Swallowing Darkness   ::   Гамильтон Лорел

"Tell us what he promisedyou, Cair," I said.

"He knew I could get close enough to her to place the spell upon her."

"She lies." This came not from Finbar, but from his son, Barris.

Finbar said, "Barris, no!"

Some of the hounds had turned toward Barris where he stood at the end of the far side of the room. He had not joined his father in protecting the king. The huge dogs began to creep toward him, growling that low, threatening sound. "Liars were once the prey of the hunt," Sholto said, and he was smiling, a very satisfied smile.

I touched his arm again, to remind him not to enjoy the power too much. The hunt was a trap, and the longer we rode in it, the harder it would become to remember that.

He reached back, and took my hand in his. He nodded and said, "Think carefully, Barris. Is Cair a liar, or does she tell the truth?"

Cair spoke. "I am telling the truth. Finbar told me what to do, and promised that if I did it, he would let Barris and me be a couple. And that if I became with child, we would marry."

"Is that true, Barris?" I asked.

Barris was staring in horror at the huge white hounds as they crept forward. There was something in the way they moved that reminded me of images of lions stalking on a savannah. Barris didn't look as if he enjoyed playing the part of the gazelle.

"Father," he said, and looked at Finbar.

Finbar's face was no longer arrogant. If he'd been human, I'd have said that he looked tired, but there weren't enough lines and circles under those pretty eyes for that.

The hounds began to herd Barris with snaps of teeth and presses of huge bodies. He made a small frightened noise.

"You always were an idiot," Finbar said. I was pretty sure he wasn't talking to us.

"I know what you hoped to gain, Cair, but what did Finbar hope to gain by the deaths of my men?"

"He wanted to strip you of your most dangerous consorts."

"Why?" I asked, and I felt strangely calm.

"So that the Seelie nobles could control you once you were queen."

"You thought that if Doyle and I were dead you could control Meredith?" Sholto asked.

"Of course," she said.

Sholto laughed, and it was both a good laugh and a bad one, the kind of laugh that you might describe as evil. "They do not know you, Meredith."

"They never did," I said.

"Did you really think that Rhys, Galen, and Mistral would let you control Meredith?"

"Rhys and Galen, yes, but not the Storm Lord," she said.

"Quiet, girl," Finbar said at last.