Steamed (35 page)

He opened one eye and glared at me. “What happened to you fonding me?”

I nipped the tip of his nose. “You grew on me.”

He shifted me, a devilish glint in his eyes. “I’ll grow inside—”

A noise from behind us had me leaping to my feet, jerking up my chemise and blouse, as Jack hurriedly buttoned his trousers. He pulled me behind him as light suddenly flooded the passage.

I peered over his shoulder as I finished buttoning the last buttons, my eyes growing wide with dismay as I noted who had opened the panel.

Three men wearing the imperial livery were accompanied by two more who bore the police uniform.

“There they are,” one of the men said. I recognized him from years past as being William’s valet. “Just as I thought—dirty revolutionaries trying to kill the king. Well, you failed, you filth. The king is gone, but he’ll enjoy seeing you strung up with the rest of the scum. Take them away!”

 

“
L
et me see if I have all this straight.” A rough hand shoved me forward, accompanied by the smell of stale garlic and old ale, and a rougher voice. “Forward, you lot! You’ve got a date with the emperor, you have!”

I ignored the snickers of the men lining the dank, dimly lit passage, and thought furiously.

“You and Jack, in an attempt to rescue me from the gallows, were having sex in a hallway.”

“It was a secret passageway, not a hallway,” I corrected Jack’s sister before continuing to try to come up with some sort of plan.

“You and Jack were having sex in a secret passageway in the mistaken belief that this would somehow save me from being killed?”

“It was part of our plan,” I said, stumbling when the gaoler shoved me again. With manacles on my feet and my hands tied to a long rope that snaked down the line of condemned prisoners, I had little hope of saving myself from a fall should he continue to do that.

“Prisoners will be silent!” the gaoler roared, and pushed me aside to move up to the front of the line, where the men were tied together. “Else you’ll wish you had been!”

“Well, it must have been a hell of a plan,” Hallie said, managing to give me a half smile. “Too bad it didn’t work.”

“You seem remarkably at peace,” I said, keeping my voice low, and one eye on the gaoler as we shuffled our way along the passage. “I didn’t think you would be ill-treated, but if you will not mind my saying so, I expected you to be a good deal more distraught.”

“Oh, I was, right up until I realized the truth.” She made an airy gesture.

“What truth?”

“Shhh!”

The woman behind me gave me a none-too-gentle push to remind me of the gaoler’s threats.

I spun around and glared at her. “Do you mind? I am attempting to have a conversation with my friend.”

“Ooh, ain’t you the hoity-toity one,” the woman said, sneering at me from beneath unkempt hair and a filthy face. I mentally compared her with Hallie, who, although somewhat rumpled, was clean and appeared civilized. “Well, you can just stick your pride up your arse, ’cause you ain’t no better’n anyone else here.”

“I don’t believe a debate about the class structure in modern-day England is at all appropriate at the moment; however, I will point out that I am here wholly through a set of unfortunate circumstances. I have done nothing wrong.”

“They all say that,” the woman’s companion said, jerking her line and sniffing. “None of us here done anything wrong, but you try getting the judge to believe that.”

“I have not seen a judge, nor have I been charged with anything, let alone had a trial,” I pointed out, righteous indignation swelling within me. “My . . . er . . . companion and myself were simply hauled away from the emperor’s palace and told we were to be executed for unnamed and unproven crimes which we did not commit.”

“Go on,” the first woman said, and curled her upper lip at me.

“It’s really best if you don’t rile them,” Hallie said, tugging at my sleeve. I heeded her advice and returned my attention to the line of prisoners, staring at the back of Jack’s head.

“What truth?” I asked her.

“Huh?”

“What truth is it you discovered that has relieved your mind so greatly?”

“Oh.” Her face took on a serene expression. “Once I realized that my way out of this world was right in front of me, I stopped fighting everything.”

“Your way out?” I shook my head. “Hallie, I know this has been a most difficult experience for you, but death is not the answer. I admit things look a little bleak right now, but I have an idea, and if I can just see it through to fruition, then we will all of us be safe.”

“No, no, you don’t understand—I’m not suicidal. Far from it! I have a lot to live for. Don’t you see? If I die here, then I get returned to my own world.”

I stared at her, my heart filled with sadness. “No, Hallie, you don’t.”

“Pfft.” She dismissed me with a complacent smile. “You don’t know anything about it. You’re part of this world, so you probably can’t imagine anything outside it. But I know I’m right.”

“Hallie, I assure you that—”

“Prisoners, halt!”

We had shuffled our way through the dismal prison to a sort of antechamber. Beyond it, through an open doorway, sunlight poured in. Although the air was almost balmy for February, a chill rippled down my arms and back at the sight of a new wooden structure standing stark and raw on the far side of the courtyard. A dull hum sounded, as if a beehive were somewhere close by, but I knew it for what it was—the noise of a crowd, gathered to watch people hang.

A sudden spurt of fear gripped my gut, and I clutched Hallie’s hand as I stared again at the back of Jack’s head. Would William listen to me? Would he stop the proceedings in time? Or would he simply laugh in my face and send us all to our deaths?

A handful of officials darkened the doorway. There was a brief altercation when the sadistic guard refused to yield control of us poor wretches, but he was more or less shoved aside by men wearing the imperial crest.

“Lovely,” I grumbled under my breath as my spirits fell with leaden weight to my feet. “William sent his own personal guards to hang us.”

“I think the first thing I’ll do when I get back to my world is have a fish taco from a really fabulous beach-Mex place just down the street from my apartment. Or perhaps I’ll go shopping. No, a bath first, then the chili lime salmon taco, then shopping.”

“Prisoners, march!”

My mind whirled around like the gear spinning on a giant steam clock that Robert Anstruther had once taken me to see.

“Don’t look so glum, Octavia,” Hallie said, patting my hand awkwardly before releasing it. “You don’t have to worry about rescuing Jack and me anymore. And I’m sure whatever plan you have percolating in your head will work out just fine. So all’s well that ends well.”

The hum rose to a roar of excitement as we stumbled our way out into the pale February sunlight. On our left were two gallows, the smell of the fresh wood a stark note in the dusty courtyard. Steps led up to where the nooses dangled, swaying ever so gently in the wind. An executioner stood silent beside the gallows, his head covered in the traditional black hood, two slighter figures, also hooded, behind him.

“How lucky, we get the day when the apprentice hangmen are here,” I muttered.

Hallie giggled under her breath.

I turned to face the crowd, which was simultaneously cheering and jeering us.

Jack turned to look at me, his expression unreadable. I gave him the best smile I could manage, and turned to scan the crowd, looking for a face that I so desperately wanted to see.

The crowd filled part of the courtyard, spilling out through the large gates to the street beyond. In addition, several of the more athletic and daring boys had managed to clamber up the sides of the brick and wrought iron fence, and were perched along the top, their legs dangling as they laughed and called.

“Rotten little blighters,” I said.

“Ghoulish, definitely. So, this plan of yours—is it going to take place soon?” Hallie asked as the emperor’s men consulted one another in a tight clutch before suddenly moving down the line of prisoners, a blade flashing as they severed the ropes binding our wrists to the leading line.

A slight figure with the imperial busby pulled down low over his head knelt as he worked his way along the prisoners, unlocking their shackles.

I looked out at the crowd again. “It’s supposed to, but William isn’t here.”

“William?”

“The emperor.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You know the emperor?”

“Yes. Why the devil isn’t he here? I cannot begin to tell you how peeved I will be if he doesn’t even bother to show up,” I complained.

A scuffle broke out up front. I craned my neck to see around the other prisoners, watching with dismay as Jack rolled on the ground with one of the guards. Suddenly he froze, and the other guards seized that moment to haul him to his feet.

“Before we begin with the scheduled executions, we have two assassins to deal with,” the man I recognized as the prison warden declared.

The crowd yelled their approval of this idea. I glared at them all.

The warden stood to one side of the dual scaffolds, his chest puffed up importantly. He rubbed a hand along his hair, smoothing it back, leaving him with a pronounced resemblance to a seal. “Two assassins were discovered just a short while ago in Emperor William’s bedchamber.”

The crowd gasped.

“Oh, rubbish,” I told them.

“Atta girl, Octavia,” Hallie said, picking at a fingernail. “You tell them.”

Desperately, I hunted through the crowd for the tall, blond figure who was the only one who could save our lives.

“Today, in honor of the emperor’s nuptials, we will hang the assassins!”

The crowd cheered madly.

“Dammit, William, why can’t you be on time just once in your life?” I mumbled as one of the imperial guards grabbed my arm and hauled me along to the steps leading up to the noose.

“I give you the notorious assassin Octavia Pye, and her lover, Jack Fletcher.”

The crowd booed and threw several items of produce that were long past their prime.

“Jack,” I said when he was pulled toward the steps. “I’m so sorry. I’m so very, very sorry.”

He looked surprised, to my complete and utter stupefaction. “Sorry about what?”

“About all this. All right! You do not need to shove me! I will walk up the stairs on my own.”

“Octavia—”

Jack’s voice was cut off in a spontaneous roar of pleasure. I turned to see the crowd ripple; then a familiar figure strode forward, the sun glinting off the rows of gold trim and gold buttons that graced his navy blue military uniform. The trim was almost as burnished as his hair and neatly trimmed mustache.

“William!” I bellowed the second the noise had dropped. “William!”

A hand on my shoulder stopped me from flinging myself forward.

The emperor looked startled for a moment, glancing around, finally realizing who was calling him. He frowned and squinted at me, taking a few steps forward.

“Octavia?”

I shrugged my way free of the restraining hand and ran down the few stairs I had mounted, intending on forcing my way over to William, but several of his guards rushed before him to protect him.

He shouldered them aside, marching over to me in a glorious display of arrogance and masculinity. “Octavia, what the devil are you doing here? A hanging is no place for a lady.”

“
I
am being hanged,” I said, gritting my teeth at his obtuseness. “Evidently at your direct command.”

“My command? My command?” He turned to the nearest member of his entourage. “Billings, do you recall me asking that Miss Pye be executed?”

“No, Your Majesty,” the man promptly replied.

Jack had joined me at that point. He thoroughly examined William, who, noticing the bold examination, returned the compliment. “Who is this man, Octavia?”

“Jack Fletcher. He is a friend of mine.”

Jack put his arm around my waist and pulled me up close. “We’re a hell of a lot more than friends, Tavy.”

“Tavy!” William looked shocked. “Did he just call you Tavy?”

“Yes.” I sighed. “He was intent on finding a nickname, and settled on that.”

“But you wouldn’t let me use a nickname, not even when we were . . .” William coughed and stopped that particular train of thought. “Tavy. I would have never imagined such a thing.”

“William, we really do not have the time to stand here discussing my nickname.”

“No, indeed we don’t. I’ve only got an hour before I have to head over to the cathedral, but I didn’t want to miss the hangings. Always did like them. I’m a bit surprised to see you here, though. You always refused to come to the other ones.” He turned to the executioner. “Shall we proceed?”