Pushing through the shadows, I landed on my feet, surrounded by a stunned ring of cait sidhe. "Father! Face me!"
Across the room, Father turned with an expression half-boredom and half-gloating. I caught the briefest glimpse of the figure before him as he moved. She was pale and unmoving, and I did not need to see her face; her hair was like the London fog. My heart died a little in that moment.
"She did nothing wrong," I half-whispered.
"She failed to counsel you to patience," Ainmire, my once Father, replied. "She was never fit to be a Queen."
"She was my sister, and I loved her."
"Then you should have thought before you struck me." He began to circle, setting the edges of what would be our battleground. "You knew what you did. You did it all the same."
"If we stay here, all of us will die." I said, clearly, using the tricks of the stage so that every cait sidhe would hear me.
"How would you know that? The mortal world has burned before, and the seal-kin are not of our kind. Their prophecies do not bind us. The world can always do with fewer human rats."
"She was my sister!" I repeated, and leapt. Not toward him--into the darkness. The shadows opened for my passage, closing behind me. Ainmire was stronger than myself, this I knew, but I was the more cunning. Besides, I had the right in this contest and the shadows, besides.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2014-11-06 09:46 pm (UTC)Across the room, Father turned with an expression half-boredom and half-gloating. I caught the briefest glimpse of the figure before him as he moved. She was pale and unmoving, and I did not need to see her face; her hair was like the London fog. My heart died a little in that moment.
"She did nothing wrong," I half-whispered.
"She failed to counsel you to patience," Ainmire, my once Father, replied. "She was never fit to be a Queen."
"She was my sister, and I loved her."
"Then you should have thought before you struck me." He began to circle, setting the edges of what would be our battleground. "You knew what you did. You did it all the same."
"If we stay here, all of us will die." I said, clearly, using the tricks of the stage so that every cait sidhe would hear me.
"How would you know that? The mortal world has burned before, and the seal-kin are not of our kind. Their prophecies do not bind us. The world can always do with fewer human rats."
"She was my sister!" I repeated, and leapt. Not toward him--into the darkness. The shadows opened for my passage, closing behind me. Ainmire was stronger than myself, this I knew, but I was the more cunning. Besides, I had the right in this contest and the shadows, besides.