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A Caress Of Twilight :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 110 из 236" She looked like she'd tasted something sour. "He will not claim its parentage, so he will give no aid, for to give aid is to admit his part in its making."
"That is foolishness."
She nodded. "He was always one more interested in the illusion of purity than in purity itself."
"What can stand against the Nameless?" he asked, voice soft, almost as if he were thinking aloud.
"We do not know, for we bound it without testing it. But it is full of old, old magicks, things we no longer tolerate among even the Unseelie." She sat down on the end of the bed, almost jerkily. "Whoever released it, and hid it from our sight. . if they can truly control it, it is a powerful weapon."
"What do you need of me, my queen?"
She looked up at that, and the look was not unfriendly. "What if I said come home, come home and protect me? What if I said I don't feel safe without you and Frost at my side?"
He dropped to one knee. His face was lost in a wave of his own hair. "I am still captain of the Queen's Ravens."
"You would come?" she asked, voice soft.
"If you commanded it."
I sat on the bed and tried to keep my face neutral. I hugged my knees to my chest and tried to not look anything, nothing. If I could just not think, it wouldn't show on my face.
"You say you are still the captain of my Ravens, but are you still my Darkness, or do you belong to another now?"
He kept his head down and stayed silent. I kept trying to think of nothing. She gave me a very unfriendly look. "You have stolen my Darkness from me, Meredith."
"What do you want me to say, Aunt Andais?"
"It's good to remind me that you are my blood. Seeing his back sliced up makes me hope you are more mine than I knew."
Nothing, nothing, I would think nothing. I imagined emptiness like looking through a pane of glass into another pane and another and another. Clear, nothing.
"The Nameless was loosed for a reason, Darkness. Until I know what that reason is, I'm covering my assets. The fair Meredith is one of those assets. I still hope to get a child out of her."
She looked at me, and it was not a friendly look. "Is he as magnificent as he looks?"
I fought for a neutral voice to match the face. "Yes."
The queen sighed. "A pity, but I didn't want to give birth to puppies, now did I?"
"Puppies?" I said.
"Didn't he tell you? Doyle has two aunts whose true forms are dogs. His grandmother was one of the hounds of the great hunt. Hellhounds, humans call them now, though you know we have nothing to do with hell.
"That is foolishness."
She nodded. "He was always one more interested in the illusion of purity than in purity itself."
"What can stand against the Nameless?" he asked, voice soft, almost as if he were thinking aloud.
"We do not know, for we bound it without testing it. But it is full of old, old magicks, things we no longer tolerate among even the Unseelie." She sat down on the end of the bed, almost jerkily. "Whoever released it, and hid it from our sight. . if they can truly control it, it is a powerful weapon."
"What do you need of me, my queen?"
She looked up at that, and the look was not unfriendly. "What if I said come home, come home and protect me? What if I said I don't feel safe without you and Frost at my side?"
He dropped to one knee. His face was lost in a wave of his own hair. "I am still captain of the Queen's Ravens."
"You would come?" she asked, voice soft.
"If you commanded it."
I sat on the bed and tried to keep my face neutral. I hugged my knees to my chest and tried to not look anything, nothing. If I could just not think, it wouldn't show on my face.
"You say you are still the captain of my Ravens, but are you still my Darkness, or do you belong to another now?"
He kept his head down and stayed silent. I kept trying to think of nothing. She gave me a very unfriendly look. "You have stolen my Darkness from me, Meredith."
"What do you want me to say, Aunt Andais?"
"It's good to remind me that you are my blood. Seeing his back sliced up makes me hope you are more mine than I knew."
Nothing, nothing, I would think nothing. I imagined emptiness like looking through a pane of glass into another pane and another and another. Clear, nothing.
"The Nameless was loosed for a reason, Darkness. Until I know what that reason is, I'm covering my assets. The fair Meredith is one of those assets. I still hope to get a child out of her."
She looked at me, and it was not a friendly look. "Is he as magnificent as he looks?"
I fought for a neutral voice to match the face. "Yes."
The queen sighed. "A pity, but I didn't want to give birth to puppies, now did I?"
"Puppies?" I said.
"Didn't he tell you? Doyle has two aunts whose true forms are dogs. His grandmother was one of the hounds of the great hunt. Hellhounds, humans call them now, though you know we have nothing to do with hell.