Shoulders slumping, he followed her gratefully away. "All I did with it was steal them back," he said, voice a low thrum. "And all I did for it was...offer good service."
That was it, he realised. That was what had lifted from him, and left him almost nauseous with the resultant weightlessness. His children were safe and the Unseelie court hadn't quite the leash on him it had had the previous night.
But that meant nothing, he knew. He had done what his court had demanded and in doing so he had stumbled into wanting it. He couldn't give up Srathmarbh any more than he could give up Shamash and Ishtar all over again.
"Please don't thank me," he said, offering his hand for her to unbuckle the gauntlet. Suddenly, "Please don't talk, any more, of obligation—I've—you are not obliged to me," he said, "and I not—ah, no, what do I mean—I mean that I didn't do this, Alyosha, because I was obliged to, though I was. It was...its own reward, how trite, and...and only what—I want to give you, less than I want to give you. Oh, shitssake, shut me up."
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That was it, he realised. That was what had lifted from him, and left him almost nauseous with the resultant weightlessness. His children were safe and the Unseelie court hadn't quite the leash on him it had had the previous night.
But that meant nothing, he knew. He had done what his court had demanded and in doing so he had stumbled into wanting it. He couldn't give up Srathmarbh any more than he could give up Shamash and Ishtar all over again.
"Please don't thank me," he said, offering his hand for her to unbuckle the gauntlet. Suddenly, "Please don't talk, any more, of obligation—I've—you are not obliged to me," he said, "and I not—ah, no, what do I mean—I mean that I didn't do this, Alyosha, because I was obliged to, though I was. It was...its own reward, how trite, and...and only what—I want to give you, less than I want to give you. Oh, shitssake, shut me up."