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I s the shine into old "And you cannot bargain hed then, a deep, rolling belly laugh It held all the unfettered joy that the goblins had - and that the sidhe seehter fro and Creeda were not alone I wondered whoain

"You are your father&039;s daughter, Merry, I&039;ll give you that You know your worth"

I looked down, playing coy, because I didn&039;t want hi too hard, and wasn&039;t sure I could keep it off ree to anted All he had to do to keepwas simply say no I needed him to say yes The question was how to overco in sidhe business How could I get hi he didn&039;t want to do? Or maybe was afraid to want

I let the robe fall to the floor "How much can I be worth, if you will not sell sky and earth to see me nude? If I were truly beautiful, you would not have said it" I gave hi, and I put the doubts that I had around the sidhe into my eyes My own mother had been the worst of o that I&039;d realized she&039;d been jealous of me That I realized ht and the slenderness of figure, but her hair, her skin, her eyes, they were hu read the doubt in aze cloud over "You do doubt yourself" He sounded almost awed by it "I&039;ve never met a sidhe woift to males"

"Those same women tell me I am too short to be beautiful," I traced e," I traced down my waist to my hips, "that I curve in places they do not," I traced down hs I let azed at him half hidden behind the scarlet of ly"

He spilled out of his chair, dus? I will crush their jaws and see thee on his face, the tree of him - I took it for the coht want me for more than just politics or supernatural bloodlines In that heartbeat, I thought thatloved s today, but not love

I don&039;t knohy, but I suddenly realized there were tears trailing down oblin had offered to defend , and I let him see as in my face, my eyes, all of it Because I realized that I still didn&039;t believe I was beautiful The guards wanted me because to be withoutNone of them wanted me, for me Maybe that was unfair, but hoould I ever knohy they ca and knew that here was a ht I was beautiful, and worth defending, and he would never bedthat anyone adoredI had no words for, but I let Kurag see that I valued it That I valued hiirl, don&039;t cry, Consort save h still rough

Kitto ca so he could lay hismy cheek When I didn&039;t protest he licked oblins considered most body fluids precious and not to be wasted I understood what he was doing, and frankly, just then, almost any touch would have done I slid my arm across his shoulders and leaned into his body as he licked my tears away

Rhys was behind ed me from behind And because Kitto and I were so close, he was forced to hug Kitto as well Only those of us in the rooly coness to do it made me feel better

"Not a year, Merry, not even for your tears Not even for that look on your face" Kurag still stood, so wide that he seemed to fill the mirror He loomed over us, partly because thetoo close to the glass on his side

Kitto had drunk me clean on that side of ainst ht in the circle of Rhys&039;s arh to let Kitto move to the other side of ether in the crush of his arms The moment I realized ere effectively trapped, unless Rhys released us, ainst my throat

My voice breathed from my body full of that pulse, and that sudden awareness "Are ainst the strength of Rhys&039;s arainst ainst my hair, "Turn your face to him," that made me turn so that he could reach the other cheek

Kitto&039;s tongue caressed htened his ar bound in chains of flesh and muscle I couldn&039;t concentrate, couldn&039;t think

"A fuck and a food to turn any goblin&039;s head," Kurag said, and his own voice was low, growling, but not with anger

I whispered, "Rhys, please, can&039;t think"

He loosened his arive the illusion of freedootiations was not the tio, but part of me loved the feel of his arainst ainstordered around, being given no choices It , but for ed to focus on Kurag, but I knew thatfor Doyle to interfere, to stop this unseemly display, but it was as if the room held only Rhys, and Kitto, and oblin can do for you, Merry," Kurag said His gaze slid to Rhys "Let row back if it&039;s done right For that I&039;d agree to al"

It was Rhys who said, "You left Kitto out of the bargaining" His voice was aloblin, and I can do to him what I choose, when I choose"

"I don&039;t think so," I said

"He&039;s sidhe now," Rhys said, in that deliciously low voice "He was anyone&039;s ed"

"He is still as he was He still craves someone to dominate him I fear no one who seeks a master"

I found ain "Yet you talk about cutting up so?"

"I do not need his permission to take what I want frooblin if he has not the strength to keep it fro"

I said, "There are "

He stepped back fro his head "No, Merry, there is only one kind of strength: the strength to take what you want"

"And the strength to keep it," aflashed a frown in the direction of the voice, then turned back to ht, and I&039;ll agree to a oblin you o, slowly, al Kitto so closely, it didn&039;t show Kitto had cleaned the last of the tears froainst the front of my body

"I can&039;t help you break your e vows, no matter how loosely you hold theuards, they are not meat" I kissed the top of Kitto&039;s head

"Then we can have no bargain" For a second I saw the relief of that decision on his face

Doyle&039;s voice fell into the silence like so along oblins were stripped of theirI remeoblins&039; ic was as feared as their physical power"

"And who slaughtered every wizard and witch aain

"I did," Doyle said I&039;d never heard tords so e

"And it was sidhe ic from our veins"

"That was not an Unseelie spell, Kurag We meant to win the war, not to destroy you"

"That bastard Taranis did not destroy us Hiic, and they kept it Don&039;t believe otherwise, Darkness That shining bunch of hypocrites kept what they stole"

"I put nothing past the King of Light and Illusion," Doyle said

Kurag stared at Doyle for a second or two, then spoke slowly, even though I could still see the anger on his face "You helped take our ive it back?"

"I did not agree that it should be taken the first tihtering us If their spells had stayed in place, it one badly for the sidhe"

"We&039;d have won, and owned all your shining asses"

Doyle shrugged "Who can say ill happen in a war? But I say this now: We can offer you back soic that was stolen away"

I whispered against the curve of Kitto&039;s ear, "Shine for him, Kitto"

Kitto raised his head to meet my eyes with his own His face was so solemn, as if he didn&039;t want to do it I wanted to ask why not, but I couldn&039;t ask in front of Kurag because I didn&039;t knohat answer Kitto would give I&039;d learned long ago that in the otiations, you never ask a question you don&039;t know the answer to The answer is so likely to hurt you

Kitto said, in a small voice, "I&039;er, lust, all sorts of eely, could kill it It depended on the kind of fear If it was thatkind of terror, you just couldn&039;t concentrate around it But a little fear could help you bring it on, and soreatest powers Still, especially at the beginning, when the ic was new, you never knehich way fear would work for you

Kitto couldn&039;t draw hisand Creeda He was too terrified to think clearly, let alone do ic

I cupped his face in hed Rhys had played a good ga was theRhys to helptooput it, had done his duty for the day

With his face still cupped in entle kiss on Kitto&039;sasked

I raised ic, but he fears you too ic?"

"In the beginning of your powers, you so them"

Doyle added, "It is like any other weapon, Kurag Someone new to the sword may hesitate in battle, or be unsure where to strike the blow"

He frowned, settling into his big chair as if it were suddenly less coic, but if you say it&039;s like a weapon, then so be it" I could tell by his face that he&039;d gotten our h

Creeda hopped back into the fra picked her up absently, as if she were a pet that had asked to be taken onto his lap "Shine for us, Princess, shine for us," Creeda said in an eager voice that still held a touch of that high, ently on the side of the body She rolled her eyes up to him "What? You wantedat Kurag, fighting to keep his face neutral, I realized that it was one thing for Creeda to have her fun with Kitto, but another to include e of Kurag in any negotiations; two, the other goblins would notice, if they hadn&039;t already, and they&039;d see it as a weakness The goblins don&039;t have a hereditary h to slay the old king No Goblin King ever dies quietly in his sleep They all feared Kurag, but if they sensed one weakness, they&039;d suspect there were others Goblins, like sharks, sniff for blood

"Will the rest of us miss the show?" The ain

Kurag sent a baleful look in the direction of whoever it was "The princess doesn&039;t do shows" He turned back to ot your hareerent blankness, using anger to hide whatever he was thinking

"To ease Kitto&039;s fears, I will caress him"

There were shouts and sounds from beyond the mirror They were typically masculine sounds, and wouldn&039;t have been out of place in nored the hands, the set of his shoulders His queen tensed, as if she were poised to leap to safety

"It will not be oblin standards, or even by Unseelie standards, but I will ease his fears and open hiic"

"I&039;ve seen him shine, Merry I believe he&039;s sidhe I believe he has ic that will help on a battlefield And that is the only kind of ," Doyle said, "because the goblins have never known any other kind of ic"

"I say it because it is true" His eyes were er

"Do you want to see hi?" I asked, and I dropped ainst hioblins for near-permanent allies, we could keep most of our enemies at bay For the lives of those I held dear, for the future of the Unseelie Court itself, I could ruff nod Creeda clapped her ether, those that had mates to clap, and bounced like a child on his lap

I looked at Kitto I asked him with ently on the y forhe didn&039;t want to do

I could feel the reluctance in his body and I was torn I knew Kitto well enough to put hiht oblins they&039;d kno to do it, too I kne to make Kitto shine, because I was his lover and his friend If I went slower and did s, with the touches that were truly his favorites lost in many touches, then Creeda would not have the keys to his body It would take longer, but I didn&039;t want to help Creeda torot her hands on him, but I knew too much of royal politics to be certain I could keep hihtly refuse a queen, any queen

I made my decision, and drew Kitto into my arms