I glanced around the large ballroom as William turned to Ulrich and tried to explain to him what had just happened. All of the Queen's court appeared to be standing around watching us warily, unwilling to leave in case something else happened.
Alex came over to us and she and William began to argue in low voices, he was clearly concerned about the intentions of the witch and wanted her out of the way and she adamantly refused to leave him.
"We should talk to Anne?" he said. "What do you mean 'we'? Don't you think you'd be safer back at the Hotel?"
"What did I just say!" she hissed, exasperated. "She's not looking for humans, she's after you! Well she'll have to get past me first!"
She glared up at him fiercely and I saw Ulrich smile to himself. But William didn't smile, he didn't laugh at her. Instead he pulled her closer and kissed her. "I know that" he said quietly. "That's what I'm afraid of." He walked with her away from the others bending his head to talk to her softly. "If anything did happen you'd try and help me I know that. I don't want anyone to get hurt for my sake, least of all you!"
"Oh Bill" she whispered. "If I'm with you at least I'll have a chance. Don't you see, I may not be able to help you, but if I'm at the Hotel and I hear that something's happened to you...well, I'll never know will I? I'd rather try and fail than not try at all and spend the rest of my life wondering if I could have done something."
I could feel William's love for her at this declaration and he gave in. "Alright, let's go and find this Anne shall we. Didn't I demand that she be fetched earlier?" He raised his voice a little. "Was no-one listening?"
The Queen snapped an order to her secretary and came over to us. "If you would like to wait in the drawing room Your Excellency. Anne will be brought to you in a moment."
We sat quietly waiting until the blond secretary came in with a girl. She was dressed in jeans and a check skirt but her long hair was tied up on her head in a somewhat old fashioned twist. She looked to be in her late teens but her expression belied her apparent youth. It was hard and cold. Something had clearly taught her that life was tough and she had learned this lesson well.
"This is her Majesty's advisor" he said. He turned to the girl. "Her Majesty wishes you to help these people in any way you can."
"Certainly" she said giving us a little smile and sitting down in a armchair in front of us. "What do you need to know? I gather you want information on the witch Lucilla?"
"Good evening Anne" said William politely. "Perhaps you could tell us something about yourself and how you acquired your knowledge of witches?"
For the next hour or so I was engrossed in the girl's story. It appeared that her name was Anne Neville, a name which Alex evidently recognised. She told us the story of her life and how she had learned of Lucilla and tracked her from renaissance Italy to France and finally to the New World. She was not, however, entirely sure if "Lucilla" was one woman or possibly simply a name assumed by the women of one family. If she was the same woman then Anne was convinced that she must be a powerful necromancer. Her theory was that Diana, curious about her after hearing Anne's stories, had sought out Lucilla and been bewitched into serving her.
However William's information, provided by the Sabiru that she had coerced into helping her, was different.
Anne sat up suddenly when William explained what the Sabiru had told him. "You spoke to that creature? How is that possible?" She turned to the Queen who said "Yes, he spoke to it and it understood him."
She stared at him in astonishment. "It was Lilith who understood it, not me" he explained with a smile.
"But if she is not a necromancer then…is this not the same woman?" she asked, clearly puzzled.
"Oh I believe it is" said William. "Apparently she practices a form of magic which enables her to steal another's body. The creature called her the corpsetaker. This is how she has survived so long. By moving from one body to another. Since she has continued to do this over centuries she has acquired considerable knowledge and also great power."
At this point Alex proved her value yet again. "So what if the person who broke in here wasn't Diana?" she asked.
The Queen gave her a pitying look. "My dear, she was seen and recognised. She is well known in my court!"
"But what if Diana wasn't bewitched by Lucilla?" she persisted. "What if Diana IS Lucilla?"
Everyone stared at her for a moment, trying to absorb this new possibility.
"Did she speak to anyone?" asked William.
"No" said the Queen. She turned back to Anne. "Is this possible?"
"If what this creature said is true, then yes. But what will have happened to Diana?" She and the Queen both turned back to William.
"I'm sorry" he said sadly. "From what the creature told me I'm afraid she is gone. I think Alex is right. This would be a sensible move for her if she really is looking for me, as a vampire and a member of your court she would expect to have had much greater access to information and might even possibly have been invited to meet me. Suppose that she had not been discovered that night? Would she not have been in this house now?"
"She would indeed" said the Queen.
"Do you have a photograph of her?" he asked.
The Queen stood up and went to the door just as it opened and Ulrich and Gerry came in. She slipped out and gave an order to the secretary who was standing just outside.
"Have you managed to get any more information?" asked Gerry.
William stood up and turned to them. "It would appear likely that the witch Lucilla is now inhabiting the body of Diana. However, she has not tried to return here, or not yet anyway."
"Do we know what she looks like?" asked Ulrich practically.
"Her Majesty has sent for a photograph, we should get copies to all the security teams. In the meantime I can see no alternative but to carry on as normal. She is presumably unaware that we know who she is and if we change our plans it will only scare her off. That is, if we're right of course!"
"Don't we want to scare her off?" asked Gerry, surprised. "Sounds like a good idea to me!"
"But then she would only try again and we would be unaware of it" said William. "At least now we know what we're up against."