Wood crackled, sap spitting as she poked at the logs, stirring the embers in a merry spray of sparks. She replaced the poker and stood, brushing ashes from her dress. “You could have come in and settled yourself in this land without any interaction with us at all if that was your wish.”
Adonis elbowed Robin and nodded to Irina. The rusalka knew how to play hostess, and thanks to her husband, she spent more than her fair share of time performing the role in front of creatures with more interest in blood than wine. She swept over to the table beside the fireplace and lifted a decanter with one hand and a bottle of whiskey with the other. She held them both up to Dubheasa with a questioning look. Dubheasa arched an eyebrow, but nodded at the whiskey.
Irina poured a glass of the amber fluid into a squat tumbler. “Why show up here, now? Why insist that all of us be present?”
Dubheasa put a hand on Marian’s arm, her fingers pale against the dark green of Marian’s dress. Adonis raised his eyebrows as again Marian visibly relaxed and lowered her weapon. He leaned closer to Robin. “Your wife gets along rather well with your mother.”
Robin nodded, his affection for his wife plain in the upturned corner of his mouth. “I think it will be good for both of them. Marian is still learning about herself and her heritage and what that means for her. My foster mother is the epitome of loving yourself and owning up to your desires and needs, so she’s exactly the sort of influence Marian needs right now. And she did save Marian from Herne’s court…”
Robin trailed off and Adonis turned his head to see that Dubheasa was staring at them now. She pursed her lips and looked from Adonis, Robin, and Ivy to Saamal and Aiyana enjoying their wine with more attention on one another than the conversation, then to Etienne and Loupe who had yet to give any indication that they were aware of anyone in the room besides themselves. Adonis wrapped one wing around Ivy, instinctively getting between her and that darkening avian stare.
“I insisted that all of you be present because I was under the apparently mistaken impression that negotiations concerning inclusion in your new realm were important enough to warrant interest for all parties.” She faced Irina, crossing her slender arms. “You have invited two couples into this realm and to my knowledge, none of the women were present for either invitation.”
Irina’s lips spread into a tolerant smile as she returned to stand beside her husband. “I am in the middle of negotiations with five different goblin tribes. I have my hands full. I had thought that interviewing happily married couples to decide whether or not to let them live in this realm was a simple enough task to be delegated to the council—without my having to babysit.”
Kirill arched an imperious blond eyebrow at his wife. “I am humbled by your faith in me, my love.”
Irina patted his arm but didn’t take her eyes from Dubheasa. “And Loupe has her hands full seeing to the wolf repopulation in Sanguennay.” She glanced at Loupe, her expression softening at the way the blonde woman patted the fuzzy little head tucked against her chest.#p#分页标题#e#
Dubheasa gave Loupe another disparaging look. “One would hope she could spare a few moments to consider her kingdom’s future.”
“Loupe cares a great deal for her kingdom,” Irina said firmly. “Her attention to the wolves is an admirable attempt on her part to make amends for something—”
“I do not need you to defend me.”
Irina and Dubheasa both swiveled their heads to look at Loupe. The small blonde had finally broken from her conversation with her husband and was facing Irina with a look only a hair’s breadth from being a glare. The dark circles under her eyes betrayed her exhaustion, and she spoke with a harsh tone that contrasted sharply with the tender way she cupped one hand protectively around the wolf pup’s head.
“I can speak for myself,” she continued. “I’ve kept my silence thus far not because I was unaware of Her Majesty’s prodding, but because I don’t care what she thinks of me and I’m perfectly happy to let her believe whatever pleases her as long as I can continue my work uninterrupted. I don’t need you to defend me, and I’d prefer it if you did not offer up personal details about my life to a stranger.”
“Feisty,” Robin murmured beside Adonis. “Wouldn’t have thought it by looking at her.”
Adonis idly ran a hand down Ivy’s arm, his wing still cradling her against him. “She’s pushing herself too hard,” he said quietly. “I knew she’d been fostering the wolf population of Sanguennay to make up for her part in her stepfamily’s illegal skin trade, but now I can’t help but wonder if perhaps she hasn’t been taking on more than—”