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A Kiss Of Shadows :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 150 из 338"It should not still be bleeding, Princess Meredith. Let me heal it, as I did your arm."
"It's very high upon my thigh, Doyle."
"The hag was trying to pierce your femoral artery."
"Yes "I said.
"I must insist on seeing the wound, Princess. It is too vital an area to be ignored."
"It's very high up on my thigh," I said again.
"I understand that," he said. "Now please lie down and let me look at it."
"I'm not wearing anything under this shirt," I said.
"Oh," he said. Emotions played across his face so quickly I couldn't read them, like clouds passing over a field on a windy day. Finally, he said, "Perhaps you could put something on so that I might look at the wound."
"Good idea," I said. I opened the dresser drawer that held my unmentionables. The panties, like the sleepwear, run high to satin, silk, and lace. I finally picked a pair of plain black satin, no frills, no lace, no peek-a-boo panels. It was the closest to conservative that I owned.
I glanced back at Doyle. He had turned his back on me without being asked. I slipped the underwear on, made sure the shirt was in place, and said, "You can look now."
He turned, and his face was very solemn. "Most of the court ladies would not have thought to warn me. Some to tease, and some simply because it would not occur to them to tell me. Nudity is common enough in the courts. Why did you think to tell me?"
"Some of the guards tease, play slap and tickle, and I wouldn't have warned one of them. It would be just another part of the game. But you never play the game, Doyle. You are always apart from it. To have just lain down on the bed and spread would have been… cruel."
He nodded. "Yes, it would have been. So many of the court treat those of us who remain aloof like eunuchs, as if we feel nothing. But I would rather have no touch of soft flesh than to be teased up to that point, then have no release. That is worse than nothing at all to me."
"Is the queen still refusing to even allow you to touch yourselves?"
He looked down at the ground, and I realized I had overstepped polite questioning. "My apologies, Doyle, we are not close enough for such a question."
He spoke without looking up. "You are the most polite of all the Unseelie royals. The queen saw your… niceties as a weakness." He looked up at me, eyes searching my face. "But those of us in the Guard appreciated it. It was always a relief to be given guard duty over you, because we weren't afraid of you."
"I wasn't powerful enough for you to fear me," I said.
"It's very high upon my thigh, Doyle."
"The hag was trying to pierce your femoral artery."
"Yes "I said.
"I must insist on seeing the wound, Princess. It is too vital an area to be ignored."
"It's very high up on my thigh," I said again.
"I understand that," he said. "Now please lie down and let me look at it."
"I'm not wearing anything under this shirt," I said.
"Oh," he said. Emotions played across his face so quickly I couldn't read them, like clouds passing over a field on a windy day. Finally, he said, "Perhaps you could put something on so that I might look at the wound."
"Good idea," I said. I opened the dresser drawer that held my unmentionables. The panties, like the sleepwear, run high to satin, silk, and lace. I finally picked a pair of plain black satin, no frills, no lace, no peek-a-boo panels. It was the closest to conservative that I owned.
I glanced back at Doyle. He had turned his back on me without being asked. I slipped the underwear on, made sure the shirt was in place, and said, "You can look now."
He turned, and his face was very solemn. "Most of the court ladies would not have thought to warn me. Some to tease, and some simply because it would not occur to them to tell me. Nudity is common enough in the courts. Why did you think to tell me?"
"Some of the guards tease, play slap and tickle, and I wouldn't have warned one of them. It would be just another part of the game. But you never play the game, Doyle. You are always apart from it. To have just lain down on the bed and spread would have been… cruel."
He nodded. "Yes, it would have been. So many of the court treat those of us who remain aloof like eunuchs, as if we feel nothing. But I would rather have no touch of soft flesh than to be teased up to that point, then have no release. That is worse than nothing at all to me."
"Is the queen still refusing to even allow you to touch yourselves?"
He looked down at the ground, and I realized I had overstepped polite questioning. "My apologies, Doyle, we are not close enough for such a question."
He spoke without looking up. "You are the most polite of all the Unseelie royals. The queen saw your… niceties as a weakness." He looked up at me, eyes searching my face. "But those of us in the Guard appreciated it. It was always a relief to be given guard duty over you, because we weren't afraid of you."
"I wasn't powerful enough for you to fear me," I said.