(eng) Mercedes Lackey & Roberta Gellis - Doubled Edge 04 by And Less Than Kind

Author:And Less Than Kind [Kind, And Less Than]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

An ogre and two trolls had fallen out over a trembling mortal, too frightened even to scream—but not too frightened to scurry on hands and knees under the benches and between the legs of the other creatures watching the fight. Vidal and Aurilia, seated in their great chairs of bone on the black marble dais veined with red, also watched with amused smiles.

The mortal was not worth fighting over; diseased and emaciated, it would not have lived much longer if the foraging party from the Dark Court had not taken it. There was not enough life in it to make it worth a Dark Sidhe claiming it, but the fear that was draining what remained of its life force tainted the air of the Court and Vidal sucked it in.

It did not get far. Two rows down a goblin felt its passing, seized it and twisted its neck. Usually the goblin would have eaten what it could while the mortal was alive, to enjoy its screaming, but if it screamed here everyone would know it was caught and want a piece. The goblin picked out and ate both eyes and then bit off the flesh of one cheek. It only bled a little, but the goblin's neighbors smelled the blood and fell upon their fellow to tear away what they could.

The flurry of activity alerted the neighbors of the ogre and the trolls, and they rushed to seize what was left from the goblins. Aurilia and Vidal laughed at the antics, and laughed harder as the more fragile but cleverer members of the court, the witches, lamias, succubi, and incubi sneaked away bloody gobbets from the duller but more powerful creatures in the struggling mass.

One or two of the Dark Sidhe, the weakest and least favored, began to look interested in the remains, but although Cretchar had not been offered any share in the spoils of the foraging party, he only laughed. He and Paschenka had collected a whole family only two days before, and there had been a nice, plump three-year-old that Paschenka did not want. Delicious. He watched the spreading chaos with an indulgent smile.

The uproar was terrific and more and more of the Court was getting involved. A goblin was thrown and struck one of the Dark Sidhe. He rose from his seat, blue light flickering on one hand. Aurilia laid a hand on Vidal's arm. She was no longer laughing. When levin bolts were loosed serious accidents could happen.

"Stop!" Vidal roared, and a mist of flickering bright motes drifted from the chair on the dais over the struggling throng.

The Dark Sidhe who could build shields stood and sat untouched, laughing harder as most of the Court jumped about and slapped at the motes that stung and burned. At the same time, the command Vidal had issued rolled through the room, gaining rather than losing volume. The fighting died down; quiet came faster as they realized there was nothing to fight over any longer—a cracked bone or two, a small patch of straggling hair.

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