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A Stroke Of Midnight :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 37 из 293She argued with me if I disagreed with her, or argued first, but she had never tried to start a fight with me. I didn’t know what to do.
“I have not forgotten that you, my aunt, are queen of the Unseelie Court.”
“Yes, Meredith, remind me that I am your aunt. Remind me that I need your blood to keep my family on the throne.”
I didn’t like the way she worded that, but it hadn’t been a question, so I didn’t try to answer. I stayed kneeling and mute.
“If you had been strong enough to protect yourself yesterday there would not have been reporters in my sithen.” There was the first warm edge of anger in her voice.
“It was my duty to keep the princess safe,” Doyle said.
I reached out to him with my good arm before I could stop myself, but he was just out of reach. I shook my head. Do not bring her anger upon yourself, I tried to tell him with my eyes.
“Our duty,” Frost said from the other side of me.
I looked at him and gave him exasperated eyes. If she was determined to be angry, I did not want that anger to fall upon them both. It wasn’t just that I loved them, I needed them. If we had any hope of solving this mess, and keeping me alive despite some very determined enemies, I needed my captain of the guard and his lieutenant.
She was suddenly in front of me again, and I hadn’t seen her move. Either she had clouded my mind, or she was simply that fast, even tugging along that much fur. She knelt in front of me in a pool of fur and glimpses of white flesh.
“You have stolen my Darkness from me, Meredith. You have thawed the heart of my Killing Frost. My two best warriors, taken away, as if by a thief in the night.”
I licked suddenly dry lips and said, “I did not mean to take anything that you valued, Aunt Andais.”
She touched my face gently. It made me wince, not because it hurt, but because I’d feared it would hurt. “Yes, Meredith, remind me that I neglected my Darkness and my Frost.” She caressed my face with her fingers, and the back of her hand. “Neglected so many things that were mine.”
Her hand cupped my chin, and began to squeeze. She could crush the bones of my body into splinters. “I can feel the glamour, girl, drop it. Let me see what you are hiding.”
I dropped the glamour on me and on Frost, so that the lipstick smeared across our faces.
She raised me to my feet using my chin as a handle. It hurt, and it would probably bruise. She raised me faster than I could stand. Only her harsh grip kept me from falling.
The men stood with me.
“I have not forgotten that you, my aunt, are queen of the Unseelie Court.”
“Yes, Meredith, remind me that I am your aunt. Remind me that I need your blood to keep my family on the throne.”
I didn’t like the way she worded that, but it hadn’t been a question, so I didn’t try to answer. I stayed kneeling and mute.
“If you had been strong enough to protect yourself yesterday there would not have been reporters in my sithen.” There was the first warm edge of anger in her voice.
“It was my duty to keep the princess safe,” Doyle said.
I reached out to him with my good arm before I could stop myself, but he was just out of reach. I shook my head. Do not bring her anger upon yourself, I tried to tell him with my eyes.
“Our duty,” Frost said from the other side of me.
I looked at him and gave him exasperated eyes. If she was determined to be angry, I did not want that anger to fall upon them both. It wasn’t just that I loved them, I needed them. If we had any hope of solving this mess, and keeping me alive despite some very determined enemies, I needed my captain of the guard and his lieutenant.
She was suddenly in front of me again, and I hadn’t seen her move. Either she had clouded my mind, or she was simply that fast, even tugging along that much fur. She knelt in front of me in a pool of fur and glimpses of white flesh.
“You have stolen my Darkness from me, Meredith. You have thawed the heart of my Killing Frost. My two best warriors, taken away, as if by a thief in the night.”
I licked suddenly dry lips and said, “I did not mean to take anything that you valued, Aunt Andais.”
She touched my face gently. It made me wince, not because it hurt, but because I’d feared it would hurt. “Yes, Meredith, remind me that I neglected my Darkness and my Frost.” She caressed my face with her fingers, and the back of her hand. “Neglected so many things that were mine.”
Her hand cupped my chin, and began to squeeze. She could crush the bones of my body into splinters. “I can feel the glamour, girl, drop it. Let me see what you are hiding.”
I dropped the glamour on me and on Frost, so that the lipstick smeared across our faces.
She raised me to my feet using my chin as a handle. It hurt, and it would probably bruise. She raised me faster than I could stand. Only her harsh grip kept me from falling.
The men stood with me.