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A Stroke Of Midnight :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 203 из 293” I held my hand out slowly, gently, offering her myupturned wrist. I did not want another misunderstanding. “Do you wish to take the blood personally? You sent Sage as your proxy because the Western Lands are far from faerie, but now I am here.”
She hissed at me like a startled cat and buzzed high into the air above me. “I would not taste your sidhe flesh for all the power in the world. You will not steal my wings from me.”
“But Sage was always able to change to a human size. You are not, so you can’t get stuck in a larger size.”
She hissed again, shaking her head, sending rainbow dazzles to dance around the walls, on us, and the flowers. “Never!”
“Then choose another proxy,” I said.
“Who would take such a risk?” she said.
A small voice came. “Someone who has no wings to lose.”
I looked down until I saw a cluster of demi-fey against the far wall. None of them had wings, but they had other means of transport. Carts pulled by sleek, cream-colored rats, and one dainty chariot that had more than a dozen white mice tied to it. There were two ferrets with multiple tiny riders, one the standard black mask, the other an albino with white fur and reddish eyes. A Nile monitor that was nearly four feet long had two of the larger riders. The monitor was not only harnessed but muzzled like a dog that you’re afraid will bite. Nile monitors could be vicious and ate anything small enough to catch and kill. If I’d been the size of a Barbie doll, I wouldn’t have wanted one anywhere near me.
Movement on the wall brought my attention to the fact that there were tiny many-legged demi-fey clinging there. Some looked like tiny spider centaurs, eight legs combined with a rounded fey body hidden under a sway of gauzy cloth. One looked like a black beetle, so like that only staring showed the pale moon of a face under the insect camouflage.
“I spoke,” said one of the men in a rat-drawn cart. There was a woman in the cart with him. She was pulling on his arm, trying to stop him from waving. “No, Royal, no,” she said, “don’t do it. There are worse things than not having wings.”
He let go of the reins that led to a lovely rat, and grabbed the woman’s arms. “I will do this, Penny. I will do this.”
Penny shook her head. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t lose me.”
“I will if she makes you sidhe.”
“I have no other size, Penny. She can’t trap me in human size the way she did Sage, because it’s not one of my abilities.” He hugged her to him, petting her short dark hair, and looked up at me.
She hissed at me like a startled cat and buzzed high into the air above me. “I would not taste your sidhe flesh for all the power in the world. You will not steal my wings from me.”
“But Sage was always able to change to a human size. You are not, so you can’t get stuck in a larger size.”
She hissed again, shaking her head, sending rainbow dazzles to dance around the walls, on us, and the flowers. “Never!”
“Then choose another proxy,” I said.
“Who would take such a risk?” she said.
A small voice came. “Someone who has no wings to lose.”
I looked down until I saw a cluster of demi-fey against the far wall. None of them had wings, but they had other means of transport. Carts pulled by sleek, cream-colored rats, and one dainty chariot that had more than a dozen white mice tied to it. There were two ferrets with multiple tiny riders, one the standard black mask, the other an albino with white fur and reddish eyes. A Nile monitor that was nearly four feet long had two of the larger riders. The monitor was not only harnessed but muzzled like a dog that you’re afraid will bite. Nile monitors could be vicious and ate anything small enough to catch and kill. If I’d been the size of a Barbie doll, I wouldn’t have wanted one anywhere near me.
Movement on the wall brought my attention to the fact that there were tiny many-legged demi-fey clinging there. Some looked like tiny spider centaurs, eight legs combined with a rounded fey body hidden under a sway of gauzy cloth. One looked like a black beetle, so like that only staring showed the pale moon of a face under the insect camouflage.
“I spoke,” said one of the men in a rat-drawn cart. There was a woman in the cart with him. She was pulling on his arm, trying to stop him from waving. “No, Royal, no,” she said, “don’t do it. There are worse things than not having wings.”
He let go of the reins that led to a lovely rat, and grabbed the woman’s arms. “I will do this, Penny. I will do this.”
Penny shook her head. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t lose me.”
“I will if she makes you sidhe.”
“I have no other size, Penny. She can’t trap me in human size the way she did Sage, because it’s not one of my abilities.” He hugged her to him, petting her short dark hair, and looked up at me.