A Lick of Frost(8)

"The three guards who have been charged by the king should be sent back to faerie," Shelby said.

"King Taranis was so afraid that Ambassador Stevens would see that the Unseelie Court was beautiful that he put a spell on the man. A spell that forced him to see us as monstrous. A man who would do such a desperate thing would do many other desperate things."

"What do you mean, Princess?"

"To lie is to be cast out of faerie, but to be king is sometimes to be above the law."

"Are you saying these charges are falsified?" Cortez asked.

"Of course they are false."

"You would say anything to save your lovers," Shelby said.

"I am sidhe, and I am not above the law. I cannot lie."

"Is that true?" Shelby leaned down and asked Veducci.

He nodded. "It's supposed to be true, but either the princess is lying, or Lady Caitrin is lying."

Shelby looked back at me. "You cannot lie."

"I have the ability, but to do so is to run the risk of being cast out from faerie." I squeezed Doyle's hand tightly. "I just got back. I don't want to lose it all again."

"Why did you leave faerie the first time, Princess?" Shelby asked.

Biggs answered that. "That question is off limits, and outside the charges in question." The queen had probably given him a list of questions I couldn't answer.

Shelby smiled. "Very well. Is it true that the Raven guards were forced into centuries of celibacy?"

"May I ask a question before I answer that?"

"You can ask anything you like, Princess, but I may not answer."

I smiled at him, and he smiled back. Doyle's hand tightened on my shoulder. He was right—mustn't flirt, until we knew exactly how it would be perceived. I toned the smile down, and asked my question. "Did King Taranis himself say that the Ravens were forced into centuries of celibacy?"

"I've so stated," Shelby said.

"No, I mean as truth, Mr. Shelby. Please bear in mind that even a princess may be tortured for going against her queen's orders."

"You admit that they torture people at the Unseelie Court," Cortez said.

"They torture people at both courts, Mr. Cortez. Queen Andais just doesn't hide what she does, because she's not ashamed of it."

"Are you stating for the record …?" Cortez said.

"This will be a sealed record," Biggs said, "unless it goes to court."

"Yes, yes," Cortez said, "but are you stating for the record that King Taranis allows torture to be used as a punishment in the Seelie Court?"

"Answer my question truthfully, and I will answer yours."

Cortez looked at Shelby. They exchanged a longer-than-normal look, then both of them turned back to me. "Yes," they said at the same time. The two men looked at each other, and finally Cortez nodded at Shelby, who said, "Yes, King Taranis stated that the fact that the Raven Guard had been forced into centuries of celibacy was the reason they were a danger to women. He further stated that to then have the forced celibacy lifted for only one little girl, referring to you, Princess, was monstrous. For no one woman could satisfy the lusts of centuries."

"So the celibacy was the motive for the rape," I said.

"That seems to be the king's reasoning," Shelby said. "We haven't looked for a motive beyond the usual for rape."

The usual, I thought.

"I've answered your question, Princess. Now, are you stating for the record that the Seelie Court tortures its prisoners?"

Frost came to stand beside Doyle. "Meredith, think upon this before you answer."

I looked behind me, met his worried eyes, the soft gray of winter skies. I held my other hand out to him, and he took it. "Taranis let our cat out of the bag, Frost. It's only fair we let one of his out."

Frost frowned at me. "I do not understand this talk of cats, but I fear his anger."

I had to smile at him even as I agreed with him. "He began this, Frost. I will only finish it."

He squeezed my hand, and Doyle squeezed the other, so that my hands were crisscrossed over my chest, holding them. I held their hands while I said, "Mr. Shelby, Mr. Cortez, you asked me, am I stating for the record that King Taranis's golden court tortures as a punishment? I am so stating."

The record was supposed to be sealed, but if either of these secrets got into the press… This little family feud was going to get very ugly, very fast.





CHAPTER 2





THE LAWYERS DECIDED THAT DOYLE AND FROST COULD answer some general questions about what it was like being part of my personal guard to give some background to the atmosphere that Rhys, Galen, and Abe had been living in. I wasn't sure it was going to be helpful, but I wasn't a lawyer, so who was I to argue?