The Queen's Witch Part 4

I pulled him back down. "I'll help you," I said sourly.

"But you said-"

"I know what I said! But despite everything, I do not believe we would be better off under foreign rule." I crossed my arms. "There's a d.a.m.n sight too many foreigners here already, if you ask me."

"Help me how?" he demanded. "You said the ward is impenetrable."

"It is." I stared past him into the dark, where the lantern was still bobbing here and there amid the wreckage of the Spaniard. We were closer now, allowing me to pick out Fulke's hulking shape in the shadows. And something more besides. "But I think I might have an idea."

Twenty minutes later, my idea was sitting on Trevelyn's table, scratching its a.r.s.e.

"What is it doing?" Kit asked, hanging off the roof to peer into the window.

"What does it look like?" I asked crossly, trying to keep a tenuous grip on the mage's wet s.h.i.+ngles. On top of everything, it had started to rain, and the gown was taking on water at an alarming rate. Any minute it was going to drag me off the roof to my doom.

"Why?" he asked incredulously. "It cannot possibly have fleas. What would they live on?"

"Vitriol," I said sourly, glaring at the disgusting lump.

Sol's moth-eaten pet had been clinging like a limpet to Fulke's sweaty neck as he sifted through the burnt out hulk of the tavern, looking for the till he'd left behind. In return for not beating him into a pulp, he had loaned the thing to us. Not that it had done a d.a.m.n bit of good, so far.

"Are you certain he can penetrate the field?" Kit demanded.

"Yes! At least...fairly certain."

"Fairly certain?"

I transferred my glare to him. "I haven't had cause to try this before! But it should work. Zombies are controlled by magic, not living energy. As flesh, he should be able to pa.s.s through the field; but with no life to drain, the ward can't hurt him."

"More's the pity," Kit muttered, as I glanced nervously behind me.

The main entrance to the house was around the corner, but the light spilling from the open front door was casting wavering shadows into the road. There were three of them, the two mages and-I a.s.sumed-the butler who had greeted us. But they wouldn't be there for long. I'd cast a spell imitating the sound of horses' hooves to get them out of the room, but when they didn't find their ill.u.s.trious guest waiting on the doorstep, they'd be back.

And our one chance would be lost.

I looked back to find that the creature had transferred his attentions to his armpit. He was less than four feet from the slowly revolving necklace, but was paying it no attention whatsoever. Perverse d.a.m.n thing. Any other time, he would have been all about a bit of s.h.i.+ne, but because for once I wanted him to steal something, he wasn't interested.

"The wretched thing hasn't been the same since his death," I said, wis.h.i.+ng he was still alive so I could choke the life out of him.

"It does take it out of one," Kit agreed, letting himself down through the open window.

"What are you doing?" I whispered. "Get out of there!"

"Nothing bothered him," he pointed out, disappearing inside.

"He's already dead!"

A curly head poked back out briefly. "As am I, and we're out of time. Stay here."

I cursed, thinking of the few hundred snares Trevelyn could have placed around the room. And then I wriggled my fifty pounds of waterlogged velvet through the window after him. I lost one of the witch's shoes, but I made it in-just in time to see the monkey take a swipe at Kit's head.

"You're lucky," I panted, as the creature scampered up the bed curtains. "At least he doesn't throw excrement anymore."

"Only because he doesn't make any," Kit said, shooting me a glance. "And I thought I told you to stay put."

"And I thought I told you not to come in here!"

"We don't have time for-" his head jerked up at the sound of horses' hooves on the street-real ones this time. "-anything," he finished, jumping up and grabbing for the monkey.

He moved almost too fast to see, just a blur against the pale walls, but the monkey moved faster. It had the liquid speed of the undead, too, and the added advantage of a tiny, compact little body. With a derisive clucking of his tongue, he ducked under Kit's hands and jumped to the rafters, skittering along a beam with his shadow rippling grotesquely along the wall.

I turned to the window in time to see no fewer than five cloaked figures clatter past on horses. I didn't get a power reading off the one in front-the amba.s.sador, I a.s.sumed. But the other four were practically glowing against the night. I didn't know what the Black Circle's equivalent of war mages were, but I had a feeling we were about to meet them. Briefly.

"We have to go," I told Kit, spinning around. "Now!"

"Thank you for that," he said, from atop the large, center beam bisecting the room. He made another grab for the monkey, just as the thing jumped for a different rafter. The creature somehow reversed course mid-air, ending up back where he'd started, but Kit didn't. He did manage to land on his feet-mostly--and glared up at the thing. "Get down here!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes. That'll work."

"Do you have a better idea?"

I stared up at the little horror, which was currently showing us his withered bits. He wasn't my zombie; I couldn't control him. And Sol was who knew where right now, not that the b.a.s.t.a.r.d was likely to have helped in any case. And his creature was no better, as conniving, contrary and obstinate as his owner, always doing exactly the opposite of what was- I blinked, and then quickly decided that it couldn't hurt. I limped over to the table and placed my nose close enough to the ward to feel the slippery static of its surface. "What a beauty," I cooed.

"He can't understand you," Kit said, looking at me strangely.

"He understands the general idea," I said, as the monkey turned his tiny face toward me. I ignored him, concentrating on the ward. "Such a pretty, pretty thing," I breathed. "Must be worth a fortune. I'm glad it's so well protected."

"Unlike us," Kit said grimly, staring at the door.

"What is it?"

"They're coming up the stairs."

I stared in desperation at the necklace, so temptingly close, so impossibly far away. My fingernails made a whispering across the outer membrane of the ward as I curled my hands into fists. I could practically feel it, the smooth contours of the golden rose that formed the setting, the cool, slippery gleam of the jewels. But it might as well be on the moon.

And then I blinked and it was gone--and so was the monkey.

"Grab him!" Kit said, jumping for the window.

I turned in time to see a furry blur making a break for freedom, and then the door slammed opened and things became a little confused. Someone shouted and someone else leaped for us, a curse flying out in front of him. I spun, acting before I thought, and lashed out with a declive that flung the mage's spell right back at him. Whatever he'd cast must have been pretty brutal, because it caught him in the middle of his leap and sent him cras.h.i.+ng back into his party.

"Caught him!" Kit crowed, from somewhere behind me and I didn't hesitate.

"Then catch this!" I told him, throwing a leg over the staff. He grabbed me around the waist and swung on behind me as I flung us into s.p.a.ce, using the staff as a platform for a levitation spell in lieu of a broom.

It worked-a little too well.

I'd forgotten that the staff multiplied my power considerably. Instead of merely flying out the window as I'd planned, we burst through in an explosion of wooden slats, taking one of the shutters along with us. To make matters worse, the voluminous skirts flew up in my face, insuring that I couldn't see anything as we hurtled into the air.

For a very long moment, there was nothing but the monkey's angry chatter and Kit's curses as I fought with seemingly unending yards of fabric. And then the velvet cloud parted and I stared around, to find us pelting through the air above London at an unbelievable speed. I stared around in awe. I'd never been so high before.

Then I remembered that we weren't the only ones who could fly. I glanced behind us, half expecting to see the Black Circle's mages gaining fast. But there was nothing besides dark blue clouds stacked high above skirts of rain, lightning flas.h.i.+ng bright in their bellies.

"What are you doing?" Kit shouted in my ear.

"Getting us out of trouble!" I said, my face cracking into a grin.

"And into worse one?" Judging by his expression, I'd finally found something that he didn't find amusing. "Get us down from here!"

I laughed, exhilaration rus.h.i.+ng through my veins. "As you like!"

I pointed the staff's nose downward and we plunged back toward the ground, Kit's arm tight around my waist, his scream ringing in my ears. We skimmed along above the Thames close enough to smell it, until the s.h.i.+p rose up ahead, like a leviathan out of the mist. The moon hung behind the sail, illuminating it so that the seams stood out like the intricate veins of a leaf. Beautiful.

Several sailors were on deck, having a late night drink, until they saw us and dropped the bottle, their mouths hanging open in shock. We landed nearby, as unsteady on our legs as two drunks, with me laughing like a child. Kit thrust the smelly monkey at one of them, pushed me into the side of the cabin and kissed me, heedless of the staring men.

"Witches!" he gasped, when we finally broke for air. "You're all completely mad!"

"It does help," I murmured, collapsing against him in a fit of helpless giggles. "And at least they didn't follow us."

"Follow us? I doubt they so much as saw us!"

I grinned. I doubted they had, either.

"It isn't funny!"

I grinned wider and tried to rearrange his wayward curls. They were everywhere. "Yes, it is."

"Sir?" One of the sailors approached tentatively.

"What is it, man?" Kit demanded, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Beggin' yer pardon, sir," the sailor held up the monkey. "But what were ye wantin' me ter do with this?"

"Take it below. And don't touch the necklace."

"Yes, sir. As you say, sir." But the man just stood there.

Kit was looking at me with a strange expression on his face. "What is it?" I asked.

"I am trying to decide whether to kiss you again, or to throw you over my knee!"

"Let me know when you make up your mind," I told him. I thought both had possibilities.

Kit glanced at the sailor, who was still just standing there. "Well, what are you waiting for? You have your orders."

"Yes, sir." The sailor s.h.i.+fted from foot to foot, but didn't go anywhere. "There's just one thing, sir."

"G.o.d's bones, man! Spit it out."

The man held up the monkey, whose little hands, I finally noticed, were empty. "What necklace?"

Conclusion

The next morning, I was in the witch's gown again. An hour of hard work had made it presentable, if not precisely wrinkle-free. That was fortunate, because there was nothing else in my possession fit for an audience at court.

Not that I'd had one, so far.

A vase came flying out of the door beside me like a cylindrical bird and crashed against the far wall, scattering shards everywhere and making several pa.s.sing courtiers jump.

And not that I was all that eager.

Kit followed quickly on the heels of the vase, hugging the wall beside me. "There are days I truly miss Lord Walsingham," he told me fervently.

"I told you not to mention the necklace."

"I didn't have a choice! If we'd lost it near Trevelyn's house, and he'd been able to trace it-"

"How do you know he didn't?"

"The several thousand dead fish washed ash.o.r.e this morning would suggest otherwise," he told me dryly.

"The vindictive little b.a.s.t.a.r.d," I said, in disbelief. "He dropped it in the river rather than let us have it."

"So it would appear."

"Are they going to try to recover it?"

Kit suddenly grinned. "Do you know, that was Her Majesty's question."

I looked at him warily. "Why is that amusing?"