“She cares, Prince,” Saetan said. “If you think otherwise, then you haven’t been paying attention.”

Gray hung his head. “I know she does. I just don’t understand why she let the Craft go on so long that she hurt herself.”

“The whip that drives Cassie was shaped before she arrived in Dena Nehele. It left scars.”

Gray raised his head and looked at him.

No, Saetan thought,not Gray. Jared Blaed . Two sides of one person. Gray was the man who loved Cassie and gardens. Jared Blaed was the Warlord Prince committed to his Queen.

“Who?” Jared Blaed asked too softly.

“She’s of no importance,” Saetan replied. “Neither are the men who chose her over Cassidy. Whatis important is that the hurt still festers inside Cassidy.”

“She’s trying to prove to us that she has something to offer?”

“I think so. That’s why a simple thing that Queens do all the time in Kaeleer almost turned into a tragic error.”

“Just a mistake,” Gray said softly.

“Yes.”

“Because she cares so much.”

“Yes.”

Gray sighed.

Crisis over,Saetan thought, draining the goblet.Until the next time. “Eat. Then go home and smooth things over with Cassie.”

Gray gave him a sideways look. Assessing. Measuring. “It would smooth things over a lot faster if Cassie and I could have sex.”

Saetan said dryly, “Boyo, we’re pretty sure Marian is pregnant, and she’s very queasy today. Daemonar senses there is something wrong with his mama and is acting out, and Lucivar is ready to chew stone trying to deal with his misbehaving boy. Today isnot the day to ask him about sex.”

A pause. “If we hadyour permission . . .”

He laughed softly. “Not a chance, puppy. Lucivar had good reasons for setting firm boundaries for what you and Cassie can and can’t do, and he’ll be the one who decides when you’re ready for the next stage.” It didn’t sound like Gray needed as much emotional protection as he’d needed a few weeks ago, but that didn’t mean he had the maturity yet to be a Queen’s lover.

Still, the fact that the boy was starting to question those boundaries was a good sign that Gray was growing into a healthy man instead of remaining a wounded boy. Knowing how firmly the leash needed to be held while a young Warlord Prince made the transition to adult male, Saetan added, “And from where I’m sitting, boyo, those reasons still apply.”

“Oh.” Gray looked disappointed, but only for a moment. Then he gave his attention to the plate floating beside him and ate every bit of food with a young man’s enthusiasm.

Vae appeared on the edge of the courtyard. *Gray? Gray! Draca says it is time to go home. The High Lord will open the Gate for you. Then he needs to sleep because this is his sleep time.*

Gray sprang to his feet. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to keep you from your rest.”

Saetan hesitated. In some ways, what he was about to do was a small thing, a simple choice. But the offer, and all of its underlying significance, would ripple through Dena Nehele if it was accepted. “You can call me Uncle Saetan, if you like.”

The words were absorbed. The significance was understood. And one more inner layer of defense that had protected Gray the boy but hobbled Jared Blaed the man was sloughed off.

On the walk through the Keep to the Dark Altar and the Gate, Gray talked about the Shalador village and the people he’d met there. It was clear that Ranon was becoming a good friend and that he and Gray were settling into a working relationship that was typical of a strong, healthy court where the males liked and respected each other—the kind of working relationship he’d seen in the Dark Court.

What wasn’t clear was how Theran was responding to any of the drama taking place in Eyota.

TERREILLE

Theran tried to ignore the sick feeling in his gut—and tried not to think about the last time Gray had disappeared. Judging by the tight expression on his face and the grim look in his eyes, Talon was trying not to think about that too.

“You’re sure he’s not in the village?” Talon asked for the third time.

Ranon shook his head. “We’ve looked. I even checked the house that accommodates unattached males. He’s not here.”

Mother Night. “Should one of us go back to Grayhaven?” Theran asked. “That’s the only place he knows in Dena Nehele.”

“He might have gone back to the rogue camps in the Tamanara Mountains,” Talon said.

“Maybe,” Theran said. “But he couldn’t have gone alone.”

“He didn’t,” Ranon said. “He took Vae with him.”

As if speaking the name had conjured the dog, Vae rounded the corner of the boardinghouse and bounded over to them.

*Where is Cassie?* Vae asked. *Gray is looking for her.*

“And I’m looking for Gray,” Talon growled.

Vae’s tail stopped moving midwag. She spun around to face the way she had come. *Gray? Gray! Talon is looking for you!* Then she trotted off as if she had no more time for humans.

Gray rounded the corner, looking more relaxed than he had since Cassidy’s collapse. Maybe hehad gone to that house for sex.

Now that he knew Gray was safe, worry gave way to temper. Theran shouted, “Where in the name of Hell have you been?”

Gray didn’t flinch, just gave him a steely look before focusing on Talon.

“We’ve been worried about you, boy,” Talon said with strained control. “Where have you been?”

“I needed to talk to someone about Cassie,” Gray said. “So I went to the Keep to talk to Uncle Saetan.”

Ranon’s eyes widened, but he said nothing.

The words felt like icy claws ripping up Theran’s spine. Uncle Saetan?Uncle Saetan?

He glanced at Talon, not sure how to read the older man’s expression. “I see,” Talon said quietly. “It would have been courteous to tell someone where you were going. These are still uneasy times. A man shouldn’t go off alone without leaving a direction to follow.”

“In case you need to search,” Gray said just as quietly.

Talon nodded.

“My apologies, sir. I was angry and didn’t think of that.”

“You were all right riding the Winds?” Talon asked.

Gray nodded. “I asked Vae to go with me and show me which radial and tether lines to ride on the Purple Dusk Wind in order to reach the Keep from here.”

“That’s good.”

Good? Theran stared at Talon. What was going on? Sure, they had to be careful. A few harsh words was all it took to have Gray whimpering in a corner, but Talon should be ripping his ass for all the hours the court had spent scrambling to find Gray while concealing his disappearance from Cassidy. Instead, Talon was almost respectful and that wasn’t right. Hell’s fire, Talon hadraised the two of them, taught them, protected them.

Ranon turned his head, everything about the man on alert for a moment before he relaxed. “Cassidy, Shira, and Reyhana are back from their walk.”

“Please ask Lady Shira to convey my request for an audience with the Queen,” Gray said.

Already feeling off balance, Theran rocked back on his heels and wondered if the man standing in front of them really was his cousin Gray. A good illusion spell could fool the eye. Hell’s fire, they had lost enough men to that kind of trickery—which should have proved that the twisted Queens who were allied with Dorothea SaDiablo had Black Widows serving in their courts.

“Lady Cassidy will meet you under the tree,” Ranon said a moment later.

Gray looked at the tree and smiled. “You cleaned up that sitting area.” Ranon shrugged. “It was a way to stay close but not underfoot.” Gray shifted, as if he was about to walk away. Then he looked at Talon. “I’m sorry I worried you and the rest of the court.”

“Most times it’s the Steward or the Master of the Guard who is informed, but anyone in the First Circle would do,” Talon said.

“Yes, sir.” Gray walked over to the tree to wait for Cassidy.

All three men watched him. Then Talon rubbed his hands over his face. “Mother Night.”

Turning his back on Gray and struggling to keep his voice low, Theran fixed his anger on Talon. “We spent half the day searching this village for him, and you’repolite when he comes strolling back? Why?”

“Two words,” Talon replied. “ ‘Uncle Saetan.’ ”

Ranon huffed out a breath. “Yeah, that changes a few things, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” Talon agreed.

“Changes what?” Theran demanded.

“Gray is not a boy anymore,” Talon said. “I taught him what I could. Now the High Lord of Hell will teach him the rest. Theran, no one would callthat man ‘uncle’ without being invited to do so. And the simple truth is, he understands Gray better than I do.”

“Then lethim go looking the next time Gray acts like an ass,” Theran snapped.

He walked away. Had to. Nothing was the way he’d hoped it would be. This visit to Eyota had shown him just how unsuitable Cassidy was to rule Dena Nehele. She had no sense of style, no sense of decorum, nosense. She was a handyman’s daughter who, through some freak combination of bloodlines, happened to be a Queen.

He had promised to try to be a good First Escort, but every day the court had spent here had made it harder to keep that promise.

The problem was there wasn’t any other choice.

She was wearing a hat. So were Shira and Reyhana, even though their skin wouldn’t burn in the sun the way Cassie’s did.

She removed the hat and vanished it the moment she reached the shade under the tree, which made him grin.

“You requested an audience, Prince?” Cassie said.

Still bitchy. Well, he probably deserved that.

“Does turning firewood into wood chip mulch work for female temper or just male?” he asked.