A Queens Jewel

By Kathryn Podstawek

Lady Elizabeth is the latest in her family to devote themselves to serving English Queens. It's a tradition that has allowed her family to gain wealth and power. Now Elizabeth must prove herself as time runs again, will she fail her Queen and doom her family, or will she succeed and secure their position for another generation? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kathryn Podstawek
• Release date: Nov 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215740217

Book preview

Christmas Eve

The street was shrouded in darkness as the two customised Arch Method 143s with silencers on the engines and specially-made snow tyres pulled into the lane. People had been driven into their homes by the cold, the wet and the fact that it was Christmas Eve. People would want to be with their families, celebrating and getting ready to put the children to bed so that Santa could visit.

This had eased the nerves of the two riders. They didn't want to be seen; if anyone saw them, they would be forced to act violently. Hurting an innocent was the last thing they wanted to do. The downside of the weather was the increased risk of a crash in the event of a police chase. They had taken all the precautions possible and made the bikes snow friendly, but they could only do so much. Should something go wrong, should they be seen or set off an unexpected alarm, a hidden patch of black ice could end their lives.

The riders eased onto the footpath and parked behind the bus stop shelter. It was the safest location, the buses had ended hours ago, and they would be unseen from the road. They would only be seen if someone was walking along the path. Given the weather, the date and the time, it was doubtful that anyone would be out tonight. It was a risk to park the bikes behind the bus stop, it was illegal, and they could be towed.

The odds of a tow truck coming out tonight for a pair of poorly parked motorcycles were slim. No tow truck was coming out tonight unless it was a significant accident. It was right at 11 pm as the two riders stepped off the bikes. The pair moved in sync neatly with one other. With the way they moved, any passerby could spot the ease and familiarity between them. They were dressed identically in outfits of head-to-toe black. Beanies covered their heads. Hers sat a little higher due to her hair being wrapped up in a tight bun, and his sat tightly on his closely shaved head.

Under their jackets and pants, they had thermal body suits that would prevent them from being picked up by heat-sensing cameras. The body suits had been designed to keep them warm, while the jackets and pants would keep the air around them cool. The material was snug and well-fitting without being tight or restrictive. Black leather gloves provided warmth and prevented them from leaving fingerprints, and riding boots with the soles altered would stop them from leaving identifiable tracks.

Each of them also had a small holster wrapped around their right thigh, and it housed several tiny needles with just enough tranquiliser to render a large man unconscious. They hoped to avoid using them. The mission brief was to avoid hurting anyone if possible. It would lead to the wrong kind of attention. The outfits had been designed to prevent witnesses from being able to describe their body shapes. A passerby or witness would only be able to say that the man and woman had been slim. The pair moved in sync, and they walked quickly.

This was not a time for sightseeing or a leisurely stroll. They moved with purpose and confidence in steady quick short steps. The woman was slightly shorter than her male companion, but only centimetres separated them, not inches. When she decided to smile, it was wide and bright, with teeth almost appearing overly straight and perfect. He had a strong jawline that made many women take notice of him. His eyes never gave away any of his secrets. They drew people in with just how unreadable they appeared to be.

Two small backpacks sat on the backs of the couple. They were made from the same material as the couple's clothing. The packs contained an assortment of tools and gadgets that they would need. If someone else opened the backpack, they wouldn't be able to use the tools, but the pair would be caught. It was pretty obvious the tools were used for criminal activity. There would be no reasonable explanation for them. Each had been specially built for this mission, and each would be destroyed afterwards. No evidence needed to be ever found.

The couple had jokingly called the packs magic packs, as each pack had a small sensor that would create a black spot around the person wearing it. It rendered motion sensors useless. Between the clothes protecting them from thermal imaging and the packs protecting them from motion detectors, they should have all they need to get in undetected. Assuming their information was correct. If the information were incorrect, they would likely be dead by sunrise.

The pair had decided that the best way to enter the Tower was by using as little technology as possible. They had never liked depending on technology too much. As valuable as it could be, they knew that the more you relied on it, the more trouble you would have if it failed. They had chosen to make this job as close to a simple breaking and entering. They could have tried hacking the security system from the outside, but neither of them were expert hackers, and they had zero desire to bring in another person.

They were standing directly behind their target as they reached the outer wall, and the women mentally went through the list of things they needed to do. Climb the other wall, climb the inner wall, make it past the cameras and avoid the guards. Then break into and steal one of the world's most secured and well-known gems. It helped her to think of things like that. As though she was going through a grocery store shopping list. It was how they had been taught; to avoid being overwhelmed, it was best to break down the assignment into small bite-sized steps. They had agreed to move in silence as they walked. That had been another lesson, don't talk while on a job. Any distractions could mean death or jail.

Reaching the fence on the outer side of the moat was easy enough. The assignment would have been severely more complicated if the moat had remained in place. Thankfully that had been filled in on the orders of the Duke of Wellington in the 1840s; now, it was grass. Well, at the moment, it was snow. The storm had provided additional cover for their assignment tonight, even providing a softer landing as they climbed in. The stones that had built the Tower were as solid as they were old. Centuries of wind, rain and snow had worn them smooth. It would have been a dangerous and challenging climb in the current weather conditions were it not for the restoration works currently happening at Legges Mount. Scaffolding had been erected around the Mount, making getting over the outer wall reasonably simple. Getting over the inner wall was a different matter. It was higher and would have crawled with guards on a warmer night. It still should have crawled with guards, but guards were only human, and the weather had also driven them indoors.

As she reached the top of the scaffolding, the woman paused after pulling herself onto Legges Mount and looked around. The view was good, but she had seen better. It was the silence that shocked her. Even if their timing had been perfect and the guards were away, they should have been able to hear someone or some footsteps. Instead, there was nothing, they had expected the guards to be relaxed this evening, but this was taking it to another level. Her partner was glancing at her in question. He was disturbed by the silence as well.

Quietly they continued on their way, walking along the outer wall until they reached a safe spot to climb down to the other side. They believed the Tower was beautiful and had not accepted this assignment out of hate or anger. They loved their adopted country. It was simply that they loved the land of their birth more. Over the years, they had visited the Tower for various reasons and had always left feeling impressed. The Tower of London had stood for nearly a thousand years and served many functions over the centuries. Today it was one of the nation's top tourist attractions, home to some of the most valuable jewels in the world and over the years, it has been everything from a prison to a royal palace. Often at times, working as both.

Scaling the inner wall of the Tower was a little more complicated than climbing the scaffolding. The walls were old and didn't exactly have well-placed handholds. Being forced to climb in a zig-zag pattern took longer than either of them were comfortable with. Having reached the top of the inner wall and made their way over, they finally reached the ground and took a moment to process what they were doing. Their actions tonight could result in war or change how the world viewed the British monarchy. They kept to the shadows as they made their way to the entrance of the Waterloo Block, home of the Crown Jewels of England.

The door to the jewel house had not been changed since the jewel house opened in the 90s. A green door with glass panels on the top half and the words THE CROWN JEWELS in gold letters sitting above it. The lock was nothing fancy, a basic tumble lock that could be found in millions of homes around England. The lock could hardly be considered a real challenge. A bored teenager would be able to figure out how to get inside. Now that they were in, they faced real challenges.

The storm outside had been raging for a few days, providing them with unexpected additional cover. It was customary for England to have snow and short days this time of year, but it was rare for it to be this bad. The storm had wreaked havoc for days. Flights had been cancelled, trains had stopped, and as a bonus for them, homes and businesses had been struggling thanks to an unsteady supply of power. The Tower had also been affected; generators kept many systems working but not all of them. Anyone who noticed anything off with the system might just assume it was an issue caused by the weather.

Voices startled the pair, they had known that the guards might be around as they entered, but it had been silent for so long. The sounds of voices made them jump, like someone hearing a gun go off might jump. With the emptiness of the halls, the voices travelled much further than they usually would. It gave the impression that people would be just around the next corner. Without breaking stride, they entered the first room they found. The room was freezing as if no heat had entered the room for weeks, which was unlikely.

The Towers Caretakers took pride in their work. They would never leave a room to be neglected for long. The voices were discussing the upcoming boxing day cricket match. It was common practice for guards in the control room to watch the patrols as they happened. This was the first real test of the night; the packs must have worked. If the guards in the control room had been doing their job, they would have been spotted without the bags. They would know if they had been, there would have been a sign from the patrol. They would have gone silent, changed topics, or changed their body language. Still, nothing changed. They continued to talk about the cricket and walked right past the room.

Finally, the pair made it to the room they were after. Once again, a simple lock was all that prevented them from entering. Even after growing up in this country, the man was still amazed by their attitude towards national treasures. All the security in these places was outside or just before you reached your destination. They didn't spend much time focusing on multiple layers of protection. Criminals would struggle to get in, and then, with the last little bit. The middle part of a break-in was almost like a rest period. It allowed criminals the chance to take a breath. It was almost as if the security experts believed that people would be put off by the assumption of how hard it would be or how much attention a crime like this would attract. Clever criminals didn't commit crimes that drew a lot of attention.

Once again, they paused as they entered the room due to hearing more footsteps. There would be no avoiding it this time. If the guards came into this room, they would need to be handled. The pair was not interested in killing people doing their jobs, but they couldn't allow themselves to be caught. For the occasion, they had chosen a potent, fast-acting sedative. The guards would wake in a few hours and wouldn't be in pain, just a little confused. It would mean that the pair needed to act quicker, the guards in the control room would notice when the guards went off-screen, and they would raise the alarm. Luckily none of that was necessary. The guards just walked passed it without even opening the door.

The pair glanced around the room for the first time that evening. Time was on their side now. If they had the correct information, it would be at least fifteen minutes before the next patrol came round. Those guards might be a little more inquisitive and check the room. The room was different at night. No people were milling about; no lines and minimal lights. The space felt bigger, and what they were doing suddenly felt more important. This was unprecedented. The Tower of London had stood for nearly a thousand years. It had seen and survived wars, uprisings, coronations and beheadings. The rise and fall of some of England's most famous figures. This wasn't just a heist. Many would view this as a declaration of war. They had done something that only a handful of people had done. They had breached the Tower of London.

The target sat comfortable and securely behind bomb-proof glass and on weight triggers. If the glass broke, alarms would go off; if they knocked something, the alarms would go off. If their temperature rose and their backpacks failed, the alarms would go off. If the alarms went off, their chance of a successful escape would be slim.

The room was longer and narrower than one would expect. Usually, the floor would move so people wouldn't stay and hover. These days the Tower serves as a very successful tourist attraction, and management needed people to go through as quickly as possible in order to maximise profits. The floor was turned off, so at least they didn't have to worry about that, and only a few lights were left on.

The man knelt in front of his partner. He needed her to cover him while he removed his pack. He pulled out a small grappling gun from the pack, several suction cups, and what appeared to be industrial-strength glue. The grappling gun had been modified with an unbelievably strong magnet that could hold a car up once turned on. Not many people knew this, but the Tower had been refurbished, and discreet steel beams had been installed to provide additional support. Few people noticed the beams as they were too busy looking around them, and the beams had been discreetly placed. Firing the gun upwards, he was relieved when it found a home on the first shot. The grappling gun had been modified so that the end he was still holding had spots for the suction cups to be attached to. He worked quickly; they didn't have time to waste. Each suction cup was placed into a corner of the glass and securely attached to the gun.

The glue wasn't really glue, it was in glue-shaped packaging, but it was more an expanding foam that