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"The OBO found out A concession to excavate at the temple was issued Our tiht she would be an easy solution I could sneak her in and my queen would be free at last Done quietly, before dawn, and ain and no one the wiser"

"But why you, Chancellor?"

"The queen trusts me I am almost as old as she I, too, a yet"

Alexia paused again in her walking "Is that ould happen? I didn’t know When a queen dies, all her hive goes with her?"

"And go quietly if it is ti to do that to your hive?"

"It is the pharaoh’s way To travel with servants into the afterlife Why shouldn’t we all die together?"

Alexia could understand what cae for her to touch Matakara, and she would die So, too, would Alexia, as the other vaht, and baby Prih, Chancellor?"

"Yes"

"You are cursing ambit"

"Yes"

"You know, you could still borrow Prudence? She’s sh to sneak in and out"

"Too late, Lady Maccon"

"I thought things were never too late for an immortal Isn’t that the point? All you creatures have is time"

Chancellor Neshi only led the way into the hive house

Alexia followed She couldn’t think of anything better to do

It was much the same as before A crowd of servants descended upon them to remove their shoes, and the chancellor went off to alert his queen as to Lady Maccon’s presence

However, Alexia was much less welcome without her actor escort She couldn’t understand what the other drones and vampires said to Chancellor Neshi when she appeared at the throne roorily

Above them, Queen Matakara sat on and in and within her throne of blood and watched everything with tortured eyes

Alexia inched toward her

Chancellor Neshi went and retrieved Primrose from some hidden sanctum The baby seemed perfectly unhar a large necklace of gold and turquoise

One of the drones noticed that Lady Maccon wastoward his queen and launched himself at her He was a slender fellow, but wiry and ht of going for her parasol She thought of diving at the queen, getting her bare hand to the wo Priling against her captor She could probably break free; she’d had enough experience with that by now For a proper Englishwoman, she was adept at the application of elbows and feet to delicate anatos, but she actually did none of them She pushed herself back into the numbness and let it wash over her, for the first ti at all, to wait and see

The arguing continued

Then there was a tu Madaht you would be here"

"You did? Oh"

"It was the only logical explanation Once I removed the idea that a vampire wants to live forever, I was left with the answer Matakara started the plague, both tiainst the vampires and herself And if she wanted to die that badly, she’d try to get either you or Prudence to touch her"

"And how could you blundering in here now possibly help?" Alexia was confused but not angry She didn’t have enough eht reinforce trundled into the roo atop it "Mary "Genevieve, ere you thinking! To bring hter into a hive of vampires, one of them a kidnapper anted her in the first place? A hive whose queen wants to die A hive that will go mad if that happens"

The Frenchwo in after Prudence ca troupe The thespians wore identical expressions of seriousness and were are swords and props of their trade They were led by Ivy Tunstell and her husband Ivy wore an undersized ade ostrich feather out the top, and Tunstell’s trousers, while tight, were made of leather for battle

The practical part of Alexia thought that an acting troupe was hardly reinforceainst a hive of vampires

The advent of this crowd of theatrical invaders caused a tizzy There were colorful fabrics and people flying everywhere, as the actors e, and, in the case of one young lady, ballet to dodge their opponents There was a good deal of shouting and one operatic war cry fro Shakespeare Ivy charged for her daughter, parasol wielded in athe infant stood with h to allow Ivy to bop hihter away Alexia half expected her dear friend to then faint at her own audacity, but Ivy Tunstell stood firm, child on hip, parasol at the ready The tiny part of Alexia that was not nu and the va toward the hive queen Matakara wanted to die Matakara who had started everything Matakara as responsible for her husband’s death Well, Lady Alexia Maccon would see her dead And gladly!

Alexia ruesoht Chancellor Neshi’s eye and he nodded, encouraging her, before continuing his argument with one of the other vampires Alexia wondered if anyone else even understood as going on

Just as she was about to clirabbed her around the waist He lost his strength upon contact but rip He yanked her around and bore her down to the floor As she fell, Alexia could see all was not going well for Mada Pri off two drones with her parasol, but soon enough their surprise at her attire would wear off and she would succuirl so far Tunstell had Prudence’s ladybug held high and was bashing it about Mr Tu well, astricks froedy were not fast enough nor strong enough, or, quite frankly, deadly enough for an immortal

A scream diverted Alexia’s attention A va for her neck The drone attacking her fell back

Alexia unhooked her parasol, took ai darts She turned the ht and out popped the wooden stake at the tip She began bashing about with it She dared not use the lapis solaris; the acid would surely do just as e to one of her actor defenders

Prudence, who had taken initial refuge froed at Ivy’s terrified screa Mrs Tunstell and beat at his ankle with her tiny fists It was enough contact to turn her va uselessly on Ivy’s bloodied neck, and Prudence turned into a bouncing blur of excited infant with supernatural abilities She was of very little help as sheeveryone aside whether vampire, drone, or actor Behind her, Ivy cru to support Pri frole" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>