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The pain and weariness in her face, the shadows in her eyes, and the anxiety he could sense in her stopped him as much as the Warlord Prince’s conde sure his voice remained neutral and in no way implied loyalty He wasn’t certain she deserved loyalty, no ht, but he was cold, wet, and hungry, and no defiance right noorth delaying theher in pain chewed at hi, until her pain went away

Leading with her left leg, the Gray Lady clilanced sharply at Jared and said nothing as she followed the Gray Lady inside

If the other ave the order to move on, no one mentioned it They didn’t question his insistence that Cathryn and Corry sit on the driving seat and Eryk and Toon since it was thean eye on the children Nor did they question his order that Brock and Randolf take up a rearguard position And one look at his face ht have made about the oddly protective way Garth walked beside the wagon instead of ra ahead as usual He had , they weren’t going to act like slaves, and no one was going to challenge that decision

Taking point, Jared walked ahead of the wagon, trying to sort through his conflicting emotions He’dseen the Gray Lady hand a slave over to a pack of rogues, and he couldn’t ignore the bitterness it produced in hinore the way his protective instincts kept pushing at hi that deliberate gesture of respect Was there a hidden reason for handing Polli over to that rogue bastard? Maybe not hidden, just not obvious There were things about the Gray Lady that he didn’t understand--yet Thatif a pack of rogues was considered the safer choice?

Blaed had been walking a couple of steps behind hier able to ignore the younger man’s unhappiness or his own curiosity

"Thayne knew about you," Jared said, keeping his voice conversational

Blaed shrugged, an action that seened than unconcerned "We’ve been friends since ere boys, even though he’s a couple of years older than me, so he would have known"

And had been enough of a friend to say nothing "How did you do it?"

"I didn’t," Blaed said quickly, his hazel eyes holding a plea for acceptance--and a hint of defiance that waswhat you are, Jared thought as he looked at the young Warlord Prince,anywary of what you are"Someone else put a spell on you to hide your?" His voice trailed off as he tried to think of so

Blaed bit his lip and nodded "He said a Warlord Princeused as a pleasure slave, would be twisted out of all recognition or have the heart torn out of hith yet and had too ulped "So he put this spell aroundas I was around Warlords, but another Warlord Prince’s presence could break it"

He A male who could create a spell so subtle no one had realized it existed No blurring of Blaed’s psychic scent, no sense of Craft Just aof an essential difference between Blaed and the rest of the to do with the falling temperature or the rain He studied Blaed as if he’d never seen hi face that would mature into a handsome one A well-toned body that needed to fill out a little h for a woh it Hazel eyes that reflected a te It was the potential within the flesh that had to be considered carefully--and, also, ould recognize that potential and want to shape and hone it into a fine, sharp weapon

"You know the Sadist" Jared didn’t make it a question

Blaed paled a little "I think he’s the reason I ended up at Raej so quickly My training wasaccelerated"

Jared snorted "I’ll bet the part of the training you were supposed to be learning got accelerated, too"

Blaed’s eyes widened

Jared’s lips curled up in a twisted smile "He trained me, too"

There was no need to put into words that uneasy mixture of revulsion and excite like a voyeur when the youngtrained watched an experienced pleasure slave play a wo heat and she screaed climax No need to talk about the shame they’d felt because they had stiffened and ached for release while Sadi rose from the bed as flaccid as he’d been before the first kiss No need to talk about the private lessons, those times when that bored, cold expression that so effectively s was set aside and they’d seen enough of the man beneath to feel trust and terror

"I take it there wasn’t a Warlord Prince serving your previous Queen," Jared said