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A Stroke Of Midnight :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 185 из 293“If she would but speak with courage, this might end well.”
Madenn gave a great hiccupping sob. She had once been a goddess of youth, which had left her permanently looking about fifteen, a young fifteen. The face she turned up at us now looked younger, as if her fear were stripping years from her.
“You have said many times that you would cleanse this court of the half-breeds.” Her voice was breathy, and thick with tears. “We mean only to help you do what you always wished to do before she returned from the Western Lands and turned you from us.”
Andais was leaning forward, and the anger was falling away from her. Kieran’s face was beginning to regain its smugness.
“Crystall, search her for a spell, some trinket aimed at the queen.”
Andais frowned at me. “What are you talking about, Meredith?”
“Please, Your Majesty, please,” Madenn said, “help us.”
I watched Andais’s face soften.
“Hawthorne,” I said, “if she speaks again before I give her leave, slit her throat. She’ll heal.”
He didn’t argue with me, he simply unsheathed a knife, and put it against her throat, even as she tried to protest.
Andais looked away from her, shielding her eyes. “What is it?”
Crystall searched Madenn, and he was thorough enough that Kieran protested. “He is laying hands on my wife.”
“If she is a widow then there will be no marriage vows to break,” Andais said.
Kieran’s mouth hung open for a moment, then he closed it, and I saw the first hint of fear in his eyes.
Madenn made a small sound, and Hawthorne pushed the tip of his blade in enough to draw a pinprick of bright crimson blood. She whimpered, but did not try to speak.
Crystall had to get very up close and personal with Madenn before he drew a little cloth bag from under her breasts. It was two pieces of cloth sewn together, almost a tiny pillow, the size of a fifty-cent piece.
I lowered my shields enough to see the little pillow glow, and there was a thin red line from it to the queen.
Crystall cut the threads that bound it, and spilled out a few dried herbs and seven strands of black hair. He held up the hair between his fingers, and the rest in his opposite hand. “A charm for you, and only you, Your Majesty,” he said. “A charm of eloquence, so that her words be sweet to your ears.”
Andais looked to Barinthus on the far side of the dais. “I may give you what I seldom give anyone, Lord Barinthus.”
He bowed. “And what would that be, Queen Andais?”
“An apology.
Madenn gave a great hiccupping sob. She had once been a goddess of youth, which had left her permanently looking about fifteen, a young fifteen. The face she turned up at us now looked younger, as if her fear were stripping years from her.
“You have said many times that you would cleanse this court of the half-breeds.” Her voice was breathy, and thick with tears. “We mean only to help you do what you always wished to do before she returned from the Western Lands and turned you from us.”
Andais was leaning forward, and the anger was falling away from her. Kieran’s face was beginning to regain its smugness.
“Crystall, search her for a spell, some trinket aimed at the queen.”
Andais frowned at me. “What are you talking about, Meredith?”
“Please, Your Majesty, please,” Madenn said, “help us.”
I watched Andais’s face soften.
“Hawthorne,” I said, “if she speaks again before I give her leave, slit her throat. She’ll heal.”
He didn’t argue with me, he simply unsheathed a knife, and put it against her throat, even as she tried to protest.
Andais looked away from her, shielding her eyes. “What is it?”
Crystall searched Madenn, and he was thorough enough that Kieran protested. “He is laying hands on my wife.”
“If she is a widow then there will be no marriage vows to break,” Andais said.
Kieran’s mouth hung open for a moment, then he closed it, and I saw the first hint of fear in his eyes.
Madenn made a small sound, and Hawthorne pushed the tip of his blade in enough to draw a pinprick of bright crimson blood. She whimpered, but did not try to speak.
Crystall had to get very up close and personal with Madenn before he drew a little cloth bag from under her breasts. It was two pieces of cloth sewn together, almost a tiny pillow, the size of a fifty-cent piece.
I lowered my shields enough to see the little pillow glow, and there was a thin red line from it to the queen.
Crystall cut the threads that bound it, and spilled out a few dried herbs and seven strands of black hair. He held up the hair between his fingers, and the rest in his opposite hand. “A charm for you, and only you, Your Majesty,” he said. “A charm of eloquence, so that her words be sweet to your ears.”
Andais looked to Barinthus on the far side of the dais. “I may give you what I seldom give anyone, Lord Barinthus.”
He bowed. “And what would that be, Queen Andais?”
“An apology.