"I can barely see you through the crowd of your men," he said. There was a tone to his voice that I couldn't discern. Anxiety, anger; something unpleasant.
Doyle, Galen, and Abe began to move away from me. Even Frost started to pull away. Only Rhys stayed wedded to my side. The moment their hands fell away, Taranis was edged with light.
"Stay where you are, my men," I said. "I am your princess. He is not your king."
The men hesitated. Doyle moved back to me first, and the rest followed his lead. I put his hand to my face, and tried to tell him with my eyes what was happening. The spell was aimed so surely at me, like an arrow for my mind alone. How could I explain to them without words, what was happening?
Rhys settled himself more firmly around my waist, tucking me close, leaving just enough room for Frost's arm to slide back across my shoulders. Abe went to stand behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder closest to Rhys. Galen joined him, and though clearly puzzled, added his hand to my other shoulder closer to Frost. I gave the hand that wasn't wrapped around Rhys's waist to Doyle. The moment they were all touching me, even through clothing, the light around the king was gone. Taranis was handsome, but that was all.
"Meredith," Taranis said, "how can you insult me like this? These men attacked a lady of my court, savaged her. Yet you stand there with them... touching you, as if they are your court favorites."
"But, uncle, they are some of my favorites."
"Meredith," he said, and he sounded shocked, like an elderly relative who just heard you say "fuck" for the first time.
Biggs and Shelby both tried to move in and smooth things over. I think the reason the lawyers hadn't interfered more before was that even the men were getting a side swipe of the spell that Taranis had brought to this meeting. Either he had brought this magic for some specific purpose or he always held this magic when dealing with Queen Andais, and now me. I had not been able to sense it when we last spoke to Taranis. But then, neither had Doyle, or any of the other men. It wasn't just me who had grown in power from our few days in faerie. The Goddess had been a very busy deity. We had all been changed by her touch, and by the touch of her consort, the God.
"I will not speak of this matter in front of the monsters that savaged a woman of my court." Taranis's voice rolled through the room like the whisper of a storm. The humans all reacted as if it were more than a whisper. I was safe behind the hands of my men from whatever Taranis was trying to do.
Shelby turned to us. "I think it's a reasonable request to have the three accused wait outside while we talk to the king."
"No," I said.
"Princess Meredith," Shelby said, "you're being unreasonable."
"Mr. Shelby, you're being magically manipulated," I said, smiling at him.
He frowned at me. "I don't understand what you mean by that."