you mean?”
“Is there any point going through the motions of a proving when you’ve already decided Valeria should succeed you?”
Her spymaster stirred from his position by the window. “Don’t address your mother like that, Leandra.”
Odious little man. How dare he chide me? He was probably sleeping with her again.
“Watch your own tongue. I’m not a child any more.”
Elizabeth waved us both to silence with an impatient hand. “No queen ‘decides’ on her heir. Your hostility would be better directed at your sisters. I have given you each enough money to get you started. You are free to seek any alliances you wish within the domain, except among the members of my own household.”
Her tone made it clear she thought the possibility of anyone allying with me unlikely. She might be in for a shock there. Not everyone considered her precious Valeria the obvious candidate.
“Aren’t you going to wish me luck, mother?” My whole life had been leading to this moment. Finally I could seize my fate with both hands. Luck had little to do with it. Who was better prepared? Who had the wits—and the right alliances—to outscheme and outlive the other four?
Her lip curled into a sneer. “The true queen doesn’t need luck. And the rest of you will find that no amount of luck will save you.”
“Kate? Kate!” Ben sounded urgent.
“Don’t yell. I’ve got a headache.”
I squinted at Ben, barely able to focus on his worried face. The pressure in my skull was unbelievable. If someone stuck a pin in my head it would explode into little pieces like a popped balloon. My mind whirled with fragments that dissolved as I tried to grasp at them: a cold face; a feeling of anger …
“I’m not yelling. You just kind of sagged in your seat as if you’d blacked out.”
“Did I?” It seemed to me we’d just been talking when he suddenly started yelling my name. Guess I’d have to take his word for it. With an effort, I turned my throbbing head to face forward again and watched the headlights sweep along the road. The dark trees whizzed by at a phenomenal rate. “Are you speeding?”
“I need to get you somewhere safe. Don’t go to sleep. Keep talking to me.”
“Fine. You were telling me about … Elizabeth?”
The name started bells ringing. A flash of cruel blue eyes. But I didn’t know her, did I? Why did I feel as if I should?
“Well, that’s the other reason the shifters don’t like publicity. At the top of the shifter food chain are the dragons. They’re determined to stay hidden, and dragons generally get what they want.”
I nodded. Yes, that was right. No, wait … What the hell?
“Their queens carved up the world between them centuries ago and keep their own kingdoms under tight control. Or domains, as they call them, since there are no kings.”
“Is that who Valeria and Alicia are? Dragon queens?”
“No, but their mother is. Elizabeth has been around a very long time. I’ve heard she was actually Queen Elizabeth the First, though I don’t know if it’s true.”
“As in, the daughter of Henry the Eighth? The Virgin Queen? That Queen Elizabeth?” The strongest sense of déjà vu gripped me. Surely we’d already had this conversation?
He nodded.
“But she died! It’s in the historical record—how could it be the same person?”
“If you have a lifespan of a thousand years, you need to move on every so often to avoid suspicion. Dragons get a lot of practice at staging realistic deaths and re-establishing themselves with a new identity.” He shrugged. “Anyway, as I said, it could just be a rumour. The point is, she’s old and powerful, and if she’s involved we’re in deep trouble.”
Great. Well, at least he said “we”. Silence fell as the car swooped down the long hill to the Mooney Mooney bridge across the Hawkesbury. The yellow windsocks hung limp on their poles, mocking the signs that warned “High Wind Area”. Beneath the bridge the river gleamed in
“Is there any point going through the motions of a proving when you’ve already decided Valeria should succeed you?”
Her spymaster stirred from his position by the window. “Don’t address your mother like that, Leandra.”
Odious little man. How dare he chide me? He was probably sleeping with her again.
“Watch your own tongue. I’m not a child any more.”
Elizabeth waved us both to silence with an impatient hand. “No queen ‘decides’ on her heir. Your hostility would be better directed at your sisters. I have given you each enough money to get you started. You are free to seek any alliances you wish within the domain, except among the members of my own household.”
Her tone made it clear she thought the possibility of anyone allying with me unlikely. She might be in for a shock there. Not everyone considered her precious Valeria the obvious candidate.
“Aren’t you going to wish me luck, mother?” My whole life had been leading to this moment. Finally I could seize my fate with both hands. Luck had little to do with it. Who was better prepared? Who had the wits—and the right alliances—to outscheme and outlive the other four?
Her lip curled into a sneer. “The true queen doesn’t need luck. And the rest of you will find that no amount of luck will save you.”
“Kate? Kate!” Ben sounded urgent.
“Don’t yell. I’ve got a headache.”
I squinted at Ben, barely able to focus on his worried face. The pressure in my skull was unbelievable. If someone stuck a pin in my head it would explode into little pieces like a popped balloon. My mind whirled with fragments that dissolved as I tried to grasp at them: a cold face; a feeling of anger …
“I’m not yelling. You just kind of sagged in your seat as if you’d blacked out.”
“Did I?” It seemed to me we’d just been talking when he suddenly started yelling my name. Guess I’d have to take his word for it. With an effort, I turned my throbbing head to face forward again and watched the headlights sweep along the road. The dark trees whizzed by at a phenomenal rate. “Are you speeding?”
“I need to get you somewhere safe. Don’t go to sleep. Keep talking to me.”
“Fine. You were telling me about … Elizabeth?”
The name started bells ringing. A flash of cruel blue eyes. But I didn’t know her, did I? Why did I feel as if I should?
“Well, that’s the other reason the shifters don’t like publicity. At the top of the shifter food chain are the dragons. They’re determined to stay hidden, and dragons generally get what they want.”
I nodded. Yes, that was right. No, wait … What the hell?
“Their queens carved up the world between them centuries ago and keep their own kingdoms under tight control. Or domains, as they call them, since there are no kings.”
“Is that who Valeria and Alicia are? Dragon queens?”
“No, but their mother is. Elizabeth has been around a very long time. I’ve heard she was actually Queen Elizabeth the First, though I don’t know if it’s true.”
“As in, the daughter of Henry the Eighth? The Virgin Queen? That Queen Elizabeth?” The strongest sense of déjà vu gripped me. Surely we’d already had this conversation?
He nodded.
“But she died! It’s in the historical record—how could it be the same person?”
“If you have a lifespan of a thousand years, you need to move on every so often to avoid suspicion. Dragons get a lot of practice at staging realistic deaths and re-establishing themselves with a new identity.” He shrugged. “Anyway, as I said, it could just be a rumour. The point is, she’s old and powerful, and if she’s involved we’re in deep trouble.”
Great. Well, at least he said “we”. Silence fell as the car swooped down the long hill to the Mooney Mooney bridge across the Hawkesbury. The yellow windsocks hung limp on their poles, mocking the signs that warned “High Wind Area”. Beneath the bridge the river gleamed in
Similar Books
