I almost whispered his name but stopped in time. I held a hand out toward him. He laid his great furred head in my hand, then there was an instant of warm mist and prickling magic. Doyle stood before me, nude and perfect. He wore the only metal that seemed to have survived the transformation, the silver earrings that peeked from the fall of his ankle-length hair. Even the tie for his hair was gone.
He was unarmed and alone inside the Seelie mound. The danger he had exposed himself to made my stomach clench tightly. In that moment I feared for him more than for myself.
He took me in his arms, and I clung to him. Clung to the feel of his skin, the strength of him. I moved my head too quickly, and a wave of nausea blurred my vision. He seemed to sense it because he moved me to lay more prone in his arms. He knelt in the white-and-gold corridor, his darkness repeated in the mirrors as he held me.
There was a glitter on his cheeks, and I saw the Darkness cry for only the second time ever.
Chapter 27
I KNELT ON THE MARBLE IN DOYLE'S ARMS, MY HEAD RESTING ON his chest. Just his touch seemed to ease some of my pain.
"How?" I asked.
He seemed to understand exactly what I wanted to know, as he often did. "This is not the first time I have come here in this guise. Many of the fey hounds began as black dogs. I am just one who has not chosen a master. I am quite the favorite among those who have not been blessed with a dog. They offer me choice tidbits and call me sweet names."
"He is skittish, and will not let them lay hands on him," Lady Elasaid said.
"He plays the dog to perfection," Hugh said.
Doyle looked up at them. "It is not play. It is a true form for me."
There was silence for a second, then Hugh asked, "Is the Darkness truly the father of one of your children?"
"Yes," I said. I held him as tightly as I could without moving my head too much. "It is too dangerous for you to be here. If you are discovered..."
He kissed my forehead as gently as a feather's touch. "I would brave much more than this for you, my princess."
My fingers dug into his arm and back. "I could not bear to lose you and Frost. I could not bear it."
"We have heard rumor of the Killing Frost, but we thought it only rumor," Hugh said.
"Is he truly dead?" Lady Elasaid asked.
"He is the white stag in truth," Doyle said.
Hugh knelt beside us, smiling. "He is not dead then, Princess. In three years, or seven, or a hundred and seven he will return to his true self."
"What good is a hundred years to a mortal lover, Sir Hugh? His child will never know him while I still live."
Hugh's eyes flared as if someone had struck the embers of his power. There was a moment of fire in his eyes, like looking into two small fireplaces. He blinked and his eyes were only the colors of fire. "I have no words of comfort then, but the black dog's presence is one of the things we nobles have done to keep your aunt from starting true war with us. He will remain close to your side."
I grabbed Hugh's sleeve. "He is weaponless in this form. If discovered, can you protect him?"
"I am the captain of your guard, Merry. I protect you," Doyle said.
I leaned harder against the solidness of him, my hand on the other man's sleeve. "You are one half of a breeding royal pair. You are king to my queen. If you die, the chance of other children dies with you."
"She is right, Darkness," Hugh said. "It has been too long since there was life in the royal bloodline."
"I am not of the bloodline," Doyle said. His deep voice seemed to echo off the mirrors.
"We know the princess has made Maeve Reed, once the goddess Conchenn, with child by her human husband. We also hear rumors that one of your male guards has made a female guard pregnant," Hugh said.
"Truth," I said.
"If you could make one of us who is of the pure Seelie line pregnant, then all the king's support would fall away from him. I am sure of that," Hugh said.
Lady Elasaid knelt on the other side of us. "Most of his supporters are convinced that only the mongrels are breedable. They have decided that they would rather die as a race than pollute their blood. If you could prove them wrong on this, they would follow you."
"Some," Hugh said, "but not all. Some hate too deeply."
She nodded. "As you say, Hugh." There was something intriguing about the way she said it, the way she lowered her eyes.
"You want you and Hugh to be the experiment," I said.
She blinked at me. "Experiment?"
Hugh took her hand in his. "Yes, we would like very much to have a child of our own."
"When I am healed and safe, and my people are safe, then I would be happy to try a spell for you," I said.
Some tension went out of them, and they smiled at me, as if I'd told them that tomorrow was Yule and their most long-for present was under the tree. I wanted to warn them that until the ring and the Goddess had told me they were breedable, I could guarantee nothing.
Doyle's arms tightened around me. He was right; now was not the time to undermine our allies' confidence in us. We needed them to get us out of here. I needed a hospital or a healer who could lay hands. And I never, ever wanted to go back to Taranis's bed.
I shivered, and fought to not move my head when I did it.
"Are you cold?" Doyle asked.
"Nothing that a blanket can help."
"I will slay him for you."
"No, no, you will live for me. Vengeance is cold comfort on a winter's night. I want you warm and alive beside me more than I want my honor avenged." I moved as carefully as I could until I could see his face. "As your princess, and future queen, I order you to forget vengeance for this. I am the injured party, not you. If I say it's not as important to me as the feel of you in my arms, you must honor that."