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A Stroke Of Midnight :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 19 из 293”
Truth was that before Queen Andais had accepted him into theUnseelie Court after the Seelie Court kicked him out, Barinthus had to promise that he would never accept the throne here, not even if it was offered. He’d been Manannan Mac Lir, and the queen and her nobles all feared his power. So he’d given his most solemn oath that he would never, personally, sit on our throne.
He bowed to the room in general and simply went back against the wall. He made it clear that he was done with questions for the day. Kitto, the half-goblin sidhe, had already moved back to his place. He was only four feet tall, and that made a lot of the media try to portray him as child-like. He was old enough to remember what the world was like before Christianity was a religion. But his appearance made the media uncomfortable. His short black curls, pale skin, and sunglasses made him look ordinary in his jeans and T-shirt. The queen didn’t have a designer suit to fit someone so short. There hadn’t been time even for the queen’s seamstress to make those kind of alterations. He got away with hugging his section of the wall.
“Princess Meredith, how will you choose your husband from among all these gorgeous men?” a reporter was asking.
“The one who gets me pregnant wins the prize,” I said, smiling.
“What if you are in love with someone else? What if you don’t love the one who gets you pregnant?”
I sighed, and didn’t fight the smile slipping away. “I am a princess, and heir to a throne. Love has never been a prerequisite for royal marriages.”
“Isn’t it traditional to sleep with one fiancé at a time, until you either get pregnant or don’t get pregnant?”
“Yes,” I said, and cursed that anyone knew our customs that well.
“Then why the marathon of men?”
“If you had the chance, wouldn’t you?” I asked, and that got them laughing. But it didn’t distract them.
“Would you marry a man you didn’t like just because he was the father of your child?”
“Our laws are clear,” I said. “I will marry the father of my child.”
“No matter who it is?” another reporter asked.
“That is our law.”
“What if your cousin Prince Cel gets one of his female guards pregnant first?”
“Then, according to Queen Andais, he will be king.”
“So it’s a race to get pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“Where is Prince Cel? No one has seen him in nearly three months.”
“I’m not my cousin’s keeper.
Truth was that before Queen Andais had accepted him into theUnseelie Court after the Seelie Court kicked him out, Barinthus had to promise that he would never accept the throne here, not even if it was offered. He’d been Manannan Mac Lir, and the queen and her nobles all feared his power. So he’d given his most solemn oath that he would never, personally, sit on our throne.
He bowed to the room in general and simply went back against the wall. He made it clear that he was done with questions for the day. Kitto, the half-goblin sidhe, had already moved back to his place. He was only four feet tall, and that made a lot of the media try to portray him as child-like. He was old enough to remember what the world was like before Christianity was a religion. But his appearance made the media uncomfortable. His short black curls, pale skin, and sunglasses made him look ordinary in his jeans and T-shirt. The queen didn’t have a designer suit to fit someone so short. There hadn’t been time even for the queen’s seamstress to make those kind of alterations. He got away with hugging his section of the wall.
“Princess Meredith, how will you choose your husband from among all these gorgeous men?” a reporter was asking.
“The one who gets me pregnant wins the prize,” I said, smiling.
“What if you are in love with someone else? What if you don’t love the one who gets you pregnant?”
I sighed, and didn’t fight the smile slipping away. “I am a princess, and heir to a throne. Love has never been a prerequisite for royal marriages.”
“Isn’t it traditional to sleep with one fiancé at a time, until you either get pregnant or don’t get pregnant?”
“Yes,” I said, and cursed that anyone knew our customs that well.
“Then why the marathon of men?”
“If you had the chance, wouldn’t you?” I asked, and that got them laughing. But it didn’t distract them.
“Would you marry a man you didn’t like just because he was the father of your child?”
“Our laws are clear,” I said. “I will marry the father of my child.”
“No matter who it is?” another reporter asked.
“That is our law.”
“What if your cousin Prince Cel gets one of his female guards pregnant first?”
“Then, according to Queen Andais, he will be king.”
“So it’s a race to get pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“Where is Prince Cel? No one has seen him in nearly three months.”
“I’m not my cousin’s keeper.