Ring. Sister. Piano (Book 4 of The Powder Trail)

Chapter Forty Eight: The Gauntlet

Somehow, Jack recovered his senses. Perhaps it was the thought of the little girl who was behind him somewhere, in that bright, beguiling meadow, waiting to be brought home. 

He didn't think too hard about the fact that her home was gone – pulled down to make room for a warehouse – or that everyone she loved was dead, apart from her sister. He thought about the snub-nose and the awkward arm-swings, until he could almost see her before him, and almost forget about all that fascinating black lace.

He smiled and bowed, facing slightly towards the Queen, so that Robin didn't get as much of the bow as she did.

"Your Majesty-"

"What can you do to entertain me?" said the Queen. She inched forwards to the front of her throne, and leant down to him, making the black lace over her breasts shift.

Jack looked down quickly, but was afraid it hadn't been quickly enough. "W-would you like to know who I am first?"

"I'll know who you are when I know what you can do."

He risked a look at her face – definitely her face – and saw a curious expression there, half-hungry and half-scornful. She motioned to his left, and said, "You play, yes?"

Jack's muscles had seized up with dread and longing, but he managed to turn his head, and look in the direction she was indicating. A piano had materialized beside him.

"Ah – no," he said, a little breathlessly. "In fact, I don't, your Majesty, but-"

She gave a short, scornful giggle. It seemed to burst out of her before her queenly instincts could suppress it. Then she cleared her throat, smoothed her gown on her knees, and went on in a more elevated strain: "Are you afraid of the piano, interloper? Does it make a sound too harsh for your delicate ears?"

Jack could hardly answer her. He was too busy thinking about the giggle. It had somehow put him in mind of Myrrha, Alice Darwin, and Baby Jane at the same time. And he realized that there were composite elements of all three women in the Queen.

She had Ellini's body, of course, because what could torment him more than that? But there was a childish whine to her voice that was all Myrrha's, and a simpering scowl that was Baby Jane's, and her breasts were too large to be Ellini's. They must have been Alice Darwin's – or what he imagined to be Alice Darwin's, because she was the only one whose breasts he hadn't seen.

The Queen was an amalgamation of every woman he'd ever wanted. She was lust incarnate. And she wanted him to play the piano. If she had ordered him to drop his trousers, she couldn't have made him feel more vulnerable.

She laughed at his silence, and Robin joined in – rather late, but with added malice.

Still, the sound of his laughter killed hers, and Jack was pleased to see her roll her eyes, as if she was surrounded by idiots and nobody knew what she suffered. That was Alice Darwin too.

"You are here to take my little Sita from me?" she prompted. "Fair is fair, interloper, I must have some entertainment in exchange."

"If I play for you," said Jack slowly, "I can take Sita home?"

"If you please me with your playing, you can take Sita home."

"Ah."

He turned to the piano with a kind of stiff, heavy-limbed despair. Even approaching it was like climbing a mountain. He could hear his breathing quickening, and knew that she could hear it too.

There was no stool, but he had often played standing-up. He had found the tricky parts easier that way, although this seemed incomprehensible to him now.