It was a quiet trip back through the country lanes to the estate. I was lost in my thoughts, worried about father and how to deal with Step-mother. I expected to find my scant belongings scattered over the cobbles in the yard when I returned.
Seth stroked the back of my hand in comforting circles. "The War Office is extremely interested in employing you, if you're looking for another occupation and could stomach working with me?"
I had to smile at that. Yes, I think I could stomach working alongside the Duke of Leithfield, especially if it involved cramped quarters with him holding me close. But the idea of leaving made my mind stutter, like a vermin cut off from the queen. That would leave father at home, and my friends exposed to her toxicity. Could I chase my own career and leave them all behind? I longed deeply for freedom, but part of me couldn't do it. Not until I removed her from our lives. Somehow.
"Let me make it through today first, and then we can discuss it." My smile dropped, I was too exhausted and still had too much to do. The world pressed down on me.
"Hey," he whispered and tilted my face to his. "You're not alone. You have friends who worry and will support you. I'll come find you this afternoon."
He drew me into his arms and kissed me, not hard like my body cried out for, but gentle. His lips brushed mine in the merest hint of a kiss, and then he released me. "We'll talk later, when you have other matters resolved."
For the rest of the ride he simply held me, tucked in against his side. My body lost the adrenaline that had kept me going, and weariness crashed through me. Then I climbed out of his large motor, and into the sidecar. Henry piloted the motorcycle as we rattled and jostled along the narrow lane. The knot of anxiety grew bigger in my gut with each mile passing under the tyres.
As we came up the driveway, I gazed at the grey stone of the house, and thought it looked no different than normal. I shielded my eyes and tried to see if father sat at the window, waiting for my return, but couldn't see past the sun reflecting off the glass.
A small measure of relief came back to me to see that my clothes weren't flung in the dirt. Perhaps she burned them instead? I squeezed Henry's arm as I climbed out, and he patted my hand. With a deep breath, I pushed into the kitchen, expecting her to start screaming at me as soon as I crossed the threshold. Instead, I found only the normal activity. Magda stirred a pot on the range and looked up to smile at me.
"Rather exciting night, I hear." She chuckled to herself.
"Yes, things went off with a bang." I looked around, waiting for the ambush. Elizabeth made it clear I was thrown out, homeless, and unemployed. The suspense was worse than creeping through the destroyed mound. "Where is she?"
"Upstairs, haven't heard her rise yet." She gestured with the wooden spoon.
Right, temporary reprieve then, while I try to figure out what exactly I will say.
I climbed the stairs and stood in the hallway, wondering what course of action to take. Did I wake her up and demand… what? That she pack up and leave? My quandary was interrupted by muffled noises coming from father's room. My heart jumped—was he awake and calling out?
I pushed his door opened and beheld something worse than scattered vermin. Elizabeth straddled father's chest, a pillow over his face as she leaned her weight against the object.
My brain froze. I faced lunging vermin, had just cleaned out the first nest we had ever discovered, and I couldn't rescue my father from the evil cow trying to murder him. Even more shocking, he struggled against her. His hands clawed at her legs, weakly, but he still moved.
"Henry!" I screamed down the hallway for help, praying he would hear me.
Then I launched myself at her, lunging across the foot of the bed.
"You have ruined everything," she said, fighting on two fronts and striking out as I closed my fingers around her ankle.
Henry burst through the door and stopped on the threshold. At least it wasn't just me who took valuable seconds to process the fact that father was moving. Father flung out a hand and grabbed the first thing he touched, a paring knife, left beside an apple. He raked it down her arm as I hauled her backwards by the foot.
Henry grabbed her around the waist and picked her up, as she kicked and fought. Blood welled up along the gash in her forearm. Father lay back down, as though he had a temporary resurrection. But he moved, we all saw it. He had reacted and defended himself.
"Why?" It was the only word I could muster. Why would she seek to murder her husband? And yet, I was beyond rage. I occupied a state of eerie calm. Her actions over the years crashed over her like a breaking wave, then drew back to reveal the evil being she was at her core. No better than a vermin, she just had a pulse.
"You ruined everything. With him out of the way, we could start afresh." She hissed and spat like a cornered cat but she couldn't break free of Henry.
"I don't understand. You would lose everything," I said.
She cackled at that. "I would gain everything. Hubert Jeffrey returned from the war with hideous burns. No woman will ever want him, so I offered him Charlotte. He would inherit this filthy farm, and we could stay here until Louise marries the duke."
I dropped to the bed as pieces fell into place. Hubert was Charlotte's long time correspondent. That was why she wanted to know who would inherit the estate, to ensure her daughter played her part in snaring him. I shook my head in disbelief, and tried to meet her wild gaze.
"Is there no level you would not stoop to?" I whispered, but I knew the answer. She had chained me, helpless, and left me for a vermin to find. She had tried to murder her husband. None of us were safe with her around. Would she murder us all in our beds?
"You have cast me as the evil queen in this charade, when all I ever did was look out for my girls," she screamed, struggling against Henry.
My body ached with fatigue and my over-tired mind took time to form cogent thoughts. I watched, mesmerised, as blood dribbled down her forearm. When one fat droplet pooled on a fingertip, I acted on instinct and pulled the scarf from my pocket. Then I wrapped it tight to stem the flow. Otherwise she would make a mess on the carpets and Alice and I would have to scrub the stains out.
"No. You have only ever advanced your own cause to the detriment of those around you. And now, you stoop to murder," I said. We would have to alert the local constable, and there would be a trial. In court, it would be her word against Henry's and mine. I blew out a sigh. Would the horror never end?
Just then, the light caught the handkerchief around her arm. The dark patch of sludge gleamed as a charcoal line crept from under the fabric and followed the path of her veins up her arm. My mind stalled and my body froze. What have I done?
"No, I never cast you as the evil queen," I whispered. I watched the black streak, fascinated as it raced along and then disappeared under the sleeve of her gown. God help her, it spread so fast. "But I have anointed you as one."
Her nose wrinkled, and she laughed. "You're as mad as your father."
I pointed to the cloth where the vermin's blood seeped into her wound; already its black touch spread through her body. "I wore that handkerchief around my face when we slaughtered the vermin queen. It holds a dollop of her blood."
Her eyes widened. No one could ever call Elizabeth dumb. When vermin blood met the blood of a living person, it transformed one into the other.
"No!" she cried and her hand clawed at the fabric.
Elizabeth wrenched free of Henry, or perhaps he let her go, not wanting to be tainted as well. She tore the makeshift bandage off and flung it to the floor. Too late. I had watched the exchange happen. I had never seen it move so fast, but then we had no experience with a queen. Was this their royal jelly? Step-mother's nails tore at her skin, as though she could pull the toxic invader from her body.
The deed was done, whether committed consciously by me or not. All night I had brooded over how to remove her from our lives. Thought of how to repay every harsh word she spoke, every lash she laid across my back, every degradation she made us suffer. One misstep from exhaustion, and my instinct had resolved the problem. I could never raise a hand against my Step-mother, but I could raise my sword to a vermin. Once she turned.
"You will turn, most likely into their queen. Then like bees, vermin will be drawn to the smell of you. Wherever you go, they will seek you out, as they did Rose's mother at the barrow. Arise your highness and run, for you are now the most hunted thing in this country."
I made her a queen, and yet still I could not strike. We needed answers, and Elizabeth's new state might just provide them. Could I let her leave to gather intelligence, like an unwilling spy?
She stared at me, and I watched in horror as the whites of her eyes filled with vermin blood until they were washed black. Elizabeth shuddered and blinked. The murk retreated, just like what had happened with Rose Linton's mother. Louise ran into the room, drawn by her mother's screaming. Elizabeth reached for her and wrapped her arms around daughter. Then, before Henry or I could do anything, she sank her teeth into Louise's neck.
Louise's scream escalated in pitch, which brought Charlotte running. Henry was prepared this time and caught her as she barrelled through the door, keeping her hugged to his chest.
"I'm sorry," I said to Charlotte.
"You bit me!" Louise spat at her mother, struggling to free herself. Elizabeth let her go, and Louise shot to the other side of the room, one hand over the small wound with its tiny droplet of blood.
"What is going on? Mother, what is happening?" Charlotte's gaze flew around the room, trying to make sense of all the wailing. Behind her, Alice and Magda were trying to peer through the doorway.
Father pushed himself up in bed. The movement drew my eye, but I had to stay focused on the two in front of me. I doubted that Elizabeth could infect Louise at such an early state in her transformation, but what I saw pass through her eyes made me shudder. I simply didn't know. It would be better to separate them and keep watch on Louise until we knew for sure.
"Henry. Take Charlotte and the others to the kitchen and keep them there." I kept my voice low. It was time to dispel some of the panic swirling in the room. There were things that needed to be discussed.
He nodded, and Charlotte renewed her struggles and demands to know why everyone had been screaming.
Louise took her hand away from her neck and stared at the small smear of red on her fingertip. Then she glared at her mother. "What is going on? I demand to know." With her superior tone, she would do well as a queen vermin, but that was never my intention and we certainly didn't need two.
"Elizabeth was trying to suffocate father with a pillow. I stopped her, but not before father slashed her arm with a knife." I gestured to the gash running down her forearm.
Her eyes widened, but she scoffed. "You expect me to believe the vegetable moved? You're mad. No court will ever believe a vindictive servant over us." She stepped backwards, closer to her mother.
"That's not all. I wrapped a rag around the cut, one I used last night slaying the vermin." The words dropped like bombs. It took long seconds for them to fall and then explode. Or perhaps longer, as Louise just frowned and stared at her mother.
"I'm so sorry, but the polluted rag has infected her." I almost tripped over the word sorry. Was I? Another thought that I needed time to consider and digest.
"You'll turn into one of them!" Louise's hand flew to her neck and she started to moan. "You bit me. You filthy piece of undead scum, you bit me!" Her knees crumpled and she dropped to the floor, a low moan coming from her chest.
"I am no filthy vermin," Elizabeth spat at the creature at her feet. "I will be a queen." She stared at her arm. The cut had closed over itself already, but left a blue-black bruise on her skin that seemed to grow and pulse with each beat of her heart.
I struggled with what to say. I sought to destroy her, but never meant to do it like this. "I cannot help you. All I can do now is give you a head start and we will watch Louise for any signs of infection."
Louise continued to whimper, while Elizabeth contemplated her future. She pulled her spine up and met my gaze. "I could stay here and make you all my servants. Perhaps this will be my new palace." She swept her arms wide as her top lip pulled back.
I shook my head. "The War Office will hunt you. They want to capture a queen to study. Other vermin will be attracted to you, and your acolytes will soon heed your silent call."
Until last night, I would have cowered before her, but no more. I pulled the katana free of its scabbard. "Or I could have your head removed from your body before you took two steps. You choose."
She froze and held her position.
I gestured to her arm. "You have a week at most, perhaps less. That blood was from their queen, so it could be far more potent. You must feel it within you."
Elizabeth, ever the survivor, made a decision and kicked Louise. "Get up. We have to get out of here."
"Leave Louise—she does not have to be a part of this and we will watch her." Those words did almost choke me. As much as they had both tormented me for the last five years and I prayed to have them out of my life, I couldn't condemn Louise to being a vermin as well. Not if there was a chance she were free of infection.
I swallowed guilt and bile as Louise lifted a tear stained face. The wailing turned to a low keening in her throat as she cried, "no, no, no," over and over.
"If you are free of the virus, you are welcome to live under my roof and abide by my rules." It was the best I could offer her and I didn't voice the rest, that she would have a quick death if she did turn.
Louise barked in laughter. "I would rather take my chances with my mother than be reliant on your pity. I am no servant. I am the daughter of a queen."
Elizabeth grabbed her daughter's arm and hauled her to her feet. Her gaze hardened as it met mine. "If you have truly made me their queen, I can assure you, I will rule and will command my people."
Well, that was a problem I would have to worry about another day. Preferably after a long, hot soak in the tub. The two women left the bedroom, heads held high as though events unfolded to their exact plans and not random chance. I didn't follow. I became lost in the image of Step-mother presiding over an army of vermin, her bloated body issuing commands as she wrestled for control of first England, and then the world.
"Act in haste, repent in leisure," I muttered. In saving the carpet from bloodstains, I had just created a problem that would need to be dealt with at some point in the future, and probably with the might of the War Office and the army providing backup.
Father rustled the bedding, and I remembered he had struggled to throw off his wife and then been silent witness to her downfall. A smile came to my lips as I saw him sit up, his movement slow and ponderous, but he moved of his own volition.
"Welcome home," I said as I smoothed out the blankets and repositioned his pillow. "Quite a bit has happened in your absence." My heart soared to see the glimmer of life in his tired gaze. There was still a long road to recovery to tread, but he had taken that first step. I took his hand, and laid my cheek against his warm touch. "I have missed you so much."
A hand touched my head and I couldn't stop the tears that rolled down my face. We sat like that for several minutes until his hand fell away. Looking up, I found him fast asleep. His chest rose and fell with each deep breath. I crept from the room and headed down to the kitchen.
Alice and Magda stood at the bench, looking out the window. They turned on hearing my steps.
"What on earth happened up there?" Alice said, eyes wide. "Henry said Sir Jeffrey moved and that they are both gone for good."
I blew out a sigh. "Quite a lot. Elizabeth tried to suffocate father—"
Both women gasped, Magda put a hand over her mouth.
"—and he's all right." I reassured them. How much more to tell? That I had sentenced my Step-mother and step-sister to a living death? Might skip over that bit. "Elizabeth and Louise are out of our lives."
Magda's chest heaved. "About bloody time. I think we'll have a celebratory dinner tonight, in honour of Sir Jeffrey's recovery." She bustled around the kitchen, pulling down books and looking up recipes. She showed her love for our family in her food, and despite some unfortunate events, we had a very real miracle to be grateful for.
Alice wiped her hands on her apron and cast another glance out the window. "Right, then, I'm going to go strip their beds, and you can move back into your proper room." She waggled a finger at me.
"But I would miss you, Alice. What about our chats?"
She laughed. "We shall have them in comfort, curled up by the fire in the front parlour."
She had a point. With the other two gone, we could reclaim the house and turn it back into the welcoming home it had once been.
"I need to see to Charlotte." The plight of my other step-sister pressed on my mind. I had just torn her mother and sister from her.
I found her outside in the yard, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched Louise and Elizabeth walk down the road. Their voices rose and fell as they argued over where to go. I didn't want to know. I had condemned them, and needed time before I had to act as their executioner. I just hoped they left Somerset before they turned.
"I can't stay here," Charlotte said to me, without her gaze ever moving from her mother and sibling. "They are my family, and now I am alone."
This pained me the most, stabbing through my chest with the force of my own blade. Out of the three of them, I always had a sense of what could have been with Charlotte. Under different circumstances, she might have been a true sister to me. "I'm so sorry, Charlotte. I hope you believe me, one day. I never meant for things to come to this."
She nodded. "Perhaps, one day." A tear rolled down her cheek. "I cannot stay, and yet have nowhere to go."
"What of Hubert?" I had to ask, they wrote so many letters back and forth, and certainly Step-mother planned for them to marry.
"I wrote to him because mother instructed me to. He seems nice enough on paper, but we have little in common and I have never met him. I cannot throw myself on his mercy." Her gaze stayed on the now empty road.
Inspiration hits at the weirdest times. Watching her cry for all she had lost, I knew exactly where she should go. I gestured to Henry who leaned against the stone wall. "Get the motorcar, take Charlotte to the manse."
She turned at that, and frowned at me. "You think I should seek counsel with Father Mason?"
I laid a hand on her shoulder. "No, I think you should stay there. Tell him Mrs. Mason hired you as housekeeper, to look after him and the house while she is absent."
"Mrs. Mason is dead." The frown stayed put between her brows.
The whole village knew that, except for one man who clung to the days before the pandemic. They were both lost. Perhaps together they could find their way. "Father Mason is yet to accept that fact. He's a good man, Charlotte. I think you could help each other."
Henry drove the motorcar from the barn and stopped next to us. Charlotte stared, her face reflected back at her in the high gloss of the red paint. I hoped she would take my advice, and I didn't realise I had held my breath until she nodded. I let out a deep sigh.
She climbed into the car, staring straight ahead as Henry took the wheel. I hoped he would resist the urge to run Elizabeth and Louise over as they wandered the lanes. Their fate was in their own hands now.