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"A feeeks later, the Province Queen summoned her to the court and offered her a place in the Fifth Circle She ed, flattered, and overwhelmed by the way the aristo members of the court acted

"He was there, a favored Second Circle h the intricacies of court life Since he was the only person she knew there, she accepted his company with open ared her to ht

"He broke her An accident, they said It happens sometimes Even with all the care that’s taken, it happens sometimes So sorry

"Of course, he couldn’t rant permission for an Opal-Jeweled Warlord to marry a broken witch asn’t aristo But she could be his lover, and in his heart she would always be his wife It didn’t take her long to discover there wasn’ta lover and a slave At least, not in a court that had spread its legs for Hayll

"He liked to hit He enjoyed hurting anything or anyone eaker He used to slap her to excite himself before he mounted her"

"Why didn’t she leave hined a contract to serve in the court The Queen wouldn’t release her Staying with hian to glow at the back of Thera’s eyes "He didn’t think she’d challenge hiht Cererant hiive him a claim to me, she denied paternity Said it wasn’t his bloodline that ran inpaternity is a public ceremony, and there are no second chances, no retractions

"She sent e a few years before--I never found out why" Thera paused for a moment "Auntie had a lover, a Purple Dusk Warlord They’d never formalized their union in any way There were no records to link one to the other He was a good , easy-teave hiine the pleasure and relief the man had felt when he finally overcame her sire’s viciousness "What was his name?"

Thera shook her head "He had a sister, a Sapphire-Jeweled Black Widoho lived in another village She was a force to be reckoned with, and males who tried to force themselves on women, Blood or landen, usually found themselves impotent for weeks afterward She spent a few days each month with her brother and Auntie She had friends in her own village; she also had enemies So she spent those first days of her moontime where she had the protection of the one lass, like me Like calls to like I’d barely settled in with Auntie when I "

"You were very young to begin training in the Hourglass’s ways," Jared murmured

Thera nodded "Yes Because of that, there was a lot she couldn’t teach h mentally or e More like I’d show her how much I could do of what she’d shown me the last time Sometian so, but we all understood that her traininga Black Widow had to be a secret By the tinized for a child of the Hourglass, I’d learned how to h to fool even a darker Jewel

"The ugliness had started by then--Queens and darker-Jeweled erous, how they were emotionally unstable because of their journeys into the Twisted Kingdom, how only Hayllian witches had the lifespan and the maturity needed to handle the Black Widows’ Craft The ood, of course"

"Bastards," Jared snarled softly

"The hteen, the Black Widoed up unexpectedly She said she’d been thinking about led web of drea to the Darkness before the next ht before the Offering, I would never reach ainst Jared Surprised by her sudden weariness, he slipped his arm from her shoulder to her waist to support her

"Auntie’s lover saw ht," Thera said quietly "He wasn’t happy about it, but there was no one else we could trust, so he accepted his duty He was generous and kind When it was over and ere sure my inner as intact and I still had my Jewels and my CraftI think he was more relieved than I

"A week later, ent to a Sanctuary a couple of days’ ride froe The Priestess there and the Black Widoere friends Iand cahteen,and asked to see me"

"You went back to the court," Jared said, his te

"I went back"