A Lick of Frost
By
Laurell K. Hamilton
A LICK OF FROST
CHAPTER 1
I WAS SITTING IN AN ELEGANT CONFERENCE ROOM IN THE TOP of one of the
gleaming towers that make up part of downtown Los Angeles. The room's far wall was
almost entirely of glass, so that the view was nearly agoraphobic. They're predicting that if
the big one, the big earthquake that is, hits this section of L. A. will be eight to fifteen feet
deep in glass. Anything on the streets below will be cut to pieces, crushed, or trapped
underneath an avalanche of glass. Not a pretty thought, but it was a day for ugly thoughts.
My uncle Taranis, King of Light and Illusion, had pressed charges against three of my
royal bodyguards. He had gone to the human authorities with charges that Rhys, Galen,
and Abe had raped one of his court's women.
In all the long history of his reign in the Seelie Court he had never gone outside to the
humans for justice. Faerie rule; faerie law. Or truthfully, sidhe rule; sidhe law. The Sidhe
had ruled faerie for longer than anyone could remember. Since some of those memories
stretched back thousands of years, maybe the sidhe had always been in charge, but it
tasted like a lie. The sidhe do not lie, for to truly lie is to be cast out of faerie, exiled. Since
I knew that the three bodyguards in question were innocent, that raised interesting
problems with Lady Caitrin's testimony.
But today we were just giving statements, and, depending on how that went King Taranis
was standing by for a group call. Which was why Simon Biggs and Thomas Farmer, both
of Biggs, Biggs, Farmer, and Farmer, was sitting beside me.
"Thank you for agreeing to this meeting today, Princess Meredith," one of the suits across
the table said. There were seven suits across the wide, gleaming table, with their backs to
the lovely view.
Ambassador Stevens, official ambassador to the courts of faerie, was sitting on our side of
the table, but he was on the far side of Biggs and Farmer. Stevens said, "A word on faerie
etiquette: You don't say thank you to the people of faerie, Mr. Shelby. Princess Meredith
as one of the younger royals will probably not be offended, but you will be dealing with
some nobility who are much older. Not all of them will allow a thank you to pass without
grave insult." Stevens smiled when he said it, his blandly handsome face sincere from his
