Page 42 of Obsidian Prince

Doctor Nudd downed the last of his beer. He patted Liliana's uninjured shoulder. "I'll come back to check on you in a few days to make sure you’re back on your feet." He grinned down at her. "The new pride-king's champion will, no doubt, have duties."

Liliana grinned back at his left ear. There was gray and brown hair growing out of it. Doctor Nudd understood. "I'll have duties in the beast-kin court." She giggled. "Just like the Fae prince's Merlin has, and the Fae court Guardian!"

She raised a hand toward Siobhan, two fingers up and crooked.

The sprite hooked two fingers with hers, then pulled.

Liliana pulled back, straightening her fingers as the sprite did. They pointed them at each other and said, "Pow!" at the same time.

The spider seer found this new social ritual as odd as all the other ones she’d learned, but this one was satisfying in the moment. It was nice to have someone else understand how fundamentally her life had changed.

"Later, Champion," Siobhan said on the way out.

"Later, Guardian," Liliana said back.

She asked Doctor Nudd to leave the door open a crack so that whoever came next could just come in. That way she wouldn't have to get up.

Liliana had never in her life had so many people in her house in one day. She felt like she sort of had a party, just not all at once. She giggled to herself.

She closed her eyes for a moment, then looked up, confused by the odd change in light. Her clocks said it was past eight. Her windows were dark. She must have dozed off for a while. Doctor Nudd's medicine was still going strong. She felt no pain and no inclination to move.

A deep voice said her name, "Liliana?"

"Yes?"

Alexander Bennett stood in her entryway holding a gun while looking around her house.

She sighed. "I thought we were past the gun pointing thing."

"Your door was open. I thought something was wrong."

"Nothing is wrong. So many people have been in and out of my house today, I got tired of opening the door."

He closed the door. The lock clicked. "Who was here?" He walked into her living room, still looking around warily as if he expected something dangerous to pop up out of her cupboards.

"Nearly everyone I know."

The spider-kin watched him scope out her living space. He was so tall and his shoulders were so broad that her living room seemed cramped in comparison. Strange that Doctor Nudd was even taller and Pete was just as broad-shouldered, yet neither of them seemed to fill up space like Alexander did.

He relaxed after another moment. Apparently, her bookshelves weren't going to attack. He looked down at the spider-kin stretched out on the couch with her bad arm snugged against her belly and her ankle propped on the couch arm. "You look terrible," he said.

Liliana giggled. "I don't think you're supposed to say that, even if it's true. Isn't there a social rule against it?"

"Undoubtedly." He put the gun in the holster at his hip.

"Why are you here, Alexander? Even spider-kin don't heal that fast."

He chuckled. "I wanted to see if you needed anything. It looks like I was last in line."

"I have pie. And a big bag of money. And good painkillers. I am glad you came, though."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"You could kiss me again. I like it when you kiss me." Liliana pushed the melted bags of ice and the dishtowels on the floor. She held out her good arm to him, making grabby motions with her hand.

The prince smiled at her, one of his tiny, real amused smiles, not his broad fake politician's smile, or the hungry shark smile he gave her after she killed Tray Bradley. "Those must be some really good painkillers."

"I like your smile, too, when it's real.”

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