Страница 24 из 84
‘She’s a queen, doll. Queens di
Damn. If he wasn’t here on Clíona’s behalf, why was he here? I stared down at the cup, looking for an answer … and the earlier idea bloomed in my mind. ‘Tavish, you said you choseto come back to me now, but the queen’s taken the court back to the past …’ I tilted my head. ‘Does that mean you can choose a particular time to come back to, as it were?’
He dipped his chin, looking curiously at me. ‘’Tis nae something I’ve tried before, doll.’
‘What if you could go back to when the queen spoke the curse, and persuade her not to?’
He shook his head. ‘’Twould nae be possible, you ca
‘Okay, so what about me? I’ve never met the queen, I could go back—’
‘It doesnae work that way, doll. The curse doesnae stem from when the queen uttered it and gave it substance, much as a stream doesnae spring from where it gushes out of the earth. It comes into being long before that; even should you happen on its source and change the path it takes, the stream will still exist—’
He broke off suddenly as a thin green arm snaked around his waist; a fine gold chain hung with chinking small keys trailed from the arm’s wrinkled but obviously feminine wrist. The distant lilt of music—a harpsichord?—sounded, and as Tavish turned his head, his image in the doorway faded as if a sheet of opaque glass had dropped between us.
The glass cleared. ‘She wants you to see what is to come,’ he whispered, his head bowing in acquiescence, his beads turning as dark as his green-black hair. Beyond him I glimpsed a dark, wood-panelled room, candles burning in wall-sconces, a four-poster bed hung with thick tapestry curtains tied at the corners, the mound of covers turned back. A tall, locust-like creature crouched near the bed, carefully and methodically smoothing the pale sheets with a long-handled brass warming pan.
In the middle of the room stood the green-ski
Was this Clíona? I tried to ask the question, but found I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move; I was suddenly trapped in that frozen, frightening place like a child in a nightmare.
The green-ski
—but instead met my own amber-coloured eyes, saw my own shocked face staring back at me, my sweat-drenched hair flat against my scalp, as if I were looking in a mirror. Blood-tinged tears snaked down my face, dripped off my chin and splattered on my pregnant stomach. My double reached out, the chain chinking on her wrist, and grasped Tavish’s hand, pressing it to her blood-smeared belly.
And I felt his touch on my own body. I looked down in stu
‘Little sidhe.’ The husky voice calling my name jerked my attention back to my pseudo-reflection, who stood with her legs spread wide and her arms outstretched, fingers gripping either side of the doorway, her head thrown back as she grimaced in pain. Tavish’s hand was splayed low, dark against the paler colour of her swollen belly, as if he could help support the heavy burden. I stared as smoke spiralled out from between his fingers and the oversweet smell of ci
Then Tavish was there, the weight of his hand on my own stomach burning into my skin as I struggled, panting with terror and shock, feeling itstarting to push out between my legs. I doubled over in agony, scratching at his hand, desperate to get him away from me, desperate to escape—
‘’Tis this that she wants tae show you, doll,’ he whispered, his breath scorching my ear. ‘’tis thisthat could occur.’
My legs gave way and I fell forward, thudding onto my hands and knees. I screamed again as the molten burn of his hand sank into my flesh, eclipsing even the hot, tearing pain between my legs.
‘She would have me rip the babe from your belly and steal both its soul and your ain.’
I had to stop him; I had to save it — I had to save the baby.
Sobbing, I groped blindly at his legs, shredding his hose, raking bloody furrows in his calves, anything to make him stop—
‘So, ’tis a warning, tae nae let any of them plant their seed in your body.’
Fire blazed in my stomach, licked vicious, all-consuming flames through my body, and he roared in anguish. ‘I ca
—my fingers snagged on something cold and hard. The gold chain.I grabbed it where it trailed from his ankle, yanking at it with both hands, pulling his leg out from under him, feeling the little gold keys cutting into my palms, feeling his hand slide from my flesh as I collapsed, weeping, into the cold blood spreading beneath me.
‘Sidhe,’ the soft, husky voice murmured as sharp claws punctured the soft skin under my jaw and lifted my chin, ‘open your eyes and look at me, sidhe.’
I was frozen in the same nightmare state as before and I couldn’t refuse her order. I opened my eyes and stared into her acid-yellow ones.
‘Losing a child is … painful. The heart cracks and shatters into sharp, splintered pieces; pieces that are disparaged by the indifference of others.’ A curious expression crossed her wrinkled green face, and then her tongue flicked out and delicately licked a hot line across my face. ‘You, sidhe, you are not indifferent; you feel my pain in your tears. You will remember.’ She brought her face so close to mine that she was nothing more than a blur of green. Our lips met; her tongue slithered into and out of my mouth, leaving behind a taste of something bitter and sad. ‘You will remember.’