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A Stroke Of Midnight :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 5 из 293I looked at his hand, so big and strong on the table, and realized his fingertips weremottled. He was gripping the table the way you grip a podium when you’re nervous.
“I was shot.” He had to clear his throat sharply to continue. I turned my head just enough to see that perfect profile, and realized it was more than nerves. Frost, the queen’s Killing Frost, was afraid. Afraid of public speaking. Oh, my. “I have healed. My blood covered the princess when I shielded her from harm.”
He started to stand back up, but I touched his arm. I covered the mike with my hand, and leaned in against him, so I could whisper against the curve of his ear. I took in a deep breath of the scent of his skin, and said, “Kneel or sit.”
His breath went out so deep that his shoulders moved with it. But he knelt on one knee beside me. I moved the microphone a little closer to him.
I slid my hand under the back of his jacket, so that I could lay my hand against the curve of his back, just below the side sweep of the big sword sheath. When fey are nervous, any fey, we take comfort from touching one another. Even the mighty sidhe feel better with a little contact, though not all of us will admit it for fear of blurring the line between royalty and commoner. I had too much lesser fey blood in my veins to worry about it. I could feel the sweat that was beginning to trickle down his spine.
Madeline started to come closer to us. I shook my head. She gave me a questioning look but didn’t argue. She picked another question from the throng.
“So you took a bullet to protect Princess Meredith?”
I leaned into the mike, putting my face very close to Frost’s, touching carefully, so I didn’t get makeup on him. The cameras exploded in bursts of white light. Frost jumped, and I knew that was going to be visible to the cameras. Oh, well. We were blinded, vision blurred in bursts of white and blue spots. His muscles tightened, but I wouldn’t have known it if I hadn’t been touching him.
“Hi, Sarah, and yes, he took a bullet for me,” I said.
I think Sarah said “Hi, Princess” back, but I couldn’t be sure, since I still couldn’t see well enough, and the noise of so many voices was too confusing. I’d learned to use names when I knew them. It made everyone feel more friendly. And you need all the friendly you can get at a press conference.
“Frost, were you afraid?”
He relaxed minutely against me, into the touch of my hand and my face. “Yes,” he said.
“Afraid to die,” someone yelled out without being called on.
Frost answered the question anyway. “No.
“I was shot.” He had to clear his throat sharply to continue. I turned my head just enough to see that perfect profile, and realized it was more than nerves. Frost, the queen’s Killing Frost, was afraid. Afraid of public speaking. Oh, my. “I have healed. My blood covered the princess when I shielded her from harm.”
He started to stand back up, but I touched his arm. I covered the mike with my hand, and leaned in against him, so I could whisper against the curve of his ear. I took in a deep breath of the scent of his skin, and said, “Kneel or sit.”
His breath went out so deep that his shoulders moved with it. But he knelt on one knee beside me. I moved the microphone a little closer to him.
I slid my hand under the back of his jacket, so that I could lay my hand against the curve of his back, just below the side sweep of the big sword sheath. When fey are nervous, any fey, we take comfort from touching one another. Even the mighty sidhe feel better with a little contact, though not all of us will admit it for fear of blurring the line between royalty and commoner. I had too much lesser fey blood in my veins to worry about it. I could feel the sweat that was beginning to trickle down his spine.
Madeline started to come closer to us. I shook my head. She gave me a questioning look but didn’t argue. She picked another question from the throng.
“So you took a bullet to protect Princess Meredith?”
I leaned into the mike, putting my face very close to Frost’s, touching carefully, so I didn’t get makeup on him. The cameras exploded in bursts of white light. Frost jumped, and I knew that was going to be visible to the cameras. Oh, well. We were blinded, vision blurred in bursts of white and blue spots. His muscles tightened, but I wouldn’t have known it if I hadn’t been touching him.
“Hi, Sarah, and yes, he took a bullet for me,” I said.
I think Sarah said “Hi, Princess” back, but I couldn’t be sure, since I still couldn’t see well enough, and the noise of so many voices was too confusing. I’d learned to use names when I knew them. It made everyone feel more friendly. And you need all the friendly you can get at a press conference.
“Frost, were you afraid?”
He relaxed minutely against me, into the touch of my hand and my face. “Yes,” he said.
“Afraid to die,” someone yelled out without being called on.
Frost answered the question anyway. “No.