JК
A Lick Of Frost :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 90 из 184" She turned those calm eyes to the big man standing so silent beside the bed. "To kill Meredith and survive would require both your deaths, wouldn't it, Killing Frost?"
Frost licked his lips. He was right to be nervous. This was not a conversation that we wanted to be having with our queen. "That is true, my queen," he said.
"Did the Seelie Court make the same condition on you that I do? Do you need to be with child before you can sit their throne?"
"No, they offered the throne with no conditions except that the nobles of the Seelie Court vote Taranis out and me in."
"What do you think of that, Meredith?"
"I am flattered, but not stupid. I am wondering if the nobles are playing some game of their own choosing, and the offer to me is simply to buy them time to consolidate their own bid for the throne. A vote to put me on the throne would slow the process of choosing a new king, or queen, for the Seelie Court to a crawl."
Andais smiled. "Did Doyle reason it out for you?"
"No, my queen," Doyle said. "The princess is well aware of the Seelie Court's potential for treachery."
"Is it true that Taranis almost beat you to death as a child?"
"Yes," I said. In my head I added, as you tried to drown me. Out loud I kept my mouth shut.
Andais smiled as if she'd hit on the same memory and it was a happy one for her. "Meredith, Meredith, you must learn to control your entire face. Your eyes betray how much you hate me."
I lowered my gaze, not sure what to say that wouldn't be a lie.
She laughed, and it was both a lovely sound and a sound that made me shiver, as if it were my own body lying on her bed unable to protect itself from what would come next. I wanted to save Crystall from her, but I couldn't figure out a way to do it. Me trying and failing would just make her hurt him worse. She'd think it meant he was special to me, and it would amuse her all the more to slice him up.
"Now that I know that you have not been meeting with Hugh and the Seelie nobles in secret, I agree that they mean you treachery. Perhaps you will be their stalking horse to lure out all the would-be assassins. Or perhaps it is what you say, that they simply throw your name into the ring to slow the process while someone else consolidates their own power. I think the latter the more likely, but the offer is so completely unexpected that I have not had time to think clearly on it."
What she meant was that she'd been convinced that I'd betrayed her with the Seelie Court, so she'd been too angry to think clearly. I kept my reasoning to myself.
Frost licked his lips. He was right to be nervous. This was not a conversation that we wanted to be having with our queen. "That is true, my queen," he said.
"Did the Seelie Court make the same condition on you that I do? Do you need to be with child before you can sit their throne?"
"No, they offered the throne with no conditions except that the nobles of the Seelie Court vote Taranis out and me in."
"What do you think of that, Meredith?"
"I am flattered, but not stupid. I am wondering if the nobles are playing some game of their own choosing, and the offer to me is simply to buy them time to consolidate their own bid for the throne. A vote to put me on the throne would slow the process of choosing a new king, or queen, for the Seelie Court to a crawl."
Andais smiled. "Did Doyle reason it out for you?"
"No, my queen," Doyle said. "The princess is well aware of the Seelie Court's potential for treachery."
"Is it true that Taranis almost beat you to death as a child?"
"Yes," I said. In my head I added, as you tried to drown me. Out loud I kept my mouth shut.
Andais smiled as if she'd hit on the same memory and it was a happy one for her. "Meredith, Meredith, you must learn to control your entire face. Your eyes betray how much you hate me."
I lowered my gaze, not sure what to say that wouldn't be a lie.
She laughed, and it was both a lovely sound and a sound that made me shiver, as if it were my own body lying on her bed unable to protect itself from what would come next. I wanted to save Crystall from her, but I couldn't figure out a way to do it. Me trying and failing would just make her hurt him worse. She'd think it meant he was special to me, and it would amuse her all the more to slice him up.
"Now that I know that you have not been meeting with Hugh and the Seelie nobles in secret, I agree that they mean you treachery. Perhaps you will be their stalking horse to lure out all the would-be assassins. Or perhaps it is what you say, that they simply throw your name into the ring to slow the process while someone else consolidates their own power. I think the latter the more likely, but the offer is so completely unexpected that I have not had time to think clearly on it."
What she meant was that she'd been convinced that I'd betrayed her with the Seelie Court, so she'd been too angry to think clearly. I kept my reasoning to myself.