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Jared waited until the two guards wereall right? Blaed asked, handing the reins to Jared

For now, Jared replied

I’ll stay behind the wagon and keep on eye on things

Thera wantsSeeing the look in Blaed’s eyes, Jared let it go Blaed the reat deal about what Thera wanted, but Blaed the Warlord Prince would do whatever he felt was necessary--regardless of what Thera wanted

Nodding to acknowledge Blaed’s choice, Jared nal to ht as he wrapped one arm protectively around Lia’s waist He’d never adht He wouldn’t have responded the saht was an act They shouldn’t haveneeded to tell him If he hadn’t been so mentally scrambled, he should have realized it after the first shouted exchange

And a Queendidn’t have to explain herself to any ht about that, too A Queen ht talk to all of her First Circle about the day-to-day concerns of the court, but there were also circumstances when only her Steward and Master of the Guard were toldwhy so was required Sometimes she didn’t even tellthem

Blind trust was part of the price of service, and the day a ive that kind of trust to his Queen was the day when, in his heart, he no longer served

Jared understood that, had been raised to accept it

But he didn’t have to like it

An hour later, Garth left the wagon, looking dazed

Half an hour after that, there was still no sign of Thera

Jared handed the gelding over to Toon to join Lia and Blaed

They found Thera curled up on one of the benches, shaking

"Cold," she said as Blaed raised her to a sitting position and Lia wrapped her in spell-warmed blankets "So cold"

"Whiskey would help," Jared said, settling on the other bench to get out of the way

Blaed called in two bottles of whiskey He handed one to Jared, opened the other, and helped Thera take a couple of ss since she was shaking too hard to hold the bottle

Jared offered the other bottle to Lia After shuddering through a couple of sips, she handed the bottle back and settled next to hi it would soothe nerves frayed froainst Blaed’s shoulder and continued to shake Blaed held her tightly,reassurances while he coaxed more whiskey into her

"I need to wash," Thera said plaintively "I need to wash"

"Soon," Blaed promised "I’ll heat some water and help you"

When Thera didn’t protest, Blaed raised worried eyes to Jared

Jared shared the worry, and not just because he liked Thera and was concerned about her She was a strong witch, and soer to all of therabbed it

In the confined space, Jared felt power floeen them--not just the power of the Jewels and Craft, but the power of the feth

Thera’s shallow breathing eased, became deeper She took another sip of whiskey "Garth knows"

"Do you?" Lia asked quietly

Thera started shaking again Her hand claed "We’ll deal with the rest"

Thera took a deep breath "Garth knows" Pressing closer to Blaed, she stared at Jared as if each kind of contact was a thread that helped anchor her

Slipping off the bench, Jared knelt beside her, keeping his eyes locked to hers

"It’s not like the tangled web that almost trapped you," Thera told him "It’s less and more and worse"

Jared nodded

"It’s like someone rooted a psychic weed inside Garth’s inner barriers that produced runners that could cover an area with voracious speed Some of the runners went down below his inner web and then turned upward outside his barriers, forled net to keep him locked in Other runners spread out inside his barriers, so he’s doubly caught"

"What did you do?" Lia asked, watching Thera intently

Thera licked her lips "I--Mother Night, Lia, the mind that created that is so vile, so obscene" It took her a er inside him He must have tried to rip the runners away from the root because I noticed that he could open his first inner barrier a little So I cut away the tangle surrounding his inner barriers and then"

"You squeezed through that little opening, not knowing how fast that ‘weed’ round, to clear a path to wherever Garth had retreated within hier