Page 63 of Queen Takes Checkmate
Lifting my head, I reached out with trembling fingers to touch the jar again. The lid was solidly locked shut. The gift was still inside. I had no idea how to get it out, but I hadn’t done anything to bring the other gifts to life. Isis sent me what I needed just in time. It’d be foolish to fear She wouldn’t do so again, when I’d been born for this purpose.
My mother had prepared the way for me before I was even born. She’d visited my future queen sibling, Mayte, in dreams. She’d compiled centuries of notes into one place for me. What I needed was here, in the legacy, and wrapped around my throat. I just had to figure out how to use the gifts I’d been given and keep everybody alive.
Every. Single. One.
“Do you need me at the tower for anything today?” I asked Gina.
“No, Gwen and I can handle everything. She’s been working her way through the siblings and organizing who’s staying and who’s leaving. We’ll compile a list of things we need your input on, and we can go over it tonight. Maybe a late dinner?”
I nodded. “That sounds good. How’s Kevin working out?”
“Excellent so far. A very quick mind, amiable to work with, eager to dig in and help, which of course is a concern if we can’t trust him. So far, I have no reasons not to be suspicious, but it’s early yet. I asked him to make a list of everything he’d been suspicious of while working under Madeline so we can go through those files with a fine-toothed comb.” She hesitated a moment, her eyes crinkling with worry. “Do you still want to go to Cairo?”
My mouth was as dry as the Sahara. “Yes. Soon. I won’t risk Xochitl a moment longer than I must. We don’t know who else in the Zaniyah nest he might have corrupted. Mayte said she’d keep her inside, but you know how kids are. I’m terrified one of his followers will cause a distraction, and within moments, she runs outside the blood circle to pet a horse. Or goddess forbid, he figures out that she loves unicorns and conjures one to tempt her outside. She’d go in a heartbeat.”
Gina nodded grimly. “I’ll have the jet standing by.”
“Winston, I need a place where I can sit quietly for hours to read and think. With lots of tea, coffee, and snacks.”
Turning around with a platter already loaded with exactly that, he stepped toward the door. “Right this way, Your Majesty.”
As we walked down the hallway, I marveled again at the size of this house. There had to be at least ten rooms on this level that I hadn’t even seen yet. Plus, the bedrooms upstairs for guests, and the very top floor for the winged Blood to come and go easily. It was beautifully decorated and well maintained, but… cold. Empty. The only room that held any hint of my mother’s personality was the one bathroom where she’d delivered me. Otherwise, anyone could have lived here.
He paused outside a door, and Magnum stepped around us to open it for him. “Your mother’s library, Your Majesty. I took the liberty of lighting the fireplace. If you’re too warm, please let me know.”
“Thank you.” I followed Winston inside. Expecting the room to be large and spacious with wall-to-wall books, I was surprised to find it small, cozy, and dark, like we were tucked up beneath the stairs. In front of the fireplace were a couple of easy chairs, with lots of cushions and pillows on the floor. On the opposite side of the room was a high work table with stools. Modern track lights hung over the table for targeted lighting, though they weren’t turned on now.
There were shelves all around the room, but only a few actually held books. The rest held antiques and collectables, though there were several cabinets behind the work table with shelves and doors that could have hidden anything.
“This room has no windows, so it’s safe for any spells you wish to work,” Magnum said.
Startled, I looked around the room as it dawned on me. This was my mother’smagicroom. A place of darkness, hidden from Ra, so it was completely safe. She must have plotted how she would conceive me here.
As I walked around the room trying to take it all in, my throat ached. How many days and nights had she come here to shut out the world outside? How long had she worked and plotted and suffered to make sure that I would stand here, now, and see the things she’d left behind for me?
“Countless years,” Llewellyn whispered beside me, his voice raw. “Sometimes she refused to allow me inside, but I could feel her pain, and her joy. She would have done anything to make sure you could stand here now.”
It made me remember the writing on the wall upstairs where she’d delivered me.Lo, Father of Monsters, look down from Heaven and see what we have wrought.
Whatshehad wrought. She’d dedicated countless years of planning and careful manipulation to ensure her—and my—success. She’d sacrificed everything for me, including her life.
Which was why I was sure that whatever information I needed for this final battle with Ra would be here. Either in her room, or in the book she’d left for me. The pieces were on the board. The puzzle was ready to be solved. The game, won. I could feel the threads vibrating closer, straightening, ready to snap into place.
This time, I would be the hungry spider at the center of that web.
25
Rik
We held our queen for hours while she read in front of the fireplace. I lay on my side behind her, so she could use my chest to support her back. Daire was wedged partway between us, his purr a steady drone. The rest of her Blood came and went quietly, taking turns to refill her cup, bring her something to nibble on, or answer a question.
The latter was mostly Mehen and Guillaume, her oldest Blood who’d seen more than I could even begin to comprehend. Mehen, especially, had a wealth of knowledge about the ancient world, as if he’d accumulated the memories of every person he’d ever eaten. For all I knew, maybe that was exactly how he knew so much, though the man also loved books almost as much as he loved our queen.
The questions were so varied that I had no idea what she was planning. Once, she even asked Nevarre for her phone so she could call her queen sibling in Mexico.
“What do you know about Huitzilopochtli? Even stories that you might not think are important.”
“Hold on a moment, my queen.” Mayte was silent for several moments before continuing. “I’m sorry, Shara. I needed to make sure no one overheard this discussion. Several years ago, when I wanted to find Tepeyollotl and have a child of my own, Grandmama finally told me about how Mama conceived me. I don’t know for sure, but we suspect that he’s my father.”
