We spent a few more days in New York and I allowed William to have some time alone with Alex when he was free from meetings with the Authority. I still felt a little nervous about his veiled threat to banish me back into a corner of his mind. He had shown considerable courage and faith in me by allowing me as much independence as he had and I had no wish to risk the somewhat fragile bond of trust which was developing between us.

On the night before we left for Chicago they spent some time alone in the rooftop bar of the Hotel overlooking Central Park. I struggled not to listen to their conversation but when William began to speak of me I couldn't help myself.

"How are you coping?" Alex asked him quietly. "This must all be a terrible strain on you, having to deal with all this political stuff and Lilith as well?"

He shifted on the cushioned bench seat and pulled her closer to him. "It's confusing" he said. "In some ways she tires me out, the constant concentration feels like I'm trying to carry out two conversations at once…in fact sometimes I am having two conversations at once! But at the same time, she gives me enough strength to be able to cope."

He looked down at her. "Speaking of coping, how are you doing?" he asked, putting his arm around her shoulders. "This can't be easy for you either."

She smiled up at him. "Oh I'm fine, don't worry about me. When I think about what might have happened…"

He held her tightly to him. "I hate to do this to you Alex. I feel that I'm pressurising you to stay but I know that as long as you're with me I'll be alright" he whispered "I don't think I could bear to lose you, not now."

"You won't!" I said firmly. "I'm not going anywhere!" she took his hand. "I have no idea where this is going Bill and I know you don't either, but whatever happens, I promise you I'll be right there with you."

For the first time I found myself thinking that this was a good thing.

They sat holding hands in the darkness until William could feel the pull of dawn approaching and they had to head back to the suite.

Almost immediately on our arrival in Chicago we received an invitation to meet the Queen and her court. I could feel that William was tired from the journey and I told myself that I would help him all I could.

The Queen's substantial and elegant mansion was set outside the city in several acres of grounds and we swept in through a pair of high wrought iron gates and down a long tree lined drive to the house. There were several guards dotted discreetly around the entrance but we were greeted by a tall, thin, blond vampire who introduced himself as the Queen's private secretary. He escorted us down a corridor to a large wood panelled drawing room with two enormous bay windows looking out over the grounds and containing several sofas and half a dozen armchairs, several of which were already occupied.

"Oh not them again!"

Bill, Ulrich and Gerry nodded politely to Russell Edgington, Felipe de Castro, Queen Freyda and Eric and we sat down, carefully out of reach, to await her Majesty's arrival.

Alex murmured something to William and got up, heading over to the vampire secretary, then left the room.

"Where's she going?" I asked.

"Bathroom"

After a few moments she returned and even I could tell that she looked worried. William noticed immediately. "What is it?" he asked breaking off his conversation with Gerry and looking down at her, concern filling his blue eyes.

"Can I just have a quiet word?" she whispered, pulling gently on his hand. He got up instantly and we walked over to the large bay window looking out across the grounds. "I overheard Sascha taking to the Queen just now" she said quietly. "I didn't mean to, I was just coming back from the bathroom."

William lowered his head. "What did you hear?" he asked

"Well...I heard Sascha's voice coming through a half open doorway and I heard him say "...you have to tell them you know!""

"Tell us what?" whispered William.

"Well that's what I wondered!" said Alex. "Then I heard another voice which I'm guessing was the Queen. She said "You will not mention this Sascha! You understand, I absolutely forbid it!" She meant it too Bill! The Sascha replied "But my lady, you must! What if something were to happen? If she were to return?" He really sounded seriously worried. "You know as well as I do that if anything were to happen to Mr Compton the Authority would destroy us! All of us! We can't risk it!" the Queen replied "You will say nothing and you will leave this to me. You should never have mentioned the possibility to them in the first place! Diana will be hunted down and destroyed. If she has betrayed us as Anne believes then it is only what she deserves."

"Strange..." he murmured. "It sounds as though they were talking about the rumour Sascha told us about, but he said her name was Lucilla, not Diana. Who's Diana? And come to that who's Anne?"

Just at that moment the door opened and a woman walked in. She was tall and elegant, dressed in a white suit, her bronze hair pulled up into a knot on the top of her head, making her look even taller.

Ulrich stood up and bowed his head slightly. "Your Majesty" he said.

William turned from the window and bowed his head politely in acknowledgement. He walked over to Ulrich who introduced him. "This is his Excellency William Compton, the vessel of the Goddess."

"Good Evening your Majesty. I trust there's no problem with our visit?" said William quietly.

The Queen nodded politely to him. "Why of course not your Excellency" she answered. "Everything is arranged."

"You can't trust her William! She's lying to you!"

"I know, but what can I do?"

"Leave this to me!"

I reached forward and placed my hand on her cheek, William allowed me to take control and I could feel her discomfort. What she had told us was not true.

"Do not attempt to lie to me, I am your Goddess!"

Everyone in the room sat up suddenly and stared at us.

"Who is Diana and why might she be a danger to us?"I asked.

The Queen simply stared at William for a moment."Answer me!" I snarled angrily.

She was shocked into a reply. "Diana is...she is a member of my court, an old friend. But yesterday she attempted to break into my office, where the details of your visit were kept. She had something, some creatures with her. They fought off my security guards while she attempted to get at the information."

"And Anne? Who is she?"

"Anne is another old friend, she thinks that Diana has betrayed us to Lucilla, the witch. Anne knows witches, she hates them, says that her life was ruined by a witch."

"She is here?" I asked.

"Yes!"

"Fetch her!"

I snapped out the order and removed William's hand from the Queen's face. She sagged for a moment and then turned to the door and gave an order to someone standing just outside.

"Your head of security too. Get him in here!"

Ulrich stepped forward looking furious. "Why were we not informed of this development immediately!" He tapped the bluetooth earpiece he wore to communicate with his security team and said "Harry! Get a team in here now, we're leaving for the airport!"

The room immediately erupted. The Queen was obviously horrified at the thought that William and his entourage might leave earlier than scheduled. "No, no you can't. Trust me, everything will be fine, we can handle it!"

Russell turned to Eric and said something which made Eric smile. "You're not wrong there!" he said. "He always was one to run away from problems!"

Ulrich turned on him furiously. "You! Be silent! You have nothing to do with this!"

Felipe de Castro stood up. "But he's right. The man's a coward!" He turned to me with a cynical little smile and opened his mouth to say something else just as the Queen began to argue her case with Ulrich again.

"Silence!"

It was perhaps only at this point that I realised that William had relinquished control to me completely. I finally had it, what I had been struggling for for months, he had given it over to me voluntarily! I looked over at Alex. She was standing beside the window watching me and I could see that she knew. There was something in her eyes that told me, she was aware of what had happened. For a few seconds I felt a sense of freedom that I had not felt for some time. But then I knew that I had to give it up. I knew that he trusted me but I had not realised that his trust extended so far! This alone was astonishing considering what I had put him through. Besides, I needed him, I knew now that he was right...Goddess or not, I couldn't do this alone. I relaxed my hold on his mind and allowed him back.

I could feel the relief as he took control again and walked over to Alex. De Castro stood in his way and I brushed him aside. He took Alex's shoulder in his hand and leaned down resting his forehead gently against hers.

"Why did you do it?"

He sighed. "Lily, I am immortal. We may have to share this body for a very, very long time. We need to be able to trust one another completely and I thought it was about time we did."

"Did it not occur to you that I might not give it back?"

"Oh yes! It occurred to me all right! But trust has to start somewhere..."

Alex was looking up at him with worried grey eyes. "Are you okay Bill?" she whispered.

"Yes, yes I'm fine!" he smiled down at her and released her shoulder. She flexed her arm, her expression twisting with discomfort and I could feel William's horror as he realised that he had hurt her.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm sorry!" he murmured.

"It's okay...not now" she said, looking behind him.

He turned and saw a short stocky vampire with dark hair come into the room.

Queen Francesca turned to him and said "This is Angelo, my head of security. Angelo, explain to Mr Compton what happened last night."

He shrugged casually. "We had a security breach. Something broke the perimeter and my men went out to see what was happening. There was a lot of confusion as we tried to find out exactly what these things were and while they were gone a female vampire got into the house and attempted to break into the Queen's office. We think it was Diana, one of the Queen's court, that would explain how she got in and knew where to go. One of my men saw the open door and called out and tried to stop her but he was human and couldn't catch her so she got away."

"Do you have any idea what she wanted?" asked Ulrich.

"Not really no. She took nothing away with her."

"I want the perimeter sealed" ordered William.

The man looked over at his Queen. "Do as His Excellency says Angelo!" she said sharply.

"It will take a few hours Madam."

"A few hours!" growled William.

"It's a large estate!" she explained apologetically.

"I told him to seal the perimeter, not dry stone wall it!" William replied angrily. "I want it completed in twenty minutes, do you understand?"

"Yes Your Excellence!"

"Well done. You're learning fast!"

"I've had a good teacher!"