Last week I gave you a randomly chosen snippet from The Artist's Masquerade, and since I'm no more on top of anything this week than I was last, I'm giving you another random snippet this week. Kind of random, anyway. Last week I flipped open The Artist's Masquerade to the random page 170. This week I grabbed The Prince's Consort and purposely chose page 170 to give you a snippet. As a bit of background, an attempt on Amory's life as just been made in which he was badly injured. The healers have done their work, and Philip is seeing Amory for the first time since it happened.
For a while, he stood in the bedchamber doorway, staring at the sleeping figure in the large bed. After a day spent wishing he could rush to Amory’s side, he was oddly hesitant. He could have lost Amory. Slowly, he walked until he was standing at the bedside looking down at the man he loved.
Amory’s skin, always ivory pale, was nearly translucent, and purple smudges darkened the delicate skin under his eyes. He looked exhausted even in sleep, but he was alive and well, and Philip couldn’t ask for more.
He didn’t want to disturb Amory. Even without Jadis’s warning, he could see Amory needed sleep. But Philip had to touch him, had to prove Amory was real and not the figment of his terrified mind. He brushed Amory’s tousled curls from his forehead, smoothing them back. Giving in to temptation, he trailed his fingers gently over Amory’s face, tracing the beloved features. He froze when Amory’s nose scrunched up.