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Her pretty features are knitted together, and she’s fidgeting with her hands as she looks at me with something stricken in her gaze. My pulse skyrockets, but it gets even worse when she tells me what she came in to say. “The queen has requested an immediate audience with you, Maddie. We better get you changed and fast. She doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
Confusion races through me, making my very blood feel heavy in its wake, but I nod. Antonio leaves to let me change by myself, but before he goes, he sends me a thumbs-up and mouths, “Good luck.”
I’m too nervous to do anything but give him another smile, and then Mary helps me out of the dress. For once, the older woman doesn’t say anything, but she definitely seems worried. There’s a haste to her movements that isn’t usually there and although she manages just fine, her fingers aren’t as sure and swift as she undoes the delicate buttons running along my spine.
She eyes the jeans-and-sweater ensemble I was wearing before the fitting, then she sighs almost mournfully as she shakes her head. “I wish we had time to rustle up something more appropriate, but the clock is ticking. If you’re late, it won’t matter what you’re wearing.”
I nod woodenly as I change into my clothes when she hands them over, then I follow her at a clipped pace to a wing of the palace I’ve never been in before. I can tell when we’re in the queen’s territory as soon as we enter what is mostly her domain.
The air itself seems thick with tension here, the servants stone-faced and the guards standing stock still. Everyone who’s moving does so fast, racing by us without taking a second look at Mary or the Omega she’s escorting.
“Remember to curtsy when Stuart opens the door. Address her as Your Majesty. Do not argue. Do not shrug. Don’t even breathe too loud.” Mary rushes through the instructions in a quiet, urgent tone. “Gosh, I wish I had time to prepare you for this. Just…don’t go with your natural instincts. Regardless of what she says, you nod and agree. With anything. And you curtsy again before you leave.”
My brows sweep up, but I nod. I can’t make any promises, but I understand what she’s saying. When we arrive outside an ornately carved door with two guards stationed outside, my palms are sweaty and my skin feels strangely itchy, but I do what Mary said when the door swings open after one of the guards gives it a firm, short knock.
“Enter,” a male voice says.
I’m met with a stocky man I haven’t seen before, but this must be the Stuart Mary mentioned. I nod at him, curtsying like I was told to as soon as I clear the door. The thing is, I have no idea how to curtsy properly, so I simply bend my knees and position my feet like I’ve seen ballerinas do on TV.
The queen herself is sitting behind her desk, one eyebrow arching slightly as if she disapproves of my lame attempt at a curtsy, but she doesn’t come right out and say it. Instead, she cuts a look at her secretary. “Leave us.”
The man scurries out after giving her a quick bow, and my heart is in my throat once he’s closed the door behind him. Queen Catherine the Sixth is every bit as intimidating in person as I thought she might be. Tall and statuesque with features as sharp and regal as her son’s, she rises elegantly and purses her lips at me.
“Maddison Darling,” she says, her tone crisp and her gaze assessing as she looks me up and down. “Sit. We have much to discuss.”
We do?Since I was told not to question her, I move to the chair she inclines her head toward. Once I’ve managed to perch my ass at the edge of it without falling over or missing the chair in its entirety, she sits down herself and slowly looks me over again.
“How is your father enjoying his employment with the palace?”
I swallow past the dry patches in my throat and force a tight smile. “He loves it so far. Thank you, Your Majesty.”
She regards me like she might an enemy she doesn’t quite know what to make of just yet. “Your mother has Cervus.”
My heart flips and my stomach knots. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Lowering her chin, she slides open a drawer and extracts some sheets of paper from it that she sets down on her desk and pushes across to me. “Those are airplane tickets to America for yourself and your family, as well as confirmation from the Woods clinic that she’ll gain immediate access to their foremost clinic for the Cervus program there. She’ll start receiving the treatment as soon as she arrives, and we’ve arranged inpatient care for her at the clinic. Yourself, your father, and your brother will stay in a rental we’ve secured on your behalf nearby. I’m sure you know how valuable this offer is.”
My entire body goes ice cold as my heart and mind start racing. Her offer is more than just valuable, it’s a lifeline unlike any other. My mother is already receiving the treatment, but at one of their clinics as an inpatient, they may even be able to get even better results. It’s possible they could even send her Cervus into a permanent remission.
Technically, there is nocurefor the disease itself, but the treatment has been so effective in some that it has stopped the progression of the disease completely as well as reversed a lot of the damage it’s already caused.
What she’s offering is a second chance for my mother, and I’d be a fool to refuse it. As I open my mouth to say yes, however, I hear her voice in my head, making me promise not to sacrifice my happiness for them.
I’m concerned about what you’ve given in return.
“If I accept your offer, what do you want from me?” I ask quietly, my voice barely above a whisper. “It doesn’t come without strings attached, I imagine.”
She nods curtly, lifting her fingertips off the papers I haven’t taken and folding her hands gracefully on her desk.
“I know you’ve entered into something of a relationship with my son and his pack. All I ask is that you end things with them and go to America with your family. I’m sure you’d like to be with your mother when she receives this new drug they’re using in the program. It’s said to be more effective and more powerful than the treatments out-patients are receiving. We have also been able to arrange for your scholarship to be transferable. You can choose which Academy in the States you’d like to attend, and we’ll see to it that you’re enrolled. Finally, there will also be suitable employment waiting for your father near the clinic.”
“You want me to quit the Trials and move to America to stay there with my family?”
“The plane leaves tonight.” She glances at the papers. “Those tickets are for first-class travel and your mother could be admitted to the clinic as soon as tomorrow morning. It’s up to you, Ms. Darling, but I trust you’ll choose wisely.”
I stare back at her, almost unable to believe she’d do all this for my family. Entry into a Woods clinic as an inpatient. Accommodation. First-class airfare…
She must really be desperate.
