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"I have some ability to bend time backwards to recall memory," she said. "Though it can have some unpleasant effects when done so quickly. I've been told I'm impatient."
Her gaze shifted to Keldwyn, who had that bland look once more. She narrowed her eyes at him, but the expression became neutral when she turned it back to Uthe.
"Your patience and tolerance overwhelms me, Your Majesty," Uthe assured her. "You have my thanks for your assistance."
"Perhaps you could work on teaching Lord Keldwyn manners." Rhoswen tilted her head toward Keldwyn. "Your vampire friend is much better at talking to a Fae Queen."
"He's had limited exposure to you."
"Your Majesty," Uthe interjected as smoothly and swiftly as he could, to Cayden's visible relief when Uthe drew the Queen's attention back to him. "I know what I need your permission to do now. Are you aware of a place called the Shattered World?"
She was not quick enough to hide a startled look, but Keldwyn stiffened. "It is a place within our world," the Fae Lord said. "But no one goes there. No one who wishes to survive or be heard from again."
"That is not relevant to my goal." Uthe held the Queen's ice blue gaze. "Your father put something there for me years ago for safe keeping, until the time came when I could address its ultimate destiny."
"What was it?"
Uthe had been at a disadvantage throughout this interchange, and this part wasn't going to help matters, but he knew anything less than honesty would be a grave error in judgment. "I am oath-bound not to reveal that to anyone until I have no other choice left, my lady. It is important to both our peoples that I do not. To the human world also. Throughout this quest, the less who have known about it, the better. I do not wish to abandon that wisdom now, particularly if it might repay Your Majesty with anything less than kindness for your forbearance."
She stared at him, long enough he felt the piercing pain of a stare made of ice. "I am aware of the warnings and constraints of magic and would not push them out of mere curiosity, Lord Uthe. What if I forbid you passage in my world? What will you do then?"
"Do what I can to change your mind."
"And if I tell you I am done with this and will not speak of it again, on pain of death to the one who dares to defy me?"
"My death is God's will, my lady. I must serve it as long as I'm able."
"Your method of evasion indicates you are far too clever for your own good and cursed with an overabundance of stubbornness. No wonder my lord Keldwyn is fond of you."
She didn't mean it as a compliment, her displeasure unfurling like a frosty wind. Uthe owed the Vampire Council and Lyssa his allegiance, and disrupting the tentatively mending relationship between the two species would definitely conflict with that. But unfortunately, this was more important. His mind was still in disarray. Rhoswen forcibly shoving him into the past had left a painful vibration through him, as if a foot wide strip of skin had been torn from inside his chest wall. Regardless, he reached past it for his usual diplomacy, looking for something that wouldn't make his refusal seem like defiance.
Keldwyn spoke instead. "Your Majesty, might I request a private audience with you after I escort Lord Uthe back to his chambers? I think it best if he recovers his strength and sensibilities before you continue this conversation. He's fairly disoriented right now and I'm sure he doesn't wish to insult you."
Being escorted back to his room like a feeble old man. Uthe wanted to snarl, but Keldwyn didn't give him much choice, hauling him up and propelling him into motion. Since Uthe couldn't yet walk a straight line, resisting would be an awkward and humiliating one-sided fight. "Let me see what I can do," Keldwyn muttered as he took them out of range of the Fae Queen and her bodyguard.
"I don't require you to do anything. I'm capable of managing this."
"You are quite capable, Lord Uthe, but there's a reason I'm a liaison." He gripped Uthe's arm through the tuxedo coat. "Shouldn't I earn my considerable salary?"
"Your liaison role is for Council business, and we don't pay you a salary."
"Well, you should. And this is Council business, in a sense, if it concerns the wellbeing of all of us."
"When did I say that?"
Keldwyn stopped him in the hallway. "A few moments ago, to the Queen. You'd recall it if the Queen hadn't dunked you into your past like a puppy in cold bathwater."
Uthe was ready to fight with him, accuse him of telling Uthe he'd said things he never had, trying to confuse him, but Kel's explanation made sense and calmed his racing heart. He had to get control of the panic. The panic made it worse.
"Lord Uthe." Keldwyn's voice was firm, his glance even more so as he directed him into his room. Cool, blissfully cool. He shouldn't be craving the touch of his own sheets the way he did right now. "This is not a matter of pride but of practicality. Lie down until the effects of your vision wear off. Even the lightest touch of Fae magic can be very powerful when you're not used to the effects on your mind. Until you regain your bearings, you are like a spinning top with no direction."
Uthe started to peel his lips back in a fang-baring response, but Keldwyn touched his face, distracting him. "Uthe," he said quietly. "Let me help. Showing the Queen what is in all our best interests is something I do better than most. Certainly better than a vampire."
Uthe snorted. "She likes you only marginally more than she likes my kind."
"That may be true. But I'm still family, in a way. She has to put up with me. As you heard, I haven't outlived my usefulness yet." He sobered again, held Uthe's gaze. "I will not betray you in this."
He didn't have much choice, did he? Somehow, while he was mulling that over, Kel eased him to the edge of the bed, helped him remove the coat. As he opened Uthe's shirt, the male's fingertips slid against his bare skin, since vampires had no chest hair to interfere with the sensation of contact. He took off his own shoes and slacks, though the Fae stood close, as if he expected Uthe to topple over like a three-legged chair. Since Uthe wasn't sure if he was right, he maintained a sullen silence and stretched out on the bed in his shorts. It was less than he normally wore to bed, but he was recuperating, not sleeping.
"I'll lay down for a short while, but I need to attend to other business. How long a recuperation will this require?"
"Probably an hour at most. Maybe a half hour, given you have a strong mind and constitution." Keldwyn adjusted the pillow beneath his head.
"I have been putting myself into bed for some time, my lord."
"Indeed." But Keldwyn trailed his fingers over Uthe's short crop.
"What she wants to know, I can't give her." Uthe
spoke to derail his mind from the direction the Fae's peculiar behavior was taking him. Keldwyn's touch drifted from his scalp to his naked shoulder, over the curve of his pectoral. Uthe's nipple became taut in anticipation of a caress. He grasped Keldwyn's wrist, stopping him. "But what can I offer that will help you convince her?"
"Your motive." Keldwyn withdrew and took a seat at the foot of the bed, his hip pressed against Uthe's leg. "You may be easy on hers. She is not trying to take from you what you are seeking. Whatever Lord Reghan placed in the Shattered World would not be beneficial to the Fae world. She has enough confidence in his memory for that not to be an issue. Her main concern is allowing a vampire into her world whose purpose she does not understand."
"Hmm." Uthe closed his eyes. "Would she understand who the Templars were? Who they were meant to be, no matter what they became?"
"Perhaps. What did they mean to you?"
"Pure service. The mercy of that is almost a forgotten memory. To serve simply because it is just and right, for the higher good, not for any purpose of your own." Uthe mumbled the last part, but opened his eyes before he could get lost in the rumination. The disorientation, the need for Keldwyn's assistance, had made him feel like a child. Yet the Fae seeking Uthe's counsel reminded him of who and what he was. It returned his sense of order and let him focus on the truth, the best thing he could offer the Unseelie Queen. "Tell her that is my intent. I was charged to do something centuries ago, and I must finish it, to honor my oath of service."
"Hmm." Keldwyn pursed his lips and ran a fingertip along Uthe's jaw. "I hope you will remember those words when I return to you, my lord. They intrigue me no little amount."
"I will be here," Uthe said. "Until I am not."
He didn't remember Keldwyn leaving, but when he opened his eyes again, it was forty-five minutes later. His mind was once again settled and clear, though beset by a sense of urgency. Everything was coming together quickly. Perhaps it had been planned that way all along, which was comforting, the idea of a Grand Plan driving him. It might be in conflict with the inexplicable chaos of other outcomes bearing down on him, such that he wasn't sure how to process the whole picture, but he would deal with it the best possible way. One painful thing at a time, and he knew what was next.
