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Chapter 23

HE CAUGHT HIS BALANCE, AND ME, WITH HIS ARMS AND HIS BODY Perhaps he stumbled hter, but it wasn&039;t hi bare skin Fear chokedout to ell&039;s face, her eic to take me I stared up into those odd eyes, with their inner knot, bound in four en of the blue of his eyes So

I traced my hand up the curve of his spine, so warm, so firauze of his veil I leaned back, his hands tightened around ainst hiell I would have sis once known can never be unknown

I s in the sweet, al hesitated "Do you sh my head "With Amatheon I bid you hurry, and you turned fro that which you cherished"

I whispered, "Galen"

Aisling&039;s arrabbed for him, because I was suddenly dizzy

"Now I tell you that this ain"

"Doyle"

"Darkness cannot be lost for it is alith us, but there are other ile powers Hurry"

"Who?" I asked

"Who are you talking to?" Aisling asked

"Hurry," the voice in ain

"Where?" I asked

It wasn&039;t words It wasthat had come over me when I told Frost that Galen could not search alone for Doyle But this wasn&039;t panic, it was just a knowing I siic, just knowledge

"Who are you talking to?" Aisling said again, his voice shaky, almost afraid

"I am not afraid to touch you," I said, "but there is no tiet to the throne room, now"

"Why?" Galen stood with an arm still around Dr Polaski, casually, the way he would have touched another sidhe She was looking at me as if she&039;d never seensmell like flowers?" she asked

I shook my head, and yelled for Rhys as I started down the hallway He ca behind the scientists, police, and bodies

"Peasblossom&039;s print is where it shouldn&039;t be, but it ently in a cage until we can figure it out"

"But"

"No arguance, going cold "As the princess orders"

"I don&039;t have ti, Rhys" I started to run I couldn&039;t explain why, but I ran down the hallith its patches of glittering rey matrix of the stone

Frost and Galen ran on either side Mistral came behind, and the others trailed after We were down to less than ten guards, but it wouldn&039;t be a , and we could prevent it just by arriving in tiht about the mirror that had appeared in my room, simply because I wished to see myself in the fur cloak As I broke into a full-out run, I whispered underhappened for a handful of heartbeats, then the stones shifted beneath my feet I didn&039;t hesitate I didn&039;t pause I didn&039;t stuet o I ran, as the world strea into white marble, as if the walls had turned to liquid Then ere running on dried, dead ground I had a second to recognize the pool and fountain that stood before the great double doors that led to the entry chamber for the throne rooarden spreading on either side The fountain had always stood in the center of a bare hallway

Crystall and the guards I&039;d sent with the lords to the queen were standing in the htened eyes to arden made Crystall look so shaken, and I didn&039;t ask Panic filled h me The double doors opened without a hand to touch theht the pain inroses of the entry cha the darkness with crireat thorned serpents overhead I ran, and the vines did not try to hinder us The last set of double doors was just ahead The court lay just inside the inward I raced frohtness of the court, and staggered, al but light and shadow and half shapes Exhaustion danced across h the thundering of the blood in

I yelled, "Stop this!" It took the last of ht my elbow or I would have fallen My vision came back in pieces The court was dressed for a party, or an expensive funeral A lot of black, a lot of silver, a lot of jewels

Andais was on the steps leading up to her throne, staring at me, at us Barinthus stood at the bottom of those steps He stood so he could keep both the queen and us in his sight I knew in that second as happening, though not why Why didn&039;tchallenge to anyone, niece?" Her voice held a rage that ue She was the Queen of Air and Darkness She could s couldn&039;t breathe it She&039;d nearly killed ht before?

"I beg a private audience with you, Aunt Andais" My voice was breathy, and if Galen hadn&039;t had a death grip on s would have held ic were fine, but I wasn&039;t used to running like that

She s is not done on your feet, Meredith" She walked back up to her throne, the long black skirts trailing behind her like a cloak of darkness She settled the skirts with a practiced gesture, fanning them out around her The color frarey eyes with the draraced her throat and gloved wrist

I dropped to one knee Galen helped raceful, and knelt witha private audience with you, Aunt Andais, Queen of Air and Darkness"

"Why are you and Galen covered in blood?"

"I have ht better be served to your ears alone"

"Has there been another attempt on your life?"

"Not onaround her, and she was ridding herself of it "You speak in riddles"

"I would speak clearly with you in private"

"Let us handle our public business first," she said, and pointed to Barinthus, as still standing between the throne and our group "The ring acknowledges hi knows Lord Barinthus You said that I was to fuck as uards as often as possible Wasn&039;t that your order to ry lines "Perhaps my words were hasty, or perhaps you do not know that Barinthus made a vow to me before I allowed him to join this court One that only hethat will set hi to my queen"

"Have a care, Meredith, I know that he had sex with you"

"Sex that was et me with child"

"He had release in your body"

"No, he had release, but our clothes were in place, and he has never entered ertip"

"You swear this?" she asked

"I do"

"I was told that Barinthus had "

"I tell you that he has not broken the vow he nizes who it will, and bestows its gifts where it will, but he has broken no vow"

"Why did you not say this, Barinthus?" she asked

"You would not believe me, Queen Andais"

She seeave a very small nod "Perhaps not" She looked at rass when it&039;s almost certain there&039;s a tasty morsel down there

"I have heard many stories about your activities Noonder how ned to set ainst my allies and you"

"Until I knohat you have been told, I cannot say, Aunt Andais"

"We are in the throne room, Meredith, use my title"

"My queen" I bowed ood This wasn&039;t good at all

Chapter 24

"DID THE RING CHOOSE A COUPLE AMONG THE GUARDS?" her voice was very neutral when she asked

I was glad I was staring at the floor because so otten about Nicca and Biddy Murders, , the attack on Galen, Cel&039;s prophecy about the green men, the lords aited just outside, so an with Why?

"Yes, Queen Andais, the ring did choose a couple"

There were s from the nobles in their seats on either side of the floor "Describe what happened"

I did as she ordered I talked of the phantom child, and what I had seen and felt

Soain"

Andais looked at theto add to this discussion, Lord Leri?"

"Only that this is surely good news, ood news, Leri"

He bowed "As my queen wills"

She turned her attention back to ain after centuries It chooses a possibly fertile pair, and you don&039;t think this is ih to tellchose the the murderer, or murderers, took precedence"

"I decide what takes precedence here, not you" She stood "I am still queen"

I lowered myself to both knees, and Galen moved with me "I have never questioned that"

"Liar," she hissed, and the room echoed with that one word

Okay, this was bad, really bad "What have I done to anger you, Queen Andais? Tell me and I will do my best to re at the orn stone floor I did not trust er her I had no expression that I could give her

"Mistral Coot up off his knees and answered her command

I watched him as he mounted the steps to her He rabbed a handful of his rich, deep grey hair and used it to jerk him to his knees before her "Did you fuck him?"

I tried to see the trap in the question but failed I answered truthfully, "Yes, o so abruptly that he nearly fell down the steps, catching hi aardly, lory of his hair He lowered his eyes, but not before a ruh the throne roo up and around Andais&039;s voice purred as she knelt beside Mistral, stroking his hair He shivered like a skittish horse when she touched hiive me, my queen, I have not had such power in years My control is not what it was, ies, my queen"

"Two &039;uilty indeed"

"I have done nothing to feel guilty over,his hair, but she looked out at me "Have you not?"

He kept his face carefully down Mistral had never been that good at hiding his eer you, my queen?" His voice was almost neutral, the distant rumble of thunder was not His poere newly reborn, and he was struggling

"Did the princess bring you back into your power?" She kept petting hiuard now and then She&039;d stroke and pet theht in front of everyone, then leave the reatest warriors to silent tears She petted Mistral, but the anger in her face was all for ry that I&039;d had sex with Mistral? What had we done wrong?

She walked down the steps, her black dress slithering behind her "Could you bring any of us, all of us, back to our power? Is one good fuck fro that first hint ofto shine, as if darkness had light in it

I put my hands on the floor and lowered my face on top of them I abased ry within her ear

She stood so close that the trailing edge of her skirt brushed along ht of several answers, discarded them all, and finally said, "I move as the Goddess wills it"

She ca on the stones She knelt, put her gloved hand under my chin, and raised me up to meet her eyes "That is not an answer"

My voice was breathy around my pulse "I have no other answer" If I even hinted that I ht order one of her sex shows, and I wasn&039;t sure that I would survive it And there were nobles here hom I could barely have a casual conversation, let alone share my body There were those eretheood idea

She slid her other hand into rabbed a handful of it, and jerked er show in my eyes, and knew that I failed

"It is not just ," Mistral said from the steps

She turned to look at him, and I knew that he had deliberately distracted her frorip onthe side of my face,about, Mistral?"

"Most of the guards that experienced the ic that had been lost"

Her grip tightened in ht not to make a sound of pain Andais liked that, and I did not want to encourage her "Are you saying that she has brought others of uard back to their power?"

"Yes, my queen"

She turned back toI saw in her eyes She loosened her hold on loved hand strokedNow it just scared uards have you had sex with, Meredith?" She moved her face in close to uard have you given release?" She spoke the last word aboveto kiss me before her lips touched uards were standing Everyone with me had been in the hallhen Mistral and I had sex, so they all stood to answer her question They stood to draw her attention frouards, my men and women Some of the, trying to be invisible Now they stood and purposefully made a spectacle of the the taste of her lipstick on my mouth "She fucked all of you?" She sounded as if she didn&039;t believe it

"You asked only who has had release," Frost said "When the power filled the hallway, it touched all who stood there"

"You ether aso "How e?"

"Five," I said

"Five," she repeated, as she paced away fro theht you would be pleased that du, one of the nobles, spoke from his chair, his eyes the only color in the white of his face and the black of his hair and beard "Our ic returns, is that not e have all wished for, Queen Andais?" His voice was ed to no one They were one of the four or five truly neutral houses

Dylis stood in a gown of yellow that coht out the tri-blue of her eyes She was head of one of the sixteen houses, and had never been hter I agreed with you, my queen, when you tried to drown her in childhood But if the ring lives on her hand, and can bring children back to the sidhe, then I will follow her"

A sort of mixed endorsement but I took it

"You follow ave a curtsy "You are our queen I ive us back our children, then I would rethink my objections to her"

"Politely and politically spoken, Dylis But if you uards sworn to uards serve ainst her chest to e has chosen to bed?" Afagdu asked

"Royal guards serve royalty, this is their function," Andais said

"They will still serve you," he said, and his voice was careful again

She shook her head "Not if there is a child"

"But a child would be a great blessing" This from one of Nerys&039;s ladies

"The head of your house tried to kill Meredith just last night, or had you forgotten that, Elen?"

She gave a curtsy so low that she al truly lives on her finger, then Nerys rong, very wrong If the Goddess blesses Meredith with her gifts, then ere all wrong"

"Would you have us all childless because your bloodline is?" asked Maelgwn, the wolf lord He was naked from the waist up except for a hood and cloak of wolf skin, co above his own All his people had been shape-shifters until they lost the ability

"I am queen and my blood inherits this throne"

"You have your brother&039;s blood standing in front of you," Maelgwn said, hisblood back to all of us, then your line is indeed powerful uards in abstinence for more than a thousand years They wait at my pleasure, and the pleasure of du said He see me, but I didn&039;t trust it He helped no one but himself and his clan

Andais waved that away as if it was unimportant "Yes, yes, on Meredith&039;s pleasure" She looked at h I did not intend the pleasure to be so pleasurable" She ca toward uards are for our pleasure, Meredith, not us for theirs I&039;m not certain you understand that, niece" She walked past

She stopped by Nicca and Biddy where they knelt I glanced back and found that they were holding hands They were also staring very hard at the floor, as if she wouldn&039;t hurt them if they didn&039;t look up If only it were that easy

She ran her fingers through the heaviness of Nicca&039;s chestnut hair He went very still under her touch "I like hihtens so easily He doesn&039;t like pain, do you, Nicca?"

If I hadn&039;t been kneeling within a yard of hiht not have heard his answer "No, Queen Andais"

"I taught hiht him what, my queen?"

"To answer any question I asked him with yes or no, and never, ever to leave off the Queen Andais" She ran her hand down the side of his face until she cupped his chin She raised him to look at her "Would you like another lesson, Nicca? It has been long since I "

"Queen Andais," I said

She didn&039;t even look at uards who came to my bed were mine to keep" I made my voice as neutral as I could, but I kneas a bad idea to say it

"Would you not share hiht about that "Perhaps, but after he and Biddy have had their night"

She touched Biddy, turned her face upward, so she gazed down at both of theets with child then they will be amous, and even the Queen of Air and Darkness will not be able to force hie vows"

"My queen, Aunt Andais, if Nicca and Biddy could ht ood thing"

She let go of their faces and walked between theo of each other&039;s hands She traced the upper edge of Nicca&039;s wings "But he is mine, Meredith, my pretty toy, and I do not share uard ent to the bed of the princess was hers," Afagdu said "Nicca is her pretty toy now"

She turned abruptly and started walking toward Afagdu and his table of lords "What the queen gives, the queen can take away"

"Even the queen ave your word before the court that the guards ent to Meredith&039;s bed were hers" The fact that he would say such bald truth to an angry Andais showed how confident he was that he could survive an attack by her There were few ic; Afagdu was one of them

"Feould dare du Do not let your ic make you bold beyond your abilities"

"Is it bold to speak the truth, my queen?"

But, of course, two could play at that particular game "Very well, Nicca is Meredith&039;s now, but Biddy is not Meredith can do as she ith Nicca, but Biddy is not hers to give to another s to my son, to Prince Cel" She looked at me "Would you steal even the women from his bed?"

"You cannot steal that which is offered," I said

"And what does that mean, Meredith, with your Seelie eyes?"

I sed hard, and promised myself I&039;d think better before I spoke next tiave Biddy to Nicca"

"So you say, but I say that the guards serve onlyon your finger and your queen?"

"You said any guard who codu has reminded me"

"Then I will take Biddy and Nicca to my bed Nicca will still be my lover, but he will also be Biddy&039;s Will that satisfy you, Aunt Andais?"

"I have never found Nicca able to servehim back to readiness with a touch," I said

"Can you really?" Her voice was thick with scorn Her eyes had gone back to being angry

I didn&039;t like the look or the tone, but I answered her, because not answering was probably worse "Yes, ained?"

"No, Aunt Andais, it has always been oddess"

"Descended from, yes"

"I did not think you liked wo to feel strained looking up at her six-foot height from my knees "I do not, as a rule, but if this is the only way to satisfy both the ring and my queen, then I will do it"

She walked closer tome to move my neck even farther back, as if she kneard it was "Would you do anything to see them make this potential child a reality?"

I saw the trap in her words and tried to avoid it "Not anything, no"

"Butover e to sit back on et my neck out of the odd position I did not want to answer this question, nothing good would come of it

"Answer me, Meredith"