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Marian let out a shuddering breath "I’m fine, thank you, Prince Falonar It’s just sometimes when they’re so intense "

Falonar bowed just enough to show respect, then left theht?" Surreal asked, drawing Marian a little ways away from the crowd

Marian’s smile was a trifle strained "Lucivar’s always tense after he’s been at the service fair, and he’s been worried about Dae toward the Hall with the High Lord Well, that was one worry out of the way for theat Daemon while Lucivar piled food on a plate She smiled

"Usually I can help him relieve the tension," Marian continued

Her self-conscious expression told Surreal exactly how Marian helped relieve the tension The woet into a bed with a e

"Since that wasn’t an option this tiave her a speculative look If Lucivar had never suggested an alternative to intercourse,she certainly wasn’t going to supply the infored "Usually when Jaenelle is his sparring partner, they just keep working through theJaenelle’s relatives showing up like this has put her on edge, too"

"Yeah, seeing her faain isn’t a reason to cheer"

Marian stiffened "Herfauess they do"

2 / Kaeleer

Wilhelmina walked silently beside Lucivar as he escorted her to her room She wished he would put his ar Maybe then she wouldn’t feel so afraid

That was funny A few hours ago, she’d been terrified of hi each other with the sticks

Afterward, she’d tried to slip back to the Hall before anyone noticed because she’d been sure her heart would just burst if any of those Eyrien warriors snarled at her when she couldn’t do the exercises properly But Lucivar had noticed her slinking away He’d grabbed the back of her tunic and hauled her into the practice circle

And he’d been kind While other Eyriens instructed the other women, and Marian and some of the coven had deirl, Jillian Never in a hurry, never ientle when he repositioned her body, his voice always cal

She hadn’t expected that from him And she hadn’t expected him to stay with her when she went to meet Alexandra, Leland, and Philip

She should have said "no" when the High Lord told her they were here and wanted to talk to her But she’d felt an obligation to see thery when Lucivar refused to let the Province Queens and the escorts into the rooone out onto the balcony, but no one was going to forget his presence

She could tell they had been as insulted as she had been relieved, but theyhad been glad to see her They’d all hugged her and complimented her on how pretty she’d become and hoorried they had been about her and how much they’d missed her

And then Alexandra told her not to worry They would find a way to break the contract and get her out of this place and away from these people She’d tried to explain that she intended to honor the contract, that the High Lord and Prince Yaslana weren’t theto make them out to be

They didn’t listen, just as they hadn’t listened years ago when her father, Robert Benedict, had tried to force himself on her after Jaenelle disappeared--a few months after he had come doith the illness that had finally killed him She had run away because she’d been afraid that, one day, no one would hear her screa into a "difficult" child, just like Jaenelle

They didn’t listen Because they were so sure they were right, so sure that they kneas best Even Philip He kept telling her that it would be all right now, that Robert was dead so it would be all right But it wouldn’t be,couldn’t be, all right because they thought of her as being "da she thought or felt or wanted would be colored by that conviction And because she cared for Philip and kneould be hurt by it, she couldn’t tell theht actually be able to take her away after she’d struggled so hard to get to Kaeleer had escalated to the point where she had leaped up from the couch, and yelled, "No! I don’t want to!"

Lucivar was in the roo her away from them before anyone else could , and the fear was eating her alive

Lucivar’s hand ca her A ripped the back of her head with one hand, and held the flask up to her lips

"If you keep shaking like that, you’re going to rip so annoyed "Take a sip of this It’ll settle your nerves"

"I don’t want a sedative," Wilhel to pull away as desperation swelled inside her "There’s nothing wrong with one way past scared, and that’s not good for you" Lucivar paused, studying her "It’s not a sedative, Wilhelmina," he said quietly "It’s Khary’s hoot a kick to it that willapart Now, hold your nose and s"

She didn’t hold her nose Shedid s the sip he gave her

Golden

It flowed over her tongue like ripe plums and summer heat, pooled in her stomach for a moment, and then flowed into her limbs

When he offered her another s, she took it That glorious heat melted her fear and produced a sensuous warht even feel brave--fiercely, wonderfully brave