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Except his eyes were the rare Shalador green--eyes that could be traced back through the bloodlines to Shal, the great Queen who had united the tribes into one people

Reyna’s eyes

He was the only one of the three boys who had her eyes

He had been willing to destroy himself, but now that he was still alive, he wanted to survive Sweet Darkness, hehad to find soh to talk to Reyna and take those words back

Balls and sass It was the only weapon he could safely use He ringing hi as left of his physical endurance, but he had to last until they reached the slave compartment in the Coach, had to make Grizelle believe he was still a er, he had to hide the fact that he was nothinghands, Jared ran his fingers through his hair It was a bit shaggy now, but with a little Craft, shaggy could be altered to bedroom disheveled The Gray Lady was an old woman, but he was a bed-trained slave who had a feeets he could offer that ht help tip the scales to his advantage while he tried to figure out howhad over hi the Gray Lady to enjoy hiht be possible to slip away and ride the Winds to Shalador

Without warning, the escort opened the door and stopped short, unable to hide his surprise at the transformation of the naked slave he’d left into the Warlord who turned away froed to unsettle the man, Jared walked toward hioing to chainto dance" He hoped the escort would mistake the exhaustion in his voice for boredom

"She didn’t specify chains," the ly

"No, I didn’t think she would She strikes me as a discreet Lady, and chains tend to call attention to the becomes rhythmic Don’t you think?"

The escort’s lip curled in a sneer "I’ve never worn chains"

"I wasn’t i thatyou had worn theed "Or that you needed the people, youpositions that aren’t considered cos like that are a bit like -style It isn’t to every man’s taste"

Fury blazed in the escort’s eyes "You knohat I can do to you?"

"Not a da" Jared bared his teeth and added softly, "Co really can hold the Red"

"Is there a problem?" Grizelle’s voice settled over both men like a cold rain

The escort reluctantly stepped into the hallway "No, Lady"

"Then what’s the delay?"

Jared gave the escort a s it would infuriate the man because there wasn’t any way he could respond to it

Tiht, don’t letthe escort out of the way He bowed to Grizelle,sure the boas exactly what Protocol dictated as proper for a Red-Jeweled Warlord to make to a Gray-Jeweled Queen

If the Warlord wasn’t a slave, that is

The escort growled in anger

Grizelle stared at hiht a flicker of aray eyes

So she liked balls and sass Thank the Darkness

Draining the little psychic strength he could suer to please, Jared offered his right hand, pal her left hand over his and allowing hirin The escort was now trailing behind theotten puppy

It was full dark by the tirounds Instead of going directly to the official landing place, they took a side road that circled around the low, flat-topped hill until they reached the ticket station, and the Coaches and drivers that could ride the Winds

"Wait with the others," Grizelle said, as Jared helped her from the cart She didn’t bother to look at either of them as she walked toward the ticket station

Jared held on to the cart, hoping the escort didn’t notice how much he needed to lean on that support to stay on his feet He wasn’t sure his legs would get him to the Coach before they buckled

"I don’t knohere the others are," he finally pointed out

"This way," the escort growled

As they walked toward the lanced over his shoulder and saw a er boy hand a slip of paper to Grizelle just before she reached the ticket station The boy ran off i a warning prickle between his shoulder blades, Jared stopped and watched her read theabout her seemed different, so he didn’t understand why he instinctively opened his first inner barrier and sent out a delicate Red psychic tendril Even if her inner barriers hadn’t been stronger than his, the tendril was too delicate to probe even surface thoughts, whichnoticed But it would be able take a sip of her e about her temper

He wasn’t prepared for the blast of fear that raced back through the tendril and crashed into hied