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The Keraastar Knights were a society that Queen Asteria had formed, composed of some of those who had possessed the spirit seals She’d sumes For what purpose, eren’t clear, and she wasn’t taking questions My sisters and I didn’t think it was such a good idea, but till noe hadn’t questioned her plan

"Do you really think this is wise?" Even though it was a serious breach of protocol to express doubt, I couldn’t help it "Queen Asteria, we’re worried The spirit seals corrupt--they aren’t evil, but they corrupt and twist the ave me a frantic look but then came to ry But Delilah’s right We are worried You, yourself, told us that the spirit seals aren’t trifles or baubles, and they should be hidden away We’ve seen what they can do--"

"Stop" Asteria held up her hand "No irls Trust me and have faith And…for what it’s worth, rest easy The true nature of ardless of what you think you know There is no one to betray s of Fate knows the truth of theUppala-Dahns and Queen Tanaquar didn’t know as ently shook her head at me We’d expressed our concerns And that was all we could do

"We have to leave soon We just needed to warn you Keep watch to the Goblin lands, and to the other Cryptos Who knohat the Tregarts have been up to?" I stood, looking for Chase

"Your detective will be out shortly Fear not We will keep the watchtowers lit and active And the grapevine runs in o home and do your best to corral this new threat I will send uards to watch over your house"

As Chase reappeared, a bemused and easy look on his face, we stood After we made polite leave, Trenyth escorted us out and back to the portals But I couldn’t help but feel that giving the spirit seals to the knights instead of locking theht it so

As we hugged Trenyth good-bye and stepped through the portal, I hoped to hell that the Queen wasn’tdown both of our worlds

Chapter 21

Chase wasn’t talking about his experience yet I was curious, but Careed ouldn’t push him There was so much for him to accept First with the Nectar of Life, and now this He’d never met his birth father, but now he’d h which his ot ho sundown We had ti out

Hanna was cooking dinner and Marion was helping her Marion confirmed that all her kids were fine, which was a relief, and that she and Douglas had talked it over and decided to rebuild after all the lanced at one Somehow, the threat to their lives had rekindled whatever it was they thought was lost

"We’re not letting the Koyanni push us out" She gave me a cold smile, and her teeth suddenly looked sharp and vicious "I’m not a pushover They killed Trixie, they took my house, they burned my café It ends here"

I patted her arht Meanwhile you are welcoot all your gear ready Go take showers and get dressed" Roz had laid out all our weapons in the living room

After we showered, Hanna put dinner on the table Her cooking wasn’t as good as Iris’s, but she e that had been fried up with onions and garlic

We gathered around the table Morio started to set up the computer, but Hanna shook her head "Food first You have tio over your plans Now--sit Eat"

I snickered Hanna was getting more comfortable in her place with the family, and now that Iris was on her honey out When Iris was around, Hanna was careful never to step on toes--she respected Iris’s place in the hierarchy But now, she seehed "The cook makes the rules" He winked at Hanna and she blushed Her hair was the color of spun wheat, pulled back in a braid that reached her shoulders Though she showed her age--andHyto, she was still an attractive woman She would have been close to forty if she’d been human, and her eyes were a warm hazel

Hanna reached for the breadbasket, but Roz jumped up and took it frohtly, as he took the breadbasket froave him a shy smile, and he returned it It was alether Could they?

Roz was an incubus; he wasn’t capable of sticking to one wo down, either In fact, she was learning new traditions, trying to adapt to a world unlike any she’d ever seen before

I gave Caaze to Hanna and then to Roz She furrowed her brow, took a quick peek at both of the

As we finished dinner, Menolly entered the kitchen We filled her in on everything that had happened during the day while we helped Hanna clear the table Afterward, while Hanna and Marion started on the dishes, Morio pulled out the co with the--she liked life at the top of the world "Asteria won’t even think of discussing the spirit seals?"

I shook my head "We expected Queen Asteria to shoot down our concerns She’s going to do whatever she wants Even if it fucks up the portals further, there’s not much we can do about it And really, what can we do? Steal the spirit seals back and hide theht now"