A Caress Of Twilight   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

I sighed, and it went sharp as Doyle finished cleaning the wound. "Hedwick, try to understand — this. I will be Queen of the Unseelie Court. I am royal heir. King Taranis cannot command me to do anything or to appear anywhere, because I am not his royal heir."

"Are you refusing to appear at the king's command?" He still looked like he didn't trust his own ears. He had to have misheard something.

"The king has no right to command me, Hedwick. It would be like him having you call the president of the United States with a command to appear."

"You grow above your station, Meredith."

I let the anger show on my face. "And you no longer seem to know what yours is, Hedwick."

"You truly are refusing the king's command?" Astonishment showed through his voice, his face, his posture.

"Yes, because he is not my king, and cannot command anyone outside his own kingdom."

"Are you saying you renounce all titles that you hold in the Seelie Court?"

Doyle touched my arm, made me look at him. His gaze said, careful here.

"No, Hedwick, and for you to say such a thing is deliberately insulting. You are a minor functionary, a message carrier, nothing more."

"I am the king's social secretary," he said, trying to pull himself up to every inch of his small height, even though he was sitting down.

"You carry messages to lesser fey and to humans of no great account. All the important invitations go through Rosmerta, and you know it. Sending his invitation through you and not her was an insult."

"You do not merit the attentions of the Duchess Rosmerta."

I shook my head. "Your message is incomplete, Hedwick. You'd best go back to your master and learn a new one. One that has a chance of being well received."

I nodded at Doyle. He stood and blanked the mirror in the middle of Hedwick's sputtering. Doyle smiled, almost grinned at me. "Well done."

"You just insulted the King of Light and Illusion," Rhys said. He looked pale.

"No, Rhys, he insulted me, and more than that. If I had accepted such a command from Taranis, it could have been interpreted that when I gain the Unseelie throne, I would acknowledge him as high king over the Unseelie as well as the Seelie."

"Could it have been the secretary's error?" Frost asked. "Could he simply have used the same words with you as everyone on his list?"

"Perhaps, but if so, it was still an insult."

"Insult, maybe. But, Merry, we can swallow a few insults to stay out of the king's bad graces," Rhys said.