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"The cildru dyathe take care of the "You know that"

"Butevery so often, for the past feeeks, there’s another presence there Never for very long, but I’ve felt it So has Prothvar when he’s flown over the island"

"Leave theth to his voice "Perhaps they’ve found an orphaned Hound pup"

Mephis took a deep breath "Hekatah has already had an altercation with Char over this The children are hiding from everyone who approaches because of it If she had any authority to--"

Before Saetan could respond to the sharp rap on the study door, it swung open Andulvar Yaslana, once the Eyrien Warlord Prince of Askavi, strode into the roolobe covered with a black cloth

"SaDiablo, there’s soht this from the cildru dyathe’s island"

Saetan assu men, he and Andulvar had becoether in a number of courts Even Hekatah hadn’t severed that friendship when she’d strutted around, gleefully carrying a child that wasn’t his--Andulvar’s child It didn’t turn hiainst the only etting tangled up in one of Hekatah’s schee

Saetan looked at each old eyes Mephis was a Gray-Jeweled Warlord Prince and almost unshakable Prothvar was a Red-Jeweled Eyrien Warlord, a warrior bred and trained Andulvar was an Eyrien Warlord Prince ore the Ebon-gray, the second darkest Jewel They were all strong htened

Saetan leaned forward, their fear pricking the bubble of indifference he’d sealed hio His body eak and he needed a cane to walk, but his mind was still sharp, the Black Jewels still vibrant, his skill in the Craft still honed

Suddenly, he kneould need all that strength and skill to deal hatever was happening on the cildru dyathe’s island

Andulvar pulled the cloth off the globe Saetan just stared, his face full of wonder and disbelief

A butterfly No, not just a butterfly This was a huge fantasy creature that gently beat its wings within the confines of the globe But it was the colors that stunned Saetan Hell was a Realht, a Realm that muted colors until there was al lobe Its body was pus an unlikely blend of sky blue, sun yellow, and spring-grass green As he stared, the butterfly lost its shape, and the colors bled together like a chalk painting in the rain

Solorious piece ofRealms in a place that bleached away the vitality, the vibrancy of life

"Prothvar threw a shielded globe around this one," Andulvar said

"They dissolve al his dark, htened in his chair "Bring Char to , coly," Prothvar said

Saetan stared at the deh Lord"

The High Lord of Hell sat quietly by the fire, his slender fingers loosely steepled, the long nails a glistening black The Black-Jeweled ring on his right hand glittered with an inner fire

The boy sat opposite hihtened

Saetan watched hih half-closed eyes For a thousand years now, Char had been the leader of the cildru dyathe He’d been twelve, maybe thirteen, when someone had staked hier than the body, and he’d tuh one of the Gates to end up in the Dark Realm His body was so burned it was i deathered the other maimed children and created a haven for them, the cildru dyathe’s island

He would have been a good Warlord if he’d been allowed to coht idly

Andulvar, Mephis, and Prothvar stood behind Char’s chair in a half circle, effectively cutting off any means of escape

"Who makes the butterflies, Char?" Saetan asked too quietly

There inds that ca upsea until, when they finally touched a man, the cold, knife-sharp damp seeped into his bones and chilled him in places the hottest fire couldn’t warm Saetan, when he was this calm, this still, was like those winds

"Who ain

Char stared at the floor, his hands clenched, his face twisted with the e within his to us"

Saetan sat very still, cold with the fury rising in hientleness