Queen of the Darkness (15 page)

He was speechless for a moment. ”I beg your pardon?”

”In this court, it’s the acceptable way for a male to express annoyance with a witch.”

”Threatening to throttle a woman is considered acceptable?” Daemon asked, sure that he had misunderstood something.

”As long as he says it calmly so you know he doesn’t mean it.”

A male who could remain calm in this place must have an amazing amount of self-control,Daemon thought. He rubbed his forehead and began to understand Lucivar’s warning about having one of the coven explain things to him.

”Having Lucivar threaten you doesn’t bother you?” Daemon asked. Since Lucivar usually sounded calm when he threatened someone, only a fool wouldn’t take him seriously, Karla twitched her shoulders. ”Oh. Well.
Lucivar.
He rarely says anything if he’s annoyed with you. He just picks you up and tosses you into the nearest body of water.” She paused. ”Although to be fair—”

”Who wants to be fair?” Daemon growled.

”Spent the morning with him, didn’t you?” Karla said knowingly. ”If it’s a watering trough or a fountain, he dunks you rather than tosses you so that you don’t get hurt. However, that’s Lucivar. We strongly discourage other males from acquiring that particular habit.”

”If you didn’t, you’d be wet most of the time,” Daemon muttered.

Before Karla could respond to that comment, Morghann, the Queen of Scelt—the red-haired Queen he’d seen earlier that morning—and Gabrielle, the Queen of the Dea al Mon, gave the balcony door a token tap before walking in.

”The coven’s rooms all face this inner garden, so it’s quicker to use the balcony doors rather than walking all the way around inside,” Morghann said at the same time Karla said, ”Where’s Surreal?”

Gabrielle hooked her silver-blond hair behind her pointed ears and grinned. ”Chaosti claimed her on the pretense of giving her a tour of the Hall. She was still snarling about having to apologize to Graysfang for sounding like she meant it when she threatened to smack him.”

”I was explaining some of the rules to Daemon,” Karla said.

”I really do have an appointment,” Daemon muttered, then said, ”Come in,”—loudly—when someone knocked on the sitting room door.

Saetan walked in, took one look at the three women, and stopped.

”Kiss kiss,” Karla said.

”We were going to explain the rules to Daemon,” Morghann said.

”May the Darkness have mercy on Daemon,” Saetan said dryly.

”I’ll get my jacket,” Daemon said, not about to ignore a chance to retreat. Pride kept him from bolting into his bedroom. Common sense made him linger far longer than necessary, so that when he finally walked back into his sitting room, Saetan was the only one waiting for him.

”Have they gone off to plague someone else?” Daemon asked sourly as they left his suite and started walking through the corridors.

Saetan chuckled. ”For the moment.”

Daemon hesitated. ”Maybe you’d better explain those rules to me.”

”I’ll give you a book of court Protocol to review.”

”No, I meant the rules that are peculiar to this court. Like—”

”I don’t want to know,” Saetan said quietly but firmly.

”You have to know. You’re the Steward.”

”Exactly. And if this court has some rules that I have been blissfully ignorant of for the five years that I’ve been the Steward, I do not want to know about them now.”

”But—” Daemon said. The implacable look in Saetan’s eyes stopped him. ”That’s a prissy attitude for you to take.”

”From where you’re standing, I suppose it is. From where I’m standing, it makes a world of sense.

You’re younger. Deal with it.”

Before he could make a comment he might regret, a small brown-and-white dog raced up to them and stopped a few feet away, his tail wagging in effusive greeting.

He’s here! Jaenelle’s mate is finally here!

Daemon felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him, not only because he had heard the dog but because he’d seen the Red Jewel hidden in the white ruff.

”Daemon, this is Lord Ladvarian,” Saetan said. ”Ladvarian, this—”

A Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince,Ladvarian said as he danced around in front of them.
He’s a
Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince. I have to tell Kaelas.
The dog dashed down the corridor and disappeared.

”Mother Night,” Saetan said under his breath. ”Come on. Let’s get out of here before you meet anyone else. You’ve already had a sufficient amount of education for your first day in the court.”

”He’s kindred,” Daemon said weakly as he followed Saetan. ”When Lucivar said someone named Ladvarian would be pleased to see me, I thought... Unless he meant someone else?”

”No, that’s Ladvarian. He would have gone to the service fair to look for you himself, but kindred aren’t well received in Little Terreille, and I wasn’t willing to risk him. His ability to explain kindred behavior to humans and human behavior to the kindred makes him unique. And his influence on Prince Kaelas is not to be taken lightly.”

”Who’s Kaelas?”

Saetan gave him an odd look. ”Let’s save Kaelas for another day.”

Daemon studied the well-kept cottage and neat yard. ”I’d always wanted Tersa to live in a place like this.”

”She’s comfortable here,” Saetan said, opening the front door. ”A journeymaid Black Widow lives with her as a companion. And then there’s Mikal,” he added as they followed the sound of voices to the kitchen.

Daemon stepped into the kitchen, gave the boy sitting at the kitchen table a quick glance, and then focused on Tersa, who was muttering to herself as she busily arranged an assortment of food.

Her black hair was as tangled as he remembered it, but the dark-green dress was clean and looked warm.

The boy hastily swallowed a mouthful of nutcake before saying in a suspicious voice, ”Who’s he?”

Tersa looked up. Joy brightened her gold eyes and made her smile radiant. ”It’s the boy,” she said as she rushed into Daemon’s arms.

”Hello, sweetheart,” Daemon said, feeling swamped by the pleasure of seeing her again.

”He’snot a
boy,”
the boy said.

”Mikal,” Saetan said sternly.

Leaning away from Daemon, Tersa looked at Mikal, then back at Daemon. ”He is a large boy,” she said firmly. She pulled Daemon toward the table. ”Sit down. Sit. There is food. You should eat.”

Daemon sat across from the boy, who openly regarded him as an unwelcome rival. ”Shouldn’t you be in school?”

Mikal rolled his eyes. ”It’s not a school day.”

”But you did finish the chores your mother assigned to you
before
you came here,” Saetan said mildly, accepting the glass of red wine Tersa offered him while his eyes never left Mikal.

Mikal squirmed under that knowing stare, and finally muttered, ”Most of them.”

”In that case, after we’ve eaten, I’ll escort you home and you can finish them,” Saetan said.

”But I have to help Tersa weed the garden,” Mikal protested.

”The weeds will still be there,” Tersa said serenely. She looked at the two ”boys,” frowned at the glasses of milk she held, then put both of them in front of Mikal. She patted Daemon’s shoulder. ”He is old enough for wine.”

”Thank the Darkness,” Daemon said under his breath.

The meal was eaten with little conversation. Saetan inquired about Mikal’s schoolwork and got the expected evasive answers. Tersa tried to make mundane comments about the cottage and garden, but each time the remarks became more disjointed.

Daemon clenched his teeth. He wanted to tell her to stop trying. It hurt to watch her struggling so hard to walk the borderland of sanity for his sake, and seeing the concern and resentment in Mikal’s eyes as her control continued to crumble stabbed at him.

Saetan set his wineglass on the table and rose. ”Come on, puppy,” he said to Mikal. ”I’ll take you home now.”

Mikal quickly grabbed a nutcake. ”I haven’t finished eating.”

”Take it with you.”

When they left, with Mikal still loudly protesting, Daemon looked at Tersa. ”It’s good to see you again,”

he said softly.

Sorrow filled her eyes. ”I don’t know how to be your mother.”

He reached for her hand. ”Then just be Tersa. That was always more than enough.” He felt her absorb the acceptance, felt the tension drain from her body.

Finally, she smiled. ”You are well?”

He returned the smile and lied. ”Yes, I’m well.”

Her hand tightened on his. Her eyes lost focus, became distant and farseeing. ”No,” she said quietly,

”you’re not. But you will be.” Then she stood up. ”Come. I’ll show you my garden.”

7 / Kaeleer

Saetan shifted to a sitting position on the couch in his study. He didn’t need to use a psychic probe to know who was on the other side of the door. The scent of her fear was sufficient. ”Come.”

Wilhelmina Benedict entered the room, each step a hesitation.

Watching her, Saetan tightened the reins on his temper. It wasn’t her fault. She had been barely more than a child herself thirteen years ago. There was nothing she could have done.

But if Jaenelle hadn’t stayed in Chaillot in order to protect Wilhelmina, that last, terrible night at Briarwood wouldn’t have happened. She would have left the family that hadn’t understood or cherished what she was. She would have come to Kaeleer, would have come to
him—
and would have escaped the violent rape that had left her with so many deep emotional scars.

It wasn’t fair to hold Wilhelmina in any way responsible for what had happened to Jaenelle, but he still resented her presence in his home and her reappearance in her sister’s life.

”What can I do for you, Lady Benedict?” He tried, but he couldn’t keep the edge out of his voice.

”I don’t know what to do.” Her voice was barely audible.

”About what?”

”All the other people who signed the contract have something to do, even if it’s just making a list of their skills. But I—”

She wrung her hands so hard Saetan winced in sympathy for the delicate bones.

”He hates me,” Wilhelmina said, her voice rising in desperation. ”Everyone here hates me, and I don’t know why.”

Saetan pointed at the other end of the couch. ”Sit down.” As he waited for her to obey, he wondered how such a frightened, emotionally brittle woman had managed to make the journey through one of the Gates between the Realms and then tried to acquire a contract at the service fair. When she was seated, he said, ”Hate is too strong a word. No one here hates you.”

”Yaslana does.” She pressed her fists into her lap. ”So do you.”

”I don’t hate you, Wilhelmina,” he said quietly. ”But I do resent your presence.”

”Why?”

Faced with her hurt and bewilderment, he was tempted to blunt the truth, but decided to give her the courtesy of honesty. ”Because you’re the reason Jaenelle didn’t leave Chaillot soon enough.”

Her swift change from frightened to fierce startled him, and he realized it shouldn’t have. He should have looked for the common ground between her and Jaenelle instead of letting the past cloud his judgment.

”You know where to find her, don’t you?
Don’t you?”

She looked like she was about to shake the answer out of him. Intrigued by the change in her, he wondered if she would actually try.

”Not at the moment,” he said mildly. ”But she’ll be home soon.”

”Home?” Her fierceness changed back to bewilderment and then thoughtfulness as she looked around the study. ”Home?”

”I’m her adopted father.” When she didn’t react to that, he added, ”Lucivar is her brother.”

She jumped as if he’d jabbed her with a pin. Her blue eyes were filled with something close to horror as she stared at him. ”Brother?”

”Brother. If it’s any comfort to you, while you’re both related to the same woman, you’re not related to each other.”

Her relief was so blatant he almost laughed.

”Does she like him?” Wilhelmina asked in a small voice. He couldn’t help it. He did laugh. ”Most of the time.” Then he studied her. ”Is that why you came to Kaeleer? To find Jaenelle?”

She nodded. ”Everyone else said she had died, that Prince Sadi had killed her, but I knew it wasn’t true.

He never would have hurt Jaenelle. I thought she had gone to live with one of her secret friends or with her teacher.” She looked at him as if she were trying to measure what she saw against something she knew. ”It was you, wasn’t it? She came to
you
for lessons.”

”Yes.” He waited. ”What made you think of Kaeleer?”

”She told me. After.” Wilhelmina brushed a finger against her Sapphire Jewel. ”When Prince Sadi unleashed his Black Jewels to escape the Hayllians who had come for him, I heard Jaenelle yelling ’ride it, ride it.’ So I did. When it was over, I was wearing a Sapphire Jewel. Everyone was upset about that because they thought I had somehow made the Offering to the Darkness. But it wasn’t my Jewel. It was Jaenelle’s. I couldn’t actually use it, but it protected me. Sometimes, when I was scared or didn’t know what to do, it always gave the same answer: Kaeleer. I left home because Bobby—” She pressed her lips together and took a couple of deep breaths. ”I left home. As soon as I was twenty, I made the Offering. I got this Jewel. The other one disappeared.”

”And you’ve spent these past years trying to find a way here?”

She hesitated. ”I wasn’t ready for a long time. Then, one day, I started wondering if I would
ever
be ready. So I came anyway.”

Which meant this woman had more courage than was readily apparent.

”Tell me something, Wilhelmina,” Saetan said gently. ”If, thirteen years ago, Jaenelle had decided to leave Chaillot and had asked you to go with her, would you have?”

It took her a long time to answer. Finally, reluctantly, she said, ”I don’t know.” She looked around the room, sadness in her eyes. ”Jaenelle belongs here. I don’t.”

”You’re Jaenelle’s sister and a Sapphire-Jeweled witch. Don’t judge too quickly.”
And I, too, will try
not to judge too quickly.
”Besides, you would have had a different opinion of this place if you’d been here while ten adolescent witches were in residence,” he added in a deliberately mournful voice.