was empty. The painted screens that divided the room were gone. The furniture on the other side was tumbled but intact. If not for the black streaks on the ivory walls that looked like lightning gone to ground, he might have thought they'd been moved to a different room, that it had been a hallucination of some kind.
He'd heard of Andulvar Yaslana, the Demon Prince. He knew it was a measure of his own terror that he found shivering comfort in having an Ebon-gray-Jeweled demon standing over him. "The High Lord?" he asked.
Andulvar stared at him. "He almost shattered the Black trying to keep you safe. He's exhausted, but he'll recover with a few days of rest." Then he snorted. "Besides, it'll give the waif an excuse to dose him with one of her restorative tonics, and that, thank the Darkness, should keep her from thinking too much about what happened."
"What did happen?"
Andulvar nodded at Friall. Beale was still waving smelling salts under Friall's nose, but the butler's expression strongly suggested he'd rather toss the intruder onto the drive and be done with it. "He pissed her off. Not a smart thing to do."
"Then she's unstable? Dangerous?"
Andulvar slowly spread his dark wings. He looked huge. And there was no concern in his gold eyes, only an unspoken threat.
"Simply by being Blood, we're all dangerous, Lord Magstrom," Andulvar growled softly. "She belongs to the family, and we belong to her. Never forget that." He folded his wings and crouched beside Magstrom's chair. "But in truth, Saetan's the only thing that stands between you and her. Don't forget that either."
An hour later, Magstrom and Friall's coach rolled down the well-kept drive, then onto the road that ran through Halaway.
It was dusk on a late summer afternoon. Wildflowers painted meadows with bright colors. Trees stretched their branches high above the road, creating cool tunnels. It was beautiful land, lovingly tended, shadowed for thousands of years by SaDiablo Hall and the man who ruled there.
Shadowed and protected.
Magstrom shivered. He was a Warlord who wore Summer-sky Jewels. He acted as the caretaker of the village where he'd been born and where he'd contentedly spent his life. Until he'd been asked to serve on the Dark Council, his dealings with those who wore darker Jewels had been diplomatic and, fortunately, seldom. The Blood in Goth, Little Terreille's capital, were interested in court intrigue, not in a village that looked across a river into the wooded land of Dea al Mon.
But now a curtain had been drawn back, just a little, and he had seen dark power, truly dark power.
Saetan's the only thing that stands between .you and her.
The girl had to stay with the High Lord, Magstrom thought as the coach rolled through Halaway to the landing web where they would catch the Winds and go home. For all their sakes, she had to stay.
Saetan woke slowly as someone settled on the end of his bed. Grunting, he propped himself up on one elbow and stroked the candle-light on the bedside table just enough to dimly light the room.
Jaenelle sat cross-legged on his bed, her eyes haunted, her face pinched and pale. She handed him a glass. "Drink this. It'll help soothe your nerves."
He took a sip and then another. It tasted of moonlight, summer heat, and cool water. "This is wonderful, witch-child. You should have a glass yourself."
"I've had two." She tried to smile but couldn't quite manage it. She fluffed her hair and bit her lower lip. "Saetan, I don't like what happened today. I don't like what. . . almost happened today."
He drained the glass, set it on the bedside table, and reached for her hand. "I'm glad. Killing should never be easy, witch-child. It should leave a scar on your soul. Sometimes it's necessary. Sometimes there's no choice if we're trying to defend what we cherish. But if there's an alternative, take it."
"They'd come here to condemn you, to hurt you. They had no right."
"I've been insulted by fools before. I survived."
Even in the dim light he saw her eyes change.
"Just because he was using words instead of a knife, you can't dismiss it, Saetan. He hurt you."
"Of course he hurt me," Saetan snapped. "Being accused of—" He closed his eyes and squeezed her hand. "I don't tolerate fools, Jaenelle, but I also don't kill them for being fools. I simply keep them out of my life." He sat up and took her other hand. "I am your sword and your shield, Lady. You don't have to kill."
Witch studied him with her ancient, haunted sapphire eyes. "You'll take the scars on your soul so that mine remains unmarked?"
"Everything has a price," he said gently. "Those kinds of scars are part of being a Warlord Prince. You're at a crossroads, witch-child. You can use your power to heal or to harm. It's your choice."
"One or the other?"
He kissed her hand. "Not always. As I said, sometimes destruction is necessary. But I think you're more suited to healing. It's the road I'd choose for you."
Jaenelle fluffed her hair. "Well, I do like making healing brews."
"I noticed," he said dryly.
She laughed, but the amusement quickly faded. "What will the Dark Council do?"
He leaned back on his pillows. "There's nothing they can do. I won't let them take you away from your family and friends."
She kissed his cheek. The last thing she said before she left his bedroom was, "And I won't let them put more scars on your soul."
2 / Kaeleer
He had expected it, even prepared for it. It still hurt.
Jaenelle stood silently in the petitioner's circle, her fingers demurely laced in front of her, her eyes fixed on the seal carved into the front of the blackwood bench where
the Tribunal sat. She wore a dress she had borrowed from one of her friends, and her hair was pulled back in a tight, neat braid.
Knowing the Council watched his every move, Saetan stared at nothing, waiting for the Tribunal to begin their vicious little game.
Because he had anticipated the Council's decision, he'd allowed no one but Andulvar to come with them. Andulvar could take care of himself. He would take care of Jaenelle. The moment the Tribunal announced the Council's verdict, the moment Jaenelle protested and turned to him for help . . .
Everything has a price.
Over 50,000 years ago, he'd been instrumental in creating the Dark Council. Now he'd destroy it. One word from her, and it would be done.
The First Tribune began to speak.
Saetan didn't listen. He scanned the faces of the Council. Some of the witches looked more troubled than angry. But most of their eyes glittered like feral, slithery things gathered for the kill. He knew some of them. Others were new, replacements for the fools who had challenged him once before in this room. As he watched them watching him, his regret at his decision to destroy them trickled away. They had no right to take his daughter away from him.
"—and so it's the careful opinion of this Council that appointing a new guardian would be in your best interest."
Tensed, Saetan waited for Jaenelle to turn to him. He'd gone deep into the Black before they'd reached the Council chambers. There were dark Jewels here that might hold out long enough to try to attack, but the Black unleashed would shatter every mind caught in the explosion of psychic energy. Andulvar was strong enough to ride out the psychic storm. Jaenelle would be held safe, protected in the eye of the storm.
Saetan took a deep breath.
Jaenelle looked at the First Tribune. "Very well," she said quietly, clearly. "When the sun next rises, you may appoint a new guardian—unless you reconsider your decision before then."
Saetan stared at her. No. No! She was the daughter of his soul, his Queen. She couldn't, wouldn't walk away from him.
She did.
She didn't look at him when she turned and walked down the center of the chamber to the doors at the far end. When she reached the doors, she sidestepped away from Andulvar's outstretched hand.
The doors closed.
Voices murmured. Colors swirled. Bodies moved past him.
He couldn't move. He'd thought he was too old for illusions, too heart-bruised to hope, too hardened to dream. He'd been wrong. Now he swallowed the bitterness of hope, choked on the ashes of dreams.
She didn't want him.
He wanted to die, wanted." desperately, that final death before pain and grief overwhelmed him.
"Let's get out of here, SaDiablo."
Andulvar led him away from the smug faces and the glittering eyes.
Tonight, before the sun rose again, he would find a way to die.
He'd forgotten the children would be waiting for him.
"Where's Jaenelle?" Karla asked, trying to look past him and Andulvar as they entered the family drawing room.
He wanted to slink away to his suite, where he could lick his wounds in private and decide how to accomplish the end.
He would lose them, too. They'd have no reason to visit, no reason to talk with him once Jaenelle was gone.
Tears pricked his eyes. Grief squeezed his throat.
"Uncle Saetan?" Gabrielle asked, searching his face.
Saetan cringed.
"What happened?" Morghann demanded. "Where's Jaenelle?"
Andulvar finally answered. "The Dark Council is going to choose another guardian. Jaenelle's not coming back."
"what?"they yelled in unison.
Their voices pummeled him, questioning, demanding. He was going to lose all of these children who had crept into his heart over the past few weeks, whom he'd foolishly allowed himself to love.
Karla raised her hand. The room was instantly silent. Gabrielle moved forward until the two girls stood shoulder to shoulder.
"The Council appointed another guardian," Karla said, spacing out the words as she narrowed her eyes.
"Yes," Saetan whispered. His legs were going to buckle. He had to get away from them before his legs buckled.
"They must be mad," Gabrielle said. "What did Jaenelle say?"