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Maybe that explained the wariness under the arrogant confidence

"Since you don’t know your way around yet, I stopped by to escort you and Lady Benedict to the dining roo hard not to s’s ears pricked up The tail wenttock-tock

The corridor filled with annoyingone of the on, but losing her escorts wouldroom on her own

Fortunately, Wilhelmina Benedict chose that moment to leave her room, which was next to Surreal’s After Aaron explained about being their escort, he offered each wo close behind, began the long walk through the Hall

"The servants must be exhausted by the end of the day," Surreal said as they turned into another corridor

"Not really," Aaron replied "The staff works on a rotation and are assigned to a wing of the Hall That way everyone gets to work in the fas where the court resides when it’s here"

"You ument withanother maid?" Surreal almost wailed

Aaron shot her an amused look "You mean you drew your own bath?"

"I didn’t bother to bathe," Surreal snapped "Sit upwind"

Smart-ass

He didn’t have to say it out loud His expression was sufficient

Surreal glanced back at her furry escort Well, animals should be a safe subject for small talk "He is allowed inside, isn’t he?"

"Oh, yes," Aaron said "Although, I was surprised to see him The pack tends to stay in the north woods when there are strangers here"

"The pack? What kind of dog is he?"

"He’s not a dog He’s a wolf And he’s kindred"

Wilhelhtened look "But aren’t wolves wild ani Wilhelmina’s question

Surreal felt a little queasy She’d heard about the kindred, who supposedly had so him a Warlord "You mean he’s Blood?"

"Of course"

"Why is he in the Hall?"

"Well, offhand, I’d say he was looking for a friend"

Hell’s fire, Mother Night, and ht What didthat uess he’s not really wild then If he’s in the house, he ave her a feral smile "If by ’tame’ you mean he doesn’t pee on the carpets, then he’s tame But then, by that standard, so aether Screw small talk In this place, it turned into verbal quicksand

She echoed Wilhelh of relief when they reached a stairway Hopefully the dining room wasn’t too far away and she could put some distance between herself and her escort Escorts Whatever

Shit

Maybe Khardeen would be in the dining room He was a Warlord, which made him an equal caste, and her Gray Jewels outranked his Sapphire, which gave her an advantage Right now, she wanted an advantage because she had the strong impression that, of her two escorts, the one with the erous one

Surreal stared at the closed wooden door and wished she’d done this before eating The thick beef and vegetable stew had been delicious, as had been the bread, cheese, and slightly tart apples, and she’d consuhtened sto quietly, she raised her fist to knock on the door Hell’s fire, this was just a requiredwith the Steward of the court who now had the authority to control her lifeas also the Warlord Prince of Dheh Lord of Hell whose name was Saetan Daemon SaDiablo

"Rrrf?"

Surreal looked over her shoulder The wolf cocked his head

"I think you’d better stay out here," she said, giving the door one hard rap When a deep voice said, "Co the door before the wolf could follow her

The roo side contained a co area with tables, chairs, and a black leather couch The walls held a variety of pictures, ranging fros to whiued by those choices, she turned toward the alcove

Dark-red velvet covered the side walls The back wall contained floor-to-ceiling bookshelves A blackwood desk filled the center of the space Two candle-lights lit its surface and the ht Dae some kind of trick on her Then she looked closer

His face was similar to Daemon’s, but handsome rather than beautiful He was definitely older, and his thick black hair was heavily silvered at the telasses, which ant hands had long, black-tinted nails like Dae On his right, a Black-Jeweled ring

"Why don’t you sit down," he said as he continuednotes on the paper in front of him "This will take a minute"