Vampirates 4: Black Heart (47 page)

As Lady Lockwood, flanked by her ring bearers, moved gracefully down the aisle, the congregation murmured in admiration. Her outfit had exceeded every expectation. Of particular interest was her rather unusual wedding bouquet. For in Lady Lockwood's hands was a solid gold hand crafted with rubies for fingernails and wrapped with black roses and trailing ivy. Until recently it had belonged to Trofie Wrathe. "Something borrowed, do you see?" Lady Lockwood announced with a grin to her friends in the congregation.

At last, the bride and her entourage reached the altar.

As Sidorio reached out for her hand, Lady Lockwood passed her bouquet to Angelika. "Be sure to take good care of it, my dear!" she said, then turned back to Sidorio. "My, how handsome you look! You should always wear that crown, my love. It sets off your teeth perfectly."

He blushed at her praise. "You look more beautiful than ever," he noted.

The bride and groom knelt on the cushions placed before Stukeley. Marianne carefully arranged Lady Lockwood's voluminous train, then stepped aside to join Angelika.

Lady Lockwood's two ring bearers were facing Johnny, who removed his dress Stetson and winked at them amiably. Both women winked back. As their tattooed eyes closed, two perfect black hearts appeared on their faces. It was a shame, in a way, what was going to happen later, mused Johnny. There would have been some definite upsides to a merger of the two crews.

Sidorio glanced at his other lieutenant. "Well, then, Reverend. Let's get this show on the road!"

Stukeley raised his hand toward the quartet, and the music at once came to an end. Then he coughed lightly and stepped forward to address the congregation. "Dearly beloved! With great joy, we come together tonight to join this man, Quintus Antonius Sidorio, and this woman, Lady Lola Elizabeth Mercy Lockwood, in eternal matrimony."

The bride and groom's eyes locked upon each other.

"This marriage we bear witness to tonight," Stukeley continued, "is no ordinary marriage. For when I speak the words eternal union, I mean exactly that. These two are immortal and so can never die. Nor will their love." He surveyed the congregation, warming to his role. "And now, by the powers invested in me by ... the groom, I will proceed with the wedding vows." He nodded toward Sidorio. "You're up, Captain."

Sidorio turned to face his bride, his voice ringing out across the ruined chapel and beyond. "I am immortal, and so is my love. I am all-conquering, and so is my passion. I am as infinite as the oceans and as mighty as the night." His voice grew a little softer. "I promise you, my dear Lola, that I will be a loving and loyal husband to you. I will share with you my passion, my power, and my love beyond tide and time."

Lady Lockwood's eyes sparkled brighter than the stars above as she began her reciprocal vow. "I am immortal, and so is my love. I am all-conquering, and so is my passion. I am as infinite as the oceans and as mighty as the night. I promise you, my darling Sidorio, that I will be a loving and loyal wife to you. I will share with you my passion, my power, and my love beyond tide and time."

Stukeley, feeling completely in his element, glanced at the attendants on either side. "And now, the rings," he announced.

Johnny and Marianne stepped closer, each dropping a ring into Stukeley's waiting palm. The rings were surprisingly simple -- crafted of human bone with private messages chosen by the bride and groom inscribed on the inside.

Stukeley held out his palm, offering the rings to the bride and groom. "Each of you has a ring for the other. Would you now exchange them?" He nodded, and groom and bride lifted the rings from his palm and reached out to slide them onto each other's ring finger. As they did so, Stukeley spoke once more. "These rings are an eternal reminder of this moment, and this night, and of the promise you have made to each other as you experience, now and forever, the oneness of your union as husband and wife."

Sidorio nodded, squeezing Lady Lockwood's slender hand in his own.

The rings exchanged, Stukeley geared up for his final crescendo. "Because they have so affirmed, in love and knowledge of each other, I do declare that Quintus Antonius Sidorio and Lady Lola Elizabeth Mercy Lockwood are now husband and wife!"

The bride and groom rose to their feet and embraced, Sidorio dipping Lady Lockwood low to the chapel floor. The congregation gasped in delight and broke out into spontaneous applause.

Sidorio grinned at his bride. "Hello, my Lady Sidorio," he said.

She beamed up at him. "Lady Lockwood Sidorio," she reminded him. "That's what we agreed, remember, my sweet?"

Johnny leaned across to Stukeley, whispering, "Great job! You may have missed your vocation."

Stukeley grinned. "The doves!" he reminded his comrade.

"Oh, yes!" Johnny reached excitedly for the gilded cage containing twelve White Rock doves. He passed this to Stukeley, who set it before Sidorio and Lady Lola and released the catch. Lady Lola reached inside, taking one of the creatures into her hands, caressing its delicate little body. The second dove padded out from the cage into Sidorio's hand. Together, the bride and groom joyously began releasing the snow-white doves into the night sky. The birds circled prettily in the soft moonlight.

Stukeley nudged Johnny again. "The hawks!" he said.

Johnny presented the bride and groom with a second cage. This contained two accipiter hawks. Sidorio opened the cage door and took out one of the hawks, passing it to Lady Lockwood. "What a handsome chap!" she cooed to the congregation's delight as the proud hawk rested for a moment on her wrist. Sidorio lifted out the second hawk. Then bride and groom turned to each other and released the hawks before melting into a deep kiss.

Above them, the hawks soared into the air and began attacking the twelve doves. They made short work of it. The sky began to rain white feathers spattered with blood. A dove's inert and bloody body fell and landed in Sidorio's hands. He laughed and presented it to his bride, who glowed with delight. It was the perfect symbol of their dark and eternal union. The congregation rose to their feet and clapped with wild enthusiasm.

The applause was accompanied by cannon fire, and the congregation gasped once more as a flood of tiny purple petals showered over them. The confetti fell like blossoms from the night sky. It was the final coup de théâtre in a perfectly executed ceremony that would be ingrained in their collective memory for a long, long time to come.

As the confetti covered the bride and groom, Sidorio beamed at his bride. "Nice touch," he said, "wife."

She looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean, husband?"

Sidorio scooped up some of the petals and sprinkled them over her face. "This!" he said with a grin.

"I didn't organize it," Lady Lola said. "I thought it was your surprise, my darling! Something you and your handsome lieutenants plotted!"

He shook his head. Lady Lola shrugged. "Well, it must be a little extra treat from our wedding designer. How thoughtful of Stefano, and what a perfect end to a sublime ceremony."

"You have tears in your eyes, my sweet," Sidorio said. "How can you be sad at a moment like this?"

"I'm not at all sad, my darling," Lola said. "My eyes are stinging, for some reason."

Sidorio frowned. "That's strange. So are mine." He noticed with rising alarm that his new wife's eyelids were swelling up right in front of him.

"Actually," she said, "I'm really feeling quite strange. My lips are numb, my darling, and as great a kisser as you are, I don't think that's the reason."

"No," Sidorio said, experiencing the same numbness in his own lips and sensing it spreading rapidly through his body. Puzzled, he turned toward the congregation. They appeared to be suffering from the very same symptoms. It was as if they had frozen, like statues, their faces grimly contorting with pain. Suddenly fearful, Sidorio felt his own body become still, as if constricted by armor. Though his suit was tight-fitting, he knew it was more serious than that. He stared down the aisle, awash with confusion.

As he did so, a host of uninvited guests sprang forth from behind the ruined chancel and strode out into the nave. There were fifty of them, each bearing a sword -- a specially engineered silver sword coated in a compound of hawthorn and aconite, the same substance that had floated down from the sky in the form of confetti.

"Let's make this quick!" ordered Cheng Li.

Connor leaped into the center aisle, his eyes immediately assessing the scene. The elite crew of the Tiger began streaming into the chapel from both sides. Bart and Cate headed the troops on one side, Jacoby and Jasmine on the other. Connor glimpsed Moonshine's arrival, then turned and called to Jasmine. "How much time do we have?"

"There should be another cannon of confetti coming right about now!" Jasmine cried. Her words were drowned out as a fresh cannon sounded and the skies above began to rain purple petals once more. The congregation was literally petrified. Though the Vampirates could not move for the moment, they could see and hear exactly what was happening. They knew that something had gone very wrong at the wedding of the year.

At the altar, Johnny and Stukeley were experiencing the same physical pain as their colleagues. In spite of this, their eyes were bright as they stared straight down the aisle at Cheng Li and Connor. Things were proceeding exactly as they had planned.

"Come on, Connor!" Cheng Li urged. "You know what you have to do."

Hearing her words, Connor ran down the aisle, taking the same path that the wedding party had traveled with such joy barely half an hour ago. He came to a stop just in front of the newlyweds. Here was the groom, Sidorio, looking more formal than on their last encounter. More formal and more docile, though his eyes stared at Connor with a combination of ire and wonder.

Connor now turned his attention to Sidorio's bride. It was his first glimpse of Lady Lola. Connor knew all about her dark deeds, but it was still disconcerting to see her like this, her eyes swollen, her lips engorged. He knew what he had to do. He was in position one.

"Do it!" Cheng Li cried.

He didn't take his eyes off Lady Lockwood for a second as he reached for Master Yin's specially crafted silver sword. He was about to deliver a most unusual and unwelcome wedding gift.

47THE GIFT

"Come on, Connor," urged Cheng Li once more.

Connor lifted the sword and aimed it at Lady Lockwood's heart. Not the black heart on her face but her actual heart, which, from what he had heard, was a whole lot blacker. As he targeted the sword, he thought of Zak and Varsha and Commodore Kuo.

Sidorio managed to frame his numb lips into the word no, but he was powerless to prevent Connor from plunging the sword through Lady Lola's frozen body. It was a clean entry, piercing right through her. Lady Lola looked at him strangely, then her eyes shifted to her groom. The newlyweds' eyes met one last time, and then the bride's eyelids fell shut.

Connor couldn't meet Sidorio's glare. He had come to do a job and his job was done. He reached for his sword, but strangely, as he tried to withdraw it from Lady Lockwood's prone body, it resisted, as if lodged in stone.

"What's wrong?" Cheng Li asked, appearing at his side.

"It's the sword," he said. "It seems to be stuck."

"Try it again," Cheng Li said.

Connor reached out and gripped the hilt of the sword, employing all his strength to draw it back. It was no use.

"Let me try," said Cheng Li, stepping forward. She gripped her hands around the sword and pulled, but there was no movement whatsoever.

"Everyone," Cate called from down the aisle, "time to pull out. Quick! The effect of the aconite is starting to wear off."

Connor looked around him. It was true.

The congregation looked as if it was waking up after a communal coma. Heads were turning, limbs coming back into motion. The Vampirates still seemed stunned at what had happened to them, but it wouldn't take long for their daze to turn to anger and their anger to transform into action.

"Everybody out!" Cate called, already in the back of the ruined chapel.

"Leave the sword," Cheng Li cried, pushing Connor forward. "Let's get out of here!"

As they started running to catch up with Cate and the others, Cheng Li smiled at Connor. "Our mission succeeded, Connor. Great work!"

"Wait!" a thunderous roar arose as Sidorio leaped up and, regaining the movement of his legs and arms, flew after the escaping pirates.

"Run!" Cheng Li cried. Connor was at her side, at the cliff edge, waiting to run to their waiting ship. But as they glanced back over their shoulders they saw that Jacoby and Jasmine were still in the church. And Sidorio was blocking their exit.