“Papa, why did you ask Tarl to pile up all those rocks at the end of the garden?”

“Those are for your mother.”

“Why does Mama need rocks?”

For reasons he wasn’t about to explain to a child.

After drying off and styling his hair, he slipped into a pair of black silk pants and the matching robe. He wasn’t sure what Surreal expected from him—or wanted from him tonight. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to offer—and he couldn’t say with any honesty that he was looking forward to spending the night in his wife’s bed.

When he walked out of the bathroom, he found Jazen waiting for him. His valet looked pointedly at the room’s other occupant.

He’d asked Beale to bring Morghann’s cushioned bed up to his room. With Tagg now living with Mikal and Tersa, and Khary still in Ebon Rih, he felt concerned that Morghann would feel abandoned, especially after making the choice to hide and starve when she couldn’t find him.

It wasn’t the bed or the Sceltie herself that was the reason for Jazen’s annoyance. It was . . .

٭That’s my shirt?٭ he asked, seeing a white cuff between the Sceltie’s front paws. The rest of the material was under her, making him think of a broody hen sitting on a silk egg—a thought he kept to himself, since he didn’t think dog or valet would appreciate the comparison.

٭Yes, that’s the shirt you removed a few minutes ago—the one I was going to take down to the laundry room,٭ Jazen replied. ٭She growled at me when I tried to take it back.٭

Daemon looked at Morghann, who gave him a tail-tip wag.

Sighing, he looked at Jazen. ٭Let her have the shirt.٭

٭You will explain that she can only have one shirt at a time. She can’t hoard them.٭

He stared at Jazen, but his valet didn’t back down, leaving him in the middle of a farce where Sceltie and valet would play a continual game of hoard and retrieve with his clothes.

٭I’ll talk to her,٭ he said, fighting the urge to laugh.

٭Very well.٭

٭There’s no need to get huffy.٭

٭I’ll remind you of that when you complain about not having any clean shirts in the closet.٭

٭Hell’s fire, man, just order more shirts and go away tonight.٭

Judging by the look on Jazen’s face before the man made a quick exit, Daemon realized he’d been herded into agreeing to exactly what his valet wanted.

“Damned impertinent,” he muttered. But there was something to be said for impertinence. A man couldn’t be completely terrifying if his valet was willing to argue with him about shirts.

Going over to the cushioned bed, he crouched in front of Morghann. It would crush her if he said she had done a wrong thing. Instead, he tugged the other sleeve out from under her and laid it over her like an arm casually draped around her.

“I’m going to be in the other room with Lady Surreal tonight,” he said quietly. “You need to stay in this room. Do you understand?”

٭I will wait here for you.٭

“Yes. You sleep here, and I will see you in the morning.”

He gave her one caress before he rose, walked over to the door that separated the bedrooms, and knocked.

* * *

* * *

Their lovemaking often began in what Surreal thought of as the social area of her room—the mix of tables, chairs, and love seat where she could read in solitude or talk privately with a close friend or her daughter. Or cuddle with her husband while they talked about their respective days or shared observations made during that evening’s dinner or social gathering.

She had a feeling that Sadi wouldn’t join her on the love seat tonight and might deliberately misinterpret her invitation to discuss things as strictly verbal communication. So she waited for him in bed, propped up with pillows, a book open in her lap.

“Come in,” she said in response to a knock on the adjoining room’s door. Her smile froze when he saw her and hesitated, which meant his saying, “It will be my pleasure,” when they had talked earlier had been an acknowledgment of his duty as a husband.

Hell’s fire! She’d been a whore for decades. She’d been the most expensive whore for decades. Tonight she would need all of that skill to show him he was still wanted, still loved.

She flipped the covers back on his side of the bed. She closed her book but didn’t put it on the bedside table, a subtle way of telling him she didn’t expect him to perform immediately.

He stretched out beside her, propped up on one elbow. Not touching her.

“It’s confirmed now?” she asked. “Lucivar has taken over rule of all of Askavi?”

“He signed the document that gives him the whole Territory,” Daemon replied. “Draca and I witnessed it, so it’s official.”

“How does Marian feel about that?”

“She seemed to take it in stride after being assured that she wouldn’t have to be the buffer between Lucivar and all the Queens in Askavi beyond the ones whose territories are in Ebon Rih.”

“Someone has to arrange for audiences and prioritize meetings.”

Daemon looked amused. “It’s been sorted out. Marian will help Lucivar in his capacity as the Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih, same as she’s done since she married him. Rothvar will be his second-in-command for the whole Territory when it comes to defending the Territory or any of its people from an outside invader or from each other. The Blood in Askavi will have a choice of living by the Old Ways or leaving. If they want to follow Terreillean ways, they can go back to Terreille—or face the Demon Prince on a killing field.”

“Mother Night.”

“There have been some savage fights in some of the Provinces, and several courts have broken. I imagine there will be quite a few people who want to talk to him in the next few days.”

“Who’s going to represent him when he’s not available to talk to the Queens and meet with the First Circles of newly formed courts?”

“Karla.”

Surreal blinked. “Karla?”

“Yeah.” Daemon laughed. “Lady Karla, the former Queen of Glacia, in all her Gray-Jeweled terrifying glory. She is Lucivar’s second-in-command when it comes to the Warlord Prince of Askavi’s administrative duties. With Draca’s permission, she set up an office in the Keep and will command from there.”

“Will she have helpers?”

“I expect so.”

“Will any of them be among the living?”

“I didn’t ask. I played least in sight and let Lucivar deal with her.”