Invasion Page 3

  “Thank you,” I said, and hurried down the stairs. I needed a breath of fresh air, even though it was cold out.

  To my surprise, I saw another figure in the gardens. I squinted in the dim light, then smiled when I realized who it was. “Wesley!”

  He turned to see me, and the way his face lit up caused a warm glow to spread through my chest. “Eliza!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing out in this cold? Here.” He shrugged out of his jacket and slipped it over my shoulders, rubbing his hands up and down my arms to boost the circulation.

  “I’m never cold when I’m with you,” I said, teasing, and stood on tiptoe to give him an impulsive kiss. Even as I perched in the towering five-inch heels that matched my dress, Wes was so very much taller than me.

  We turned to walk along the gardens, arm in arm, like some couple from a long-ago time. The silence between us was comfortable. After all the months in the cottage, we were used to the peace and quiet.

  When we passed the picnic spot where my mother died—from eating a poisoned peach given to her by Cornelius Hollister—I shivered. “Being in this garden … It still hurts,” I said softly. I didn’t have to explain what I meant to Wes. He knew that his father had killed my mother here.

  “Eliza.” Wes stopped and put his palms on my shoulders, turning me to face him. “I’m so sorry. You know that I hate what my father did to your family. I would never, ever hurt you.” His voice quavered, and I looked up, startled. “I love you.”

  I tried to say it back, I really did, but the words caught in my throat. I was no good at any of this. I’d lost so many people in my life. And somehow, I couldn’t help thinking that by loving Wesley, I put him at risk. If I didn’t say it, maybe I would never have to lose him.

  “You know how I feel about you,” I said as a compromise.

  His eyes bore into mine so intensely I had to look away.

  “You’re right,” he said finally. “I do know. And I know we’re young now, but Eliza, I don’t ever want to be without you. I hope that one day we’ll be married.”

  This was a shock. I felt so overwhelmed I couldn’t move or breathe, couldn’t look at Wesley.

  But he was patient, and he waited for me to find the words I needed.

  “When I was little,” I finally managed, blinking back tears, “I hated Mary’s game of being a bride. I never wanted to dress up in gowns and march around the palace, but I had to, because she made me. She was the bride and I was always the bridesmaid. I’m sorry, I know I’m not making any sense. What I’m trying to say is …” I turned and took his hands, lacing my fingers with his. “I never, ever in my whole life pictured myself marrying anyone. Until I met you.”

  That was enough of a yes for Wesley. He stood up and pulled me into his arms, twirling me around, laughing with giddy delight. The world around us disappeared into a blur, spiraled into oblivion, until it was just Wesley and me and the delicate bubble of happiness surrounding us.

  “I love you, Princess Eliza!” He yelled to the sky, to anyone who was listening. “I. Love. You!”

  * * *

  Holding hands, our faces bright pink from the cold, Wesley and I hurried into the Royal Hall just as the rehearsal dinner bell rang. My heart was still beating rapidly from what he’d said in the garden. But when I walked through the double doors into the Grand Room, I stopped suddenly, my lips parted in surprise. It looked almost like it used to before the Seventeen Days, with the long table and white linen and silver place settings. And on the center of the table, in a giant crystal vase, were a dozen white roses—Mary’s favorite. It wasn’t so long ago that there weren’t any roses left in England. The delicate blooming flowers on the table before us were just one more reminder that England was finally beginning to come back to life.

  I took my seat next to Mary, who was across the long table from Eoghan, as was tradition. Wesley had the seat on her other side, directly across from me, his green eyes full of love.

  I looked around at all the friends who had gathered here tonight to help celebrate Mary and Eoghan. Eoghan’s boys Aiden and Liam sat with Jamie on the far end, dressed in matching navy blue suits and ties. Next to me was Polly, in a soft blush-pink dress that made her look like a ballerina; and farther along, her parents. The other guests were members of Parliament and their families, along with other political figures and the main workers in the rebuilding and restoration of England. I did my best to avoid eye contact with General Wallace, still uncertain how I felt about the whole ship fiasco.

  Eoghan stood at the head of the table, looking like a king in a dark gray suit and navy tie. He cleared his throat, and everyone fell silent. Polly squeezed my hand underneath the table, and I was thankful again that my best friend was here. Someday she’ll be my maid of honor, I thought, and the realization made me blush.

  “Thank you all for coming this evening,” Eoghan began, his voice gruff. “I’m the luckiest man in the world, to get to marry the world’s most incredible woman. Please, enjoy tonight!” He smiled and sat back down, and then the first course was served.

  I hadn’t been at a dinner like this since the Roses Ball, the night my father was killed. I had been worried that tonight would bring back those memories, make me nervous and fidgety and ruin the night for Mary—but seeing Mary and Eoghan smiling at each other across the forty-foot table swept all those fears away. This was a happy occasion.

  “Remember when we used to go to dinners like this all the time, when we were little?” I turned to Mary as servers dressed in crisp black and white uniforms set the first course, a mushroom bisque, in front of us.

  “When we were the dessert princesses?” Mary asked, smiling. “You hated that!”

  Our parents used to have state dinners at least once a week, before the Seventeen Days. Though Mary and I were certainly not old enough to attend, we were often summoned near the end of the meal to make an appearance in matching tartan dresses. We would smile and curtsy as the guests were enjoying their dessert, give our parents a kiss, and then our governesses would usher us back upstairs to the nursery for bed. “We’re the dessert princesses!” Mary would call us with a giggle, while I sulked, bored with the whole thing.

  “I wasn’t always the best behaved,” I said sheepishly, taking a spoonful of my soup. It was delicious.

  “How are you doing?” Wesley whispered across the table to me, when there was a break in the conversation. “This is more people we’ve seen in one place in a long time.”

  “I do miss the cabin,” I admitted. “But you have to admit, this is amazing.”

  “Agreed,” Wesley said with a grin. “Enjoy it. We’ll be home soon enough, forced to eat our own bad cooking.”

  “Hey!” I said, kicking him playfully under the table. “We’re not so bad!”

  He held up a forkful of truffle beef Wellington, eyebrows raised. It couldn’t be more different from the simple meals we’d grown accustomed to cooking for ourselves. “I wouldn’t mind if we learned to make this,” he said, reaching across the table for my hand. “I miss it too, though. Don’t worry, we’ll be back there soon enough.”

  Finally, General Wallace stood up, tapping his glass with a knife for silence. The toasts were beginning.

  “Friends,” he began. “Let me take this moment to honor Her Royal Highness Mary Windsor, queen of England, and Mr. Eoghan Burns.

  “I have had the distinct honor to know Queen Mary since she was a little girl. And in a mere twenty years, she has managed to accomplish more than most people have in a lifetime. She saved our great country from a dictator and led the most extensive rebuilding efforts the world has yet seen. Someday, children in history class will report on Mary as the greatest queen in British history.” I glanced over to Mary, whose eyes were brimming with tears. “Please join me in congratulating her on this exciting new chapter in her life!”

  Applause filled the room, and Mary stood up to begin a speech of her own. “Dear guests,” she began.

  The room fell instantly sile
nt. All motion stopped as though a spell had been cast, freezing everyone in place.

  “I am so very grateful to all of you for being here to celebrate this happy occasion with me this evening. For those of you concerned this soon-to-be new bride will shirk on her duties …” She paused for the laughter coming from her guests. Not a single one of them were concerned about that at all. “Allow me to put your minds at ease.”

  She raised her glass. “My first priority will always be to serve and rebuild my country. Nothing will stop me from fulfilling my duty. Not even you, Eoghan.”

  Again the crowd laughed.

  Eoghan and Mary looked at each other, love crackling in the air between them, and someone sighed romantically. I realized that it was me. But I couldn’t help thinking of Eoghan and Mary years from now, growing old together, surrounded by their children and grandchildren.

  Then the servants pushed in a trolley stacked high with cakes and tarts, and rarest of all, champagne. There wasn’t much left in the cellars from before the Seventeen Days, but these bottles had escaped the looting of the palace. I had tried to convince Mary to finish the few bottles tonight, but she only took two. “We’ll need some for your wedding, Eliza,” she had said, smiling.

  Through the windows of the dining room, I could see a low-hanging full moon, framed by an almost perfectly clear dark sky. I took the stem of my champagne flute into my fingers and stood up, gesturing for Wesley to join me.

  We stepped out onto the small balcony and looked up at the stars. I suddenly remembered that when I was little, I used to wish upon a star every night for Jamie to get better. And now he had. I closed my eyes and furiously wished again, this time for Wesley. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.

  “Wesley,” I said, reaching for his hand. “When we get married, I want it to be small. Just us, and Polly and Mary and Eoghan. And Jamie. None of …” I gestured back to the dining room, indicating the long banquet table, the speeches, the five-course meal. “None of that.”

  Wesley threw his arms around me and laughed. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.” He squeezed me tightly. “But that’s just fine by me.”

  When we get married. I never thought I’d ever say those words aloud.

  I squinted through the window to see Jamie and Aiden and Liam shoveling chocolate pudding into their mouths. Polly was smiling at something Mary was saying, taking dainty spoonfuls of the custard she had chosen. Everyone looked so happy and content, mingling around the room and stuffing themselves with sweets.

  And then a loud knock sounded on the dining room doors.

  The doors swung open to reveal four men in British military uniforms. In the past years of isolation and rebuilding, the military was now essentially a police force, serving under the general. I could tell they were seeking him out now.

  “This can’t be good,” Wesley said, as we swiftly returned to the room.

  “Your Highness.” One of the officers stepped forward, his hat in his hand. “Please excuse us for disturbing you. We would never have interrupted if it wasn’t urgent.”

  “Of course,” Mary said, all business. “Please, follow me.” She led the officers into the small smoking room off the dining room. Wesley and I hurried to join them, followed by the general.

  “What is it?” Mary asked, when I had shut the door.

  “A foreign ship has been sighted off the coast,” the officer said.

  Mary’s eyes widened and locked with mine momentarily. Even the general gasped.

  “It appears to be abandoned,” the officer continued. “There’s no response on the radio transmitters. But it’s in full view.”

  “What kind of ship?” General Wallace demanded.

  The second officer, older than the first, stepped forward. “Sir, and Your Highness, it’s … difficult to describe. I have never seen a ship like this, not even before the Seventeen Days. It looks as though two giant oil tankers were welded together. It’s the size of a small island.”

  “Is there a flag?” General Wallace asked. “Or any sign of where it comes from?”

  The officer scanned our anxious faces. “There is a flag,” he said. “But none we can identify with any country known to us before the Seventeen Days. And from our radio sensors, we haven’t picked up any human sound. The ship seems to be deserted with no sign of life.”

  The general took charge then, shouting out an order to fire up the Royal Voyager—the strongest, largest ship in England’s fleet.

  Mary threw open the smoking room’s doors. “Order the carriage around!” she shouted to whatever servants were nearest. Her eyes were alight with delight. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, Eliza,” she added quietly, turning to me.

  “Of course Eliza was right,” Wesley said. “I knew it.”

  The word ship was spreading like wildfire among the guests, whispered from ear to ear in hushed, excited tones. They quickly gathered their coats and called for their own carriages. Everyone wanted to see this for themselves.

  Eoghan came to my side. “Will you and Wesley ride with us in the royal carriage?”

  “Of course,” I said. Wesley was already nodding his head.

  “Boys,” Eoghan addressed his sons and Jamie. “You’ll stay here.” Their voices immediately rose in loud, angry protest.

  “Eliza!” Jamie cried out, giving me his best puppy-dog pout. “Please let us come.”

  Eoghan crossed his arms over his chest, clearly refusing to budge, but Polly’s father, George, interrupted. “We have room in our carriage. They can ride with us.” He shot Eoghan a sheepish smile. “This ship could change everything. You don’t want to have to tell your grandchildren that you kept their parents from witnessing history.”

  “Fine,” Eoghan said, defeated. “But boys, stay close to Polly. Do whatever she and the McGregors say.”

  Polly nodded. “I’ll keep a close watch on them,” she promised.

  The full moon lit our way as we traveled to the coast in a long line of carriages, all of us still in our gowns from the rehearsal dinner. Around me, everyone seemed to be in high spirits, laughter and excitement bubbling up like the champagne we had toasted with earlier. I was the only one who seemed to feel the least bit uneasy. I tried to ignore the knot of doubt forming in my stomach, but I couldn’t stop thinking of that dead deer, and the fishhook, and the boot prints in the snow.

  6

  I huddled into my coat against the cool night air, which tossed ocean spray into my face. Around me, the beach was a buzzing hive of activity. Guests from the rehearsal dinner gathered around torches, murmuring to one another in excitement, their shoes abandoned as they walked barefoot in the sand. Soldiers stood at attention around the general while the men of the coast guard consulted with him in hushed tones. Static from radios crackled, echoing loudly across the sky.

  “Look,” Mary said, gesturing out into the water.

  In the distance, floating far out to sea, was a large, dark shape. It was so massive and still that if I hadn’t known what to look for, I might have mistaken it for an island.

  Mary turned to the general. “How long before the Royal Voyager is ready to embark?”

  “Forty-five minutes at least,” General Wallace replied. “It takes time to fuel. And we hadn’t anticipated this.”

  Wesley shot me a look as if to say, Eliza did.

  Mary furrowed her brow. “Well, what about that ship there?” She pointed to a small schooner with raised sails.

  General Wallace immediately understood what Mary was suggesting. “Your Highness, with all due respect, I would advise that you wait for the Voyager. That boat can only take out fifteen at most. And it has no functioning weaponry.”

  “I’m taking it out there,” Mary said, clearly not listening. “Tell the men to start preparing it.”

  “Your Majesty, I—”

  “I’m coming with you,” Wesley called out, stepping forward. “We’ll take a few soldiers with us, General.”

  General Wallace pursed
his lips, then reluctantly nodded. He knew better than to try and dissuade Mary once her mind had been made up. “All right,” he said. “But please, be careful.” He turned and headed toward the naval officers, to tell them the change of plans.

  “Mary,” I said carefully. “Are you sure about this?”

  It was as if she didn’t even hear me. Her eyes shining with delight, she turned to Eoghan. “You’ll stay here, with the boys and Jamie. And Eliza—”

  “I’m coming with you,” I said. “Don’t try to stop me.”

  “Mary, no,” Eoghan was saying, but I didn’t stop to listen to them argue. I already knew Mary would win. She was the queen; she always did.

  By now, word of the sighting had somehow spread to others. Families from local towns joined the rehearsal dinner guests on the beach, pulling their children close to them, passing torches and blankets for warmth. Their hope, their excitement, was like a physical force. England had been alone for so long. Could there really be other survivors of the Seventeen Days?

  I found Polly with her parents. “Will you do me a favor?” I asked, reaching for her hands. At the sight of my worried expression, the smile on her freckled face dimmed.

  “Anything,” she said solemnly.

  “If anything goes wrong, I want you to take Jamie and the boys to Scotland. Right away. At the first sign of trouble.”

  “Do you really think …” Her voice trailed off. Her red hair was blowing wild in the breeze.

  “I don’t know, Polly,” I said quietly. “Mary and I are going out there. I just need to be sure that if anything happens—”

  “Of course,” she said. “You can count on us.”

  I gave her and the boys a quick hug before turning to make my way to the schooner.

  The general was calling out orders to the handful of soldiers that would man the boat. Mary had insisted that he stay behind, to command the Royal Voyager once it was ready to join us.