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She’d sat on the bed dozens of tiot undressed, before they both retired to her bedroom Their bedroom, since he used this rooht it bothered hi at those pus-filled wounds

"Say that again," Jaenelle said

"Dena Nehele needs a Queen who knohat it means to be a Queen, who knows Protocol and remembers the Blood’s code of honor Who kno to live by the Old Ways"

"And if he doesn’t find a Queen like that?"

Daehed "If he doesn’t, I think what’s left of two races--Dena Nehele and Shalador--ither and die"

He slipped his hands in his trouser pockets, then called in so at the dresser, e the moment when he had to tell her he was too churned up to be of use to her

"What did you tell him?" Jaenelle asked

"I told him I’d think about it"

"Will you?"

"No" When Jared had answered his summons that last time, Daemon had known Dena Nehele would fall under Dorothea’s relentless can to rule all of Terreille Had he done the Shalador Warlord any favor by encouraging Jared to hold on to love for as long as possible? "Theto Terreille"

A hesitation "I know a Queen who h she prefers to ignore it as much as the rest of us"

Dae and restacking theed to Jaenelle’s coven They had been her First Circle and they were still her closest friends Thanks to Saetan, every one of theive-and-take of power between males and fenored the formality of Protocol every chance they could And it was that blend that ood Queens

"She’s a distant cousin of Aaron’s," Jaenelle said "She’s a few years older than me She’s not a close friend, but I like her As part of her own apprenticeship, she lived at the Hall with the rest of us for four et ‘court polish’ "

Since Jaenelle’s court had been theof power he’d ever seen, the huhtness in his stoot lessons in Protocol from Papa," Jaenelle replied "Those will polish anybody"

It was easier to talk to her reflection, so he kept his back to the room while he continued to fiddle with the ite to Terreille?"

Jaenelle hesitated "She doesn’t have a court at theto do this"

He looked at her exotically beautiful face, which only hinted at the wonderful and terrifying Self that lived beneath the human skin She was capable of cruelty, but the cruelty was always entwined with justice

What had she seen in her tangled web?

And as the arm that had been covered by sapphire silk now bare?

"What happened to her court?" His stoe of his te their contracts, her entire First Circle resigned, and that broke the court"

"Why?" he asked too softly There were very few reasons why all the males would walk away from a Queen, and none of those reasons would help Theran or Dena Nehele

"You won’t like the answer"

He already didn’t like any of this "Tell hed "She wears a Rose Jehich makes her a minor Queen in a Territory like Dharo; she doesn’t come from an aristo family; and"--she winced--"she’s not pretty"

Fury rose in him, a molten ice "That’s it? That’s all?"

"She can’t offer flash and glitter It’s not in her But she’s a good, solid Queen, and she’s got the tenacity to dig in and work"

Daemon blew out a breath and rolled his shoulders to try to shake off some of the tension Tried to shake off that terrible blend of hope and despair that wasit so hard to think clearly But he’d done what he could, hadn’t he? Even noas doing what he could "Well, Jared will have to give up soet the rest, but--"

"Jared?" Jaenelle asked

Her voice sounded oddly sharp, and that pricked his teht So desperately tired Still had to play the gah Dorothea couldn’t prove he’d helped the Shalador Warlord, but lately the women she’d chosen to use him as a pleasure slave were an added barb of cruelty

"Why are we talking about Jared?"

He turned toward the bed "Because--"

He sla rattle His heart haainst his chest, and his body was suddenly--and painfully--aroused

There was a filthy bitch sprawled on his bed