This time Lucivar didn’t try to hide the wince. “The village theater group is putting on a play tonight. It’s a comedy. With singing. More or less.”

Saetan waited. “Are you asking me to watch Daemonar this evening or accompany Marian to the play?”

Lucivar gave him a pained look.

Everything has a price, boyo.“What time should I come over to watch the boy?” Saetan tipped his head to indicate the clock on the mantel.

Lucivar looked at the clock and sighed. “Now?”

Saetan headed for the closest courtyard that had a landing web. “You are planning to get cleaned up, aren’t you?” It wasn’t really a question.

“If I can have the damn bathroom to myself, it doesn’t take me more than five minutes,” Lucivar muttered.

If she really wants to see this play, she’s going to clobber him,Saetan thought. “Go. Tell Marian I’ll be there by the time you’re ready to leave. And Lucivar? If you’re smart, you’re going to give your Lady more than just sex tonight.”

Lucivar went out the first available exit and launched himself skyward.

Saetan sent out a light psychic thread to the woman he considered the perfect match for his volatile son. *Marian?*

*Uncle Saetan?* Surprise turned to concern. *Lucivar was supposed to see you.*

*He did. He’ll be home in a minute. I apologize for the delay, but a meeting with two Warlord Princes from Dena Nehele had to take priority.*

*And he didn’t contact me because he wanted to wiggle out of going to the play tonight?*

Probably, but not consciously. Lucivar would rather crawl over broken glass than see a comedic play that included singing, but he wouldn’t shrug off an event Marian wanted to attend.

*I’ll be over in a few minutes to watch Daemonar. Lucivar swears he can get cleaned up and be ready to leave for you to get to the play on time.*

*So I should be understanding when he comes roaring in?*

Hearing the amusement—and the love—in the words, Saetan smiled. *Darling, make him work for it. It won’t hurt him.*

Her laughter filled the link between them before she broke the thread—no doubt to deal with the husband who had just come thundering home.

Smiling, Saetan shook his head. “She used to be a gentle hearth witch before she had to deal with all of us.” He felt the leash slip on his self-control and heard a peculiar sound come from behind his clenched teeth.

Imagining how well Marian would deal with Lucivar, Saetan leaned against a wall, let go of self-control, and laughed himself silly.

CHAPTER 40

TERREILLE

Three copies of a document that would break a land that had survived cruelty she couldn’t imagine, even when she heard some of the stories about Dena Nehele’s past. Three copies of a document that would change all of their lives.

And change nothing that matters the most,Cassidy thought as she carefully pressed her seal into the wax on the third copy—and heard the whole First Circle release the breath they’d been holding while she took this last step.

As soon as she sat back, Powell pulled the copy away and positioned it in the center of the big table, along with the other two copies.

“Done,” her Steward said. “Talon?”

“I’ll take the copy up to the Keep first.” Talon carefully rolled two of the documents and vanished them. Then he hesitated. “Once I hand this paper to the High Lord and it’s acknowledged at the Keep, the path is chosen. There’s no going back.”

He was giving her one last chance to walk away. A Queen’s wants, wishes, and will came first, no matter the cost.

“Safe journey, Prince Talon,” Cassidy said.

Her legs felt shaky, so she sat at the table while Talon and the rest of the court left the room. Naturally, Ranon and Gray were last and kept glancing at her as if trying to decide if they should stay or leave.

Shira made it simple by shoving the two of them out of the room. Before the Black Widow could close the door for a private chat, Reyhana slipped into the room.

“I want to help.” Reyhana squared her shoulders and lifted her chin.

How much death has this girl already seen?Cassidy wondered.How much more will she have to see? “You serve in my Second Circle, Sister, so you most certainly are going to help.” She stood up and felt reassured that her legs weren’t as wobbly as they’d been a few minutes ago. “I could use a bit more to eat than the half piece of toast I choked down earlier. After that, why don’t the three of us review what needs to be done?”

“Don’t we first have to find out what Theran is going to do?” Shira asked.

Cassidy shook her head as she joined them at the door. “War or not, we’ve got two months before spring. Fields will need to be plowed, and crops will need to be sown—and the Queens need to affirm their bond to the land. We need to make sure all the Queens know how to enrich the land, we need to confirm that the villages—landen and Blood—have the plows and other tools they need for their farms and—”

“All right!” Shira said, laughing. “All right. Point taken. We have plenty to do.”

Cassidy looked at Shira and knew that, for a moment, they both pictured an orchard of honey pear trees growing out of the bodies of the dead.

Then they both pushed that image aside, and the three of them went to Cassidy’s study and got on with the business of living.

EBON ASKAVI

Saetan read the document carefully. Then, assured that Powell had made all the changes he’d written on the draft, he set the document on the library’s large blackwood table and vanished his half-moon glasses. “We’ll make sure this is preserved. A place will be set aside in the library for any other documents or work from Shalador Nehele that you want preserved outside of your land.”

“Thank you,” Talon replied.

Saetan studied the demon-dead Warlord Prince who had been a friend of Jared and Lia. “This is hard for you.”

“Yes, it’s hard. Not so much that it happened, but the reason why it happened. Makes me wonder what I’ve been fighting for these past three hundred years.”

“I can tell you that,” Saetan said. “You’ve been fighting for honor and to protect what you cherish.”

“I failed him.” Talon shook his head. “Theran doing this means I failed him.”

“You don’t know that. Until he steps up to the line and makes the choice to start a war, you don’t know that. And if there is enough of Jared in him, he may surprise you.”

“I served a Queen before I turned rogue. She was the reason I turned rogue. I never felt the pull with her that I feel with Cassie. I don’t think I could turn away from Cassie, no matter what she did at this point.”

“That bond can wane or break, like any other kind of love,” Saetan said. Having faced the possibility of killing a son in order to save his Queen, he knew what Talon was feeling, but there wasn’t much comfort he, or anyone else, could give this man.

“It’s too late in the morning for you to be traveling back to Dena Nehele,” Saetan said. “I’ll show you to a guest room where you can rest until sunset.”

KAELEER

A simple message was sent from the High Lord of Hell to Lord Khardeen, Lady Sabrina, and Prince Daemon Sadi. It said:

Dena Nehele has broken. Shalador Nehele rises with Cassidy as its Queen. May the Darkness have mercy on them.

TERREILLE

Theran read the document a second time, then stared at the man who had raised him and loved him—and was now an enemy.

“Why?” He tossed the document on his desk. “Hell’s fire, Talon,why? ”

“It’s clear enough,” Talon replied.

“It’s not clear,” Theran snapped. “Nothing is clear. Youbroke Dena Nehele. You broke the land that survived generations of twisted Queens and Dorothea SaDiablo’s hatred for the sake of a bitch who should be leaving instead of trying to take control.”

“I could say the same about you. And that’s the last time you get to call my Queen a bitch without blood being shed.”

Sick, scared, and furious, Theran clenched his teeth to avoid saying anything more. Talonwould shed blood. Even his.

“You can’t do this. She took a third of the Territory.”

“Cassidy didn’t take anything. The Provinces were free to make their choice.”

“And what price would they pay if they didn’t make the choice Lady Cassidy wanted?” Theran asked bitterly.

“You’re trying to dress Cassidy in another woman’s temper,” Talon said.

“You’re asking questions that don’t fit her as a woman or a Queen, so maybe you’re really wondering about someone else.”

Theran rocked back on his heels, not sure how to answer that—and sure hedidn’t want to answer that. “Talon, breaking Dena Nehele isn’t the answer.”

“Is Cassidy going to be the Queen of Dena Nehele two months from now?”

“No, she is not!”

“Then this is the only answer that gives both sides a choice besides war.”

“Choice.” The word hooked its claws into him and left his heart bleeding. “You call this a choice? Kermilla will never accept this.”

“She isn’t the Queen yet.”

“She’s going to be.”

“But she isn’t the Queen yet. And I guess, right now, that makes you the unofficial ruler of Dena Nehele. So it’s up to you to accept this.”

Theran staggered back a step. No Queen. No female hand to guide them once it became known that Cassidy had turned away from the Provinces north of the Heartsblood River.

No Queen again. At least, not until Kermilla formed a court.

“I guess I’m no longer part of Cassidy’s court,” Theran said.

“You don’t serve the Queen of Shalador Nehele, so, no, you’re no longer part of the court.”

So much sadness in Talon’s eyes.

“Talon . . . are you really going to stand against me?”