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At the end, vampire queen Ivy returned to olf Tunstell’s arms after ht The torches were diht in extras to fill the roolow

Alexia and the actors waited with bated breath And then, oh, and then, the asse out in adoration, trilling their tongues in a great cacophony of vibratory sound that could only be utter appreciation Alexia even observed one or two of the vampires wipe away senti dark eyes eeping openly

The lady drone stood and rushed forward to congratulate Ivy and Tunstell with open arms "That onderful! Wonderful! We have never seen such a performance So complex, so brilliant That dance with the yellow and black stripes, so perfectly articulating the ein to describe… soWe have been honored Truly honored"

Tunstell and Ivy and the entire troupe looked quite overwhelmed by such an enthusiastic reception Both Tunstells blushed deeply and Mr Tuan to blubber in an excess of emotion

The drone wafted over to Ivy and embraced her warmly Then she linked one arently fro of that interpretive piece in the gle with infinity, or a social co conflict with the natural world as both host and food supply?"

Tunstell replied jovially, "A bit of both, of course And did you notice the series of tiny leaps I perforht? Each one a hop in the face of eternity"

"I did, I did, I did indeed"

Thus agreeably conversing, they wandered down the hallway There was a brief rustle of activity, and Ivy ca extracted herself from her escort She hurried into the roonificantly hushed tone "Have you your ruffled parasol?"

Alexia, did, in fact, have her parasol with her She had found over the years it was always better to be on the safe side when visiting a hive She gestured to her hip where it dangled off of a chatelaine at her waist

Ivy tilted her head and winked significantly

"Oh," said Alexia,the connection "Pray do not concern yourself, Ivy Do go enjoy a well-earned repast The parasol is fine"

Ivy nodded in a slow, suggestive way Feeling that her secret society duties had been satisfactorily discharged, she went bustling after her husband

After a moment’s hesitation, the rest of the drones lish at least, to the acting troupe After an exchange of pleasantries, uided expertly from the room This left Lord and Lady Maccon behind with Prudence and the six vampires

Chancellor Neshi stood "Are you ready now, My Queen?" he asked of the curtained off area

No verbal response ehtly

Chancellor Neshi said, "Of course, estured for Lord and Lady Maccon to stand and come to face the front of the draped parasol Then he pulled aside the curtains, tying theold cords to each side

Had Alexia not spent a good deal of ti repurposed as a olf dungeon, she ht have been startled by the contraption revealed But she had seen an octoh London She had been attacked and then rescued by s She had flown in an ornithopter fro by corotesque invention of the e Worse than the disembodied hand in a jar under that temple in Florence Worse than a dead body in an afterlife extension tank Worse even than the wax-face horror of the Hypocras automaton Because those creatures had all been dead or manufactured What sat in the raised dais behind that curtain was still alive or still undead--at least in part

She, for Alexia assumed it must be a she, sat atop what could only be called a throne It wastwo levels of liquid, the botto mess of yellow that heated the upper composed entirely of a viscous red fluid that could only be blood The arms of the throne were fitted with levers, nozzles, and tubes, so into or coh the woenerations Some parts of the chair were bolted directly into her flesh, and there was a bronze halfthe lower part of her face fro a constant supply of blood

Only Lady Maccon’s good breeding kept her froht then and there on the reedthat, because the queen was immortal, all those places where the chair speared into her fleshto heal the He knelt upon the floor and bowed forward all the way to the ground, touching his forehead to the reed mat Then he stood and waved Alexia and Conall farther forward "My Queen, may I present Lady Maccon, Lord Maccon, and Lady Prudence Maccons, may I present Queen Matakara Kenemetamen of Alexandria, Ruler of the Ptolemy Hive ad Infinituhter of Nut, Oldest of the Vampires"

With the lower half of her head concealed, it was difficult to detere and very brown, too large in that eyptians, grown darker as it shrunk in against the bone, like that of aatop her head and a snake coronet old set with turquoise eyes on top of that Over the parts of her body not attached to the throne, she wore simple white cotton draped and pleated stiffly and a quantity of gold and lapis jewelry

Despite the grotesqueness of the contraption and the pathetic appearance of the woe eyes Rimmed in black kohl, they stared fixedly at her Alexia was convinced the queen was trying to coreat import And she, Alexia Maccon, was too thick to comprehend it The expression in those eyes was one of immeasurable desperation and eternalhis hat in a wide, sweeping gesture and doing a creditable job of it He did not look as surprised by the queen’s appearance as Alexia felt, whichShe believed that sheher own shock as she curtsied Prudence, standing quietly by her side, hand firlanced back and forth fro her own version of a half bow, half curtsy

A sound of disgust emanated from the queen and her contraption

"She wants you to bow," hissed the chancellor