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Her eyes became brutally hard "There are no slaves in Dena Nehele," she said coldly, and shifted just enough to let hier welcome

Hurt by the withdrawal, he matched her coldness "Well, if you keep your precious Territory clean of the stink of slavery, whatdo you do with the slaves you buy?"

"Send theo home"

That stopped him

Stopped his brain, stopped his heart, and withered his anger

"Hoain with a leap "You send the, Lia finished the brew "Yes, we send theer a safe place for them" She closed her eyes for a moment and took a couple of deep breaths "Dorothea SaDiablo wants nothing less than to control the entire Realh Priestess of Hayll centuries ago Since outright ould have devastated the Real war on the rest of the Blood"

"Fear," Jared said softly "Over tienders would undermine a Territory"

Lia nodded "And shehas ti-lived race The seeds of distrust are sown village by village while she nurtures the lighter-Jeweled witches who have the saht not sub, before they becoe the new rule are declared rogues and are either hunted down and killed or go into hiding All of the dark-Jeweled witches andso there’s no one left for the males to bond to except Dorothea’s chosen"

Jared set his htly, unable to say anything Would slavery have been his fate even without that youthful mistake? Would the Shalador Queens have de of Obedience in order to control his Red strength?

No Not in Shalador

"It happens slowly," Lia continued "Over several generations On the surface, nothing seee because it’s so subtle at first A new interpretation of Protocol A wariness when dealing with the stronger witches Rumors Stories of rows and grows until the day comes when one of Dorothea’s pet Queens rules the Territory By breaking or enslaving the strongest and the best, they keep the rest of the people subainst theht Dorothea except to for Territories Then, a few years ago, a Queen’s nepheas taken fro with three other young Warlords She searched for weeks, trying to find soiven up when she received an unsigned note that said the young Warlord was unharh Priestess of Hayll’s court If the Queen welco to meet with the Hayllian ambassadors to discuss so, unhar for several years, her nepheould be sold as a slave at the Raej auction"

Feeling chilled, Jared wrapped a blanket around his shoulders "She refused"

Lia nodded "One of the witches in her First Circle volunteered to go to Raej to buy the Queen’s nephew She took two guards with her None of them came back"

"So the Gray Lady went the next ti the Gray Jewels, Gran can be very inti when she wants to be Her friendships with Queens outside of Dena Nehele have always been discreet, so there was no reason to believe anyone at Raej would connect her with the young Warlord"

Jared’s heart thudded against his chest "She bought him?"

Lia shook her head "He wasn’t there Not that tiht a couple of other ot them to Dena Nehele, she offered to help them return ho for a trap When they finallydid believe her, they didn’t want to go home because, at best, it would put their families at risk and, at worst, they’d end up dead or enslaved again So they stayed"

"And the Gray Lady continued to buy slaves"

"It becaht Dorothea Some of the males went ho Others settled in Dena Nehele or one of the surrounding Territories"

Jared cleared his throat "Did she ever find her friend’s nephew?"

Lia shuddered "Yes The fourth time she went to the auction"

Soon’s door Grateful for the interruption, Jared answered swiftly

"Here," Blaed gru a plate of sandwiches and apple slices at Jared "Thera got hungry She also wanted another s before I came out here," Jared said as he took the plate and the two filled s, too" Blaed scowled at the ed "You’ll knohich one when you taste it"

Jared thanked hi before he fell asleep<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>