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He flicked an “I’ a psychic thread aierous—mind

Almost done myself, Shira replied

Find anything?

Maybe

But she sounded ned than excited, so he didn’t press her Besides, the sound of another horse had hi as Shaddo rode up to the Queen’s Residence

It was a Warlord Prince’s nature to rise to the killing edge Since co to Eyota, all of them had discovered that their instincts were more keenly honed when they were around their Queen or her ho moment when temper was poised between predatory instinct and conscious loyalty to the Queen and their Brothers in the court

Watching Shaddo, who e that he had his temper leashed

“Anything?” he asked Shaddo had spent the day in the western Province where his wife and boys had lived, riding through a couple of villages to see who ht want to talk to a member of Cassidy’s First Circle

“Lots of circling around questions no one was brave enough to ask,” Shaddo replied, disic Queens can do to help the harvest And I ran into a handful of Warlord Princes I had the feeling they hadn’t e by chance”

“Does that mean trouble for us?”

Shaddo shook his head “I thinkHell’s fire, Ranon, re the Warlord Princes step up and rule on behalf of the Territory Queen because there weren’t many Queens left in Dena Nehele?”

“At least nota visible court,” Ranon said In the past few days, Powell had received tentativeif they could see this specialbetween the lines, there were Queens out there anted to learn but weren’t willing to trust their lives and what little structure was left in Dena Nehele to a Queen as still unknown But men who served those Queens would come to watch and learn—and report back to their Ladies

“Basically, they wanted to kno Cassidy would respond if they divided a Province based on as available ‘to rule on behalf of the Queen’ ”

“I think she’d be relieved to have the Warlord Princes rule whatever the surviving Queens couldn’t handle,” Ranon said Or didn’t want to handle because it would call attention to themselves

“I told theure out how to divide the Provinces into Districts, but he orking blind because he didn’t knoto step up to the line and help their people”

Ranon winced “Those words ”

Shaddo shook his head “They didn’t, and that surprisedabout what Cassidy did for the Shaladorans—and about her going into landen villages as well as Blood to do that special s wanted to knoe could let her do soerous”

“I hope you told therumbled

Wasn’t ht chafe at the boundaries the First Circle set for her protection, but thethose boundaries as they settled down to a life here in Eyota Besides, according to the Protocol Poas studying every night, even the First Circle’s right to protect the Queen had some limits

“Papa! Papa!”

Ranon felt Shaddo’s fierce joy as his two boys ca toward them, but he also saw the stern face and the hand quickly raised to stop them

“What did I tell you about running toward horses?” Shaddo said

“Don’t do it” Eliot, the younger one, scuffed one shoe on the street

“Can alk the horses to the stables?” Eryk asked “We’ll be careful”

Saying nothing, Ranon handed his reins to Shaddo