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Rising, he offered a hand to Wilhel brush and gave it to her "If you want to do soht now, take Dejaal out to one of the gardens and brush hiet used to him, perhaps it will be easier for you to be around the rest of us"

"If it’s supposed to make me feel easier, maybe I should brush Lucivar instead," she said with just a hint of tartness Saetan burst out laughing "Darling, if you want to get along with Lucivar, just show him that bit of steel in your backbone Since he’s lived with Jaenelle for the past eight years, he’ll recognize it for what it is"

8 / Kaeleer

"Are you sure this is the path back to the Hall?" Dae branch

We left the path, Ladvarian said We have to cross the creek, and the path has no bridge

"I don’t need a bridge to cross the creek"

Ladvarian looked at Daeet wet

"I’d survive," Daee, he’d found Ladvarian waiting to escort him back to the Hall At first, he’d wondered if this was a subtle kind of insult, i that he couldn’t find his way back by himself Then, when Ladvarian offered to show him a footpath that ran between Halaway and the Hall, he’d wondered if he was being set up for an a just wanted to spend a little ti to know the male whose duties made him an important part of the Queen’s life

What he didn’t like was the growing i labeled as a hu "Look, this has got to stop I may not be an Eyrien warrior, but I’ a couple of etting wet if I choose to, and I don’t need a short furball treating me like I can’t survive if I’m not inside a house full of servants Do you understand?"

Ladvarian wagged his tail Yes You want to be treated like a Kaeleer male

Daemon rocked back on his heels and studied the Sceltie "Is that what I said?"

Yes Ladvarian headed off at an abrupt angle This way

A minute later, they arrived at the creek Ladvarian trotted up to the bank and leaped By rights, he should have landed in theover it, and when he landed, he was standing a foot above the ground, a doggy grin on his face

Daemon looked at the creek, looked at the Sceltie, and then air walked over the creek to the other bank

Did Jaenelle teach you that?

Re the afternoon when Jaenelle had shown hihtened "Yes," he said softly, "she did"

She taught me, too Ladvarian sounded pleased

As soon as they walked through another stand of trees, Daemon saw the road The drive, he ae, it became the drive up to the Hall, and the land spread out before him was the family estate

He headed for the drive, then spun around when Ladvarian growled, half-expecting an attack despite the dog’s display of friendship

But Ladvarian was facing the way they’d coht because of the roll of the land, but the as co fro his first inner barrier enough to sense the area around thees I’ve warned the other et back now Ladvarian started trotting in a direct line toward the Hall, forcing Dae with hu to the Hall?"

Ladvarian’s psychic scent beca

The sudden fierceness was a sharp re beside him was also a Red-Jeweled Warlord, and if Lucivar had overseen so, the Sceltie was a far hthaill take you to the Hall He runs faster

Before Daemon could wonder about that cryptic re toward him

Under other circumstances, once he saw the black horse, he would have declined the offer--not only because riding a stallion bareback wasn’t a healthy idea, but because, for just a moment, the wind and the horse’s movement had lifted its forelock and he’d seen the Gray Jewel hidden underneath Despite the difference in their species, he recognized the aggressive psychic scent of another Warlord Prince But when he didn’t move after the horse pulled up, Ladvarian nipped his calf Go, Daerab a fistful of the long allop cross-country Wondering how Ladvarian was going to keep up with the balanced on the horse’s ruht section of the drive, Daeed on the hthaould slip on the gravel at that speed

He felt a slight lift, and then heard nothing No pounding hooves, no scattering gravel Looking over Nighthawk’s left shoulder, he saw those driving legs racing on air straight for the front door

They were close enough to see the details of the dragon’s head doorknocker before Nighthawk sat back on his haunches and finally came to a stop a hand span away from the steps

Daes were tre from muscle tension or frayed nerves When he reached the door and looked back, there was no sign of Nighthawk, but he could sense the stallion’s presence nearby