The blonde stalked toward us putting a swing in his step. The pun was intended. It wasn't the nudity that made me uncomfortable. It was the look in his eyes.
"I take it he's new," I said.
Andais watched the man with cool eyes. He had to be very new not to realize what that look meant. She was not happy with him, not happy at all.
"Tell him what you think of his display, niece." Her voice was very quiet, but there was an undertone to it that you could almost taste on your tongue like something bitter in among the sweet.
I looked him over from his bare feet to his fresh haircut and every inch in between. He grinned as I did it, drifting closer to me, as if the look were an invitation. I decided to take the smile out of his step.
"He's young, he's pretty, but Eamon is better endowed."
That stopped the mortal and made him frown, the smile returning to his face but uncertain now.
"I don't believe he knows what 'endowed' means," Andais said.
I looked at her. "You never did choose them for their intellect," I said.
"One does not talk to one's pet, Meredith. You should know that by now."
"If I want a pet, I'll get a dog. This..." I motioned at the man, "is a little too high-maintenance for me."
The man was frowning, looking from one to the other of us, obviously not happy and also confused. Andais had broken one of my cardinal rules for sex. No matter how careful you are, you can end up pregnant. That's what sex is designed to do, after all. So, never sleep with someone who's mean or stupid, and ugly is a judgment call, because all three may breed true. The blonde was cute but not cute enough to make up for the frowning puzzlement on his face.
"Go with Eamon. Help him dress for the banquet," Andais said.
"May I come to the ball tonight, my lady?" he asked.
"No," she said. She turned back to me as if he ceased to exist.
He looked at me again, and there was a sullen anger there. He knew I'd insulted him but wasn't quite sure how. The look made me shiver. There were people at court a lot less pretty than her new "pet" that I'd have slept with first.
"You disapprove," she said.
"It would be presumptuous of me to approve or disapprove of the actions of my queen," I said.
She laughed. "There you go again, saying exactly what you should say but making it sound like an insult all the same."
"Forgive me," I said and started to drop back to one knee.
She stopped me with a hand on my arm. "Don't, Meredith, don't. The night will not last forever, and you are staying at a hotel tonight. So we haven't much time." She withdrew her hand without hurting me. "We certainly don't have time to play games, do we?"
I looked at her, studied her smiling face, and tried to decide if she were sincere or if it was a trap of some kind. I finally said, "If you wish to play games, my queen, then I am honored to be included. If there is business to be done, then I am honored to be included in that, as well, Aunt Andais."
She laughed again. "Oh, good girl, to remind me that you are my niece, my blood kin. You fear my mood, distrust it, so you remind me of your value to me. Very good."
It didn't seem to be a question, so I said nothing because she was absolutely right.
She looked at my face, but said, "Frost."
He came to her, head bowed. "My queen."
"Go to your room and change into the clothes that I had made for you to wear tonight."
He dropped to one knee. "The clothes did not... fit, my queen."
I watched the light die in her eyes, leaving them as cold and empty as a white winter sky.
"Yes," she said, "they did. They were literally tailor-made for you." She grabbed a handful of his silver hair and jerked his face up to meet her gaze. "Why are you not wearing them?"
He licked his lips. "My queen, I found the other clothing uncomfortable."
She put her head to one side the way a crow looks at a hanging man's eyes before it plucks them out. "Uncomfortable, uncomfortable. Do you hear that, Meredith? He found the clothes I had made for him uncomfortable." She pulled his head backward until his neck was a long exposed line of flesh. I could see the pulse in his neck jump against his skin.
"I heard you, Aunt Andais," I said, and this time my voice was as neutral as I could make it, bland and empty as a new penny. Someone was about to get hurt, and I didn't want it to be me. Frost was a fool. I'd have worn the clothes.
"What do you think we should do with our disobedient Frost?" she asked.
"Have him go to his room and change into the clothes," I said.
She pulled his head back until his spine bowed and I knew she could snap his neck with just a little more pressure. "That is hardly punishment enough, niece. He disobeyed a direct order of mine. That is not allowed."
I tried to think of something Andais would find amusing, but wouldn't actually be painful for Frost. My mind went blank. I'd never been good at this particular game. Then I had an idea.
"You said we wouldn't be playing any more games tonight, Aunt Andais. The night is short."
She released Frost so abruptly that he fell to the floor on all fours. He stayed kneeling, head bowed, silver hair hiding his face like a convenient curtain.
"So I did," Andais said. "Doyle."
Doyle came to her side, bowing his head. "M'lady?"
She looked at him, and the look was enough. He dropped to the floor onto one knee. The cloak spilled out around him like black water. He stayed kneeling beside Frost, so close their bodies nearly touched.
She put a hand on both their heads, a light touch this time. "Such a pretty pair, don't you think?"