The Once and Future Queen

“But why would that make Marina afraid to get help?” Old blood… did he mean Briton? It wasn’t unknown for citizens to have some Briton ancestry, a legacy from the era before the Code was introduced. Even more so here in the stews, where Shadowers mingled more freely with the population, accidents happened.

He took a breath, seeming to consider his words carefully before continuing.

“Because a few of them also have… abilities. Or rather the potential to. Latents, particularly those manifesting any abilities, have been known to disappear after they seek medical attention.”

Even now he was being cagey with information. But I understood what he wasn’t saying.

“Magic? In the city?”

He inclined his head, a silent confirmation.

I drew a steadying breath. Abilities. Old blood. People who could wield magic, here behind the walls. This was the reason it was against the Code to intermarry with Britons. Why Shadowers couldn’t become full citizens. This taint in the blood. Magic was absolutely forbidden within the walls. It was the only way to keep our city safe.

If what Devyn said was true and I wasn’t city born then… no, he’d lied, it wasn’t possible… mixed blood. I had been adopted by a prominent elite family, I couldn’t be tainted with Wilder blood. Without thinking, I used the slightly derogatory reference to the native peoples of this land. Nobody referred to the indigenous as barbarian anymore, but they weren’t exactly civilised either.

“You think that’s why they’re hiding her illness. Because she has…” I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

“It sounds likely.”

“What happens to them? The ones who disappear?” I asked focusing on the impact rather than the cause. It didn’t bear thinking about, if she really did have what he suggested. The sooner she was beyond the reach of the authorities, the better.

He shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe they die like everyone else.”

“You don’t know for sure? Haven’t you searched online? You must have some idea.”

“No, I’ve tried to find out, of course, but there’s no reference to them anywhere.”

“Your friend, he decided not to stay to find out?”

“No, Linus decided to disappear himself for a little while, lie low, try to find out what he could beyond the walls,” he said slowly. “He’ll be back.”

I slowly and shudderingly released the breath I was holding. This was real.

I had drawn attention to Marina; it was my fault.

I wouldn’t stand by and do nothing. “Can you get her out?”

“What?” His features were in almost complete darkness. He was no more than a silhouette in the evening dusk.

“You helped get your friend out. Is there someone outside the walls who is helping him? Someone Marina could go to?”

He looked at me measuringly.

“Perhaps,” he said softly. “But I will need my tech back.”

“Deal,” I said with alacrity.

He laughed. “It’s not quite as simple as that. I’ll need help. Are you sure you want to be more involved than you are already, princess?”

I was going to punch him the next time he called me that. I saw again the fear in Marina’s eyes, the worry in Oban’s.

“What happens if she doesn’t get help?” I asked.

“She’ll die.”

“She can’t go to the hospital because the sentinels will take her?” I guessed.

“They don’t take everyone, but if she’s as afraid as you say then she may suspect she is likely to be one of the unfortunate ones.”

“I’ll help.”

“Good girl.” He smiled a broad open grin I hadn’t seen before. “Give me her details and I’ll go and talk to her and see if she and her brother want our help. Then I’ll see what I can do.”

“What we can do,” I corrected. I had got involved and I would see this through.

Again his dark eyes measured me.

“We’ll see. I’ll let you know if they agree to accept my… our help. Which means we’ll need to talk freely again, about things we don’t want anyone to hear. We’re okay here – the house is a clean zone. It’s been made safe.”

“People can’t hear us?”

“Not exactly, otherwise you screaming your head off wouldn’t have been a problem,” he explained. “It’s more that what you say can’t be picked up. Hang on a sec.”

He got up, crossing to what passed for a kitchen, and pulled out a drawer. Setting it gently on the floor, he reached back in to the hole and pulled out a small package before returning.

“Stand up for a minute, Cass. You need to wear this at all times.” He stepped behind me and placed a rose-gold chain with a plain disk hanging off it around my neck, his fingers brushing against the sensitive skin at the nape as I held my hair up out of his way. I could feel him standing there, his breath warm on my exposed neck, his touch lingering perhaps a moment longer than was necessary once he had fixed the clasp.

He returned into my line of sight and leaned against the wall.

“It’s important you remember to use it when we are together. We can’t let them notice any big change in your behaviour. Take the pendant between your forefinger and thumb before you say anything controversial, particularly if you’re going to use keywords that they monitor for dissidents.”

“Are you telling me that what we say is being monitored, that somebody is listening to us all the time?” I knew the council could watch citizens and that there were cameras everywhere, but I thought the surveillance of the level seen in the Mete’s evidentiary real was only for those who broke the Code.

“This can’t be news to you. The system tracks what you say to make your life as a citizen and, more importantly, as a consumer better, more efficient. When you walk into a shop, keywords are picked up, so that when you’re looking for that perfect pair of boots with the cute little strap”—he mimicked a teenage girl’s voice—“the shop assistant approaches you with a pair of boots in one of your favourite brands in your size. You know this, Cassandra.”

“Sure,” I replied. “They use that technology to optimise our time when shopping. Personalisation is much more efficient.”

Devyn snorted. “Don’t be so naïve. You think it stops there? You are monitored all the time. When you’re online with your friends, at classes, walking through the shops with Ginevra, they are always listening. They don’t record everything but every time you mention a brand name, ping, I want, ping, I need, ping, I must get, ping. We aren’t free citizens, we’re monitored consumers. Wake up.” His eyes were alive with contempt.

“What’s so wrong with that? I like that I don’t have to waste time shopping. My clothes arrive with the right accessories and my outfits are adorable,” I preened, unable to help myself.

“What’s wrong with that?” Devyn took a step towards me. His intensity compelled me to listen to him. “Nothing, as long as you continue to be a good little girl, keep up with the latest styles, listen to the latest packaged pop star, watch the trending bursts. What do you think happens when you don’t comply? When you’re caught saying something against the Code? When you’re caught breaking the Code?”

I saw again the blood speckled across the sand.

“All it takes is for them to catch you saying one thing that’s outside the lines of what the Code allows for them to focus in on you and start monitoring you and every little thing you do.”

I put my hand to the delicate chain, worrying the pendant up and down it. This was my only protection against the city’s surveillance. An alarming thought occurred to me.

“What about the last times we met? We spoke about the tech. What if they’ve already heard us?” I asked.

“They haven’t heard anything,” he said, turning his wrist to show me that his wristband contained a similar disc embedded in the leather.

“Why are we here then? We could have talked at the park.” He had relied on the protection offered by the disc before so what was different this time?

“I wanted to see how badly you wanted this favour.”

Just when I thought he wasn’t that bad, he had traipsed us all the way to the outer walls to test me. Right. Well, I had passed, I guessed.

I had come to him to figure out how to cover up my mistake so I could smooth over a wrinkle in my usually seamless life. Not only was it now well and truly rumpled, but if I was to believe what Devyn was telling me, it wasn’t even my life. Not really. My life belonged to an elite citizen, not a –

I shuddered. One problem at a time.

“Okay, tell me what to do.”

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