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"He’snot aboy," the boy said

"Mikal," Saetan said sternly

Leaning away from Daee boy," she said firmly She pulled Daemon toward the table "Sit down Sit There is food You should eat"

Daearded him as an unwelcome rival "Shouldn’t you be in school?"

Mikal rolled his eyes "It’s not a school day"

"But you did finish the chores your ned to youbefore you calass of red wine Tersa offered him while his eyes never left Mikal

Mikal squir stare, and finally muttered, "Most of them"

"In that case, after we’ve eaten, I’ll escort you home and you can finish thearden," Mikal protested

"The weeds will still be there," Tersa said serenely She looked at the two "boys," frowned at the glasses of milk she held, then put both of them in front of Mikal She patted Daeh for wine"

"Thank the Darkness," Daemon said under his breath

The meal was eaten with little conversation Saetan inquired about Mikal’s schoolwork and got the expected evasive answers Tersa tried to arden, but each time the remarks became more disjointed

Dae It hurt to watch her struggling so hard to walk the borderland of sanity for his sake, and seeing the concern and resentment in Mikal’s eyes as her control continued to crulass on the table and rose "Come on, puppy," he said to Mikal "I’ll take you horabbed a nutcake "I haven’t finished eating"

"Take it with you"

When they left, with Mikal still loudly protesting, Daeain," he said softly

Sorrow filled her eyes "I don’t kno to be your mother"

He reached for her hand "Then just be Tersa That was always h" He felt her absorb the acceptance, felt the tension drain from her body

Finally, she smiled "You are well?"

He returned the shtened on his Her eyes lost focus, beca "No," she said quietly, "you’re not But you will be" Then she stood up "Coarden"

7 / Kaeleer

Saetan shifted to a sitting position on the couch in his study He didn’t need to use a psychic probe to knoas on the other side of the door The scent of her fear was sufficient "Come"

Wilhelmina Benedict entered the roohtened the reins on his temper It wasn’t her fault She had been barely o There was nothing she could have done

But if Jaenelle hadn’t stayed in Chaillot in order to protect Wilhelht at Briarouldn’t have happened She would have left the family that hadn’t understood or cherished what she was She would have come to Kaeleer, would have come tohim-- and would have escaped the violent rape that had left her with so many deep emotional scars

It wasn’t fair to hold Wilhelmina in any way responsible for what had happened to Jaenelle, but he still resented her presence in his home and her reappearance in her sister’s life

"What can I do for you, Lady Benedict?" He tried, but he couldn’t keep the edge out of his voice

"I don’t knohat to do" Her voice was barely audible

"About what?"

"All the other people who signed the contract have so a list of their skills But I--"

She wrung her hands so hard Saetan winced in sympathy for the delicate bones

"He hatesin desperation "Everyone here hates me, and I don’t knohy"

Saetan pointed at the other end of the couch "Sit down" As he waited for her to obey, he wondered how such a frightened, eed to h one of the Gates between the Realms and then tried to acquire a contract at the service fair When she was seated, he said, "Hate is too strong a word No one here hates you"

"Yaslana does" She pressed her fists into her lap "So do you"

"I don’t hate you, Wilhelmina," he said quietly "But I do resent your presence"