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A Lick Of Frost :: Гамильтон Лорел
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Galen moved a little forward beside me. I read his mind, and knew the goblin did, too. He would shield me with his body. But it wasn't that kind of fight.
"Kurag is our ally. If he dies the treaty between us dies with him."
"Yes," Ash said. "Yes, it does."
I laughed, and it was an unpleasant laugh. The kind of laugh you make because you can't cry yet.
The sound startled Ash. It made him take a step backward from me. No anger would have gotten such a reaction, but laughter, he didn't understand it.
"Think before you threaten, goblin. If Kurag dies then we are honor bound to avenge him," I said.
"The Unseelie Court is forbidden to interfere directly in the line of succession of its subsidiary courts," Ash said.
"That is a bargain that the Queen of Air and Darkness made. I am not my aunt. I have made no such agreement to limit my powers."
"Your guards are great warriors, but they cannot prevail against the combined might of the goblins," Ash said.
"As I am not bound by my aunt's agreement, I am not bound by goblin rules."
Ash looked uncertain, as if he was thinking on what I had said but hadn't figured it out yet.
It was Holly who said it. "What will you do, Princess, send your Darkness to assassinate us?" He was still ruffling the huge dog, but his face was no longer simply happy. His red eyes stared at me with a weight and intelligence that I hadn't seen before in him. It was a look more often seen on his brother's face.
"He is no longer merely my Darkness. He will be king." But that had been what I was thinking.
"That is another thing that makes no sense," Ash said. He pointed at Doyle. "How can he be king and father of your child, and he," he pointed at Rhys, "and he?" and at Galen last. "Unless you are having a litter, Princess Meredith, you can't have three fathers."
"Four," I said.
"Who…" Then a look crossed his face and the first bit of caution.
"Killing Frost," Holly said.
"Yes," I said, and my voice was back to sounding empty. My chest actually hurt. I'd heard the phrase brokenhearted, but I hadn't actually felt it before. I'd come close, but never truly. My father's death had destroyed me. My fiancé's betrayal had crushed me. When I thought I'd lost Doyle a month ago in the battle, I had felt like my world would end. But until now, I had not truly been heartbroken.
"You can't have four fathers for two children," Ash insisted, but he had calmed a little. It was almost as if he saw my pain for the first time.
Galen moved a little forward beside me. I read his mind, and knew the goblin did, too. He would shield me with his body. But it wasn't that kind of fight.
"Kurag is our ally. If he dies the treaty between us dies with him."
"Yes," Ash said. "Yes, it does."
I laughed, and it was an unpleasant laugh. The kind of laugh you make because you can't cry yet.
The sound startled Ash. It made him take a step backward from me. No anger would have gotten such a reaction, but laughter, he didn't understand it.
"Think before you threaten, goblin. If Kurag dies then we are honor bound to avenge him," I said.
"The Unseelie Court is forbidden to interfere directly in the line of succession of its subsidiary courts," Ash said.
"That is a bargain that the Queen of Air and Darkness made. I am not my aunt. I have made no such agreement to limit my powers."
"Your guards are great warriors, but they cannot prevail against the combined might of the goblins," Ash said.
"As I am not bound by my aunt's agreement, I am not bound by goblin rules."
Ash looked uncertain, as if he was thinking on what I had said but hadn't figured it out yet.
It was Holly who said it. "What will you do, Princess, send your Darkness to assassinate us?" He was still ruffling the huge dog, but his face was no longer simply happy. His red eyes stared at me with a weight and intelligence that I hadn't seen before in him. It was a look more often seen on his brother's face.
"He is no longer merely my Darkness. He will be king." But that had been what I was thinking.
"That is another thing that makes no sense," Ash said. He pointed at Doyle. "How can he be king and father of your child, and he," he pointed at Rhys, "and he?" and at Galen last. "Unless you are having a litter, Princess Meredith, you can't have three fathers."
"Four," I said.
"Who…" Then a look crossed his face and the first bit of caution.
"Killing Frost," Holly said.
"Yes," I said, and my voice was back to sounding empty. My chest actually hurt. I'd heard the phrase brokenhearted, but I hadn't actually felt it before. I'd come close, but never truly. My father's death had destroyed me. My fiancé's betrayal had crushed me. When I thought I'd lost Doyle a month ago in the battle, I had felt like my world would end. But until now, I had not truly been heartbroken.
"You can't have four fathers for two children," Ash insisted, but he had calmed a little. It was almost as if he saw my pain for the first time.