Страница 56 из 92
“Why do you care if they are with child?”
“Life quickens inside them. I saw it, felt it. It is a gift of the Goddess. How can I do anything but honor that gift? You wore the ring once when it was in its full power. You must remember how it felt.”
She grabbed me by the hair, jerked my head even farther back, as if she meant to snap my neck. She growled low and close to my face. “I am not a fertility goddess. I took the ring off my enemy’s finger. It was a spoil of war, and it worked for me, but its magic and mine are not complementary. I never saw a phantom child. I saw sex, obsession, love, but children…” She lifted me off my knees, by my hair. I put a hand back to try to keep it from hurting so much. “I never saw any children.”
Our faces were almost touching now. It felt as if she was going to tear my hair out by the roots. “Why is it so important to you that Nicca and Biddy fuck?”
I spoke through gritted teeth, trying not to cry out. “Because I am a princess of this court and I have a chance to give the sidhe their first child in a century. It is my duty, my honor, to bring this child into being.”
She let me go so abruptly that I fell, and only Galen’s arm kept me from smacking my face against the floor. She touched his face, made him look at her. “Oh, he is angry. He doesn’t like that I’ve hurt you. I never tried him out. I always thought he would be like Nicca, too gentle in bed, but he doesn’t frighten as easily as Nicca. A disaster politically, but brave in that ‘hero destined to die for a cause’ sort of way.” She cupped his chin in her hand. “Is he any good as a lover?”
If I said yes, she might want to borrow him. If I said no, it would be a lie. He was too gentle for me, too, but when I was in the mood for gentle lovemaking, Galen was just about perfect. “I think he is too gentle for your tastes, Aunt Andais.”
“But not for yours?” She knelt down, making a pool of black silk in front of my downcast eyes.
“I have wider interests in the bedroom than you do, auntie dearest.”
“Why is it that any tender endearment from you always sounds like you’re telling me to go fuck myself?”
“I meant no disrespect.”
“I have heard that you like it rough, Meredith.” She bent down, whispering, “Not as rough as me, or Cel, but rough enough.”
“Not every night, Aunt Andais.” I did not raise my face beyond her silk lap. I was in pain and tired of her insane games. It had never occurred to me that she would see all the new magic as a threat to her. So much had happened, there hadn’t been time to keep her informed. But she was our queen, and I had made her look weak. Because she got her reports from others, the entire court knew I did not respect her enough to keep her informed or ask her opinion. If she was going this crazy about smaller things, what would she do when she found out that the chalice had returned and I had not told her that either? But that was something I would not reveal before the entire court. It was too dangerous.
“If you are not with child, you will never be queen.” She spoke into my hair.
“Keeping Nicca and Biddy from their child will not gain me one,” I said.
“Giving children to every couple in our court will not gain you my throne.”
“If I could bring hundreds of children to the Unseelie Court, I would not need to rule it.”
“Cel will kill you.”
“I know that.”
“Do you want to rule?” She said it as if it had never occurred to her to ask.
“I have no choice but to rule or die.”
She grabbed me by the shoulders, and Galen tried to hold me from her, a mistake that cost me bruises as she jerked me away from him. “Do you want to rule?”
“If it is a choice between giving the court to Cel or me, I choose me.”
“What if there were a third choice?” she asked.
“I know of no other choice,” I said.
“Don’t you, Meredith? Don’t you know exactly who would rule here if he could?”
I must have looked as puzzled as I felt because she yelled at me, “Barinthus would rule here if I allowed it. He was always after Essus to kill me and take the throne, because that was as close to the throne as his vows could get him.” She pointed to Barinthus, standing near the side of the steps.
“I told you that he and I have done nothing that could make him king to my queen. I will take whatever oath you wish. Who has whispered these lies to you?”
“Are they lies, Meredith, all of them?”
“I don’t know what you have been told, but Barinthus making himself my king is a lie.”
“Then tell me what else is a lie, Meredith. The ring has chosen a couple, but I had to hear it from others, not from your mouth. You have imprisoned my son’s guards without consulting me. You have a suspect in the murders, but you have not told me who. You have fucked my new captain of the guard and divided his loyalties from me. Darkness and others ran into the night, and I don’t know why.” She stalked back to me, grabbed my arm, and screamed in my face, “I am queen here! Not you!”
I spoke quietly, too scared to be angry, too scared to worry about the bruising grip on my arm. “I came to tell you of all this and more, my queen, but you have given me no chance. You would not meet with me in private.”
“And what is it that you are ashamed of, that you need whisper in private?”
“I am ashamed of nothing, but there are traitors among us that do not need to know all our secrets.”
She jerked me up on tiptoe. “We have punished the traitors.”
“May I show you more traitors, my queen? The ones who attacked my men and me.”
“You said it was not another assassination attempt.” She pulled me in against her body.
“I said not on me. They tried to kill Galen.” I was close enough to watch her eyes, and see the flicker. She knew about the prophecy. That was why she’d insisted I bed vegetative deities when I entered faerie this time. It was all there in her eyes, and I saw something else there, before she could stop it. Fear. I saw it, and I think she knew I’d seen too much.
She threw me from her so hard that if my guards hadn’t been there to catch me, I would have fallen. Frost held me for a moment, then passed me to Galen, and put both of us out of reach of the queen. She’d have to wade through some of my guard, her guard, to get to me now. I wasn’t sure being so obvious was a good idea, but I didn’t want her to keep hurting me either.
“May we bring the traitors before the queen?” Frost asked.
She nodded, and started back to her throne, not looking back. I think she spent that walk working on her face and eyes, so that no matter who we dragged in, she wouldn’t let the surprise show. It made me wonder who the queen was expecting us to bring before her. Did she know something that we didn’t know, and needed to? What had that tiny flash of fear in her eyes been?
Crystall came to my order. The guards with him helped Lord Kieran walk in, but they had to drag Lord I
Her face was empty, cold, and arrogant. It gave nothing away as she stood on the steps. Mistral was still kneeling behind her where she had left him. Barinthus was still standing where she’d left him. I think he feared drawing her attention back to him.
“Kieran Knife-Hand, your wife has been telling me evil things. Telling me that Barinthus means to take my throne and that I should kill him before he comes back into his full power. I admit the thought occurred to me when I realized he had been with Meredith. Barinthus is many things, but dishonorable is not one of them. He gave his word, I believe he will keep it. In fact, I allowed him into our court on that belief.” She moved down the steps until she stood just above him. “So why did I give such weight to your wife’s evil words?”
After a moment she said, “Mistral.”
“My queen.”
“Rise, and come to me.”
He did as she asked, but kept his hair over his face, as if he didn’t trust his expression. I couldn’t blame him.