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A Stroke Of Midnight :: Гамильтон Лорел
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He sighed, and leaned his forehead against the top of my head. “Damn it, Merry.”
“What?” I asked.
“I can’t pass on the scary parts if you still have to do them. Are you sure you have to do this?”
“Don’t you want to know why Queen Niceven said that the Seelie Court might take you in if you offered them more power?”
“Yes,” he said, “yes, damn it.” He looked up at Niceven. “And she knew we’d want to know.”
“A spy is only as good as his information, green knight.”
“My name is Galen, please use it.”
“Why?”
“Because the only people who ever call me green knight tend to try to hurt me.”
She looked at him a moment, then gave a small bob in the air. “Very well, Galen. You have been truthful with me, so I will be truthful with you, but you will not find it comforting.”
“Truth seldom is,” he said. The tone in his voice made me hug his free arm around me.
“We feed not just on blood and magic.”
“You feed on fear,” Doyle said, and there was something about the flat way he said it that told me there was a story behind those few words.
“Yes, Darkness,” Niceven said, “as do many things here at the Unseelie Court.” She turned back to Galen and me. “I think the green… Galen will be a feast fit for a queen.”
“Then let’s begin the bargaining,” I said.
“We have struck our bargain, Princess.”
I shook my head. “No, the bargain about what Royal can do, and can’t do, in my bed and on my body.”
“Are we really such a fearsome thing that you have to bargain as closely with us as you would with the goblins?”
“You chastised me for treating you as less than the goblins, Queen Niceven. If I do not negotiate with you as I would the goblins, isn’t that just another kind of insult?”
She folded her arms under her small breasts. “You are not like the other sidhe, Meredith, you are always difficult, tricksy.”
“You would try and bat your tiny eyes at me, and have me think Royal and the rest of you are harmless? That you are the children’s storybook characters you ape? Oh no, Queen Niceven, you can’t have it both ways, not with me. You’re either dangerous or you’re not.”
She gave me a perfect child’s pout. “Do I look dangerous to you, Princess?” Her voice was wheedling, and for just a moment I felt like saying, “No, of course not.”
Galen gripped my arm tight, squeezing. It helped me think.
He sighed, and leaned his forehead against the top of my head. “Damn it, Merry.”
“What?” I asked.
“I can’t pass on the scary parts if you still have to do them. Are you sure you have to do this?”
“Don’t you want to know why Queen Niceven said that the Seelie Court might take you in if you offered them more power?”
“Yes,” he said, “yes, damn it.” He looked up at Niceven. “And she knew we’d want to know.”
“A spy is only as good as his information, green knight.”
“My name is Galen, please use it.”
“Why?”
“Because the only people who ever call me green knight tend to try to hurt me.”
She looked at him a moment, then gave a small bob in the air. “Very well, Galen. You have been truthful with me, so I will be truthful with you, but you will not find it comforting.”
“Truth seldom is,” he said. The tone in his voice made me hug his free arm around me.
“We feed not just on blood and magic.”
“You feed on fear,” Doyle said, and there was something about the flat way he said it that told me there was a story behind those few words.
“Yes, Darkness,” Niceven said, “as do many things here at the Unseelie Court.” She turned back to Galen and me. “I think the green… Galen will be a feast fit for a queen.”
“Then let’s begin the bargaining,” I said.
“We have struck our bargain, Princess.”
I shook my head. “No, the bargain about what Royal can do, and can’t do, in my bed and on my body.”
“Are we really such a fearsome thing that you have to bargain as closely with us as you would with the goblins?”
“You chastised me for treating you as less than the goblins, Queen Niceven. If I do not negotiate with you as I would the goblins, isn’t that just another kind of insult?”
She folded her arms under her small breasts. “You are not like the other sidhe, Meredith, you are always difficult, tricksy.”
“You would try and bat your tiny eyes at me, and have me think Royal and the rest of you are harmless? That you are the children’s storybook characters you ape? Oh no, Queen Niceven, you can’t have it both ways, not with me. You’re either dangerous or you’re not.”
She gave me a perfect child’s pout. “Do I look dangerous to you, Princess?” Her voice was wheedling, and for just a moment I felt like saying, “No, of course not.”
Galen gripped my arm tight, squeezing. It helped me think.