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Ato his feet, expecting an a happened, he sith all the creative violence he could ood reason and I’ll break your neck," Jared snarled

Blaed ignored that remark and pointed to thickly entwined bushes that didn’t look any different than the others "There’s a gate there Or so Some of the bushes shi or unlocking spell they could think of Nothing

"Why would a Warlord Prince put a Sapphire trip wire across the lane?" Jared asked Blaed

"Wasn’t meant as a trip wire," Blaed replied absently as he continued to study the bushes "You were supposed to sense it and stop Since he went through the effort ofsure we stopped here, thatis here Soht, the key to getting into the clearing had to be nearby

Walking back to the place where he’d tripped, Jared studied both sides of the lane Opposite the bushes Blaed said had shie ed at hi when he took a couple of steps closer He stepped back, and kept stepping back, until he was on the other side of the lane He looked at the stones again and swore silently

He was either losing his mind or his self-control, because the way the boulders had tuether, they looked like a wo the other stones

S bitterly, Jared crossed the lane, then reached out and cupped a stone breast

Polli’s face flashed through his ers bit into theand old, but there was no ray eyes If any woman had stone breasts to ht tingle of a spell being keyed A moment later, Blaed let out a yip of surprise

Jared twisted around, his eyes widening as a section of the bushes changed into a si with vines

He hurried away from the boulders before Blaed turned to look at him, not really sure why he felt the need to keep access to this place a secret from the rest of them

"How’d you unkey the illusion spell?" Blaed asked

The wagon ca to think of a lie

"I’ll check things out," Jared told Blaed as they lifted the wooden pole off its supporting posts and laid it aside "‘You bring the others in"

Jared took a deep breath and cautiously followed the straight path that led to the clearing It was barely wide enough for the pedlar’s wagon and longer than he expected His careful psychic probes didn’t tell hiue had been able to persuade a Black Widow to , were there other illusions he wasn’t able to detect?

Passing between the two stone posts thatHe waited athat hed with relief when nothing happened

The clearing itself was fairly large--a couple of acres surrounded by trees and thick undergrowth on three sides, backed by a steep, rocky hill On the left side of the clearing was a corral and a sh to shelter half a dozen aniear dry Also built into the hill was a one-story stone building Between the building and the corral was a small wooden structure that probably contained the privy hole

Jared couldn’t suht contain As soon as he figured out how to rekey the illusion spell on the gate, he was going to spend his thoughts and energy on nothing but getting dry, getting fed, and going to sleep

The wagon passed hi the stone posts thatboundary The other slaves followed behind the saddle horses

As he passed Jared, Blaed said, "I put the pole back in place," then pointed a thumb over his shoulder

Jared’s breath huffed out in an ih as he waited for Garth as, for the first ti ahead

"Co man forward

Garth stopped two yards away froht from one foot to the other His head swiveled in the opposite rhyth the posts

"Come on," Jared snapped

Garth raised his hands, then let the, but he made no sound Finally, he let out a low, distressed cry and bolted past the posts

"Hell’s fire," Jaredman stumbled a little every time he looked anxiously over his shoulder at Jared