A Lick Of Frost   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You make a tree by planting a stick in the ground. You create a castle from the ruin of one," he said.

"It would be easier to do such a thing if you had something physical to build upon," Doyle said.

"What could you build on for an attack?" Galen asked.

Doyle looked at him. The look was eloquent, but Galen didn't understand it. I got it first. "You mean the stories of our people appearing as dead warriors coming into the widows' beds, that kind of thing."

"Yes," Doyle said, "illusion used as a disguise."

"Very few in faerie have such power of illusion now," Frost said.

"There might only be one in all of faerie who could pull it off," Galen said. His green eyes were suddenly very serious.

"You can't mean…" Frost started to say, then stopped. We all thought it. Abe said, "That son of a bitch."

Veducci spoke as if he'd read our minds. It made me wonder if without his protections from faerie magic I'd have read him as a psychic, or more. "The King of Light and Illusion, how good are his; powers of illusion?"

"Fuck," Shelby said. "You did not just say that. You did not just give them reasonable doubt."

Veducci smiled at us. "The princess and her men had reasonable doubt when they stepped into the room, but they would never have accused the king out loud in front of us. They'd have kept their secrets even from their lawyers."

I had an awful idea. I moved toward Veducci, only Doyle's hand on my arm stopping me from touching the man. He was right, they might see that as magical interference. "Mr. Veducci, are you planning on accusing my uncle of this plot on the mirror call today?"

"I thought I'd leave that to your lawyers."

My skin was suddenly cold. I felt the blood drain from my face. Veducci looked uncertain, and almost reached out to me. "Are you feeling all right, Princess?"

"I'm frightened for you, for all of you, and for us," I said. "You do not understand Taranis. He has been absolute ruler of the Seelie Court for more than a thousand years. That has led to an arrogance you can't even begin to imagine. He pretends to be the jolly, handsome king for you humans, but he shows quite a different face to those of us in the Unseelie Court. If you accuse him bluntly of this, I do not know what he will do."

"Would he hurt us?" Nelson asked.

"No, but he might use magic on you," I replied. "He is the King of Light and Illusion. I have stood in his presence, just over a minor call, and he has almost bespelled me.