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7--Terreille

Cassandra paced

The mist around Beldon Mor kept Guardians and the des in

Thankfully, she’d been wearing the Black Jewel instead of her Birthright Red when the rippling aftershock of Sadi hurtling toward the Darkness hit her Even with that much protection, her body had vibrated from the intensity of the dive

As she’d picked herself up off the floor, she’d wondered how h to know that oneto shield against them, had been shattered, or at least broken back to their Birthright Jewel

And what about Jaenelle? Had he turned against her? Was she fighting against him for her life?

Cassandra shook her head and continued pacing No, he loved the girl Then why the descent? She feared him now as much as she feared his father, but didn’t he realize she would stand with hi slowly to the Black, she closed her eyes and opened hershaft ard on a Black thread The probe hit thejust a little for just a h

She spent the next hour cleaning the Altar, polishing the four-branched candelabra, digging out the stubs of the old black candles and replacing theain ready to be what it hat it had not been for centuries

A Gate

She bathed in hot scented water, washed and dressed her hair She slipped on a siown of black spidersilk that molded itself to her body Her Black Jewel in its ancient setting filled the dress’s open neckline The Black-Jeweled ring, in its deceptively feer Two silver cuff bracelets with chips of her Red Jewel eht sleeves of her dress Last caotten craftsmen, which never betrayed a footfall

She was ready Whatever stor, she was ready

With a listening, thoughtful expression on her face and a faraway look in her emerald eyes, Cassandra settled down to wait

8--Terreille

As the slaves were brought up from the salt mines of Pruul, Lucivar turned toward the west The salt sweat stung the new cuts on his back The heavy chains thatar air, watching the last sliver of sun sink beneath the horizon

He’d ridden the dark aftershocks that hit Pruul with a lover’s passion, using his Ebon-gray strength to fortify those waves and keep theret was not joining Sadi in the bloodletting Not that the Sadist needed his help Not that it would be safe to be in the sahtened guard shook his whip at the slaves to begin leading the cells, Lucivar smiled and whispered, "Send them to Hell, Bastard Send them all to Hell"

9--Terreille

Philip Alexander sat at his desk, his head braced in his hands, staring at the shattered Gray Jewel

It had taken--what--a minute? A bare uards had felt it first, a shuddery feeling, like trying to stand against a strong wind that kept growing stronger Then Leland Then Alexandra He’d been puzzled, in thosewhy they had beco to hear so doard, he’d had a moment, just a moment, to realize what it was, athem to the floor, a moment to try to form a Gray shield around the three of them A moment

Then his world exploded

He had held on for less than a th shattered the Gray and swept hiht in a wave before the wave smashes it into the sand He’d felt Alexandra try to hold him before she, too, ept away

A minute

When it was over, when his head finally cleared

Of the Hayllian guards who had remained in the hall, all but tere dead or had their minds burned away Leland and Alexandra, shielded froht He’d been broken back to the Green, his Birthright Jewel

Still in shock, the three of theered fro e, her body twisted and torn alnition