A Caress Of Twilight   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

There was a Wave to all that blackness, because of the braid, I think; I remembered Doyle's hair as straight. I was distracted for a moment watching Rhys kneeling so pale and perfect against all that darkness. It was Doyle clearing his throat who made me jump and turn back to the mirror.

Niceven laughed, the sound of just slightly off-key bells, as if it were something lovely that had been just a bit malformed.

"My apologies for my inattention, Queen Niceven."

"If I had such a bounty awaiting me, I would make this a short conversation."

"And what if you had the bounty of my blood awaiting you? What then?"

Her face sobered. "You are persistent. It is most unfeylike."

"I am part brownie, and we are a more persistent people than the sidhe."

"You are part human, as well."

I smiled. "Humans are like the sidhe; some are more persistent than others."

She didn't smile back at me. "For another drink of your blood, I will cure your green knight, but that is all. One drink, one cure, and we are done."

"For one drink of my blood, King Kurag of the goblins became my ally for six months."

Her delicate eyebrows raised. "That is goblin and sidhe business, and none of ours. We are the demi-fey. No one cares who we ally ourselves with. We fight no battles. We challenge no duels. We mind our business and everyone else minds theirs."

"So you refuse an alliance?"

"I think caution is the better part of valor here, Princess, no matter how tasty you may be."

In negotiations, always try to be nice first, but if nice doesn't work, there are other options. "Everyone leaves you alone, Queen Niceven. Because they consider you too small to worry about."

"Prince Cel thought us big enough to spoil your plans with the green knight." Her voice held the first hint of anger.

"Yes, and what did he offer you for that bit of work?"

"The taste of sidhe flesh, knight's flesh, and blood. We feasted that night, Princess."

"He paid you in someone else's blood, when his body was full of blood only one step down from the queen herself. Have you ever tasted the queen?"

Niceven looked nervous, almost frightened. "The queen shares only with her lovers, or her prisoners."

"How that must irk you, to see such a precious gift wasted."

Niceven pouted tiny ghost silver lips. "If only she would take some of my people to her bed, but we are. ."

"Too small," I finished for her.

"Yes," she hissed, "yesss, always too small. Too small a power for an alliance. Too small a power to be used except as her sneak spies.