Queen of Deception: A Marvel Legends of Asgard Novel

Queen of Deception A grimy hand clamped onto Hela’s elbow and halted her momentum. She stared fixedly at the man’s hand on her arm until it slipped from the fine crimson silk of her sleeve, leaving a dark sweaty handprint in its wake. “I am the warden of this part of London,” he snarled with genuine anger that didn’t quite overcome his bewilderment. “I don’t care,” Hela said with a voice as deadly as her death touch. “You do not have the right to lay your hands on me. Step back.” The warden hesitated, as if expecting her to follow that with a threat or an excuse or even a plea. Yet Hela simply stood there resplendent in black armor and a fine velvet cloak with a sword on her hip, radiating threat. She dropped her voice to a growl. “I will not tell you again.” The man’s throat bobbed as he swallowed convulsively, a shiver rippling through him at the death promised in her voice. FOR MARVEL PUBLISHING VP Production & Special Projects: Jeff Youngquist Associate Editor, Special Projects: Sarah Singer Manager, Licensed Publishing: Jeremy West VP, Licensed Publishing: Sven Larsen SVP Print, Sales & Marketing: David Gabriel Editor in Chief: C B Cebulski © 2023 MARVEL First published by Aconyte Books in 2023 ISBN 978 1 83908 203 0 Ebook ISBN 978 1 83908 204 7 All rights reserved. The Aconyte name and logo and the Asmodee Entertainment name and logo are registered or unregistered trademarks of Asmodee Entertainment Limited. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Cover art by Grant Griffin Distributed in North America by Simon & Schuster Inc, New York, USA ACONYTE BOOKS An imprint of Asmodee Entertainment Ltd Mercury House, Shipstones Business Centre North Gate, Nottingham NG7 7FN, UK aconytebooks.com // twitter.com/aconytebooks For my good friend Leife. Thanks for always being there. One Crystal and Book The marketplace was busy and loud under a vibrant sky, thronged with shoppers and merchants and cutpurses. Lord John Dee, nobleman, magician, and chief astronomer to the queen, strolled through the crowd with one hand close to his purse and the other ready to fend off unwelcome attention. He was by far the richest man in the small town of Mortlake, and the one with the highest social standing, and everyone in the market knew his face and name. Still, that wouldn’t stop an enterprising young thief from trying their luck, for not everyone had the same reverence for nobility as Dee’s peers. He stepped wide around a pair of squabbling youngsters and then nudged a panicking chicken away with his foot. The strident voices arguing to his right assured him its escape had been noticed and blame was being hotly contested. No one was actively seeking to recapture the bird, though. Dee exchanged nods with the more well-to-do merchants and businessmen, gestured politely for a couple of elegant ladies to precede him, and ignored the rest. He’d only stepped out for some fresh air and to rest his eyes from the dimness of his study, for the thickly leaded windows didn’t allow much in the way of light, especially on a day as gloomy as this one. The sky was threatening rain when he reached the edge of the market without having seen anything to catch his fancy. There was a cloaked figure standing in the shade of the tavern’s overhanging thatched roof. Their hood was pulled well forward so Dee couldn’t see their face. They didn’t have a stall or even a table. Instead, there was a tray hanging around their neck and on the tray was a beautiful, polished wooden box. Cherrywood, if Dee was any judge from this distance. Even in the gloom of late, cloudy spring, it gleamed. To his surprise, the merchant beckoned to him with a gloved hand. Intrigued and wary, he stepped between the last market stalls and approached, checking the rest of the shadows for pickpockets or thugs. It was unlikely he’d be openly attacked this close to the edge of the market, but that didn’t make it impossible. His cloak, doublet, and boots were valuable, let alone the contents of his purse. Dee carried a short dagger, but no sword. He wasn’t much given to fighting anyway. He was a man of peace, a man of God, a magician. “My lord, I’ve been waiting for a distinguished customer such as yourself to come along. What I have here is not for common eyes but you, I think, will appreciate it.” Dee scoffed. He’d heard such nonsense from countless merchants before, all of whom were far better at it than this man who wouldn’t even show his face. And then the merchant lifted the lid on the – yes, it was cherrywood – box. Despite himself, Dee inhaled sharply and stepped closer still, angling his body so that his shadow didn’t add to the gloom and obscure the objects further. The box was large and lined in plush red velvet, thick and rich, but what nestled upon its softness was extraordinary. A leatherbound book longer than Dee’s forearm and thick enough to contain hundreds of pages. And beside it, spherical and exquisitely made, sat a crystal almost the size of his fist.