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"Well, I cansee that"

How could he explain so It’s like the Ring of Obedience, but stronger"

Toer than a Ring of Obedience? You that dangerous?"

"I guess so"

"As dangerous as the Sadist?"

Jared started to say so, but there was no fear in the boy’s face, just a held-breath exciteood reason to fear Dae half-Blood boys So he said sole I know"

Tothe word, "oh," and Jared realized he couldn’t have presented better credentials to reassure the boy he was a "safe" rin that seeain "You’ll be wanting a bath We’ve got hot water and everything"

As Jared watched the boy dart around the roo a bath for his finally hit him He wandered over to the tub that was already half-full of steauest servants’ quarters?"

" ‘Cause the Lady took one look at the slave quarters and threw a polite icy fit"

Jared scratched the back of his head Hell’s fire, he was looking forward to getting clean "How does one throw a polite icy fit?"

Toed on his earlobe and scrunched up his face "Well, like the Lady did, I guess"

That told hio," he said, waving the wash sponge at Jared

"Yes, To to be sure that the adult rinned and dropped the wash sponge into the water

Jared settled into the tub, closed his eyes, and groaned in pleasure After soaking for a couple ofbeside the tub "So what did she do?"

"Well, the innkeeper was pleased enough at first to have a Queen staying at his place, even if itwas the Gray Lady He told her his servants would get her slaves settled into quarters, but she insisted on seeing theo to her own room So he showed her the slave quarters and she said, no, they wouldn’t do"

"Were they that bad?" Jared asked Pleasure slaves were usually quartered together in a co the e their Ladies’ whims Since they were also kept fairly isolated from everyone except the court and each other, he really didn’t knoas considered nored "Looked like any other as far as I could tell, although the privy holes did stink so to have half of us co to sleep with no blankets and nothing but bars and broken shutters over the s Now, anybody could have told her you don’t seal up slave quarters tight ‘cause breathing the stink would make us sicker than fresh cold air, but the innkeeper just eyed Thera and Polli and told the Lady if she just eased the Rings a bit, the h, and with their blood heated like that, they wouldn’t even notice the cold

"Well, the Lady just looked at the innkeeper until he started to sweat, and she said,for a cup of tea, ‘Have you ever seen what happens to a man’s balls when you freeze theainst the, but he eating, too Then one drop of sweat rolled off his chin It froze before it hit the ground and bounced up like a little hailstone And she just kept looking at hi experienced that hard gray stare, Jared understood the ht away he offered these quarters," To Jared the soap "Thera and Polli made up a bed for you, and Randolf and Brock carried you in The Lady fussed over you for a bit and kept e was perht, she went back to the inn"

The Lady fussed over you Jared soaped the sponge and started washing In a way, it made sense Badly scarred pleasure slaves weren’t as valuable--except to witches ere aroused by the evidence of pain inflicted--and a healingin To about the Invisible Ring, the others had realized that the Lady considered him different from the rest of them, and they weren’t sure what to think about itor about him

He wasn’t sure what to think about it either

"Course, Blaed’s going to be relieved to find out you’re a pleasure slave," Tomas said "The way Thera tore into him, I don’t think he wants to stiffen anytime soon, and he’s been worried that the Lady would want to be pleasured and he hasn’t hadtrained by the Sadist and all"

Jared bit his tongue and concentrated on washing his legs

Tole, do you? They say the Sadist never gets stiff, and he’s the best there is"

At a lot of things that were better left un his arms and chest He didn’t want to talk about Sadi, and he didn’t want to think about pleasuring the Gray Lady "Why did Thera tear into Blaed?"

Tomas shook his head His voice filled with cautious adets a look in her eyes that can singe your ball hairs"

The sponge stuttered to a halt "That’s a colorful way of putting it," Jared finally choked out