Queen of the Darkness (4 page)

There was one web in the cave that had been started long, long ago. Generation after generation after generation, the Arachnian Queens had brushed one of the anchor threads of that web, had listened to the dreams, and then had added more strands. So many dreamers in this web, so many dreams that had fit together to become one. Twenty-five years ago, by human reckoning, that dream had finally become flesh.

In the center of that special web was a triangle. Three strong dreamers. Three threads that had been reinforced so many times they were now thick and very powerful.

And each Queen, as she consumed the freely offered flesh of the one who had come before her, had been told the same thing: Remember this web. Know this web. Know every thread.

The spider pulled her mind back to the new web.

Dreams made flesh. A spirit nurtured in the Darkness, shaped by dreams. And a tangled web, equally nurtured and hidden in a cave full of ancient power, that guided that spirit to the right kind of flesh.

There had been times, when the spider had seen terrible things in her webs of dreams and visions, when she had wondered if that particular spirit had, in fact, found the right flesh; had wondered if, perhaps, some of the threads had been too old. No, there had been a reason why this one had been shaped into this flesh. The pain and the wounds had not been the fault of the dreaming—or the dreamers.

The spider drew silk out of her body and carefully attached it to the Ladvarian thread.

So. Witch would choose the second path, blind to the fact that, while she would save Kaeleer and those she loved, she would also destroy Kaeleer’s Heart.

There
had
to be a way to save Kaeleer’s Heart.

Spinning out an anchor thread between the tree trunk and a sturdy branch, the Arachnian Queen began to weave her own tangled web.

1 / Kaeleer

Lucivar Yaslana flipped the list back to the first page of neatly written names and stepped away from the table, faintly amused by the men who were caught between wanting to review the lists at that table and
not
wanting to get too close to
him.

That was one advantage he had over the other males who were drifting from table to table to check the service fair lists. No one jostled him or complained about how long it took him to scan the names, because no one wanted to tangle with a Warlord Prince who wore Ebon-gray Jewels, was an Eyrien warrior bred and trained, and had a vicious temper and a reputation for unleashing that temper—and his fists—without a second thought. When added to his belonging to one of the strongest families in the Realm and also serving in the Dark Court at Ebon Askavi, it was little wonder that other men quickly yielded.

But even all of that didn’t help him feel comfortable while he was at the service fair in Goth, Little Terreille’s capital. No matter what they called it, this fair had too much of the flavor of the slave auctions still held in the Realm of Terreille.

Slowly making his way to the door, Lucivar took a deep breath and then wished he hadn’t. The large room was overcrowded, and even with the windows open, the air stank of sweat and fatigue—and the fear and desperation that seemed to rise up from the hundreds of names on those lists.

As soon as he was outside the building, Lucivar spread his dark, membranous wings to their full span.

He wasn’t sure if it was out of defiance for all the times that natural movement had earned him the cut of a lash or just that he wanted to feel the sun and wind on them for a moment after being inside for several hours—or if it was simply a way to remind himself that he was now the buyer, not the merchandise.

Folding his wings, he set off for the far corner of the fairground that was reserved for the Eyrien ”camp.”

He’d noted several Eyrien names that were of interest to him, but not the one name—the Hayllian name—that was the main reason he’d spent the past several hours searching through those damn lists.

But he’d been searching the lists for Daemon’s name for the past five years, ever since the idiots in the Dark Council had decided this twice-yearly ”service fair” was the way to funnel the hundreds of people who were fleeing from Terreille and trying to find a fingerhold in Kaeleer. And he thought, as he did every time, about why Daemon’s name wasn’t there. And he rejected, as he did every time, all the reasons except one: he wasn’t looking for the right name.

But that wasn’t likely. No matter what name Daemon Sadi used to get to Kaeleer, once at the fair he would use his own name.’ There were too many people here who would recognize him, and since the penalty for lying about the Jewels one wore was immediate expulsion from the Realm—either back to Terreille or to the final death— changing his name while admitting that he wore the Black Jewels would only make him look like a fool because he was the
only
male besides the High Lord who had worn the Black in the entire history of the Blood. The Darkness knew Daemon was many things, but he wasn’t a fool.

Pushing aside his own stab of disappointment, Lucivar wondered how he was going to explain this to Ladvarian. The Sceltie Warlord had been so insistent about Lucivar checking the lists carefully this time, had seemed so certain. Most people would think it odd to feel apprehensive about disappointing a dog that just reached his knees, but when that dog’s best friend was eight hundred pounds of feline temper, a smart man didn’t dismiss canine feelings.

Lucivar put those thoughts aside as he reached the Eyrien ”camp”: a large corral of barren, beaten earth, a poorly made wooden barracks, a water pump, and a large trough. Not so different from the slave pens in Terreille. Oh, there were better accommodations on the fairground for those who still had the gold or silver marks to pay for them, with hot water and beds that were more than a sleeping bag on the ground.

But for most, it was like this: a struggle to look presentable after days spent waiting, wondering, hoping.

Even here, among a race where arrogance was as natural as breathing, he could pick up the scents of exhaustion brought on by too little food, too little sleep, and nerves frayed to the breaking point. He could almost taste the desperation.

Opening the gate, Lucivar stepped inside. Most of the women were near the barracks. Most of the men were in small groups, nearer the gate. Some glanced at him and ignored him. A few stiffened in recognition and looked away, dismissing him in the same way they had dismissed the bastard boy he’d believed himself to be.

But a few of the males moved toward him, every line of their bodies issuing a challenge.

Lucivar gave them a slow, arrogant smile that blatantly accepted the challenge, then turned his back on them and headed for the Warlord whose concentration was focused on the two boys moving through a sparring exercise with the sticks.

One of the boys noticed him and forgot about his sparring partner. The other boy pounced on the advantage and gave the first one a hard poke in the belly.

”Hell’s fire, boy,” the Warlord said with so much irritation it made Lucivar grin. ”You’re lucky all you’ve got is a sore belly and not a dent in that thick head of yours. You dropped your guard.”

”But—” the boy said as he started to raise his hand and point.

The Warlord tensed but didn’t turn. ”If you start worrying about the man who hasn’t reached you yet, the one you’re already fighting is going to kill you.” Then he turned slowly and his eyes widened.

Lucivar’s grin sharpened. ”You’re getting soft, Hallevar. You used to give me the bruised belly and then a smack for getting it.”

”Do you drop your guard in a fight?” Hallevar growled.

Lucivar just laughed.

”Then what are you bitching for? Stand still, boy, and let’s take a look at you.”

The youngsters’ mouths were hanging open at Hallevar’s disrespect for a Warlord Prince. The males who had noticed him and had decided to talk—or fight—had formed a semicircle on his right. But he stood still while Hallevar’s eyes traveled over his body; he said nothing in response to the older man’s small grunts of approval, and he bit back a laugh at Hallevar’s glaring disapproval of the thick, black, shoulder-length hair.

His hair was a break from tradition, since Eyrien warriors wore their hair short to deprive an enemy of a handhold. But after escaping from the salt mines of Pruul eight years ago and ending up in Kaeleer instead of dead, he had shrugged off quite a few traditions—and by doing so, had found others that were even older.

”Well,” Hallevar finally growled, ”you filled out well enough, and while your face is nowhere near as pretty as that sadistic bastard you call a brother, it’ll fool the Ladies long enough if you can keep that temper of yours on a tight leash.” He rubbed the back of his neck. ”But this is the last day of the fair. You haven’t left yourself much time to draw anyone’s attention.”

”Neither have you,” Lucivar replied, ”and putting those pups through their paces isn’t going to show anyone what you can do.”

”Who wants gristle when they can have fresh meat?” Hallevar muttered, looking away.

”Don’t start digging your grave,” Lucivar snapped, not pleased with how relieved he felt when anger fired Hallevar’s eyes. ”You’re a seasoned warrior and an experienced arms master with enough years left in you to train another generation or two. This is just another kind of battlefield, so pick up your weapon and show some balls.”

Hallevar smiled reluctantly.

Needing some balance, Lucivar turned toward the other men. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed some of the women coming over. And he noticed that some were bringing young children with them.

He clamped down on the emotions that started churning too close to the surface. He had to choose carefully. There were those who could adjust to the way the Blood lived in Kaeleer and would make a good life for themselves here. And there were those who would die swiftly and violently because they couldn’t, or wouldn’t, adjust. He had made a few bad choices during the first couple of fairs, had offered a trust that he shouldn’t have offered. Because of it, he carried the guilt for the shattered lives of two witches who had been raped and brutally beaten—and he carried the memory of the sick rage he’d felt when he’d executed the Eyrien males who had been responsible. After that, he’d found a way to confirm his choices. He hadn’t always trusted his own judgment, but he never doubted Jaenelle’s.

”Lucivar.”

Lucivar honed his attention to the Sapphire-Jeweled Warlord Prince who had moved to the front of the group. ”Falonar.”

”It’s
Prince
Falonar,” Falonar snarled.

Lucivar bared his teeth in a feral smile. ”I thought we were being informal, since I’m sure an aristo male like you wouldn’t forget something like basic courtesy.”

”Why should I offer you basic courtesy?”

”Because I’m the one wearing the Ebon-gray,” Lucivar replied too softly as he shifted his weight just enough to let the other man see the challenge and make the choice.

”Stop it, both of you,” Hallevar snarled. ”We’re all on shaky ground in this place. We don’t need it yanked out from under us because you two keep wanting to prove whose cock is bigger. I thumped both of you when you were snot-nosed brats, and I can still do it.”

Lucivar felt the tension slide away and took a step back. Hallevar knew as well as he did that he could snap the older man in half with his hands or his mind, but Hallevar had been one of the few who had seen the potential warrior and hadn’t cared about his bloodlines—or the lack of them.

”That’s better,” Hallevar said to Lucivar with an approving nod. ”And you, Falonar. You’ve had a couple of offers, which is more than most of us can say. Maybe you’d better consider them.”

Falonar’s face tightened. He took a deep breath and let it out. ”I guess I should. It doesn’t look like the bastard’s going to show.”

”What bastard is that?” Lucivar asked mildly. More of the women and some of the men who had refused to acknowledge him had wandered over.

It was a young Warlord who answered. ”The Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih. We’d heard...”

”You heard... ?” Lucivar prodded when the Warlord didn’t finish, noticing the way the man shifted a bit closer to the witch who was holding an adorable little girl in her arms. Lucivar’s gold eyes narrowed as he opened his psychic senses a little more. A little Queen. His gaze shifted to the boy who had a two-fisted grip on the woman’s skirt. There was strength there, potential there. He felt something inside him shift, sharpen. ”What did you hear?”

The Warlord swallowed hard. ”We heard he’s a hard bastard, but he’s fair if you serve him well. And he doesn’t...”

It was the fear in the woman’s eyes and the way her brown skin paled that honed Lucivar’s temper.

”And he doesn’t plow a woman unless she invites him?” he said too softly.

He felt a flash of female anger nearby. Before he could locate the source, he remembered the children who probably already carried too many scars. ”You heard right. He doesn’t.”

Falonar shifted, bringing Lucivar’s attention—and his temper—back to someone who could handle it.

Then he gave Hallevar a sharp look, and a couple of other men that he’d known before centuries of slavery had taken him away from the Eyrien courts and hunting camps.

”Is that what you’ve been waiting for?” It took effort, but he kept his voice neutral.

”Wouldn’t you?” Hallevar replied. ”It may not be the Territory that we knew in Terreille, but they call it Askavi here, too, and maybe it won’t feel so ... strange.”

Lucivar clenched his teeth. The afternoon was fleeing. He had to make some choices, and he had to make them
now.
He turned back to Falonar. ”Are you going to choke every time you have to take an order from me?”

Falonar stiffened. ”Why should I take any orders from
you
?”

”Because I
am
the Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih.”

Shock. Tense stillness. Some of the men—a good number of the men who had wandered over—looked at him in disgust and walked away.

Falonar narrowed his eyes. ”You already have a contract?”

”A longstanding one. Think carefully, Prince Falonar. If serving under me is going to be a bone in your throat, you’d better take one of those other offers, because if you break the rules that I set, I’ll tear you apart. And you— and everyone else who was waiting—had better think about what Ebon Rih is.”