Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [147]
Fire and ice.
It tasted heavenly, and it burned like winter's kiss. I felt it all the way down to my belly, then warming my veins. The lamps seemed to burn brighter and I had the urge to kiss everyone in the hall.
"Very tonic," I managed to say.
The King chuckled. "You sound like Master Lo Feng. Have any of his plants survived?"
"Oh, yes." I'd never noticed that his majesty had a very pleasant, melodious voice. Nor that very appealing lines formed around his mouth when he smiled. "I'm keeping them alive for him."
"Moirin has a gift with plants." Jehanne kissed me again. I could taste joie on her lips and yearned to taste more of her. "Now go enjoy yourself, my witchling," she whispered in my ear. "Only not too much."
"Aye, my lady," I promised.
To his credit, Thierry was a wonderful escort, as attentive and good-natured as he'd been when I first knew him. He kept his word and fended off the majority of advances made toward me without making any of his own, and I was grateful for it. I hadn't expected to be tempted, but the joie burning in my blood and the sense of revelry that pervaded the night made it difficult. Everyone looked so very, very lovely to me.
We danced in an indoor forest, gliding and swirling around the tall pines. I watched King Daniel dance with Jehanne in his arms, her arms around his neck, her adoring gaze raised to his face.
"She makes him happy, doesn't she?" Thierry murmured.
"She does," I agreed.
"I'm trying to accept it." His mouth quirked. "Father says if she bears him a healthy child, he'll let me lead a delegation to Terra Nova."
"Truly?" I glanced up at him. "That's wonderful, isn't it?"
"It is." Thierry kissed me softly, then pulled back. He cleared his throat. "We've become family in a very odd way, haven't we?"
I nodded. "To be sure."
There was a banquet table laden with food. The glittering peers fought for places, but they made way for the Dauphin. Thierry filled a plate for me himself. We sat and ate, then danced until the deep sound of a bronze tocsin being beaten made the air shiver.
Everything went still.
A lone voice cried the hour. We were at the very cusp of the Longest Night of the year. All the lamps were extinguished with ruthless efficiency. I caught my breath at the sudden darkness, breathed in and out, and summoned the twilight without thinking. The hall shimmered in my vision.
I wondered what my mother was doing at that very moment.
I wondered where my father was.
There was a false mountain before which the musicians played. It split apart as they moved away from it. A crone hobbled out, leaning on a twisted staff. Someone pounded on the great doors of the hall; someone flung the doors open wide. A horse-drawn carriage entered, hooves clopping on the marble floors.
A youth in gilded armor leapt from the carriage and pointed a gilded spear at the crone.
She straightened and flung off her mask and rags, revealing herself to be young and beautiful.
I let go the twilight.
All the light of the mortal world returned in a rush of lighted wicks. Folks cheered and the Sun Prince and his Queen departed in their chariot. In their wake came a new influx—adepts of the Night Court. Tumblers and jugglers preceded them, throwing somersaults, green and gold ribbons in their hair. Four strapping young men followed them, carrying a palanquin. They knelt to Jehanne, imploring her to come with them.
"They do this every year," Thierry murmured to me. "The Night Court loves her. She's one of their own."
Jehanne laughed and refused them prettily.
King Daniel whispered to her.
I was attuned to Jehanne; I saw her eyes widen. I watched their hushed exchange. She flung her arms around his neck and covered his face with kisses.
The King beckoned me over. "I thought you might enjoy the chance to see the Night Court in all its decadent splendor. Would you like to accompany the Queen?"
My eyes widened. "Truly?"
He laughed and laid a hand on my shoulder. "Truly. Tonight marks a threshold. There may never be another like it."
I glanced at Thierry. One of the tumblers threw a