The Red Queen

'Hi, babe... what’s up...?’ said Bo, merrily as she answered the phone. The sun was shining, and she had recently completed her usual morning yoga; only this time, she made sure her sword was handy - just in case, ‘...Lauren? Of course, I remember her...’ it had only been two days since she was drinking coffee in their living room. The decorating was now done, the room looked refreshed, and the modern door had been replaced with a beechwood door with horizontal panels and three diamond-shaped windows with frosted glass running up the middle, ‘...why? What happened?’

Her face darkened as Maria relayed the news Bo was hoping not to hear; Lauren had been found dead.

‘How...?’ asked Bo, although she suspected that she knew the answer already.

‘Poison...’ Maria said, quietly, her voice an almost hushed whisper, ‘...injected into her neck. And her bag is missing; the one with all the photos’.

‘Geller...’ Bo muttered, almost under her breath.

‘What was that...?’ Maria said from the other end of the line. It was clear she was trying not to get caught talking about this. ‘...Geller? You think it’s Geller?’

‘Lauren accused him of being a Nazi and had photos to prove it...’ started Bo, ‘...if that’s not a motive for murder, I don’t know what is!’

‘I’ll swing by his place later...’ Maria replied, ‘...see what he has to say for himself.’

‘Please don’t...’ said Bo with panic, ‘...you really don’t know what this guy is capable of...’.

‘Bo, stop fussing...’ Maria said with a slight laugh, ‘...I’m a big girl with a big gun - I know what I’m doing...’.

‘Trust me...’ Bo replied, ‘...you really don’t...’.

*

At a large mansion on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by sprawling countryside, a man is frantically stuffing clothes into a metallic suitcase on the bed of an upper storey bedroom. On the bed next to his suitcase is a curved Indian “Talwar” sword. The brass hilt of the sword features a prominent disc-shaped flange surrounding the pommel and the pommel itself has a short spike projecting from its centre, with a hole bored into it where a cord could be fastened to secure the sword to the wrist. The hilt itself incorporates a simple cross-guard which has a slender knuckle bow attached. The man is rather portly, with a brown moustache and curly hair. He is dressed in a clean plain blue suit with a white shirt underneath, but no tie. His shiny black shoes squeak on the wood flooring as he twists back and forth, loading up the case with seemingly random clothes.

Clearly, this is not a planned trip.

Suddenly he pauses as he becomes aware of a tremor in the air. He snatches up the Talwar and carefully makes his way out of the room. He is confronted by Bo wearing a dark blue sleeveless coat depicting embroidered flowers, which partially hid a loose cream blouse, ripped blue jeans and red/black trainers, standing at the top of the stairs, Chokuto in hand.

‘I am Boudicca of the Carvetii...’ she announced, as an invitation to commence.

Geller didn’t reply.

The honourable thing would have been to reply to the invitation; at least that’s what Talos taught her.

‘I knew someone would come eventually...’ he says, taking a stance with the Talwar, '...never expected a girl!’

‘Thought that was your speciality...’ growled Bo, ‘...killing girls. Like Lauren Metcalf... remember her? The journalist that brought your crime to light...?’.

‘I was a doctor, damned it...!’ Geller yelled, '...and that... that... bitch... ruined my life! So, I had to kill her...’ Geller continued, ‘...besides, she got too close to the truth...’.

‘All she had was a theory...’ growled Bo with increasing anger, ‘...she didn’t need to die’.

’It was necessary to keep our secret - even you must see that!’.

’Men are not punished for their sins, but by them...’ Bo growled.

‘I see you’re familiar with Elbert Hubbard...’ Geller said.

‘We dated a while...’ replied Bo, discarding her coat.

Bo took up her usual fighting stance, and the two Immortals circled one another.

**

Meanwhile, Maria is making her way to the mansion. The door was ajar, and she heard angry voices that sounded like they were coming from the upper floor. Drawing her gun, she cautiously made her way into the large mansion.

***

Geller suddenly produces a small Remington Model 95 derringer with his left hand and shoots Bo square in the chest. The range isn’t close enough to kill Bo straight away, but it is fatal, nonetheless. Hearing the gunshot, Maria suddenly snaps her head around to the upper floor and races up the stairs.

‘Effective little thing, isn’t it...?’ Geller taunts as he advances on the dying Bo, coughing up blood as more seeps through her fingers, staining her blouse, ‘...based on the Philadelphia Derringer used by John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln...’ he continues, ‘...but I’m sure you already knew that...’ Geller discards the gun and raises his sword as Bo convulses as her life ebbs away, ‘...such a waste, but there can be-’

‘Put the weapon down...’ cut in Maria, suddenly appearing at the top of the stairs facing Geller with her gun in both hands, pointing directly at Geller, which only serves to distract him for a few seconds. Geller laughs at her and motions to behead the near dead Bo, but Maria opens fire, shooting him several times. As the 9mm bullets repeatedly slam into him, forcing him back further with each impact and eventually causing Geller to crash through the glass of an upper window, Bo quietly sighs with her last breath and her whole body goes limp.

‘Bo...!’ Maria breaths with panic, rushing to her side. She crashes to the floor next to Bo and scoops Bo’s lifeless head up in her arms, '...no... please no...’ she pleads, gently stroking Bo’s face.

But it is too late; Bo is dead.

Maria bows her head and silently weeps.

With a sharp intake of breath, Bo suddenly opens her eyes and arches her back, before sitting upright. Maria stares at Bo, wide-eyed with disbelief. Bo turns to see that Maria is physically shaken. Apart from the small hole in her blouse and the bloodstain emanating from it, there was no sign of her ever being shot in the first place.

‘Long story - explain later...’ gushes Bo, kissing Maria quickly on her cheek before scooping up her sword and leaping through the window after Geller, but he recovers before she lands and flees into the woods. Bo lands with the grace of a cat before giving chase. It wasn’t hard to keep up with Geller; the portly doctor was hardly light on his feet and his progress was easy to follow as he crashed and barged his way through the woodland. Bo, in contrast, was like a child of the forest, delicately weaving her way through the tangle of brush and fallen leaves with minimal effort or noise. Up ahead the woodland opened out to a beautiful shallow lake fed from a waterfall running off the small rocky tor. Fallen trees lay semi-submerged in the clear blue water and the dwindling sunlight glistened off the surface of the lake.

Seemingly from nowhere, the gleaming Talwar swung out, aiming directly for her neck. But Bo was expecting the ambush and parried almost instantly, sending her opponent reeling back and stumbling into the lake. Bo leapt in after him, making contact with the shallow lakebed as Geller struggled to his feet.

Their swords gleamed in the reflection of the water as they took a stance, facing each other. Bo felt the hatred for this man swell up inside her, but she had to keep her emotions out of this fight.

She breathed deep and felt her own heart rate slow. Geller was breathing rapidly, by the looks of things.

Bo wondered how he’d stayed alive so long.

They circled each other, making slow, deliberate moves which only slightly rippled the surface. Her opponent charged with a mighty cry, splashing wildly in the shallow water. Bo dodged to the side and swung her sword in a counterstrike in one fluid move. Geller swivelled in her direction just in time to block the sword swing. His eyes were ablaze with fury. Geller thrusted his sword forward, only to be swatted to one side by Bo’s sword. Going high, Geller tried a downward slice, but Bo brought her sword up to block once more. Both swords met in the air with a resounding “clang”, which sent both of them reeling a little.

Geller glared at Bo with hatred.

‘Now you die, woman...’ he hissed, and advanced towards her, slicing through the water with his Talwar.

Bo simply stood; sword poised awaiting the attack.

Geller pounced at her but was quickly deflected. Bo struck back, but Geller was a sly old rat and ducked to avoid the blow, quickly leaping up to catch Bo off guard. However, Bo was also a veteran and dodged the move. Quickly recovering, Geller struck back at her, but his blade met her blade mid-strike, sending sparks into the air as metal scraped metal. He spun to attack once more, but Bo blocked the feeble attempt by her opponent, and drove his sword down into the water with her Chokuto before stamping down hard upon the blade, snapping it in half. As Geller looked up in disbelief, Bo swung her sword in a back handed sweep which took the man’s head clean off.

Even before Geller’s lifeless body slumped into the shallow water, the stump of his neck began glowing with a pale green light, illuminating the water around Bo’s feet before the water itself began bubbling like a jacuzzi. Planting her feet firmly in the water, she pointed her sword heavenwards in anticipation of what was coming next.

Lightning crackled from the bubbling jacuzzi at her feet, enveloping her slight form. She winced at the pain coursing through her body but held her pose. Suddenly, great bolts of lightning rained down from the near cloudless sky, striking the water around her. The bigger bolts struck her sword, sending the immense amount of power coursing through her. She screamed through the pain, but still held her pose, as bolt after huge bolt struck her sword, sending wave after painful wave of electricity through her. With a final explosion, the water erupted around her, engulfing her completely.

Then, it was over.

Bo slumped into the water as it calmed once again, coughing and gasping for air. Looking up, she saw Maria standing at the shoreline, wide-eyed with fascination and horror at what she had just witnessed.

Slowly, Bo arose to her feet once more and waded through the shallow water to where Maria was standing.

‘What the fuck was that...?’ asked Maria, almost mechanically as Bo approached. Her eyes were focused on the body of Geller lying in the water.

‘It’s called a Quickening...’ explained Bo, striding out of the water. Maria blinked slowly as she turned to Bo. Her eyes scanned the entire length of her lover, taking in every inch of her soaking wet body and her gaze lingered on Bo’s near naked breasts which would have been completely exposed through her soaking wet blouse, had it not been for the lace bra clinging to them.

‘Ever thought of going in for a “wet t-shirt” competition?’ Maria quips as her eyes meet with Bo’s. A smile creeps across Bo’s face at the reference to when they first met, on Panama City Beach.

‘Is he... erm... coming back...?’ Maria stammered, looking beyond Bo, ‘...like you did?’

‘No...’ started Bo, looking behind her at the body in the water, ‘...he’s dead, dead’.

’The killer of a woman, killed by a woman...’ starts Maria, her voice sounds distant, ‘...karma’s a bitch, isn’t it?’

‘She sure is...’ replied Bo, turning back to Maria and raising her sword, ‘...and this bitch has a fucking sharp sword!’.

****

An hour later, Maria is seated at a table outside a quiet pub when Bo appears with two glasses of Rosé wine and places one in front of Maria before sitting opposite her.

‘I think I’m ready for that explanation now...’ Maria says quietly, leaning in towards Bo as if to convey a secret.

Bo sighed deeply.

’I suppose an explanation is long overdue...’ started Bo, taking a deep breath, '...ok; firstly, my name is Boudicca (of the) Carvetii. I was born in 46 B.C., also known as annus confusionis, the year of confusion, in what is now Clifton Village, in Cumbria. And yes; I am the Boudicca who led a rebellion against the Romans. I “died” in my fourth battle when I was 21 years old and awoke with, what I dismissed as, simple pains from the fighting, not realising that I had actually been dead for several hours. When my people saw me alive again, just as you did, they labelled me a witch and I was forced to flee my home...’.

‘Oh, jeez...’ murmured Maria, '...and I thought I had a rough childhood!’

‘I lived like a hermit on, what is now, Lord’s Island in Keswick for the next hundred years or so...’ continued Bo, ‘...until I, quite literally, ran into Talos, whilst out hunting in the woods...’.

‘The 80’s rock reject...?’

‘Yeah...’ confirmed Bo, '...him. First time we met he called me “falt ruadh”. I thought he was insulting me, so I challenged him. Talos agreed to the fight, but only somewhere more discreet. I was angry and confused, so I agreed without a second thought, and he rowed me out to the remote Crow Island. But when I hopped out of the boat and drew my sword, Talos simply pushed the boat away and left me there to find my own way back. I couldn’t swim, but Talos said “it doesn’t matter - you can’t die”. I spent eight, very cold hours sitting watching that bastard skin a boar, make a fire and roast it, until I couldn’t stand it any longer and decided to try and swim for it; I mean, how hard can it be... right...?’ she paused to take a drink.

‘So, what happened...?’.

‘I drowned...’ Bo replied, '...twice...’.

‘Wow...’ breathed Maria.

‘After I made it to shore...’ Bo continued, '...I attacked Talos with a tree branch, and he knocked me on my arse. After several failed attempts at fighting him - mainly with me ending up on my arse - Talos offered to teach me how to fight properly and became my mentor; father; protector. We moved to Northumberland, where he taught me about “The Game” and Immortality, life and love, swordplay and swordsmanship. He even made me my Chokuto, named “flùr fala”, or “blood flower” in ancient Celtic, as a parting gift; “Take good care of it...” he said, “...make it a part of you. It may be the only friend you’ll have” he said. He’s been right so far...’.

’Is it like that for all of... your kind...?’

‘It all depends on the attitudes at the time of your “first death” ...’ replied Bo, '...for example, Talos was hailed as “blessed by the Gods” when he became immortal. That was over five thousand years ago. Unfortunately, witchcraft was frowned upon by the time it was my turn to enter “The Game” ...’

‘I hate to ask, Bo...’ started Maria, reaching over to take her hand, ‘...but are you or Talos responsible for any of the other deaths?’

Bo looked offended, and snatched her hand away.

'Until Geller, I was retired from “The Game” for over a hundred years...!’ she protested, '...and as for Talos... well... hard to say really. Unless someone was brave enough, or stupid enough to challenge him...’.

'So are there still others of... your kind...?’ stammered Maria.

‘Probably a few thousand, scattered all over the world...’ said Bo, '...we are inexplicably drawn to each other. If we weren’t, we’d probably never meet another of our kind for centuries, possibly ever...!’.

‘So have you killed others like you...?’ said Maria, sounding quite shocked.

‘A few...’

‘How many’s “a few” ...?’

Bo looked at her lover. She took a few deep breaths and resumed her story.

‘My first Quickening...’ she started, '...was a large Viking named Hagen Hrafnkelsson. We crossed paths in 957 A.D., after I left Talos’s care, and he challenged me... just like that...! No warning: no “how do you do”; nothing...’.

‘Let me guess...’ interrupted Maria, '...after a dazzling display of swords(woman)ship, you won your first fight...?’

‘Actually, I ran for my life...’ corrected Bo, ‘...the guy was enormous! He tracked me for weeks, following me all the way back to Talos...’.

‘And he killed Hagen for you? How romantic...!’

‘No...’ corrected Bo, again, ‘...Talos told me to face my fears and fight Hagen, or else I’d be running for the rest of my life. He may have been bigger and stronger, but I was quicker...and smarter. We fought on the shore, as Talos’s Island is Holy ground, and I finally won by letting him stab me with his sword, knowing it was a lot longer than mine. I pulled him closer, stabbed him through the heart and beheaded him. The Quickening wasn’t as powerful as Geller’s, as Hagen wasn’t as old as Geller, but it killed me...’.

‘Yeah...’ agreed Maria, ‘...I saw the pain you were in...’.

‘No...’ corrected Bo, '...literally, killed me. I woke up later in my old bed in Talos’s house. He must’ve brought me in while I was “dead” ...’.

‘I’m surprised he didn’t take your head...’.

‘He lived on Holy ground, and no Immortal will dare kill another on any Holy ground. It’s the “numero uno” rule. Besides, he could have done that when we first met...’ replied Bo, ‘...and he’s had plenty of chances since; like the other day when we had our “break-in” ...’.

Maria looked shocked.

’He did all that...?’ she said with surprise, ‘...why? I thought you two were friends...?’

‘Oh, we are...’ Bo replied, ‘...maybe he thought I needed the practice? I’d never be able to defeat him in single combat, he’s just too powerful. So, why didn’t he kill me? I have no idea... maybe he’s going soft...?’

‘Maybe he likes you...?’ suggested Maria, '...maybe he likes you, likes you...?’.

Bo threw her head back and bellowed with laughter.

‘If he truly felt like that, we’d have been “at it like rabbits” centuries ago...!’ guffawed Bo, ‘...I knew I was gay in 1695, when I scandalously kissed another woman on the mouth and then defeated three different men in three consecutive duels who tried to “defend the lady’s honour”. The woman didn’t seem to mind though, and we spent the weekend in bed together. Can’t for the life of me remember her name...’

‘So, what is it like...?’ asked Maria, quietly, ‘...being Immortal, I mean...?’

‘Hard to describe really...’ answered Bo, '...my life isn’t so different from yours...it just lasts longer! But, after a millennia to reflect, you realise there are far worse things in the universe than death; endless monotony of work; finding out your favourite restaurant went out of business; budget meetings; listening to the Cooper Institute’s explanation of the FitnessGram PACER Test...’

‘Must be weird...’ Maria started, ‘...being Immortal, living forever...’

'Forever is debatable...’ replied Bo, ‘...Talos once said; “Immortality is a relative thing. A new Immortal has the chance to live for untold millennia - or maybe all you get is another week”. I think that it depends on who finds you after you become Immortal. Looking back, I think I was relatively lucky that it was Talos who found me. Some of us only last a few weeks before being beheaded by some selfish, unscrupulous Immortal’.

The two women sat quietly for a few moments, drinking their wine.

‘We best be heading back...’ announced Bo, ‘...Chief Inspector Babadore will be wondering where you’ve got to’.

‘What about Geller...?’ asked Maria, keeping her voice low again, '...can’t just leave him there...’.

‘Another victim of your “head-hunter” ...?’ offered Bo with a smile.

’Let’s hope he’s the last victim of my “head-hunter” ...’ replied Maria, sliding her hand around Bo’s neck and pulling her in closer before they kissed.