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A Lick Of Frost :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 49 из 184Did he already know that the chalice of the Goddess had come to me? Or had rumor planted something else in his head?
The scent of roses was back. Galen whispered, "I smell apple blossoms." Each of the men smelled the scent they had smelled when the Goddess had manifested for them. She was not just one goddess, but many. She was the face of all that was female. Not merely a rose, but all that grew upon the earth was in her scent.
Doyle came back toward us. "Is this wise, Meredith?"
"I don't know." But I stood, and they let their hands fall away from me. I stood in front of my uncle alone, with the men lined around me. The lawyers had moved back, frowning, puzzled, except for Veducci, who seemed to understand a great deal more than he should have.
"We are all people of the Goddess, Uncle," I said.
"The Unseelie are the dark god's children."
"There is no dark god among us," I said. "We are not Christians to people our underworld with terrors. We are children of the earth and sky. We are nature itself. There is no evil in us, only differences."
"They have filled your head with lies," he said.
"Truth is truth, whether in sunlight or darkest night. You cannot hide from the truth forever, Uncle."
"Where is the ambassador? He will search their bodies and find the horrors that the lady said were there."
There was a wind in the room now, a gentle breeze that held that first warmth of spring. The scent of plants was mingling so that I could smell Galen's apple blossoms, Doyle's scent of autumn oak leaves and deep forest, and Rhys's sweet, cloying lily of the valley. Frost's was a taste like flavored ice, and Abe's was honeyed mead. The scents and tastes combined with the scent of wild roses.
"I smell flowers," Nelson said, her voice uncertain.
"What do you smell, Uncle?" I asked.
"I smell nothing but the corruption that stands behind you. Where is Ambassador Stevens?"
"He is being tended by a human wizard by now. They will cleanse him of the spell you placed upon him."
"More lies," he said, but there was something in his face that belied the strength of his protests.
"I have bedded these men. I know that their bodies hold no horrors."
"You are part human, Meredith. They have bewitched you."
The wind grew, and pushed at the surface of the mirror, with its bits of floating herbs, like wind on water. I watched the glass ripple. "What do you smell, Uncle?"
"I smell nothing but the stench of Unseelie magic." His voice was ugly with anger, and something else.
The scent of roses was back. Galen whispered, "I smell apple blossoms." Each of the men smelled the scent they had smelled when the Goddess had manifested for them. She was not just one goddess, but many. She was the face of all that was female. Not merely a rose, but all that grew upon the earth was in her scent.
Doyle came back toward us. "Is this wise, Meredith?"
"I don't know." But I stood, and they let their hands fall away from me. I stood in front of my uncle alone, with the men lined around me. The lawyers had moved back, frowning, puzzled, except for Veducci, who seemed to understand a great deal more than he should have.
"We are all people of the Goddess, Uncle," I said.
"The Unseelie are the dark god's children."
"There is no dark god among us," I said. "We are not Christians to people our underworld with terrors. We are children of the earth and sky. We are nature itself. There is no evil in us, only differences."
"They have filled your head with lies," he said.
"Truth is truth, whether in sunlight or darkest night. You cannot hide from the truth forever, Uncle."
"Where is the ambassador? He will search their bodies and find the horrors that the lady said were there."
There was a wind in the room now, a gentle breeze that held that first warmth of spring. The scent of plants was mingling so that I could smell Galen's apple blossoms, Doyle's scent of autumn oak leaves and deep forest, and Rhys's sweet, cloying lily of the valley. Frost's was a taste like flavored ice, and Abe's was honeyed mead. The scents and tastes combined with the scent of wild roses.
"I smell flowers," Nelson said, her voice uncertain.
"What do you smell, Uncle?" I asked.
"I smell nothing but the corruption that stands behind you. Where is Ambassador Stevens?"
"He is being tended by a human wizard by now. They will cleanse him of the spell you placed upon him."
"More lies," he said, but there was something in his face that belied the strength of his protests.
"I have bedded these men. I know that their bodies hold no horrors."
"You are part human, Meredith. They have bewitched you."
The wind grew, and pushed at the surface of the mirror, with its bits of floating herbs, like wind on water. I watched the glass ripple. "What do you smell, Uncle?"
"I smell nothing but the stench of Unseelie magic." His voice was ugly with anger, and something else.