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I SCREAMED, "DON’T! SHOLTO, DOYLE, DON’T HURT EACH OTHER!" I HEARD flesh hitting flesh, the sliding footsteps as soh the dark, someone drew a hard breath, then small noises

"Dammit, listen to me, neither of you is here to harm me You both want me alive" I don’t know if they didn’t hearused in the dark, so I didn’t get up and walk toward the light switch -I crawled I kept the weight of the sinks to ht and searched the darkness just ahead with ht continued in alainst each other Someone cried out, and I said a silent prayer that no one was dead I al it at the last second I worked hts, and the roo in the brilliance

The two sidhe were locked together, bodies straining against one another Doyle was on his knees, a tentacle wrapped around his neck Sholto was covered in blood, and it took my eyes a second to realize that one of his sto next to Doyle’s knee Doyle still held the sword, but Sholto’s hand and two tentacles held it away froainst each other as if they were engaged in a gaa his own Doyle was the acknowledged champion of the Unseelie Court There were very feho could stand against him and almost none ould win Sholto wasn’t on that short list, or so I’d thought Then I caught solow When I looked straight at it, nothing was there Magic is like that soh peripheral vision There was so

As I watched, the sword slipped frorasp Sholto grabbed the sword in his hand before it could hit the ground The tentacles stayed around Doyle’s ar forward before I had tiot there

Sholto held Doyle’s limp body in his tentacles and raised the sword in a two-handed overhead plunge, like you’d use to drive a knife into someone’s chest I was behind Doyle as the sword started down I curledthat glittering blade I had a heartbeat to wonder if Sholto would stop in time, then he reversed the sword and held it pointed at the ceiling

"What are you doing, Meredith?"

"He’s here to save me, not kill me"

"He is the queen’s Darkness If she desires your death, he will be her instrument"

"But he has Mortal Dread, one of her personal weapons He carried herenough to look with more than just your eyes, you’ll see it"

Sholto blinked at me, then frowned "Then ould she send me to kill you? Even for Andais thathiure it out"

He looked down at Doyle’s li frootten he was still squeezing the life frole a sidhe to death, but I’d never been co the limits of immortality You never knehen you’d find a chink in the arh

Sholto uncurled his liht driving h blood for thisto do with using a hand of power for the first ti it, I wanted to closeto be happening

I sat on the floor, cradling Doyle’s head in , steady, but he did not wake He took two quick breaths, then his head threw back, eyes wide, and he took a great gasp of air He sat up coughing I saw him tense, and Sholto must have, too, because the sas suddenly pointed at Doyle’s face

Doyle froze, staring up at the other ," I said

Neither man looked at me I couldn’t see Doyle’s expression, but I could see Sholto’s, and I did not like what I saw Anger, satisfaction-he wanted to kill Doyle, it was there on his face plain to see

"Doyle saved h"

"If you had not warded the door, I would have been here in time," Sholto said

"If I had not warded the door, you would have been in time to mourn over my dead body, but not in tiaze froet inside when I could not?"

"I aer in his face hardened just a bit

I slapped Doyle’s shoulder, hard enough to sting He didn’t turn, but he winced "Don’t bait hi a fact"

This entire fight was beginning to feel very personal, as if there was business between the two of the to do with ainst each other, but call me selfish, I don’t care I want out of this damn bathroom alive, and that takes priority over whatever personal vendetta the two of you have So stop acting like little boys and start behaving like uards Get ht," Doyle said, softly

"The great Darkness, bowing out of a fight? Inconceivable Or is it that I’m the one with the sword now?" Sholtothe tip to the indentation in Doyle’s upper lip "A sword that can kill any fey, even a sidhe noble" There was a bitterness, a mockery, to Sholto’s voice that said without doubt that I’d stepped into an old grudge

"I fear s," Doyle said, his voice cal on your finger is soet Beathalachd? I have not seen it used in centuries"

Sholto raised his hand so the dark bronze of the ring glihts It was a heavy piece of jewelry, and I would have noticed it on his hand if it had been there earlier "It was the queen’s gift to show her blessing on this hunt"

"The queen did not give you Beathalachd, not personally" Doyle sounded very sure of that

"What is Beathalachd?" I asked

"Vitality," Doyle said "It steals the very life and skill of your opponent, which is the only way that he bested n of weakness to need ic than you had in your own body to defeat another sidhe Basically, Doyle had said that Sholto couldn’t win a fair fight, and had had to cheat But it wasn’t cheating-just less than chivalrous Fuck chivalry, come back alive It hat I’d told anyproves that I have the queen’s favor," Sholto said, his face still colored by his anger

"The ring did not come from the queen’s own hand to yours," Doyle said, "any more than your order to kill the princess came from her mouth"

"I knoho speaks for the queen and who does not," Sholto said, and it was his turn to sound certain

"Really," Doyle said "And if I had coiven you the queen’s orders, would you have believed me?"

Sholto frowned, but nodded "You are the queen’s Darkness When your mouth moves, her words come out of it"

"Then hear these words: The queen wants Princess Meredith alive, and back ho across Sholto’s face, but there were a lot of them I tried to ask the question he would not answer for Doyle "Did the queen herself tell you to coeles and killlook, but finally he shook his head "No," he said

"Who told you to coeles and slay the princess?" Doyle asked

Sholto opened his mouth to answer, then closed it The tension flowed out of hi the sword to his side "No, I will keep the name of the traitor to myself for now"

"Why?" I asked

"Because Doyle’s presence here canThe queen wants you to return to court" He looked at Doyle "I’ht, aren’t I?"

"Yes," Doyle said

"She wants me to return to court?"

Doyle moved so he could see both Sholto and me, his back to the empty bathroom stalls "Yes, Princess"

I shookto killtheal duels," he said

"They were court-sanctioned assassination attempts," I said

"I did mention this to her," Doyle said

"And she said what?"

"She gave ive to you If anyone kills you now, even in a duel, they will have to face our queen’s vengeance Trust in this, Princess: even those who desire your death greatly will not want to pay that high a price for it"

I looked up at Sholto, the htly dizzy Shock, definitely shock "Fine, I’uaranteeus the name of the traitor? Who used the queen’s name to send you to execute me, when she didn’t want me dead?"

"I will keep that inforain His face was that arrogant mask that he wore so often at court

"Why?" I asked

"Because if the queen allows you back to court, you don’t need to bargain with me You will be able to return to faerie, to the Unseelie Court, and I would bet dom that she’ll find you another sidhe lover So, you see, Meredith, you don’t needI could have offered you, and you won’t be tied for a lifetime to a defors hadn’t interrupted, I’d have proved that to you"

So on the surface of his arrogance "Yes, ht you had no hand of power, Meredith"

"I don’t," I said

"I think Nerys would argue with you on that"

"I didn’t know, Sholto, I didn’t mean to" I had no words for what I’d done to Nerys

"What has happened?" Doyle asked

"Black Agnes lied to the sluagh She told them that if I mated with Meredith that I would beco She convinced the me from the wiles of the sidhe witch"

I raised eyebrows at that

He looked at nes and the rest that you are not a danger to them"

I met his eyes "I saw the nes said to thank you-she’s never had better froic"

"She’s not angry about Nerys? "I asked

"She wants you dead, yes, but she’s afraid of you now, Meredith The hand of flesh like your father-ould have dreaance I realized with a start that it was fear Fear peeking through his nes as afraid of what I’d done up in that roo, Sholto?"