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Saetan dropped the edge of the curtain, flicked the folds back into place, and left the rooot to her feet, drifted to the s, and studied the sheer curtains She reached up slowly

Selfish bastard There ays around him Did he think after all this tiood sport to watch hih Lord chained by his honor, as those two sons she’d helped Dorothea create were battered year after year, century after century They hate you now, High Lord What bastard doesn’t hate the sire on’t claim him?

The half-breed had been a bonus Who could have anticipated Saetan having soboys, and neither one capable of being a reat deal more than anyone could say for the other

With her help, Dorothea had gotten the strong, dark SaDiablo bloodline returned to Hayll Waiting until Daeht Ceremony to break the contract with Saetan had been a risk, but that was the tied or denied Up to that point, aa fatherBut until he was forhts to the child Once the acknowledged to his father

Which had been the proble watched hi that any child who grew up under Saetan’s hand could never be reshaped into a th for her aht that, since he visited each boy for only a few hours a week, his influence would be diluted, that the in until they were his and he began their training in earnest

She’d been wrong Saetan had already planted his code of honor deep in the boys’ minds, and by the time she had realized that, it was too late to lead theainst anything that didn’t fit that code of honor until the fighting, and the pain and the punishment, had shaped theirl child

Five years ago, she’d sensed a strange, dark power on the cildru dyathe’s island Ever since then, she’d been follohispered snippets of talk, leads that faded to nothing The tangled webs she’d created had only shown her dark power in a female body, the kind of power that, if it were ht way, could easily control a Realm

It had taken five years to discover that Saetan was training the child, which infuriated her That girl should have been hers from the start, should have been an emotionally dependent tool that would have fulfilled all of her dreams and a--and no one--could have stopped her

But, again, she was too late

If Saetan had been willing to share the girl, she , and she wasn’t going to let that childto use the most brutal weapon she had at her disposal: Daemon Sadi

He would have no love for his father He could be offered ten years of controlled freedo, of course, but not required to serve in a court Ten years--no, a hundred--not to kneel for any witch What would elier fawned over by the veryto serve? And if the half-breed were thrown in for good h Lord He had the cunning and the cruelty to ensnare a child and destroy her But how to get hih for an easy strike? She’d have to think about that Soirl as far as that, and then nothingexcept that strange, impenetrable mist on that island

Oh, how Saetan would twist, screa, on the hook of his honor when Sadi destroyed his little pet

Hekatah lowered her ar in shreds from the rod Shein one of her nails and hurried out of the parlor, eager to get away froin her little plan

Saetan Black-locked his sitting roolasses and a decanter of yarbarah Asmile twisted his lips when he noticed how badly his hands shook Ignoring the yarbarah, he pulled a bottle of brandy out of the cupboard below, filled a glass, and drank deep, gasping at the unfaht alcohol He settled into a chair, the brandy glass cradled in his tre hands

Hekatah would be elated if she kne badly she’d frightened hireedy hunger to crush and ruleNo, not Jaenelle She htly chained to the Blood, must accept the leash of Protocol and Blood Law, the only things that kept the constantly at each others’ throats Because soon, too soon, she would begin walking roads none of them had ever walked before, and she would become as far removed from the Blood as they were froht! Who could stop her?

Who would stop her?

Saetan refilled his glass and closed his eyes He couldn’t deny what his heart knew too well He would serve his fair-haired Lady No matter what, he would serve

When he had ruled Dhemlan in Kaeleer and Dhemlan in Terreille, he had never hesitated to curb Hekatah’s ambition He’d believed then, and still believed, that it rong to use force to rule another race But if Jaenelle wanted to ruleIt would cost hi of his soul, but he would drive Terreille to its knees for her pleasure

The only way to protect the Realms was to protect Jaenelle from Hekatah and her human tools