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DOYLE GRACIOUSLY LET ME TAKE THE WINDOW SEAT HE SAT VERY straight in his chair, hands in a death grip on the arms, seat belt buckled He closed his eyes when the plane took off Noret farther away, but today watching Doyle turn grey around the edges was ?" I asked

He kept his eyes closed, but answeredin airplanes" His voice sounded very reasonable, as if it allsteed and not be afraid?"

He nodded, finally opening his eyes as the plane leveled off "I have ridden the beasts of the air many times"

"So why do planes bother you?"

He looked at me as if I should have known the answer "It is the metal, Princess Meredith I am not comfortable surrounded by so much man-made metal It acts as a barrier between me and the earth, and I am a creature of the earth"

"As you said, Doyle, there are benefits to not being pure sidhe I don’t have a proble just his head "You can do major arcana within such a metal tomb?"

I nodded "I’ve never found any ic that I can’t perform just as well inside a metal tomb, as I can outside of one"

"That could be very useful, Princess"

The flight attendant, a tall leggy blonde wearing nearly perfect h to e, if he wanted it She’d made sure he had a chance at a view every time she came by his seat She’d come by three ti, anything at all He declined I asked for a red wine

She’d brought my wine this time Because it was first class it was actually served in a long-stelass The better to spill it all over yourself when the plane hit turbulence, which it did

The plane bucked and swerved so badly that I gave the wine back to the flight attendant, and she gave me a handful of napkins forto all her questions, "No, thank you, I’m fine" She didn’t actually offer to throw off her clothes and have sex on the floor of the plane, but the invitation was clear If Doyle heard the invitation he nore it beautifully I don’t know if he actually didn’t realize she was hitting on hi like fools She finally got the hint and wandered off She had to grip the backs of the seats as she moved down the plane, or she’d have fallen

It was bad turbulence Doyle looked greyish I think it was his version of turning green "Are you all right?"

He squeezed his eyes round"

"Is there anything I can do to help the time pass quicker?"

He opened his eyes just a slit "I think the stewardess made that offer already"

"Stewardess is a sexist terht attendant So you did pick up on her hints"

"I don’t think squeezingmy shoulder with her breasts count as hints-nored her beautifully"

"I have had h that even I wasn’t happy Doyle squeezed his eyes shut again "Do you really want to help this flight pass more quickly?"

"I owe you at least that ot on the plane with our weapons I know legally we’re both allowed to carry in the U S, but it doesn’t usually go that smooth or that quick"

"It helped that the police escorted us to the gates, Princess" He’d been very carefully calling me Princess, or Princess Meredith, since I woke up this er on a first-naet et assassinated on their turf They did not want the responsibility for your safety"

"So that’s how you got me on the plane armed"

He nodded, eyes still closed "I told theuard, it would be safer if you, yourself, were arreed"

Sholto had dropped off the LadySmith 9 mm I actually had an inner pants holster for it that fit nicely for a front cross-draw I usually wore it at iven me carte blanche to carry weapons, so I didn’t have to worry about hiding it

I had a ten-inch knife in a side sheath, the tip of which was tied aroundfor a fast draw, like an Old West gun-fighter The leather thong alsobetter Without a sheath tied off, you ended up having to move it every time you shifted position, or it tended to poke into your body or get caught on things

I had a Spyderco folding knife clipped over the underwire of my bra I always carried at least two blades at court, just a rule The guns would only be allowed in certain parts of the sithen, the faerie mounds But I’d be allowed to keep the knives Before the banquet tonight, in irl could never have too much jewelry or too much weaponry

Doyle had Mortal Dread in the back sheath, the hilt sticking out froun shoulder holster He had his own gy full of weapons When I’d asked hih, he’d said, "Nothing else I had withthem true death I wanted them to know that I was serious" Frankly, I’ve always found that blowing a hole bigger than a fist out someone’s back lets theuns are inferior weapons They carry the ourselves, except in tis were bad, or e while I ay If the other guards were carrying guns, then I’d know

The plane dipped so suddenly that even I gasped Doyle ," he said, voice tight

"We could talk about last night," I said

He opened his eyes just enough to glare at me, the plane took another dive, his eyes snapped shut, and he alood at stories"

"Please, Meredith"

He’d called me Meredith, an improvement "I can tell you a story that you already know"

"Fine," he said

"My grandfather ona complete and utter bastard, he earned the name because he fathered three sons that were monsters even by fey standards No blooded fey woman would sleep with him after the birth of his sons He’d been told that he could father normal children if he found soly sleep with him"

I peered at Doyle’s closed eyes and blank face "Please continue," he said

"Gran is half brownie and half hu to sleep with hi to be a part of the Seelie Court" Silently, because it wasn’t part of the story, I didn’t blame Gran She more than even myself understood what it was like to tread two very different worlds

The plane had straightened but was still shuddering as wind buffeted it froht "Are you bored yet?" I asked

"Anything you say will be round in safety"

"You know, you’re cute when you’re scared"

He did the open eyes to slits, glare, close eyes again "Please continue"

"Gran bore two beautiful twin girls Uar’s curse was ended, and Gran was one of the ladies of the court-Uar’s wife, as a matter of fact, because she’d borne hirandfather never touched his ’wife’ again He was one of the fine and shining gentlemen Gran was a little too common for him now that he was curse-free"

"He is a powerful warrior," Doyle said, eyes still closed

"Who?"

"Uar"

"That’s right; you ainst him in the wars in Europe"

"He was a very worthy opponent"

"Are you trying to make me feel better about hiht and relatively sh for Doyle to open his eyes corandfather beat h he’d drive her away froally he couldn’t divorce her without her periven him children"

"Why did she not sier Uar’s wife she would no longer be welcome at court They would never have allowed her to take her daughters with her She stayed to make sure her children would be safe"

"The queen was most puzzled when your father invited your mother’s mother to accompany the two of you into exile"

"Gran was his lady of the house She oversaw the household for him"

"She was a servant, then," Doyle said

It was ht hand They raised ether for those ten years"

"When you left the court this last tirandmother She opened a bed-and-breakfast"