JК
Mistrals Kiss :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 143 из 148Sholto used the side of the hand that held the knife to rub the top of oneof the huge heads.
Sholto spoke again. “Merry makes us beautiful, yes, my queen. But the beauty is stranger than anything the Seelie Court would allow within their doors.”
Andais gazed at Sholto, and for a moment I thought I saw regret. Sholto’s magic rode him, and power breathed off him into the night.
“You had him,” she said to me, simply.
“Yes,” I said.
“How was it?”
“It was our coming together that raised the wild hunt.”
She shivered, and there was a hunger on her face that frightened me. “Amazing. Perhaps I will try him some night.”
Sholto spoke again. “There was a time, my queen, when the thought of a chance at your bed would have filled me with joy. But I truly know now that I am King Sholto of the Sluagh, the Lord of That Which Passes Between, Lord of Shadows. I will no longer take crumbs from the table of any sidhe.”
She made a sharp sound, almost a hiss. “You must be an amazing bit of ass, Meredith. One fuck with you and they all turn against me.”
To that, there was no safe answer, so I said nothing. I stood in the midst of my men, with the weight and press of the hounds milling around us. Would she have been more aggressive if the dogs — war dogs, most of them — had not been there? Was she afraid of the magic — or the more solid form the magic had taken?
One of the small terriers growled, and it was like a signal to the others. The night was suddenly thick with growls, a low chorus that shivered down my spine. I petted the heads of those I could touch, hushing them. The Goddess had sent me guardians, I understood that now. I thanked her for it.
“Cel’s guards who did not take oath to him — you promised they could go with me,” I said.
“I will not strip him of all signs of my favor,” she answered, and her anger seemed to crackle on the cold air.
“You gave your word,” I insisted.
The dogs gave another low chorus of growls. The terriers began to bark, as terriers will. I realized in that moment that the wild hunt was not gone, only changed. These were the hounds of the wild hunt. These were the hounds of legend that hunted oathbreakers through the winter wood.
“Do not dare to threaten!” said Andais. Eamon touched her arm. She jerked away from him, but seemed chastened. The wild hunt had been a great leveler of the mighty. Once you became their prey, the hunt did not end until the quarry was dead.
“I do not believe I am the huntsman,” I said.
Sholto spoke again. “Merry makes us beautiful, yes, my queen. But the beauty is stranger than anything the Seelie Court would allow within their doors.”
Andais gazed at Sholto, and for a moment I thought I saw regret. Sholto’s magic rode him, and power breathed off him into the night.
“You had him,” she said to me, simply.
“Yes,” I said.
“How was it?”
“It was our coming together that raised the wild hunt.”
She shivered, and there was a hunger on her face that frightened me. “Amazing. Perhaps I will try him some night.”
Sholto spoke again. “There was a time, my queen, when the thought of a chance at your bed would have filled me with joy. But I truly know now that I am King Sholto of the Sluagh, the Lord of That Which Passes Between, Lord of Shadows. I will no longer take crumbs from the table of any sidhe.”
She made a sharp sound, almost a hiss. “You must be an amazing bit of ass, Meredith. One fuck with you and they all turn against me.”
To that, there was no safe answer, so I said nothing. I stood in the midst of my men, with the weight and press of the hounds milling around us. Would she have been more aggressive if the dogs — war dogs, most of them — had not been there? Was she afraid of the magic — or the more solid form the magic had taken?
One of the small terriers growled, and it was like a signal to the others. The night was suddenly thick with growls, a low chorus that shivered down my spine. I petted the heads of those I could touch, hushing them. The Goddess had sent me guardians, I understood that now. I thanked her for it.
“Cel’s guards who did not take oath to him — you promised they could go with me,” I said.
“I will not strip him of all signs of my favor,” she answered, and her anger seemed to crackle on the cold air.
“You gave your word,” I insisted.
The dogs gave another low chorus of growls. The terriers began to bark, as terriers will. I realized in that moment that the wild hunt was not gone, only changed. These were the hounds of the wild hunt. These were the hounds of legend that hunted oathbreakers through the winter wood.
“Do not dare to threaten!” said Andais. Eamon touched her arm. She jerked away from him, but seemed chastened. The wild hunt had been a great leveler of the mighty. Once you became their prey, the hunt did not end until the quarry was dead.
“I do not believe I am the huntsman,” I said.