I looked up at Doyle and Frost. I looked for a clue as to what to do. Did I ignore it, or pursue it? Which was better? Which was worse?
Cortez said, "Though we have sympathy with the princess' childhood tragedies, we are here to investigate a new tragedy, the attack by these three men on Lady Caitrin."
I looked at Cortez, He actually looked away from my gaze, as if his statement sounded harsh even to his own ears.
"You do understand that you are all being magically influenced by him?" I asked.
"I think I would know if I were being influenced, Princess Meredith," Cortez said.
"The nature of magical manipulation," Veducci said, coming forward, "is that you don't know it's happening. It's why it's so very illegal."
Biggs faced the mirror. "Are you using magic to manipulate the people in this room, King Taranis?"
"I am not trying to manipulate the entire room, Mr. Biggs," Taranis said.
"May we ask a question?" Doyle asked.
"I will not speak to the monsters of the Unseelie Court," Taranis said.
"Captain Doyle is not accused of any crime," Biggs said. I realized that the lawyers on our side were having less trouble with Taranis's magical presence than those on the other side, except for Veducci, who seemed to be doing just fine. The lawyers had entered into a agreement with Taranis, just a verbal one, but that would be enough for someone of his power to have more of a hold over all of them. It was the subtle magic of kingship. If you agreed to be a true king's man, there was power to that agreement. Taranis had once been chosen by faerie to be king, and even now there was power to that old bargain.
"They are all monsters," Taranis said. He looked at me, gave me all the longing those green-petaled eyes could hold. "Meredith, Meredith, come to us before the power of the Unseelie makes of you something horrible."
If I hadn't broken his spell on me earlier, that appeal might have drawn me to him. But I stood safe among my men, and our power.
"I have seen both courts, Uncle. I found them both equally beautiful and horrible in their own ways."
"How can you compare the light and joy of the Golden Court to the darkness and terror of the Darkling Throne?"