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A Caress Of Twilight :: Гамильтон Лорел
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I gave her credit for that. "As you like, you had many allies at court. I am told they did question your fate."
"And?" There was a little too much eagerness to that one word.
She seemed to really want to know. I wanted to say, you answer my questions and I'll answer yours, but that was a little too crass. Subtlety, that was what was needed. Subtle had never been my natural bent, but I had learned. Eventually.
"I was beaten for asking about your fate," I said.
She blinked at me. "What?"
"As a child I asked why you were exiled, and the King himself beat me for asking."
She looked puzzled. "Had no one asked before?"
"They asked," I said.
The expression on her face was enough to urge me on, but I didn't finish the thought. I avoided letting her turn around the conversation, because I wanted to know why she'd been exiled. If she'd kept her silence for a hundred years, then I couldn't trust that she'd easily break it now.
"By the time I came along, people had stopped asking."
"What happened to my allies at court?" It was a very direct question, and I couldn't pretend not to understand anymore.
"The king killed Emrys," I said. "After that, everyone was afraid to ask after your fate."
It was hard to tell, but I think she paled under that golden tan. Her eyes went wide before she dropped her gaze to her lap. She started to take a drink and found the tumbler empty.
She yelled, "Nancy!"
The maid appeared, almost but not quite as if by magic. She had a tray with a tall dark glass of rum, a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses folded beside the drink. She'd also brought three swimsuits draped on her arm. They were all expensive, lovely, and tiny. Most of the underwear I owned covered more than those suits, and I owned a lot of lingerie.
They looked like ordinary, if elegant swimsuits, but appearance could be deceiving. Things can be done to clothes so the spell takes over only when the garment is worn. Nasty spells, some of them. For the first time I wondered, not if Maeve wanted to join our court, but if there were people at the Seelie Court who wanted me dead. Would my death be enough to undo her exile? Only if the king himself wanted my death. To my knowledge, Taranis didn't like me, but he didn't fear me, so my death should mean nothing to him.
Maeve had stopped talking. She was staring out at the pool, but I don't think she truly saw it. She was quiet for so long that I filled the silence. "Why the swimsuits, Ms. Reed?"
"I said to call me Maeve.
I gave her credit for that. "As you like, you had many allies at court. I am told they did question your fate."
"And?" There was a little too much eagerness to that one word.
She seemed to really want to know. I wanted to say, you answer my questions and I'll answer yours, but that was a little too crass. Subtlety, that was what was needed. Subtle had never been my natural bent, but I had learned. Eventually.
"I was beaten for asking about your fate," I said.
She blinked at me. "What?"
"As a child I asked why you were exiled, and the King himself beat me for asking."
She looked puzzled. "Had no one asked before?"
"They asked," I said.
The expression on her face was enough to urge me on, but I didn't finish the thought. I avoided letting her turn around the conversation, because I wanted to know why she'd been exiled. If she'd kept her silence for a hundred years, then I couldn't trust that she'd easily break it now.
"By the time I came along, people had stopped asking."
"What happened to my allies at court?" It was a very direct question, and I couldn't pretend not to understand anymore.
"The king killed Emrys," I said. "After that, everyone was afraid to ask after your fate."
It was hard to tell, but I think she paled under that golden tan. Her eyes went wide before she dropped her gaze to her lap. She started to take a drink and found the tumbler empty.
She yelled, "Nancy!"
The maid appeared, almost but not quite as if by magic. She had a tray with a tall dark glass of rum, a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses folded beside the drink. She'd also brought three swimsuits draped on her arm. They were all expensive, lovely, and tiny. Most of the underwear I owned covered more than those suits, and I owned a lot of lingerie.
They looked like ordinary, if elegant swimsuits, but appearance could be deceiving. Things can be done to clothes so the spell takes over only when the garment is worn. Nasty spells, some of them. For the first time I wondered, not if Maeve wanted to join our court, but if there were people at the Seelie Court who wanted me dead. Would my death be enough to undo her exile? Only if the king himself wanted my death. To my knowledge, Taranis didn't like me, but he didn't fear me, so my death should mean nothing to him.
Maeve had stopped talking. She was staring out at the pool, but I don't think she truly saw it. She was quiet for so long that I filled the silence. "Why the swimsuits, Ms. Reed?"
"I said to call me Maeve.