The Unkindest Tide (October Daye #13) - Seanan McGuire Page 0,159

bargained for. But I might get hurt in the process of teaching them a dearly-needed lesson, and then I’d have to explain myself to Ginevra, who would probably take this as an excuse to confine me to the Court of Cats any time my uncle so much as thought about leaving the Mists for an afternoon. No, thank you. My freedom has an expiration date, and I’m still a cat: I intend to enjoy every scrap of it that I can.

The air smelled of night-blooming flowers, of eucalyptus, of full garbage cans awaiting the morning’s collection . . . and ever so faintly, of pine. I sighed and stopped walking.

“You can come out, Cal. I know you’re there.”

There was a pause long enough that I began to worry that I’d been wrong, and worse, that I’d just invited a mugger to come over and make my acquaintance. Then Cal said, in a wounded tone, “How did you know it was me?”

“You switched forms too close to me,” I said. “You were probably following in feline form until I switched over, and then you did the same. Rookie move. If you’d stayed a cat, I wouldn’t have heard you, and I certainly wouldn’t have been able to smell your magic.”

“You could smell my magic?” Now they sounded awed. “I can’t smell magic.”

“Of course not. You’re not a Prince.” A keen sense of smell is part and parcel of being Cait Sidhe. Being able to detect signs of spellcraft, however, is more the bailiwick of the nobility.

I sometimes wonder if that wasn’t part of what originally attracted Uncle Tybalt to October. What might have seemed like a party trick to most must have looked like a common changeling treading far too close to mysteries that were meant to belong only to those with the strength to deserve them.

I winced a little at the thought. For a moment there, I’d sounded almost like my father.

Cal scoffed. “Good thing, too, or they’d need to come up with a whole new title for me. I’m not a stupid Prince. I’m not a stupid Princess, either. I’m me.”

“Accurate and yet unnecessary, as you lack the standing to require refusing either title.” I turned. “Why are you following me?”

“Regent’s orders.” Cal looked at me unrepentantly. “She outranks you, so don’t think you can tell me to leave. I won’t.”

“Root and branch preserve me,” I muttered. “Has Uncle Tybalt ever asked you to follow me when I was going to visit Helen? I’m fully capable of doing this without a babysitter.”

“Regent’s orders,” Cal repeated.

“Meaning you’re more afraid of her than you are of me,” I concluded grimly. “You do understand that I’ll be your King for much, much longer than she’s your Regent, yes?”

Cal rolled one shoulder, unconcerned. “Nothing says I can’t go back to Silences with her if I decide I don’t want a King my own age. So maybe this is me making sure I keep my options open.”

“Is it?”

“No.” Cal smiled, showing white, slightly crooked teeth. “I just like getting on your nerves.”

“Did she order you specifically?”

“No. She asked for volunteers.”

“And you were the only one to put your name forward?”

Cal shrugged. “It seemed like a fun way to spend an evening, and it’s not like you ever want to spend time with me when you don’t have to. So here I am, and here you are, and every minute you spend arguing with me is a minute you’re not spending with your girlfriend.”

I hissed at them. It wasn’t a very princely thing to do. In my defense, I wanted to. Doing something simply because I want to do it is an extremely princely thing to do.

Cal looked blandly back at me, unruffled.

“Fine.” I threw up my hands. “You are not to enter Helen’s home. You are not to attempt to cajole her father into giving you something to eat. You may lurk on a neighbor’s porch if you like, so you can see the door, but that’s as close as you come. In exchange, I promise not to try to sneak away. Are we in agreement?”

“I don’t see why I need to bargain with you,” said Cal. “Your regent sent me.”

“I’m sure that excuse will keep you very good company when you’re on my bad side and no one with any sense is willing to be seen with you,” I said. “Ginevra is temporary. I’m forever. Are you truly prepared to risk my eternal enmity simply for the sake of one evening’s entertainment? Consider