Jim's eyes, like everyone else here, were on me. "Is this her?"
"Yes."
Jim slid his chauffeur cap off his head and bowed to me. "Our Black Queen..."
"Shit!" I exclaimed, as I threw up my hands and my guts churned. "You told people? Does everyone know? Is that why they're all staring at me?"
"They've been waiting for you," Alistair said.
"Oh, you mean like Bloom's guys were waiting for me? I have no idea how many people want to kill me!"
"We won't let them, my lady," Jim said earnestly.
No offense to Jim, but he looked about eighty years old.
"This is not something I want a ton of people knowing," I hissed.
"Get in the car," Alistair said. "My mother will explain. I don't even know exactly what she's going to say, but...it'll be good news." His distant air cracked as he started to seem excited.
Yeah, I was deeply not prepared for this. As we drove up to 'the house', which was a huge mansion called Merrymore, dozens of shifters were standing outside waiting for us and clearly waiting to see me. They were holding flowers. They looked super excited.
"Your mom told freaking everyone!?" I screamed at Alistair.
Even Alistair finally looked exasperated. "Yes. She did. She's...she's just very enthusiastic that this moment is here."
"Do they know you're a wolf?"
"A wolf, sir?" Jim asked, trying to smother shock.
"Okay, so no," I said.
Alistair stared at me. "No."
"Well, that isn't fair," Flor said. "Is it, now?" It was the first thing he'd said in ages.
"I'll explain in private," Alistair growled.
"I look forward to it," Waylon said, lightly threatening.
If we were all supposed to save the world together with Viktor as well, I thought the Queen-and-consort collective was getting a D grade so far.
At least Ian and Waylon are getting along, and maybe that's all that matters right now. But Flor...he isn't a consort, is he?
He isn't my consort...he couldn't be.
I didn't have the same history with him as I had with Ian and Waylon, but I couldn't stop looking at him, wondering what his deal was...and having quick-as-a-flash fantasies about running my tongue down his tattooed arms.
Ian and Waylon got out of the car, so I guess I had to get out too. As soon as I stepped out, the household staff broke into applause and they all started walking up to me with the bouquets and welcoming expressions.
Oh, man, was I ever freaking out. I could handle a fight so much better than this.
It was, however, starting to sink in. Not just the magical powers side of being queen, but the...queen side. Being an object of hope for shifters, being loved and protected and admired and showered with gifts.
By the time we got in the house I was afraid I might have a sudden bout of nervous diarrhea like the dignified queen I was.
"Bask in it, pussycat," Waylon said. "This isn't so bad, if you ask me."
The house was grander than the Merryweather’s house in New York, a gorgeous warmly lit mansion that looked like a hotel for a National Park, with a big stone fireplace and a mantle made from a slab of wood, and rugs with a Navajo-style print that were larger than my entire apartment in Brooklyn. Despite the size, it obviously had Esther's touch. She clearly liked cozy spaces, natural touches and a bit of whimsy evident in the curling lines of lamps, the framed nature prints, the cushy antique chairs.
Ian looked out the window at a forest stretching as far as the eye could see. "Wow. We could really shift out here."
Flor joined him at the window and looked at the sky, although he said nothing. They looked like two yearning indoor pets.
"Do you need anything, Mr. Merryweather? My lady?” asked one of the servants who followed us in.
"Oh, please, please don't let's start that," I said, waving my hands. "Tell them not to call me 'my lady' or 'my queen' or anything. I don’t want a lot of servants around asking me if I need things.”
"I think you'll need to get used to it," Alistair said. "Why don't you make a pot of tea and get some snack trays out? Thank you, Sandra."
"I'm sure it must be a lot to take in," Sandra said, glowing at me. "But we just heard and we're so excited."
"Eat something," Ian said, as Sandra brought trays of meat and crackers. "I'm sure you must be hungry." He gave me a tiny wink. Ian seemed to be coasting on what a good time we'd had alone, and just escaping a bad situation. I certainly was starving, and the food smelled amazing. Ian and Waylon sat on either side of me, like they were shielding me from the world from this day forward, and that helped.
The door opened and Esther hurried in, short heels clicking rapidly on the creaky old floors between the huge rugs as she swept off a cream-colored coat. "I got here as fast as I could! Hello, hello! I'm so excited that it's all really happening! You must be the consorts, then?"
"No, I just got swept up," Florian said, still leaning by the window.
"Are you sure? The possibility must be considered, I'd say. You're all coming together now, just as expected, but...that Viktor! How callous of him to just take Mina!"
"More than callous," Alistair said. "He better not hurt a hair on her head."
"Well, I have some salty opinions of him, but a consort would not hurt a queen," Esther said. "I'm sure he'll be back, but of course I already sent some people after them." She sat down and poured a little tea. As usual, Esther looked petite and too young to be the mother of an adult. She had a sweet, doll-like face that made me think, If she's supposed to be the power player here, I think we're pretty screwed.
"How much have you told them, Al?"
"I'm still waiting for you to tell me," Alistair replied. He relaxed a little when she arrived. There was some real love and trust between them, I realized. I hadn't picked up on it before, when I thought they were both humans.
"Well, I'm sure you know that Merryweather Corp is a huge company, and Eden Park is only a small part of our business, but when I was young and I first heard about the queens and the prophecy, I started thinking how I could use it. Hundreds of shifters lived here, working in the park, as part of the experience. I was able to expand that without raising any eyebrows, because why break the magic of stepping into an idealized 'shifter world' with any human employees? I slowly but surely worked this philosophy all the way up through management and now over a thousand shifters live in Eden Park and Merry City, far outnumbering humans here.'
"It's nice," I said cautiously.
"I also started buying up as much land as I could," Esther said, "and opening new warehouses and plants across the west. And I staffed these places with shifters. It's the sort of no-man's-land where humans don't want to live, and shifters are cheap labor, so again...no one has paid much attention. To offset the low wages, I've provided perks at all the plants like cafeterias and free daycare. Besides an occasional magazine article somewhere, no one has seemed to notice! In fact, I get angry write-ups about how I exploit shifters too, and I haven't fought them much, because I didn't want anyone to notice what I was doing."