Swallowing Darkness   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

"I told you gentlemen not to upset her," Dr. Mason said in her sternest voice.

"Ah, and it were me," Gran said. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but as her grandmother, I'm a wee bit upset at what has happened."

The doctor must have already seen Gran, because she didn't do that double take that most humans do. She just gave Gran a stern look and waved her finger at her. "I don't care who is doing it. If you can't stop sending her vitals up and down and sideways, then you are going to have to leave, all of you."

"We've explained before," Doyle said. "The princess must be under guard at all times."

"There are policemen just outside the door, and more of your guard."

"She can't be alone, Doctor." This from Rhys.

"Do you truly think the princess is still in danger? Here in the hospital?" she asked.

"Yes," Rhys said.

"I do," Doyle and Sholto said together.

"A powerful man with magic at his beck and call, who'd rape his own niece, might do anything," Gran said.

The doctor looked uncomfortable. "Until we have a piece of DNA to compare to the king's, we don't have proof that it was his... " She hesitated.

"Sperm," I said for her.

She nodded, and got a death grip on her stethoscope. "Very well. His sperm that we found. We have confirmed Mr. Rhys and the missing guard Frost as two of the donors, but we can't confirm who the other two are yet."

"Other two?" Gran asked.

"It's a long story," I said. Then I thought of something. "How did you get DNA to compare for Frost?"

"Captain Doyle gave me some hair."

I looked past Gran at Doyle. "How did you just happen to have a lock of his hair with you?"

"I told you of the dream, Meredith."

"So what?"

"We exchanged locks of hair, to give to you as a token. He had mine and would have given it to you to remember me if I had been chosen. I gave a few strands of the lock to the doctors for comparison."

"Where were you hiding it, Doyle? You had no pockets as a dog."

"I gave it to another guard for safekeeping. One who did not travel into the Golden Court with us."

Just saying it that way meant he'd planned on the possibility of none of them surviving. It didn't make me feel any better to hear that. We had all survived, but the fear was still there deep inside me. The fear of loss.

"Who did you trust to hold such a token?" I asked.

"The men I trust most are in this room," he said in that dark voice that seemed to match his color.