Swallowing Darkness - Laurell K. Hamilton [83]
“I’ll make the calls. How long can you hold out in the sluagh mound?”
“If we just stay inside, awhile. But I don’t know how long the Seelie will wait to press the matter.”
“Do they actually believe that your uncle is the father of your children?”
“My mother is out there with them, agreeing with it. I can’t even blame them for believing her. She’s my mother. Why would she lie?”
Sholto pushed away from the wall where he and Mistral had been waiting. I think they were giving me alone time with Doyle. But now, Sholto came and took my free hand in his, and laid a gentle kiss on it. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to deserve such comfort.
“Why would she lie?” Major Walters asked.
“Because her greatest goal in life was always to be part of the inner circle of the Seelie Court, and if she can make me Taranis’s queen, then she’s suddenly the mother of the queen of the Seelie Court. She’d love it.”
“She’d trade your freedom for a little social climbing?”
“She’d trade my life for a little social climbing.”
Doyle stood at my back, and held me. Sholto knelt at my feet and wrapped his arms around my legs, gazing up at me. The flowers on his crown were like a mist of lavender, pink, and white. He looked terribly Seelie kneeling there and staring up with those tri-gold eyes.
“No, Princess, she’s your mom.”
“She let my uncle beat me nearly to death when I was young. She watched him do it. My grandmother was the one who intervened and saved my life.”
I touched Sholto’s face, and knew in that instant that here was another man who would risk everything for me. He’d already proven that when he came to fetch me from the Seelie Court, but the look in his eyes now said more.
“There’s a rumor that your grandmother was injured. My staff saw some of your men carrying her on horseback out of the hospital.”
“She’s not injured. She’s dead.” My voice was oddly flat when I said it.
Sholto’s eyes showed pain, because he was the one who had struck the fatal blow. It was his hand that had killed Gran, even though he had had no choice.
“What?” Major Walters asked.
“I don’t have time to explain, Major Walters. I need help. I need a human escort out of here.”
“Why can’t your Unseelie guard get you out?”
“I’m not certain what the Seelie would do if they saw Unseelie warriors right now. But they won’t attack humans, especially human soldiers. It would break the peace, and they would risk being kicked out of America for waging war on your soil.”
“They’re trying to give you back to the man you’ve accused of raping you. That’s not very rational. Do you really think that they’ll let soldiers come in and take you without a fight?”
“If not, then kick their asses out of America.”
“Are you setting us up to help you get rid of your enemies, Princess?”
“No, I’m doing the only thing I can think of that might, just might, avoid any more bloodshed or violence. I’ve seen enough for one night. I’m part human, and I’m going to embrace that part, Major Walters. They keep saying I’m too mortal to be sidhe, well, I’ll go be mortal. Because it is too dangerous to be sidhe right now. Get me out of here, Major Walters. I am pregnant with twins, and I have some of the fathers of my children with me. Get us out of here before something fatal happens. Please, Major Walters, please help me.”
The tendril curled back away from the phone. Doyle held me against his body. Sholto still had his ams wrapped around my legs, putting his arms between Doyle’s body and mine, but it was all right in that instant, it wasn’t competitive. Sholto laid his cheek against my legs, hiding his eyes.
“I am so sorry, Meredith, about your grandmother. Please forgive me.”
“We punished the person who killed Gran. You know, we all know, that it wasn’t your hand that did it.”