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A Kiss Of Shadows :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 223 из 338He was small, but every inch of him was muscled.
I shook my head. "I don't know whether you look like the top of a pornographic wedding cake or a superhero. You could be Ab Boy, or Abdominal Man." I grinned happily.
"A thousand sit-ups a day does wonders for your abs," he said, running a hand over them.
"Everyone needs a hobby, I guess."
"Where is your sword?" Doyle asked.
Rhys looked at him. "The same place yours is. The queen says we do not need them tonight."
Doyle glanced at Frost. "What of you, Frost?"
Rhys answered with a quick smile that made his lovely blue eye gleam. "The queen's weaning him a weapon at a time. She's decreed he has to be unarmed by the time she dresses to go to the throne room."
"I do not think it wise to have her entire guard unarmed," Frost said.
"Nor I," Doyle said, "but she is the queen and we will follow her orders."
Frost's handsome face closed down into tight lines. If he'd been human, he'd have had frown wrinkles by now, but his face was unlined and always would be.
"Frost's clothes are fine for a welcome home banquet, but why are you and Rhys dressed so… " I spread my hands helplessly trying to find a phrase that wasn't an insult.
"The queen designed my outfit personally," Rhys said.
"It's lovely," I said.
He grinned. "Just keep saying that as you meet the rest of the guard tonight."
My eyes widened. "Oh, please. She isn't taking hormones again, is she?"
Rhys nodded. "Baby hormones and her sex drive goes into overtime." He looked down at his clothes. "A shame to be dressed up with no place to go."
"Very punny," I said.
He looked up at me with a genuinely unhappy face. He hadn't meant the play on words to be funny. His sad face made the smile fade from mine.
"The queen is our sovereign. She knows best," Frost said.
I laughed before I could stop myself.
The look on Frost's face when he turned made me regret the laugh. I saw those grey eyes unguarded for a split second, and what I saw in them was pain. I watched him rebuild his walls, watched his eyes close down, so that nothing showed again. But I'd seen what lay beyond his careful facade, his expensive clothes, his fastidious attention to detail—his rigorous morality and his arrogance. Some of it was real, but some of it was a mask to keep things locked away.
I'd never liked Frost, but having that one glimpse meant I couldn't dislike him anymore. Damn.
"We will speak no more of this," he said.
I shook my head. "I don't know whether you look like the top of a pornographic wedding cake or a superhero. You could be Ab Boy, or Abdominal Man." I grinned happily.
"A thousand sit-ups a day does wonders for your abs," he said, running a hand over them.
"Everyone needs a hobby, I guess."
"Where is your sword?" Doyle asked.
Rhys looked at him. "The same place yours is. The queen says we do not need them tonight."
Doyle glanced at Frost. "What of you, Frost?"
Rhys answered with a quick smile that made his lovely blue eye gleam. "The queen's weaning him a weapon at a time. She's decreed he has to be unarmed by the time she dresses to go to the throne room."
"I do not think it wise to have her entire guard unarmed," Frost said.
"Nor I," Doyle said, "but she is the queen and we will follow her orders."
Frost's handsome face closed down into tight lines. If he'd been human, he'd have had frown wrinkles by now, but his face was unlined and always would be.
"Frost's clothes are fine for a welcome home banquet, but why are you and Rhys dressed so… " I spread my hands helplessly trying to find a phrase that wasn't an insult.
"The queen designed my outfit personally," Rhys said.
"It's lovely," I said.
He grinned. "Just keep saying that as you meet the rest of the guard tonight."
My eyes widened. "Oh, please. She isn't taking hormones again, is she?"
Rhys nodded. "Baby hormones and her sex drive goes into overtime." He looked down at his clothes. "A shame to be dressed up with no place to go."
"Very punny," I said.
He looked up at me with a genuinely unhappy face. He hadn't meant the play on words to be funny. His sad face made the smile fade from mine.
"The queen is our sovereign. She knows best," Frost said.
I laughed before I could stop myself.
The look on Frost's face when he turned made me regret the laugh. I saw those grey eyes unguarded for a split second, and what I saw in them was pain. I watched him rebuild his walls, watched his eyes close down, so that nothing showed again. But I'd seen what lay beyond his careful facade, his expensive clothes, his fastidious attention to detail—his rigorous morality and his arrogance. Some of it was real, but some of it was a mask to keep things locked away.
I'd never liked Frost, but having that one glimpse meant I couldn't dislike him anymore. Damn.
"We will speak no more of this," he said.