veil over her face that hid her peculiar eyes, one milky white and the other mechanical. Curiously, only her right arm was bared, revealing opal white skin.
âImogen.â Kate breathed a sigh of relief. âYouâre both all right?â
âYes, Miss Kate,â Hogarth replied confidently.
Charlotte bounded over, jumping about the two of them with unrestrained energy. âI bit a big monkey!â
Imogen lifted her milky right arm, which bristled with long hairlike quills, and motioned to one of the apes lying in the gutter. Its huge body was punctured with the same filaments that graced Imogenâs arm.
âMarvelous,â Charlotte decreed. She pointed to the girl on the other side of Kate. âI met the princess! Princess, this is Imogen. Sheâs afflicted too.â
Kate interrupted the impromptu introductions. âHogarth, you and Imogen take Her Highness to safety.â
âOf course,â said the manservant. âCome with me if you please, Your Highness.â
The young heir did not hesitate to go with the towering man and his mournful companion, especially since Charlotte was nodding encouragement.
Behind them, an ape barreled through a long wrought-iron fence. It scattered panicked dignitaries and gawking commoners alike across the thoroughfare. With frightening intent, the brute paused in its rampage and plunged a mighty arm into the tumbled crowd. It grabbed up Prime Minister North in a crushing grip.
Kate started at a run, fumbling for a vial to load into her crossbow. By the time she fought her way across the yard, close enough for even a desperate shot, the prime minister had stopped screaming and was dangling limp in the apeâs large hand. The gorilla poised to strike at the slender figure of Mrs. North, who watched the scene of horror. The apeâs loud roar fluttered Grace Northâs hair and satin dress. To Kateâs amazement, the woman didnât flinch. She simply stood staring at her husband. She must be in shock, Kate thought, and ran all the harder, dodging people and debris. Then Graceâs hands lifted from her sides, palms open in what appeared to be supplication before the great beast. Her head cocked, as if she were studying the murderous animal with scientific curiosity.
The gorilla suddenly shuddered and, before Kateâs eyes, withered. It seemed to shrink in size and muscle mass, hunching to the ground as if it lacked the strength to hold itself upright. The distinctive silver tinge on its furry back spread to cover the rest of its dark hair until it looked old and feeble. The prime minister slipped from the quivering grip of the collapsed ape. He crumpled at the feet of his wife, who knelt slowly beside him. His face was still and bloodless. Her delicate hand rested on his motionless chest.
Kate ran up and fell to her knees, reaching for a vial of her elixir vitae, although she doubted it would be of any help now. Before she could administer it, the prime minister gasped and shot up into the embrace of his wife. Grace North looked neither distressed nor ecstatic over his abrupt recovery from what Kate had perceived as near death. Kate glanced back at the ape. It was alive, but barely. Its dark brown eyes were watching them with fear and confusion. It no longer was a terrifying monster but a sad, decrepit creature. Kate actually felt sorry for it.
Her attention returned to Grace North and her husband. The woman was cooing over him and telling him how brave he was. Then Grace flashed a radiant smile at Kate. âThank you. He would have died without your heroic intervention. England owes you much.â
Kate stared at her, not sure how to respond.
Inside Westminster, wooden pews burned like seats in Perdition. Flames flew from the bare hands of the enraged Irishman. Malcolm crouched behind a colossal column at the foot of the choir as liquid fire rushed around him, singeing his skin and hair. He took the moment to reload his