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She’s alive!Another treh Daemon’s body "No," he said "Not now" He slid the door open and stu his balance, he went into the bathroom and Black-locked the door His body shook violently His stoht the need to be sick

Too late

If he had tried to find her five years ago, when he’d first returned frodom, maybe it would have been different If he had searched for the High Lord and at least tried to find out what had really happened that night at Cassandra’s Altar

Too late

He could hold on Hewould hold on His ile than he allowed anyone to realize Oh, it was intact He had lost a few memories, a few small shards of the crystal chalice, but he hole, and he was sane But the healing would never be complete because he had lost the one person he needed to complete it It hadn’tenough to destroy the High Lord It didn’t really h to see her, just once

There was nothing else he could do If it had been any otherhe knew in order to be her lover If it had been any other man But not Lucivar He wouldn’t become his brother’s rival

So he couldn’t let Lucivar tell him what he desperately needed to hear Not because he didn’t want to know for sure that Jaenelle was alive, but because he wasn’t ready to be told about the gold wedding ring on Lucivar’s left hand

3 / Kaeleer

Surreal pushed the last of the cushioned boxes together to forainst one wall "Sit down, Manny," she said to the older woht," Manny said "A servant shouldn’t be sitting"

Surreal gave her a slashing look "Don’t be an ass You’re a ’servant’ because that’s the only way Sadi could bring you with hihtened her lips in disapproval "No need for you to be using that kind of language, especially with children around Besides, I was a servant for a goodI’m ashamed of"

Unlike me?Surreal wondered She had never denied that she had been a very successful whore for centuries before she quit thirteen years ago, no longer able to stoht at Cassandra’s Altar had left its s about women orked in Red Moon houses were ambivalent What would she think if she knew about Surreal’s other profession? How comfortable would the older woman have been if she had known that Surreal had been--and still was--a very successful assassin?

Didn’tthe two years when Daedoained his sanity, Manny hadboth of them to the domestic affection that existed between a special servant and an aristo child Dae odd about this behavior; maybe Manny had always treated hirown up hard and fast on the streets It had also given her a lot of practice in dealing with Manny’s set opinions

"Look," she said very softly "Lady Benedict’s servant doesn’t look like he can stand up for two hours without being in pain If you sit down, you can badger hi"

A few minutes later, Manny, Andrew, Wilhel on thespace on her right Where in the name of Hell was Sadi? He wasn’t asLucivar ht about seeing his half brother again? After Jaenelle disappeared thirteen years ago, Daeet Lucivar out of the salt o with him She had always suspected, because of what Daemon wouldn’t say, that there had been a vicious collision of tempers and that a rift had formed between them And she had always suspected that the reason for that rift had begun, like so s, at Cassandra’s Altar

The driver’s colanced at the Eyriens, who tensed at his appearance Saying nothing, he walked to the end of the makeshift bench and sat down beside Surreal

Directly across fro children They had the brown skin, gold eyes, and black hair that was typical of the three long-lived races, but the little girl’s hair had a slight, natural curl Surreal wondered if the girl’s hair indicated that one of the parent’s bloodlines wasn’t pure Eyrien, if those curls had betrayed a secret, and if that was the reason these people had left their home Territory

The older boy stayed close to his irl smiled at Khardeen and took a couple of steps toward hi out a worn stuffed animal

Khardeen leaned forward and save the toy a squeezing hug "Mine"

"Right you are"

Watching Khardeen apprehensively, the woirl "Orian, don’t bother the Warlord"

"She’s no bother," Khardeen said pleasantly

The woirl close to her and tried to sirl doll before we left, but Orian wanted to bring this one"