So their plan had worked! From where she was lying on the bottom of the boat, Mary could not see anything but the gray clouds overhead, so she raised herself up on one elbow. Yes, there was the tower of St. Michael’s Mount, with the beacon fire on top, still flickering against the dark sky.
“I don’t think so, missy,” Mrs. Raymond had said in her nastiest voice. “I’ll deal with you when I have the time. Until then, I want you to sleep. Close your eyes, like a good girl.” The last thing Mary remembered was the sensation of her body slumping and hitting the wooden hull.
“I think we saved the Queen,” she said to Alice. “That, at least, we got right. And Queen Tera is wounded, but I don’t know how long that will last. I suspect she has the power to heal herself.”
“If they had succeeded in kidnapping Her Majesty,” said Holmes, “they would already have left for London. Instead, they are still here. We heard them this morning, moving about, through the door. We do not know what they will do now, or why they continue to keep us here. But I think we must try, once again, to get out.”
“How?” asked Mary. “If we’re in a dungeon, that is. I mean, if Diana were here, she would be able to do it. But I can’t open locks the way she can.”
“I don’t suppose you happen to have a hairpin or anything else sharp about you?” asked Holmes. “I studied with one of the most notorious lockpicks in London. If I had the proper instruments… Here, drink this.” He handed her water in a tin cup.
Did she? Last night her hair had been braided and pinned up. Today—Mary sat up, fighting the sense of nausea that swept over her, and drank a few sips of the water, then the whole cup. She had not realized how thirsty she was! Her braid swung down her back—no pins. She was still dressed in a parlor maid’s outfit, but her cap and apron were gone. Of course, so was her pistol. Someone, probably Mrs. Raymond, had taken anything she could have used to attempt an escape. There were scratches over her hands and wrists. She remembered—a mirror had shattered, and she had held up her hands to ward off the pieces of flying glass.
“I washed your hands with some of our water,” said Holmes. “I’m afraid we don’t have any soap, but none of the wounds are serious. When you’ve recovered some of your strength, can you tell me what happened? It seems I have missed a great deal.”
“Yes, of course.” She nodded. “Could I have some more water? And perhaps something to eat.” That might help settle her stomach.
“Why don’t we all have breakfast?” he said. “Then you can tell us what has been going on in the world outside these stone walls. And then we can try once again to open the lock.”
Open the lock how? Hadn’t they already established that none of them had the proper tools? But Mary was too tired to inquire further. She merely nodded and took whatever Alice handed her. She began eating it mechanically. It was a piece of brown bread, spread with orange marmalade. The bread was dry and not particularly appetizing, but she devoured it nonetheless.
MARY: Cat, I wish you would leave out the parts about me and Sherlock. They’re—well, they’re private.
CATHERINE: But that’s what our readers want to know most of all—did Mary and Sherlock Holmes, you know. I mean, I’ve had letters from American readers in particular asking about the two of you. Readers are curious.
MARY: Well, that’s just rude!
“Do not assume that yesterday’s wound will seriously weaken Queen Tera,” said Ayesha. “The priestesses of Isis were healers before they were anything else. She will not be able to heal herself completely overnight, unless she has more of the oil she used to kill Moriarty and the others—and good riddance to them, particularly Raymond and Seward! It was one of our most secret recipes, and has the ability to concentrate energic power. In that case, I cannot predict her strength. But even if she cannot fully heal, she will be stronger than you expect.”
They were once again sitting in the dining room of the inn, but this time morning light streamed through the window. They had just finished breakfast, according to their various dietary requirements—and thank you, Mrs. Davies, for putting up with the idiosyncrasies of the Athena Club! Catherine looked with amusement at the President of the Alchemical Society. She was probably the most unusual sight the Marazion Inn had ever seen, with her ageless beauty, her hundred long, dark braids, and her eyes outlined with kohl. Even though she was sitting, you could tell that she was taller than most men.
“What do you think she intends to do?” asked Justine. Illogically, Catherine was pleased that Ayesha was not, at least, taller than Justine, although how that was relevant to anything she had no idea.
Ayesha frowned. “I believe that with Margaret Trelawny and Helen Raymond, she is attempting to re-create what she had at the temple of Isis—an inner circle of priestesses who were absolutely loyal to her. It was they who would have broken our vows and fought the soldiers of Octavian, they who prepared her body for interment and resurrection. Their first plan may have failed, but Tera will not stop attempting to create an empire to rival that of Rome.”
“But why?” asked Justine. “Why does she wish to establish an empire in the modern world? Are the current empires, cruel and venal as they are, not enough?”
“Tera is two thousand years old,” said Ayesha, “but she has not lived two thousand years. She remembers only a world of great empires. She was once queen of all Egypt, and I believe she longs for that power again. Before we engage her in battle, I shall attempt to reason with her. I shall explain to her the folly of this plan. But I fear that she will not listen. If she does not, you must be prepared to fight her as well as Margaret and Helen. You should expect them to fight fiercely on her behalf, with every weapon at their disposal, as her priestesses did at Philae.”
“We can fight anything they have, except mesmerism,” said Catherine. “How do we fight Tera’s and Mrs. Raymond’s illusions?”
“I shall try to take care of that,” said Ayesha. “I want all of you to concentrate on Margaret Trelawny and Helen Raymond. Also, on finding Mary, Lydia Raymond, and Sherlock Holmes. Catherine, Justine, Beatrice, and Lucinda: you shall find and fight the two women. You each have powers that will help you defeat them. Laura and Diana: I want you to search the keep from top to bottom. Find Mary, Lydia, and Holmes, and get them out of there as quickly as possible.”
“Why don’t I get to fight?” asked Diana. “I have powers too!”
“Because your power is finding and opening,” said Ayesha. “You always say you can find anything, do you not? And you can open all the doors, or so you have insisted. Laura has a pistol and will protect you.”
“Oh. Right, then.” Diana looked especially aware of her own importance.
“Should we try to conceal ourselves in some way?” asked Justine. “Perhaps circle and approach the keep from the back?”
Ayesha shook her head. “There is no point in concealment. They will know we are coming. Tera will be able to sense our presence—especially mine.”
“Let’s go,” said Catherine. “The sun is up, it’s not raining or fogging or whatever else the weather does here.… What are we waiting for?”