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Alexandra Angelline studied the roos were freshly washed, the s sparkled, the bed linen was crisp and new, and the wardrobe was filled with freshly washed and pressed clothes that hung in a straight row above the polished shoes She breathed deeply and s else

With an angry sigh, she shook her head and turned to her housekeeper "It’s still there Faint, but there Clean it again"

Lucivar studied the cloudless sky Heat waves already shimmered up from the Arava Desert in Pruul, but Lucivar shivered, chilled to the bone His outer senses told hi, so he turned inward and instantly felt the cold, dark fury Nervously licking his lips, he sent a thought on an Ebon-gray spear thread narrowed toward a single mind

"Bastard?"

Whatever rode the Winds over Pruul passed him and continued west

"Bastard?"

Cold silence was his only answer

In Hell, Saetan sat behind the blackwood desk in his private study deep beneath the Hall and stared at the portrait across the rooht He’d been sitting there for hours, staring at Cassandra’s likeness, trying to feel so that would ease the pain in his heart

He felt nothing but bitterness and regret

He watched Mephis open the study door and close it behind hi er, and then turned back to the portrait

"Prince SaDiablo," Saetan said, his voice full of soft thunder

"High Lord?"

Saetan stared at the portrait for severalthe Executioner to me"

In a private compartment on a Yellow Web Coach, Daemon Sadi sat across from two nervous Hayllian ambassadors Behind a face that looked like a cold, beautiful, unnatural e was contained but undihout the journey In fact, he’d barely moved since they left Hayll

Now he stared at a blank wall, deaf to the ht hand continued to seek his left wrist, the fingers gently rubbing back and forth, back and forth, as if needing reassurance that the scar Tersa had gifted him as still there

2--Terreille

Dae the selline estate, aware that his escort, Prince Philip Alexander, covertly watched him He’d been relieved when Philip had stopped defensively pointing out things of interest as they rode through Beldon Mor He understood the man’s defensiveness--Hayllian ambassadors prided themselves on their ability to subtly sneer at the cultural heritage of their host cities--but he was too intrigued by the elusive puzzle that had brushed his ive Philip o, Beldon Mor had probably been a beautiful city It was still lovely, but he recognized the taint of Hayll’s influence In a couplea

But there was an undercurrent beneath the fanition It had crept up on hi the hours he’d spent at the Hayllian embassy, like a mist one could almost feel but couldn’t see He’d never experienced anything like it and yet it felt faelline estate," Philip said, breaking the silence "The house will be visible around the next bend"

Pushing the puzzle aside, Daemon forced himself to show so

It was a large, well-proportioned s He hoped the interior decor was as quietly elegant as the exterior It would be a relief to live in a place that didn’t set his teeth on edge