deal the Cait Sidhe made with Oberon when it came to their fights for succession. The Cait Sidhe are allowed to kill each other, providing they can come up with an explanation that satisfies their Kings and Queens. The denizens of the Undersea are allowed to kill each other, as long as they declare a state of war before they draw their weapons. Anyone’s allowed to kill a changeling, any time they want to, without necessarily facing any consequences.
And anyone can kill a human. Humans have even less protection under the Law than changelings do. At least we’re a part of Faerie. Humans are . . . in the eyes of many purebloods, humans are livestock. They’re animals, here to die, and so helping them along the way to their inevitable destination is not a big deal.
Isla was human when someone pushed her over the rail. Isla was human when she hit the water. In the eyes of Faerie, the only thing her killer had done wrong was an act of theft.
I stood where I was, looking at her body and swallowing the bile that threatened to rise up in the back of my throat. I hadn’t lost my lunch at a crime scene since the supposed death of Evening Winterrose. I certainly wasn’t going to do it now.
The scent of pennyroyal and musk reached me a heartbeat before Tybalt did, giving me sufficient warning that I didn’t tense or pull away when an arm slid around my waist, pulling me close. I might normally have objected to that sort of distraction while I was looking at a body, but under the circumstances, I welcomed it, letting my head sag to the side until it rested against Tybalt’s shoulder. I allowed my knees to buckle a bit at the same time, not enough so as to drop me on my ass, but enough to take some of the tension off. I knew he wouldn’t let me fall.
“She was a fair lady,” he said, eyes on Isla. “We met her on the beach, did we not?”
“We did,” I confirmed. “Isla Chase. She was the head of one of the Selkie clans. She was sort of snippy, but I guess I can understand, under the circumstances.” I paused as a thought struck me, and pulled away, twisting until I was looking at Tybalt.
He met my gaze without flinching. Then he blinked, looking briefly bewildered. “Your eyes,” he said.
“What about them?” I somehow managed not to reach up and touch my face.
“They’re not meant to be so colorful.” He shook his head, a wry smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I suppose if the sea witch can dress you in scales, she can tint your eyes to match. Still, it will be a pleasure when the fog rolls in, and you look at me like yourself again. What question can I answer for you?” I must have looked confused, because his smile lost its edge of wryness, turning genuinely amused. “You only look at me so when you have a question gnawing at your tongue. Out with it, then, before it chews its way free.”
“Yeah, well, you only talk this much like a period drama when you’re worried,” I said, and took a deep breath. “The Cait Sidhe have the authority to rule themselves, correct?”
“Granted by Oberon himself,” he said, smile fading into wariness. “Why do you ask?”
“What would happen if one of your subjects killed someone, another Cait Sidhe, for no good reason? I don’t mean if they challenged you for rank and one of you didn’t walk away, or anything like that. I mean a murder. Oberon’s Law wouldn’t necessarily apply if it happened in the Court of Cats.”
“No,” said Tybalt slowly, choosing his words with evident care. “Were I to slit another King’s throat in a knowe of the Divided Courts, an argument might be made that I had, through murder, disturbed the peace, but it would be a difficult needle to thread. When a cat kills a cat, there are no consequences.”
“No consequences under the Law,” I said, stressing my words. “I know you don’t let your subjects go around killing each other willy-nilly. I’ve been to your Court. Things are too steady for that.”
Quentin had realized where I was going with this. He was leaning forward, watching Tybalt with a silent intensity that I realized, with a start, he’d learned from watching me. I was shaping the next High King of the Westlands in ways that