The Witch Watch (50 page)

Moxley turned back to Alice and lowered his voice somewhat. “Now, there’s a delicate item that I need to go over with you. For some years Mordaunt was considered the unofficial physician of the Royal Family, and of Prince Albert in particular. This must have been a very well-kept secret, because I never heard even a hint of it. This morning Prince Albert confided in me that Lord Mordaunt had saved his life on more than one occasion. Using magic, of course.”

Alice looked troubled. “Is he looking to us to continue the practice?”

“I don’t think so. He merely asked if we had any understanding of this healing business, or if any knowledge had survived.”

Alice looked slightly pained, “I accompanied the army when they stormed the Ravenstead estate a few days ago, and we were able to recover the balance of Lord Mordaunt’s library. It was very large and wide-ranging, and was nearly enough to replace what we had lost to the church. Simon and I have been studying the books as time has allowed.”

“You’re going to tell me that the secrets of miraculous healing have been lost, aren’t you?” Moxley said accusingly.

“Sadly, no. We recovered them in full, and the truth is going to make a great number of people very uncomfortable. All of the healing performed by Mordaunt involved the use of vigor.”

“And I take it obtaining vigor is an unsavory process?”

“It involves killing people. The younger the better.”

Moxley gasped, “So all of the nobles who were healed by Lord Mordaunt…”

Alice nodded, “All of those healings involved the death of at least one person. Often it involved more. The magic is not terribly efficient.”

“If this gets out, it could lead to scandal unending,” Moxley said, holding one hand to his brow.

“I don’t see how,” Alice protested. “I’m sure none of them knew about the origins of their healing.”

“True, but ‘scandal’ and ‘justice’ are not related and should not be confused. Scandals are very often unreasonable and unfair. At any rate, don’t mention any of this during your audience. In fact, don’t mention anything supernatural at all!” Moxley addressed this last comment to the rest of the group as well.

Moxley then waved for all of them to join him near the door. “I suppose I should prepare all of you for this meeting. Most importantly, Her Majesty is going to present you with gifts. Alice, you will be given a large set of various watch-making tools and fine machinery parts. Nobody really understood what you might need or use, and so they erred on the side of overabundance. You will not be able to carry them alone.”

Alice beamed, but resisted the urge to cry out.

Moxley continued, “Archer, you will be given a rifle. You may open the case to admire it but do not brandish it in the presence of Her Majesty. That would be considered rude.”

“What model?” Archer asked eagerly.

Moxley shrugged. “I’m sure I have no idea, and neither does the Queen. The instructions were to obtain for you something grand and ornate, not something advanced. I doubt you’ll find it professionally useful. It will probably be a hunting rifle of some variety. The only thing I can tell you is that it is silver-plated, which is probably not the sort of information you’re looking for.”

Archer looked slightly crestfallen, then caught himself and gave a polite nod.

Next Moxley turned to Simon, “Now as for you… The Queen is giving you property.”

Simon engaged in a heroic attempt to hide his disappointment, which failed.

Moxley seemed to have anticipated this reaction. “I imagine you have no idea what you’ll do with property here in London. It may sound strange at your age, but in time you’ll realize that yours is the grandest and most expensive gift of them all. You will also choose a surname for yourself, and she has arranged for you to be educated, provided it does not interfere with your duties. I’m afraid the Queen was quite taken with your story, and this is how she has chosen to express concern for your plight.”

Moxley took a step back and looked over the group one last time. “I have spoiled your surprises for a reason: I do not want you to express an inappropriate level of gratitude. Don’t be giddy,” he gave Alice a sideways glance as he said this. “Don’t be too cold,” he said in Simon’s direction. “When in doubt, speak quietly and bow.”

“What about Gilbert?” Alice said indignantly. “Why is there no gift for him? He’s lost more than any of us in this adventure, including Simon!”

“I’m not going to meet the Queen,” Gilbert said. Moxley nodded.

“Why not? This is outrageous!” she fumed.

Moxley replied gently, “My dear, we have made great strides in breaking down taboos and opening the minds of the people to our work. We have even come so far that the Queen will officially permit an abomination to live within the city, as property of the Witch Watch. But we are
nowhere
near the point where a monarch would willingly meet with, or speak to, an abomination. It is beyond imagination.”

“I prefer it this way,” Gilbert reassured her. “Besides, I already have the gift I want.” He waved the arm she had bolted back onto his body.

Once Alice had regained her composure, the three of them left to see the Queen. Gilbert and Lord Moxley were alone.

“She was right, you know,” Moxley said. They were standing side-by-side, looking out over London. The city had been dusted with snow, which covered over the scars and scorch marks of the earlier battles. “Your sacrifice, however unintentional, saved many lives. Perhaps the Empire as we know it. If you hadn’t died, this plot may have succeeded.”

Gilbert nodded slowly. “In death, I managed to achieve what I’d always wanted in life. To protect people.”

Moxley held out his hand towards the city. “Well then! There’s your gift. A whole city full of people, ripe for the protecting! Watch them. Keep them safe. Keep all of us safe, if you can.”

“I will,” Gilbert replied.

Shamus Young is a programmer specializing in old-school graphics techniques. He's the author of the blog Twenty Sided. He's the creator of the web-comics DM of the Rings and Stolen Pixels. He's one of the hosts of the video-game commentary series Spoiler Warning. He's tired of writing about himself in the third person.

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Heather Young has been drawing and painting for as long as she can remember. She has done cover and interior illustration for several books, illustrated the game "Sherwood Showdown", and has done numerous commissioned portraits and watercolor painting.

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