“Careful, love, she’ll hear you,” Ivy whispered.
“No she won’t,” Robin spoke up. “I’ve taken the liberty of fixing a veil around us. As far as the rest of the room is concerned, we’re no more than an attentive and quiet audience. Unless they attempt to interact with us directly, the veil will hold.”
Adonis opened his mouth to congratulate his quick thinking, but Irina’s voice interrupted him.
“I’m sorry. Of course you can defend yourself. And I shouldn’t have spoken about your personal life.”
“Don’t apologize, Irina.” Marcela narrowed her eyes at Loupe and planted her spear firmly on the ground as if standing to attention. “Either participate in the conversation or don’t. Don’t just jump in when you have something unpleasant to say to someone who’s supposed to be your ally.”
“Should we say something?” Ivy whispered to Adonis.
Adonis gripped her arm and shook his head emphatically. “No. No, gods, no. Never get between fighting women. Even Etienne isn’t foolish enough to speak up right now.”
And he wasn’t. For once, Etienne was holding his tongue and letting a disagreement go on without him. His only contribution was to stand behind Loupe in a silent show of solidarity, his eyes once again human brown as they calmly surveyed the room.
The wolf pup in the sling around Loupe’s body whimpered. For a split second, the irritation melted from her face. She dropped her lips close to the soft little ear closest to her mouth and cooed to the pup, stroking its head with one hand and patting its bottom through the sling with the other. The pup sniffled against her hand and curled itself tighter to her chest. Its eyelids drooped and a moment later it was asleep.
Loupe waited, watching carefully to make certain it was all right, then turned her attention back to Marcela. “I have one hundred and twenty-eight wolves who have outgrown our forests and if I don’t find new land for them, they’re going to end up killing each other in battles for territory. I have not slept in three days. I am tired, and I am busy, and the last thing I needed was to be hauled away from my work by a vampire who thinks I have nothing better to do with my time than appease a political guest who throws a temper tantrum whenever she doesn’t get her way.”#p#分页标题#e#
Adonis’ mouth went dry, his skin itching as he waited for Dubheasa’s power to explode in retaliation at the insult. He glanced at Robin, hoping the fey would have some advice, or would perhaps step forward to intercede on their behalf. To his surprise, Robin was smiling, just a little, barely more than the corner of his mouth rising.
Etienne, for his part, looked a little too pleased at his wife’s condemnation of Dubheasa, probably still angry about her earlier display of power over him. Patricio too looked more satisfied than cautious.
Idiots.
Fortunately, Dubheasa seemed to be keeping her calm. In fact, she seemed…pleased? After one lingering look at Irina, whose face was schooled into a blank mask that Adonis was sure made Kirill proud, Dubheasa turned her attention to the only female member of the council who had yet to speak.
“And you, death goddess? What are your thoughts?”
Aiyana drew a slender finger down the stem of her wine glass. Her dark eyes flowed over each person in the room in turn like a black river lapping at hapless swimmers. “This council was not formed by accident. Each man here was chosen carefully, and each woman deemed to be his ideal match. We are each very powerful in our own right. It would be unrealistic to think that one could gather men and women of such strength and expect no…friction.”
The Unseelie queen looked around the room, her expression carefully blank. “All right then. So, Loupe is too busy with her wolves to have an active role on the council and Irina is busy with other contracts. Do the rest of you feel the same way?”
“I travel a lot,” Ivy offered, peeking from behind Adonis’ wing. “I was…homebound for a long time, so I have a great deal of catching up to do. I’m not usually around for these meetings.”
Marcela stared at Dubheasa like a solider overseeing the signing of a treaty, staring at an enemy she’d been robbed of the chance to retaliate against. Finally she let out a slow breath and shook her head. “I’m not a politician.”
“Abysmal,” Dubheasa muttered. She turned to Aiyana, her face rising with a wisp of hope. “And you, death goddess? Surely you would take a more active role in something so critical as the nurturing of a new land?”
“I’m afraid not, Your Majesty. My land suffered a great deal in my absence. I have much to do there to rebuild before I can even consider lending my presence to this realm.”