A Stroke Of Midnight - By Laurell K. Hamilton Page 0,159

for that part, Rhys," Doyle said. "Neither court hunts the other with cold iron. That is reserved for war, and we are not at war."

"Not yet," he said.

"Why do you mean, not yet?" Galen asked.

"Did cold iron do that to your arm?" I asked.

He answered my question first. "One of them attacked me. We were three for three, but we didn't realize we weren't just having a little fun until they got serious." He shook his head. "If I hadn't surprised him, it would have been worse."

"Surprised how?" I asked.

"I used the death touch on him, but he did something to protect himself. My entire arm went numb. It's good we had so many healers in the room though. They healed the wounds of sword and ax, but my arm... They bound it in a sling and told me to wait. I can finally feel something, pins and needles mostly, but I'm happy to feel anything in it."

"What happened to the seelie you bespelled?" Nicca asked.

"They dragged him away insensible. He'll be out of it for a day or two, at least."

"Why didn't it kill him?" I asked.

"Goblins have no magic of their own; the sidhe do," he said, as if that explained everything.

"Did they give a reason for trying to kill you?" Galen asked.

He sighed again. "One of their royal ladies accused me and two others of raping her."

"What?" I sat up too abruptly, then stopped in mid-motion, afraid I'd crush the moth.

"Had she gone mad?" Galen asked.

"Don't know," Rhys said, "but they were serious about it."

"Who else did she accuse?" I asked.

"Me, Galen, Abloec."

"Why?" I asked.

"That we do not know," Doyle said, "but I doubt that the lady came up with such a desperate accusation on her own."

"Taranis?" I asked.

"Keep his name to a minimum," Rhys said, "just in case. I'd rather not be overheard."

"I do not believe he can hear just because his name is invoked," Doyle said.

"Humor me," Rhys said.

Doyle nodded. "Very well. Yes, I believe he is somehow behind this new problem."

"But why? What does he hope to gain?" I asked.

"That we will know as soon as the three of you have eaten."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The queen has requested your presence at her side when she contacts Taranis about this latest outrage."

"Taranis's men seemed to think we'd just let them arrest us," Rhys said. "That we'd just give ourselves over to Seelie justice." He laughed, and it was a bitter sound. "Justice? For the Unseelie at the Seelie Court? Please."

"They still believe that to join this court is to be deformed and made monstrous," Doyle said.

"I've never understood that one," Galen said. "They can look at us and know that we look just as they do."

"They believe we hide our deformities with our clothes," Doyle said.

Galen raised an eyebrow. "The queen answers the mirrors covered in nude guards most of the time. Anyone with eyes can see that every inch of the guards is fine."

"Ah, but that is evil Unseelie illusion," Rhys said. "Understand, my young green friend, that one of the things that makes the Seelie sidhe prefer exile among the humans to joining our court is the belief, the absolute belief, that being in the dark corrupts us. Makes us twisted and perverse. Most of them believe we have tails, and hooves, and monstrous penises."

"Well, big," I said, but the look on Rhys's face made me swallow my joke.

"They don't mean big, Merry, they mean ugly and awful. They paint us as monsters, because if the Seelie ever truly believed that we were just like them" - he shrugged - "I think some of them would put up with less shit from him. They would then have someplace to go besides mortal land."

"They fear Andais, as well," Doyle said, "and she has fostered that fear with her bloody mirror calls and her orgies."

"I have spoken with the king in the mirror, Doyle," I said. "I know now that touching the flesh of the guard helps ground us and keep his power at bay. I think that torture may do the same for the queen that sex does."

Doyle nodded. "Yes, it is a way to keep his power from overwhelming one."

"I've never actually sat in on a call between the two monarchs," I said. "Is it as scary as it sounds?"

"Disturbing," Rhys said, "more than scary."

"Disturbing how?" I asked.

"The king will try and use his magic to bespell and persuade us, including our queen. She will use her beauty to make him