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"You doubt me?" Dorothea shouted She tore off the cloak and tossed it aside Her wispy, white hair, which had been thick and black a feeeks ago, fell around her shoulders Her sagging, deeply lined face twisted, and tears filled her gold eyes as the ed to shocked exclaht to free myself from his insidious spellsLook at me This is the price I paid, so that you would be aware of the danger"

Dorothea pressed a hand against her chest, gasping for breath

Her Steward stepped forward and gently grasped her arm to support her "You must stop, Priestess This is too much for you to endure"

"No," Dorothea gasped, still using Craft to enhance her voice "Iwhile I can I may not have another chance Once he realizes I know about him"

The crowd grew silent

Lowering her hand, Dorothea stood as straight as she could, ignoring the ache in her spine "I was not the High Lord's only instru you who have had thein your courts May the Darkness forgive ile Territories, and because of them, Queens have died Sometimes whole courts were torn apart I, like Prythian, Askavi's High Priestess, thought ere sending them into service in other courts by our own choice, in the hope that they could be controlled But eretheh Lord's sons !They are that bestial creature's seeds, and they have grown up to be his tools of destruction The control Prythian and I thought we had over the but an illusion, a blind to conceal their true purpose

"Both of theo Most of us hoped they had died Not so I've learned fro in the Kaeleer Territory called Little Terreille that both Yaslana and Sadi are in the Shadow Realuise of being the Warlord Prince of Dhemlan The viper's children have returned to the nest

"There's h Lord has an unhealthy influence over most of the Territory Queens in Kaeleer, as well as absolute control over a young woest witch in all the Realth behind him, he will overwhelm us—unless we strike first We have no choice, h Lord and everyone in his service, the cruelty I have done as his instruame in comparison"

Dorothea paused for a moment "Many of you have friends or loved ones who have fled to Kaeleer in order to escape the violence that has been strangling Terreille Look at what has happened to h Lord's seductive embrace"

Using Craft, she whipped away the canvas covering the front of the platforing as the flies rose from the mutilated corpses

Screae rose above the other voices Then another, and another, as the people nearest the platfornized a distinctive piece of jewelry

Using Craft again, Dorothea gently drew the canvas over the bodies She waited several minutes for the screams to fade to muffled sobs

"Know this," she said "I will use every bit of Craft I have learned, every drop of strength that I have in me to defeat this monster But if I stand alone, I will surely be defeated If we stand and fight together, we have a chance to rid ourselves of the High Lord and those who serve hiht, but our children—" Her voice broke It took her a moment to continue "But our children will know the freedoive them"