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A Kiss Of Shadows :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 240 из 338"If Galen and I had made love and you hadn't lifted the geas, you could have killed me for it. Galen's fate seems to be incidental to it all."
Anger played across her face like candlelight inside glass.
"You know who did it," I said.
"I do not, but I do know who knew that you were going to be named coheir."
"Cel," I said.
"I had to prepare him," she said.
"Yes," I said.
"He did not do this," she said, and for the first time there was something in her voice—the same protest you'll hear in any mother's voice when defending her child.
I simply looked at her and kept my face blank. It was the best I could do, because I knew Cel. He would not simply give up his birthright on the whim of his mother, queen or no.
"What did Cel do to anger you?" I asked.
"I tell you, as I told him, I am not angry with him." But there was too much protest to her voice. For the first time tonight Andais was on the defensive. I liked it.
"Cel didn't believe that, did he?"
"He knows what my motives are," she said.
"Would you care to share those motives with me?" I asked.
She smiled, and it was the first genuine smile I'd seen on her tonight. An almost embarrassed movement of lips. She wagged a gloved finger at me. "No, my motives are my own. I want you to choose someone for your bed tonight. Take them back to the hotel with you, I don't care who, but I want it to begin tonight." The smile was gone. She was her royal self once more, unreadable, self-contained, mysterious and absolutely obvious all at the same time.
"You never have understood me, Aunt."
"And what, pray, does that mean?"
"It means, Auntie dearest, that if you had left off that last order, I would probably have taken someone to my bed tonight. But being commanded to do it makes me feel like a royal whore. I don't like it."
She settled her skirts so the train glided behind her and walked toward me. As she moved, her power began to unfold, flitting around the room like invisible sparks to bite along my skin. The first two times I jumped, then I stood there and let her power eat over my skin. I was wearing steel, but a few knives had never been enough for me to withstand her magic. It had to be my own newfound powers that kept it from being so much worse.
Her eyes narrowed as she came to stand in front of me. With me standing on the small raised platform, we were eye-to-eye. Her magic pushed out from her like a moving wall of force. I had to brace my feet as if I were standing against wind.
Anger played across her face like candlelight inside glass.
"You know who did it," I said.
"I do not, but I do know who knew that you were going to be named coheir."
"Cel," I said.
"I had to prepare him," she said.
"Yes," I said.
"He did not do this," she said, and for the first time there was something in her voice—the same protest you'll hear in any mother's voice when defending her child.
I simply looked at her and kept my face blank. It was the best I could do, because I knew Cel. He would not simply give up his birthright on the whim of his mother, queen or no.
"What did Cel do to anger you?" I asked.
"I tell you, as I told him, I am not angry with him." But there was too much protest to her voice. For the first time tonight Andais was on the defensive. I liked it.
"Cel didn't believe that, did he?"
"He knows what my motives are," she said.
"Would you care to share those motives with me?" I asked.
She smiled, and it was the first genuine smile I'd seen on her tonight. An almost embarrassed movement of lips. She wagged a gloved finger at me. "No, my motives are my own. I want you to choose someone for your bed tonight. Take them back to the hotel with you, I don't care who, but I want it to begin tonight." The smile was gone. She was her royal self once more, unreadable, self-contained, mysterious and absolutely obvious all at the same time.
"You never have understood me, Aunt."
"And what, pray, does that mean?"
"It means, Auntie dearest, that if you had left off that last order, I would probably have taken someone to my bed tonight. But being commanded to do it makes me feel like a royal whore. I don't like it."
She settled her skirts so the train glided behind her and walked toward me. As she moved, her power began to unfold, flitting around the room like invisible sparks to bite along my skin. The first two times I jumped, then I stood there and let her power eat over my skin. I was wearing steel, but a few knives had never been enough for me to withstand her magic. It had to be my own newfound powers that kept it from being so much worse.
Her eyes narrowed as she came to stand in front of me. With me standing on the small raised platform, we were eye-to-eye. Her magic pushed out from her like a moving wall of force. I had to brace my feet as if I were standing against wind.