Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [148]
"Elua, no!" Thierry backed away. "Under the circumstances, I think not. I've an idea what transpires in the Night Court on the Longest Night. Moirin, I am pleased to have escorted you tonight, but for better or for worse, Jehanne is my step-mother, and there are limits to what I am willing to witness. Go."
"You're sure?" I felt guilty.
"Entirely." He waved a dismissive hand at me. "Go."
So I went.
We were carried through the Palace on the palanquin and then rode through the streets of the City of Elua in an open carriage drawn by a team of matched horses, two black and two white. Outriders from the Queen's Guard and the Night Court flanked the carriage. The adepts tucked warm fur blankets around us and sang as they rode, voices rising up into the starry sky. Everywhere, the City was ablaze with light. As word ran ahead of us, folk turned out into the streets to see us pass, calling out greetings and blowing kisses, then whispering to one another about the delicious scandal of it all. I thought they would be surprised to learn it had been his majesty's idea.
"How will this fete differ from the one at the Palace?" I asked Jehanne.
"All the adepts of the Night Court will be at Cereus House," she said. "It's the one night a year that they take no patrons and are free to consort with one another in any manner they wish. It's a beautiful sight." She took my hand beneath the furs. "And by the time we arrive, it will be halfway to an orgy."
I eyed her.
"No, I'm not jesting." Jehanne squeezed my hand. "Don't worry, I do have a measure of decorum to maintain."
It truly was a beautiful sight. In a realm of folk renowned for their beauty, hundreds of the loveliest were assembled beneath one roof, clad as fauns and sprites, gods and goddesses, demons and angels, warriors and harem girls. Men and women. All were fair-skinned, but there the resemblance ended. Every one of them was lovely in their own way.
None was as beautiful as Jehanne.
They made a path for the palanquin as we entered the great hall, though not a wide one. They pressed close, whispering compliments, stroking the skin of our arms. Naamah's presence was palpable, and I could feel the blood beat harder in my veins.
At the far end of the hall there was a reclining couch on a dais. Our bearers lowered the palanquin and escorted Jehanne onto it. Someone fetched a cushioned stool for me.
I sat and leaned against the couch. "Is this always here for you?"
"No." Jehanne toyed with tendrils of hair coming loose at the nape of my neck. "It's the Dowayne's couch, but the Dowayne has retired for the night. Watch."
I watched.
I watched and drank joie brought by attentive adepts in training as the members of the Court of Night-Blooming Flowers danced with one another. I watched as they approached the dais to salute Jehanne, kissing her hands in tribute. She received it with delight, stroking their hair, stroking their faces.
Some kissed me, curious and wondering. I wanted them, I wanted every last one of them. Most of all, I wanted Jehanne.
As the night wore on, the adepts began pairing off in twos and threes. The lamps burned lower. The shadows were filled with writhing sighs. The tributes had tapered off and the joie burned in my blood. I glanced at Jehanne, sensing Naamah's gift rising in her in answer to mine.
She looked back at me beneath her lashes. "This damned royal decorum is a nuisance, isn't it?"
"A chamber?" I suggested.
Jehanne shook her head, ruefully amused. "We're far too late. There's not a private place to be found in Cereus House tonight, my lovely. Not even for the Queen of Terre d'Ange."
"There's one." I looked around to make sure no one was watching at the moment, then took her hands. "Close your eyes."
She obeyed.
I found the earth's pulse beneath the sighs and murmurs. I steadied myself and breathed it in. Breathed in Jehanne's scent, the memory of pine trees. Elua's Oak. The tread of the Maghuin Dhonn Herself shaking the earth. A bamboo