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over how much he loved him.
Gael. He couldn't give up now. The Ceremony& how far away was it now? Surely he hadn't been unconscious more than a
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few hours& a day or two at most. That meant the Ceremony was between seven and nine days away. Would Ailill have his
message by now?
Stupid. That's what he'd been. He should have gone for help - at least then someone else would have known&
The thought was too hard to think. Noire choked back a sob of disbelief and made himself sit up. He swung his legs over
the side of the bed and buried his head in his hands.
Queen Etain herself& why? Noire closed his eyes and struggled to remember all that had happened.
Not much. He'd gone prepared to fight& even a Beast or two he could have handled. Their compulsions would have been
difficult to counter, but he'd been taught how to fight them to some degree&
Why? That was what confused him. Everyone knew the stories of the Faerie Queen and Guardians. She united everyone,
brought children and Beasts and Guardians together. Their love for each other was deep and true; they were all that
siblings should be&
The Unicorn and Pegasus belong to me, and I am tired of you and that other always taking them away.
Noire repeated the words over and over in his head, willing them to make sense.
& Jealousy? Surely not. That was absurd. Why would the Faerie Queen be jealous of him? He was nothing. A poor cross-
breed from the mountains who had been born with a Form that had been a curse as much as a blessing& he had precious
few friends, even less respect from society& no one wanted his position, constantly running back and forth, sniffing out
potential problems. Those few things that meant everything to him would mean nothing to anyone else. He didn't have
riches, not really. Gael was the only thing of true importance in his life, and everyone knew of his love and loyalty to his
Queen.
There was absolutely no reason the Queen should be jealous of Noire. Just thinking it made him feel presumptuous.
Who was 'the other'? Noire shook his head where it rested in his hands, willing the mysteries to resolve themselves.
All he wanted was to know that Gael would be all right. Had his stupidity tonight somehow guaranteed that Gael would die
soon? Was it his fault the Ceremony might fail?
He couldn't give up, he couldn't. Gael would never give up on him.
If only-oh, what did it matter. He could say 'if only' all night and eventually he'd wind up at the starting point - if only he
hadn't snuck out after Gael at that party.
He hadn't even planned on going. That entire week had been an agony like no other. Newly appointed as Freddie's
messenger, Noire had thought people would finally soften toward him, that a few of the cooler individuals would finally thaw,
smile, maybe offer him some small welcome& .instead they'd only grown colder.
It had been devastating.
Unable to bear staying in the Silver Palace, he had taken Freddie's advice and gone to the party being thrown at the
Unicorn's country manor - the reason for it Noire no longer remembered.
All he'd cared about at first was being invisible. Two seconds after arriving he'd realized it was stupid to think one party
would be different from another.
Then he'd seen the Unicorn&
Never had he thought a man could be that beautiful. The Grand Duke was tall and slender, not soft like so many nobles but
neither was he as rough and labor-hardened as Noire, who felt even more like an imposter staring at the man.
His hair& it really was like gold, so fine against his lightly tanned skin. The white looked strange on him, but not in the
slightest bit wrong.
Just as Noire had realized he was staring, however, the Grand Duke vanished in a crowd of people.
Noire had felt bereft. In desperate need of a closer look, to see if his eyes had been deceiving him. When he'd noticed a
flash of white in the yard from where he'd been hiding on a balcony, he'd given in to impulse&
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When he'd been caught& never in his wildest imaginings had he ever thought the Unicorn would want him. Love him.
Now he was on the verge of losing him, all because he'd been too stupid to ask someone for help. All because he'd been
careless about seeing Gael. Not willing to listen when Gael told him not to do it.
He wouldn't give up though. If he'd been put in here, there had to be a way out. He would find it, and then he would save
Gael from the Faerie Queen.
Ailill finished closing the laces on his shirt as he stepped into the foyer.
A footman of the Silver Palace. Who had claimed he needed to speak immediately with the White Panther, on a matter that
quite possibly meant life or death. Fingers lightly touched his back as Ivan came in behind him. "What is the matter?"
The footman looked as though he were going to be ill any moment. "M-mi'lord, he said to wait until noon, but it's not like
him& "
"Start at the beginning," Ailill said sharply. "What is the problem?" He put compulsions behind the words - to calm down, to
obey. The footman eased visibly beneath the silent commands, and held out a leather case he'd been holding tightly to his
chest.
Ailill drew a sharp breath. "That& " he immediately took it as the footman began to speak.
"He came out, wearing a sword and everything, just past three in the morning, my lord. Said that if he did not return before
noon, then I was to see you got that at all costs, and to give it to her Grace if you could not be found."
Three in the morning& it was just past four now. "You did well," Ailill said. "Return to your post. Speak to no one, not even
her Grace, until I give you leave. Thank you for bringing this immediately to me."
"My lord," the footman said, then bowed and fled the room.
Ailill moved to the desk and opened the case.
Just his necklace& Noire wouldn't simply hand it back. What was going on here?
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