“She broke it when she attacked Marcela!” Patricio bellowed. His knuckles turned white, the effort to keep from swinging his weapon at the Unseelie queen plain in every line on his face.#p#分页标题#e#
“I did not!” Dubheasa stomped her foot and planted her hands on her hips. “I did nothing to hurt her, I was just testing—”
“And now you are finished,” Aiyana said quietly. Her voice, though soft, reverberated through the room, holding the weight of her power and the promise of all the destruction she could bring down on them if she chose. She looked at Patricio with the firm stare of a mother facing down an unruly child. “Put the weapon away. There will be no bloodshed here. Not inside where there is no land to benefit from it.”
Adonis winced, remembering his visits to Aiyana’s kingdom before she’d broken her curse. Deep pits in the earth with teeth at the bottom, mouths opening and closing, wanting blood and flesh. Hungry. Thanks for the reminder, Aiyana.
“I will say when I am finished,” Dubheasa growled.
The air in the room grew heavier. Robin let out a soft groan and the hairs on the back of Adonis’ neck stood up. Dubheasa was raising her power, flexing her muscle to show what she was capable of. He swallowed hard, barely resisting the urge to rub his neck, massage it as if that would somehow help him get more air. It was getting harder to breathe.
“I am sure you are a very scary queen on your little island,” Aiyana said evenly. She took a step forward and the vines on her arms flowed down, spreading out like a nest of hissing snakes. “But here, in my home, you are like any other guest. And you will show some respect.”
Dubheasa narrowed her eyes and raised a hand. Marian pulled harder on her arrow, lining up a shot that would hit Patricio’s heart. Aiyana watched calmly, then held up a finger.
“Do remember, Dubheasa. I am no mortal to cower at your feet. I am a goddess. Cutting off my air will do you no good.” She smiled at Saamal, and it softened her features, made her even more beautiful. “Especially not when my husband is here to stand with me.”
“Always, my love,” Saamal said, rising and setting his glass of wine on the small oak table beside his chair. He came to stand by his wife and together they faced Dubheasa, not threatening, but very clearly presenting a united and immovable front. An immortal front. A divine front.
The tension in the room climbed up and up, impossibly high, until Adonis thought he would choke on it. He wanted to speak, but he had no joke, no witty banter to break the standoff happening before him. He gathered his power, drawing on the astral plane, ready to shield his wife and his guests if he had to.
Suddenly Dubheasa’s face split in a wide grin. “Excellent!” She turned away from Marcela as if the air elemental had ceased to exist and faced Etienne where he stood still locked in private conversation with Loupe. “Now you see why the women need to be here?”
Etienne didn’t look up. Against all common sense, he hadn’t taken his focus from his wife for a second. If he’d noticed the tension in the room, felt Dubheasa’s power, he gave no sign. Loupe was still speaking to him in a low voice, one hand waving about in animation, the other cupped protectively over the soft, fuzzy head of the wolf pup cuddled against her chest. Etienne nodded, raised his eyebrows, started to speak, stopped, and nodded again. This went on and on as one by one, everyone in the room turned to look at him.
Dubheasa rolled her eyes at the inattentive couple, then looked directly at Kirill. “I want an invitation to your realm.”
Patricio, who had sheathed his sword with obvious reluctance at Aiyana’s command, made a choked sound in his throat. His hand dropped to the hilt of his sword, fingers closing on the shining metal with a clear intention to resume his threat. Marian, who had lowered her bow when the sword had once again been tucked safely in its sheath, raised her weapon. Marcela lifted her spear from the floor and lowered the wicked tip at Marian. The sharp iron point rose from a nest of broken seashells that promised much more damage than a single puncture wound.#p#分页标题#e#
Aiyana sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Saamal, would you get me a glass of wine? I’m afraid this evening’s agenda may take longer than I expected.”
“Of course.” Saamal led Aiyana to the left side of the fireplace and settled her into the chair next to his before going to the drink table and pouring her a glass of red wine.
Irina slipped from Kirill's side and wandered to the fireplace as she addressed Dubheasa. “Your Majesty, you must know you don’t need an invitation.” She lifted a log from the basket beside the hearth and nestled it into the fire, her right hand reaching for the iron poker opposite the basket of wood. “You found your way here tonight, I’m sure you could find your way here again if you wanted to.”