ever the optimist. But now that I looked at her, she seemed glum. I wondered what had happened over the holidays with Adam’s family, but I didn’t want to ask in front of everyone else.
“I think you should ask her when you have your next civics lesson,” Sara said pragmatically.
“I agree.”
“So,” Hayley drawled mischievously. “Can we talk about this now?” She pulled out the latest edition of the Royal Herald, and I groaned. I filled them in on the gossip from the dance including Jillian’s loss and the Queen Regent grabbing my necklace.