Queen of the Darkness

Page 60

 

  "I'm sure it's not," Saetan replied gently. "I expect it's just the usual information Lord Magstrom sent me after a service fair—a confirmation more than anything else. "

  The man's relief was visible.

  Saetan glanced at the Warlord's Yellow Jewel. "May I offer you the use of a Coach to take you home?"

  "Oh, I don't want to put you through any bother. "

  "It's no bother—and with a driver who can ride the darker Winds, you'll be home in time to have dinner with your Lady. "

  The Warlord hesitated a moment longer. "Thank you. I—don't like to be away from her too long. " He looked a little sheepish. "She says I fuss. "

  Saetan smiled. "You're going to become a father. You're entitled to fuss. " He led the man out of the study, gave Beale instructions about the Coach, and returned to Daemon and Lucivar. Using the letter opener on his desk, he carefully slit the envelope. He called in his half-moon glasses, opened the letter, and began to read.

  "You got reports from Magstrom about the service fair?" Lucivar asked, accepting the glass of brandy Daemon poured for him.

  "No. " And the more he read, the less he liked receiving this one. As he read the letter a second time, he barely listened to Daemon's and Lucivar's conversation—until Daemon said something that caught his attention. "What did you say?"

  "I said Lord Magstrom had indicated that he was going to send letters to some of the Queens outside of Little Terreille," Daemon repeated, swirling the brandy in his glass. "But after Jorval took over handling my immigration, I was told that the Queens outside of Little Terreille wouldn't consider a Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince. "

  Lucivar snorted. "Jorval probably arranged for the letters not to be sent. Hell's fire, Daemon, you've met the other Territory Queens. They're the coven. If a letter had reached any one of them, she would have had her Steward at the service fair to sign the contract as fast as he could travel. "

  "Read this," Saetan said, handing the letter to Daemon.

  "I don't understand," Daemon said when he'd read half the letter. "Aren't the lists supposed to indicate every immigrant at the service fair?"

  "Yes, they are," Lucivar said grimly, reading over Daemon's shoulder. "And you weren't on any of them. " He looked at Saetan. "I did mention that at the time. "

  "Yes, you did," Saetan replied, "but, since Daemondid end up in the Dark Court, I failed to appreciate the significance of that remark. "

  Daemon handed the letter back to Saetan. "There must have been a list somewhere. Otherwise, how would the Queens in Little Terreille have known I was available?"

  Saetan kept his voice mild. "What Queens were those?"

  "There were four Queens in Little Terreille who were willing to have me," Daemon said slowly. "Jorval insisted they were the only ones. "

  "So, if you hadn't met Lucivar by chance. . . "

  Daemon froze. "I would have signed a contract with one of them. "

  Swearing quietly, Lucivar started to pace.

  Saetan just nodded. "You would have signed a contract with one of Jorval’s handpicked Queens, and you would have ended up tucked away somewhere in Little Terreille— with no one else aware that youwere there. "

  "What would have been the point of that?" Daemon said irritably.

  "In Little Terreille they use the Ring of Obedience on immigrating males," Lucivar snapped. "That's the point. It would have been Terreille all over again. "

  "Not necessarily," Saetan said, still keeping his voice mild. "If Daemon was well treated, was handled with care—which I'm sure was part of the agreement—he would have had no reasonnot to use the strength of his Jewels against an enemy who was threatening the Queen he served. And after the first unleashing of the Black, there would have been no turning back. The lines would have been drawn. "

  Daemon stared at him.

  "What does it matter?" Lucivar said, looking at the two of them uneasily. "Daemon's with us. "

  "Yes," Saetan said softly, "he is. But where are the other men whose names disappeared from those lists?"

  8 / Kaeleer

  The golden spider studied the two tangled webs of dreams and visions.

  More deaths. Many deaths.

  It was time.

  Remember this web. Remember every strand, every thread.

  Throughout the cold season, she had been pulled away from her own dreaming, compelled to study the web that had shaped this living myth, the Queen who was Witch. And she had realized it would not be enough, because living inside the flesh had changed this dream. It wasmore now. And, somehow, she needed to add that "more" to the web. Without it, Kaeleer's Heart would be gone for too many seasons—and would not be quite the same when the dream returned.

  She continued to study the webs.

  The brown dog, Ladvarian, was the key. He would be able to bring her the "more" she needed.

  Yes. It was time.

  She returned to the chamber within the sacred caves, and began to weave the web for dreams that were already made flesh.

  Chapter Thirteen

  1 / Kaeleer

  The First Circle of the Dark Court gathered at the Keep. At least, the humans in the First Circle had gathered, Saetan amended as he listened to Khardeen's grim report about the attacks that had taken place in Scelt during the past three weeks. There had been attackseverywhere in the last three weeks. Maybe that was why the kindred hadn't answered Jaenelle's summons to come to the Keep. Maybe the kindred Queens and Warlord Princes didn't dare withdraw their strength away from their own lands. Or maybe it was the beginning of a rift between humans and kindred. Maybe they were withdrawing from what they considered a human conflict in order to save themselves.

  But he would have thought Ladvarian, at the very least, would have come so that he could explain things to the rest of the kindred. He would have realized the conflict wouldn't be confined to humans. Hell's fire, kindred hadalready been attacked.

  But Ladvarian wasn't there—and it worried him.

  Two other things worried him: the flickers of grief and resignation he was picking up from Andulvar, Prothvar, and Mephis—who had all fought, and died, in the last war between Terreille and Kaeleer—and the fact that Jaenelle had been sitting there for the past two hours with such blankness in her eyes he started to wonder if she hadn't created a simple shadow to fill a space at the table.

  "Just defending against these attacks isn't going to save our lands or our people," Aaron said. "There are Terreillean armies gathering against us. If the enemy who's alreadyin Kaeleer gains control of a Gate and opens it for those armies. . . We need to do somethingnow. "

  "Yes, you do need to do something," Jaenelle said in a hollow voice. "You need to retreat. "

  Protests from all sides rose up in a wave of sound.

  "You need to retreat," Jaenelle repeated. "And you will send all of the Queens and Warlord Princes in your Territories to the Keep. "

  Stunned silence met that statement.

  "But, Jaenelle," Morghann said after a moment, "the Warlord Princes are needed to lead the fighting. And asking Queens to leave their lands while their people are under attack . . . "

  "They won't be needed if the people retreat. "

  "Just how far are we supposed to retreat?" Gabrielle snapped.

  "As far as necessary. "

  Aaron shook his head. "We need to gather our warriors into armies to fight against the Terreilleans and—"

  "Kaeleerwill not go to war with Terreille," Jaenelle said in her midnight voice.

  Chaosti sprang up from his seat. "We're already at war!"

  "No, we are not. "

  "So we're at war with Little Terreille, since that's where these attackers have been hiding," Lucivar growled. "It's the same thing. "

  Jaenelle's eyes turned to ice. "We're not at war with anyone. "

  "Cat, you're not thinking—"

  "Remember to whom you spe
ak. "

  Lucivar looked into her eyes and paled. Finally, reluctantly, he said, "My apologies, Lady. "

  Jaenelle rose. "If there's time to retreat before the attack, do it. If not, keep the fighting to a minimum. Defend for as long as it takes to retreat, but don't attack. And get the Queens and Warlord Princes to the Keep. There will be no exceptions, and I'll accept no excuses. "

  A long silence filled the room after Jaenelle left.

  "She's not thinking clearly," Kalush said reluctantly.

  "She's been acting strange since the first attack," Gabrielle snapped, then looked apologetically at Karla. '

  "It's all right," Karla said slowly, with obvious effort. "Shehas been acting strange. I've wondered if healing me affected her somehow. "

  "What's affected her is her aversion to killing," Lucivar snarled. "But she's usually clear-sighted enough to be able to see the obvious. We're at war. Dancing around the word isn't going to change the fact. "

  "You would defy your Queen?" Daemon asked mildly, almost lazily.

  Lucivar's instant, razor-edged tension startled all of them.

  What's happening between them?Saetan wondered as Daemon and Lucivar just stared at each other. Seeing the sleepy look in Daemon's eyes, he felt ice wrap around his spine.

  "I don't think the Lady understands the repercussions of her order," Lucivar said carefully.

  "Oh," Daemon purred, "I think she understands them quite well. You just don't agree with her. That's not sufficient reason to disobey her. "

  "Considering what you've done in other courts, you're not exactly a model of obedience," Lucivar said with a little heat.

  "That's irrelevant. We're talking about you and this court. And I'm telling you, Yaslana, that you will not distress her with defiance or disobedience. If you do. . . " Daemon merely smiled.