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Chapter Twenty-Three

The servant caether with heavy Frankenstein stitches The leather was shades of black, different sections having different textures, and so the blackness, as if the coat had been made from different kinds of animals The stitches and differences in skin should have ly coat, but it didn&039;t Somehow it all worked like a club kid meets Goth, with a littleto me was that it fit, not just closely, but perfectly It was so tight through the arown off to fasten the buttons I knew the feel of the buttons; they were carved bone The coat fit tightly enough that htest part of the coat was under my breasts, so it was almost an eown It buttoned all the way to the floor

Sholto actually knelt in front ofHe smiled up at me "You look lovely"

Was it shallow to feel better just because I had a coat that fit , I&039;d take anything that made me feel better

"It fits perfectly," I said "Whose clothes ah," he said, standing

"What does that mean?" I asked

"It means that the court seamstress had a dream some months back She was told that I would take a queen and that she should sew accordingly"

I rubbed ertips down the leather It was so soft The sea didn&039;t rubyour seamstress knew Meredith would be queen before anyone else?" Mistral asked

"Not Meredith, not by name, but the measurements, yes"

"And you let her sew for some phantom queen?" Doyle said

"Mirabella has sewn for this court for centuries She has earned the right to be indulged a little But many of the clothes were made of scraps and pieces, like this coat, so it wasn&039;t a loss" He gaveMeredith in it letswas lost"

"Why would it be that ih for a prophetic dreae," Doyle said "Perhaps ill be here longer than we think There are probably clothes to borrow for Mistral and myself, but you would be harder to fit"

"But ould nice clothes be that important?" I asked

"Mirabella told everyone ould listen that I would take a queen and that she would be only this big" He esture like you would s and our fehtflyers to rethink their pursuit ofyou because this Mirabella was sewing clothes that would not fit them?" I asked

"Yes," he said

"Had you seen the clothes before this moment?" Doyle asked

"No," Sholto said "The women of my court were ht Mirabellame so hard" He ran his hand down my leather-clad arm "But it was a true dream, this"

"I hope it doesn&039;tpersonal, King Sholto, but that would et us out"

"I do not wish for anything to go wrong with Meredith&039;s plan, but I can&039;t say that having her with er wouldn&039;t be a pleasure"

There was a soft, respectful knock at the door I kneithout really being told that it was a servant It&039;s as if they are taught that knock with the job description - a way of drawing attention to the

Sholto called, "Enter"

The woh the door "King Sholto, I am sorry, but there is a matter that requires your attention"

"Speak plainly, Bebe What matter?"

All three of her eyes flicked a look at Mistral and Doyle, maybe just a little more to Doyle, before she asked, "Are you certain you wish court ers?" She went to her knees immediately, "I do not ht it was an interesting distinction that they were sidhe but Sholto and I were not Was it sih, or was it an acknowledgment that we both looked too unsidhe-like? I didn&039;t know Bebe well enough to ask her thoughts, but it was still interesting

Sholto sighed, then turned to us "I&039;h I&039;ll be right back, hopefully" He didn&039;t look happy leaving us, but he went out into the hallith the servant

"Interesting that they do not consider their king to be sidhe," Mistral said

"Orhis hands down the ararment "You do look lovely in the coat It beconore your beauty, Princess Forgive uards do for Queen Andais when they feared that they&039;d displeased her

"Get up," I said, "and never do that again"

He looked puzzled, but he stood, though the uncertainty on his face was almost painful "I upset you I around like you would for the queen," Doyle said

I nodded "I&039;ve had to doon the floor all s, or the fathers of ize, Mistral, but never drop to the ground as if you are afraid of what I will do That is not ave one nod Mistral came to stand by us He smiled a little uncertainly at me "Itthings, but I as that keep me off my knees"

I had to smile at that "Oh, I don&039;t know I like a ood cause"

Mistral frowned

Doyle explained "Sheher pleasure, you can kneel to reach"

Mistral actually blushed, so I had never seen him do before He looked away, but answered, "I would be happy to do that again with you, Princess"

"Meredith, Mistral My name is Meredith, or even Merry, e are alone"

The door opened with no knock, and I knew by that that it would be Sholto He came in, his face very obviously not happy

"What has happened?" Doyle asked

"Your e She demands proof that you are well, or the Seelie are prepared to do h&039;sto attack you?" I asked

"Whether they would do it, I cannot say, but that they threaten it is true enough"

"Do they not understand what they risk?" Doyle asked

"I think they see no humans to tattle on theainst the other where the humans have not seen theed that when he went to the human authorities and accused my men of rape"

"That was odd," Sholto said

"And if we can get to the human authorities, ill return the favor, but with a true cried me, and I slid my arms around the warm bareness of him

"We can speak on the court e look on his face

"What is it?" Mistral asked

"I just realized that this will be the first time I&039;ve spoken to ht of Besaba as an eneht She is Meredith&039;s ave birth to me," I said "You have seen the death of the only woht to be called my mother Gran raised me with my father My mother wants me now only because she thinks it may make her the an to show interest infor me"

"She is your mother," Sholto said

I shook my head, still wrapped in Doyle&039;s arms "I believe that youraised a birth earns you anything"

"The Christians believe that you must honor your father and mother," Doyle said

"True, but ask most Americans and they&039;ll tell you you have to earn that respect"

"Do you wish to ignore Besaba&039;s request then?" Sholto asked

"No She&039;s pretending to be the aggrieved party We rieved" I gazed up at Doyle "Would it be good or bad to have Doyle and Mistral at my side? Would you prefer that it be just you and me, Sholto?"

"I think a show of force is called for," he said He looked at the other two men "If you have no objection, I think Meredith andand queen with you at our sides, and souards behind us Let us reht"

That seemed to , "I think I have soh Mistral&039;s a little bigger through the shoulders Maybe an open jacket with no shirt, a very barbarian king"

"I hat you like," Mistral said "I appreciate you letting us stay at Meredith&039;s side in this moh will fear the Queen&039;s Darkness and Mistral, Lord of Stor since I have had the power to do what ed to the Thunderer Taranis&039;s mark of power is in your hands, Storm Lord"

"I think," Doyle said, "that that is information best not shared with the Seelie They are already here for the chalice If Taranis knew that one of his objects of power had chosen another hand to guide it " Doyle shook his head and put his hands out, as if grasping for a word

I finished the thought for hio apeshit"

"Apeshit?" Doyleto say that he would kill us all, but yes, that term will do"

Chapter Twenty-Four

Doyle and Mistral fit nicely in Sholto&039;s clothes, but then except for Rhys and myself, all the sidhe I kneere around six feet tall The men were all broad of shoulder, narroaist, and well built The guards were muscled and hardened froht about Mistral&039;s shoulders They were just a touch broader than either his, or Doyle&039;s Not by h that the shirts didn&039;t fit, straining so badly that they didn&039;t look right Better to wear less clothing and look good than to wear more and look bad We were about to deal with the Seelie Court, and they were all about appearances If it looked good, it was good So dysfunctional a family, that

Mirabella, the court sea at the coat she&039;d found for those broad shoulders She pulled one side with a pale, slender hand, then smoothed a fold in the rich blue cloth with her black-and-white tentacle

Her right arhtflyer She seemed perfectly human, except for that bit of extra The tentacle was very dexterous, as I knew the nightflyers could be She used both liht It was the effortlessness of years of having both Was she part nightflyer? The child of so roll in the hay? I wanted to ask, but it would have been rude

Mistral looked a in the coat The rich blue color seemed to make his eyes blue too, like a suray fur so that his own cloud-gray hair seemed to meld with it, and it was hard to see where fur ended and hair began

Mirabella had hi coat billow around hiray fur in a wide line down the back of the coat, so that the free spill of his ankle-length hair continued thatillusion - not an illusion of

"It looks like it was made for him," Doyle said dryly

The seamstress smoothed her brown hair in its neat bun with the tentacle, then looked at hireen eyes with their hint of brown and gray, and even alold around the irises They were the closest a hu multiple-colored eyes like a sidhe She was tall and lovely, and raceful, perfect posture that said that she earing a corset under her dress The dress looked very 1800s, and was a deep, alreen in her eyes The sleeves did not match the historical accuracy of the everyday dress They were puffed at the top, and belled wide at the bottom so that they spilled back when she raised her lilimpses of the tentacle which went at least to where her elbow ht have been

Sholto said, "Mirabella, did you , but continued to fuss with the coat, which was alhness"

"Mirabella" He said her naave him a nervous flick of eyes, then turned Mistral toward us, as if for inspection He&039;d taken all her fussing without couards for dinners, dances, or her own a treated as if his opinion did notMirabella had been utterly professional co a pair of black trousers, tucked into knee-high boots Mirabella had tied a wide blue sash at his waist, and the color looked good against the ht-white of his bare stomach The deep, deep blue of the coat framed his chest, all that pale muscled flesh When Sholto had said that Mistral would be a very barbarian king, he&039;d been right

"That coat was neverher a look

She shrugged her shoulders, and so about the movement made me certain that there was a hu harder, and withThere was anger, no rage in those fine eyes She dropped to her knees in a spill of heavy skirts and a gli, but hubris has gotten the better of me If the Seelie are to seeSholto, then I want theht have had froood hands if Taranis hadn&039;t taken one of them"