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A Stroke Of Midnight :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 116 из 293Prophecy had never been my gift, but now I was suddenly so afraid I couldn’t draw a good breath.
I grabbed Frost’s arm. “He shouldn’t be alone. Something bad. Something bad is coming.”
Frost didn’t argue. “Adair, Crystall, go with him.”
The moment the other two men vanished around the corner the panic eased. I could breathe again. And something heavy dropped into my other hand, the one that was still hidden under the furred cloak. I grasped the heavy metal stem of the chalice. I let go of Frost, and put both my hands under the cloak to help hold the heavy cup. I’d never realized how heavy it was until that moment. Power is a burden.
“Are you all right?” Rhys asked.
I nodded. “Yes, yes.” I did not want everyone in the hallway to see what I held, but I also knew that if my panic was true, it was because the chalice had warned me. I had meant to tell the queen that the chalice had come to me, but the time never seemed right to tell her. All right, she never seemed sane long enough to have a metaphysical and political discussion. Now the chalice had materialized in my hand, and that usually meant it had an agenda. Something it wanted, at this moment. Something I needed to do. If it had just wanted to help Galen, it wouldn’t have been heavy in my hand. The chalice was quite capable of helping out magically without materializing. So why was it here now? What was about to happen? The tightness between my shoulder blades said, something bad.
I took a deep breath, and used my cloak and Frost’s coat to give him and Rhys a flash of gold metal under my cloak. Rhys’s eye went wide, and Frost’s face went even more arrogant, more angry. Rhys turned surprise to that joking half smile that he wore when he wanted to hide what he was thinking. It had taken me months to realize what that smile meant.
It was Ivi’s voice, full of laughter and with an edge of that joking that hid so much. “Oh, my,” Ivi said, and I knew that he’d seen it, too. I half expected him to tell the rest of the hallway what he’d glimpsed, but he didn’t. He just looked at me with that surprised laughter all over his face, as if he had beheld some wonderful private joke.
Hawthorne and Amatheon stood to either side of him, and they said nothing. Amatheon’s pale face had gone bloodless inside the hood that he had kept in place to hide his beauty from the woman. His flower-petal eyes went wide, but I doubted anyone but myself and Frost could see his face past the hood. Hawthorne’s reaction, or even if he had seen, was hidden behind his helmet.
“What is wrong?” Arzhel asked.
Amatheon said, “Nothing.
I grabbed Frost’s arm. “He shouldn’t be alone. Something bad. Something bad is coming.”
Frost didn’t argue. “Adair, Crystall, go with him.”
The moment the other two men vanished around the corner the panic eased. I could breathe again. And something heavy dropped into my other hand, the one that was still hidden under the furred cloak. I grasped the heavy metal stem of the chalice. I let go of Frost, and put both my hands under the cloak to help hold the heavy cup. I’d never realized how heavy it was until that moment. Power is a burden.
“Are you all right?” Rhys asked.
I nodded. “Yes, yes.” I did not want everyone in the hallway to see what I held, but I also knew that if my panic was true, it was because the chalice had warned me. I had meant to tell the queen that the chalice had come to me, but the time never seemed right to tell her. All right, she never seemed sane long enough to have a metaphysical and political discussion. Now the chalice had materialized in my hand, and that usually meant it had an agenda. Something it wanted, at this moment. Something I needed to do. If it had just wanted to help Galen, it wouldn’t have been heavy in my hand. The chalice was quite capable of helping out magically without materializing. So why was it here now? What was about to happen? The tightness between my shoulder blades said, something bad.
I took a deep breath, and used my cloak and Frost’s coat to give him and Rhys a flash of gold metal under my cloak. Rhys’s eye went wide, and Frost’s face went even more arrogant, more angry. Rhys turned surprise to that joking half smile that he wore when he wanted to hide what he was thinking. It had taken me months to realize what that smile meant.
It was Ivi’s voice, full of laughter and with an edge of that joking that hid so much. “Oh, my,” Ivi said, and I knew that he’d seen it, too. I half expected him to tell the rest of the hallway what he’d glimpsed, but he didn’t. He just looked at me with that surprised laughter all over his face, as if he had beheld some wonderful private joke.
Hawthorne and Amatheon stood to either side of him, and they said nothing. Amatheon’s pale face had gone bloodless inside the hood that he had kept in place to hide his beauty from the woman. His flower-petal eyes went wide, but I doubted anyone but myself and Frost could see his face past the hood. Hawthorne’s reaction, or even if he had seen, was hidden behind his helmet.
“What is wrong?” Arzhel asked.
Amatheon said, “Nothing.