Perfect Shadows by Burke Siobhan

Author:Burke, Siobhan [Burke, Siobhan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Stellar Phoenix Books
Published: 2013-01-12T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, eyed the dark figure shadowing the Queen for a moment before wandering off in search of Essex, his thoughts chaotic. They had received the invitation—the summons rather, from Almsbury that afternoon, and even given Roger’s perpetually sullen and bellicose mood of late, had felt the demand arrogant in the extreme, although Essex had overreacted, in Hal’s opinion. After all, it was he, not Robin, whom the prince had disarmed with a lazy grace that was the purest form of insult, and not once, but twice. Even then, though sorely vexed, Hal had found the man as disturbingly attractive as he was profoundly aggravating.

He located Robin closeted with his stepfather Blount and old Selby, and leant against the wall, waiting. “He’s here,” he announced laconically during a lull in the conversation, then drifted over to the table to pour some wine. The three were looking at him expectantly, so he raised his cup with an exaggerated flourish. “Her Majesty’s sinister Shadow, even now,” he said, and drained it, watching Essex’s reaction over the cup’s rim with an interest that was more than a little tinged with malice. Robin leapt to his feet, knocking the stool sideways into the fireplace. Blount swore and pulled it away, using it as an excuse not to look at his stepson, while Lord Selby flushed and licked at lips gone suddenly dry. Essex, by force of will, regained his control.

“Is he, by God,” was all he said before striding from the room, followed seconds later by the others.

No one could have staged a scene more carefully to goad Essex than the one that met his eye. Kryštof was leaning sideways against the back of Elizabeth’s chair, toying with her ruff and jewelry, whispering in her ear. He straightened at the sight of the approaching earl, and allowed a complacent, goading smile to flit briefly across his lips before schooling his features into indifference. Essex, more than half in his cups, flushed an ugly red color, and leapt forward to strike his rival away from the throne. Kryštof stumbled from the dais, regained his balance and whirled to face his assailant, only to step back with hands raised when he saw that Essex had done the unthinkable: he had drawn unbated steel in the presence of his Sovereign.

Essex advanced until he stood with his rapier held lightly against his rival’s throat. His hand shook and a drop of blood welled beneath the rapier’s tip, dark as a garnet against that silken white skin. It seemed to break the spell that held the entire court motionless. Uttering a curse, Southampton flung himself between them, pushing the rapier-point to the ground with his forearm, incidentally slashing the prince’s doublet and the shirt beneath from neck to navel, his own arm protected by his padded and jeweled sleeve. Blount leapt to place himself between the Queen and Essex. A thin line of dark blood traced the weapon’s path down Kryštof ’s chest. Selby tittered

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.