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THE MIRROR RANG AGAIN, A STRIDENT CLASH OF SWORDS, AS IF blades had screamed down the sides of each other It made me jump

Rhys looked at Doyle and ht The fewer people in faerie who have this ruave my hand a last squeeze Then he tried to rise with his usual effortless movement, but paused in mid-motion It wasn&039;t a flinch soto stand

I put a hand on his back to steady hirabbed one of his arms, and it was probably ht Doyle tried to ot a firrip on his friend Doyle actually leaned a little on the other man, which meant he was in a lot of pain

"You didn&039;t take the pain ave you, did you?" I asked

The rier sound than before, as if the next sound of swords would break one of the blades

"The goblins are not known for their patience, Meredith," Doyle said in a tight voice "You ht Frost fro him, which meant he was very hurt indeed More hurt than he&039;d let on The thought of ht, not just because I loved hiht be as good in battle, but for strategy it was Doyle I needed him, in so many ways

It must have shown on my face because he said, "I have failed you"

"Taranis tried to burn your face off," Rhys said "You failed no one"

The evil sound of swords filled the rooain

"Go," Rhys said "I&039;ll stay with her"

"You don&039;t like goblins," Frost said

Rhys shrugged "I killed the one that took e Besides, I won&039;t let you and Merry down by being a big baby Go, rest, take your meds"

"I&039;ll take Doyle," Galen said

We all looked at him "If Merry can&039;t have Doyle by her side for this call, then she needs Frost," he said

Abe had et off the bed on the other side "I see that no one cares that I ht need help"

"Do you need help?" Galen asked, as he moved to take Doyle from Frost He actually held his other hand out to Abe

Abe looked into his face for a breath, then shook his head, but stopped the &039;s men jumped him before he could do his worst on my back" He moved toward the door slowly but surely

Doyle let Galen help hiht of the mirror and toward the door Frost came to stand with me and Rhys Rhys reached toward theto be with these two tonight"

"We&039;ve had this discussion, Rhys For every half-sidhe goblin e bring into his full power, our alliance with the goblins is lengthened by a month We need their threat to keep us safe," I said

The oblins do not ith patience," Frost said

"We need them, Rhys," I said

"I know I hate it, but I know," Rhys said A look passed over his face too quickly for me to read "One of these days I&039;d like you to be able to do things just because you want to do them, not because you&039;re forced to do them"

I wasn&039;t sure what to say to that

Rhys reached out toward the ht the urge to coverwith the goblins The two high courts of faerie would use weakness to their advantage Goblin culture simply saeakness as a reason to abuse you You were either prey or predator to the goblins I orking very hard not to be prey

The oblin throne rooh Ash and Holly stood alone before the elassthe the reen eyes into the rass green surrounded by a little white His hair was yellow, cut short, because only the sidhe are allowed long hair on their olden bits like Aisling&039;s, but it was close Both the twins had Seelie skin, sunlight skin Moonlight skin like olden color, aloblin except for the color Holly strode to the mirror to stand by his brother He was identical except that his eyes were the color of red holly berries, like his naoblin but Red Cap goblin

Rhys moved back from the mirror to stand on the other side of me so that I was sandwiched between hiain is over," Holly said, his handsoe He was usually the one to lose his te like this is to make us lose respect in front of all," Ash said He didn&039;t sound much more reasonable than his brother, which was bad, since Ash was the voice of reason for the two of the," Frost said

Rhys just er alone could hurt me

Their eyes flicked to him then back to me "Is this true, Princess?" Ash asked

"The queen had much to show us," I said, and let my voice hold some of the upset I felt about Crystall and his fate in her bed

"She&039;s been entertaining the sidhe you left behind," Ash said

Holly actually looked uneasy, his anger fading, which was unusual for him

"Has the queen spoken to the two of you?" I asked

They exchanged a look Ash answered "Apparently, the queen enjoyed watching us lick her blood off of your skin We didn&039;t think that any sidhe, even Unseelie sidhe, would be so goblin in their tastes"

Andais&039;s blood had gotten on me in her most recent attempt to kill me She&039;d been unhappy with me that day Lately she&039;d been happier withal bills

"She offered you her bed?" Frost asked

"We are not talking to you, Killing Frost," Holly said

I put a hand on Frost&039;s arh the pride of all the men in ht comes to pass as we have all planned, you will be, too I know you feel that we insulted you by ignoring your call, but all of us have to wait upon the queen&039;s wishes"

"We do not," Holly said

"You turned her down?" Iould be done and by whom," Ash said, "but she will not allow harm to come to her body She only wishes to do harain that she would torture the two of you during sex?" I asked

"Yes" Holly almost shouted it

"She did not know that it was the gravest of insults to offer that to you," I said

"But you knew," Ash said

I nodded "I visited the goblin court many times over my childhood It was one of the few courts in faerie whereme as a child"

"He would not have allowed you inside the Seelie Court," Ash said