Heir to the Shadows

Anne Bishop. Heir to the Shadows (Dark Jewels – 2)

for

Nadine Fallacaro

sister of the hear

acknowledgments

Thanks to Blair Boone for patiently answering my questions about hunting and weapons. Hopefully the information remained somewhat accurate after I tampered with it. A cheer for Karen Borgenicht, Nancy Alden, Linda Bovino, and the rest of the gang at weight-training class. And a special thanks to the other sisters of the heart: Lorna Czarnota, Merri Lee Debany, Annemarie Jason, and Pat York.

jewels

White

Yellow

Tiger Eye

Rose

Summer-sky

Purple Dusk

Opal*

Green

Sapphire

Red

Gray

Ebon-gray Black

*Opal is the dividing line between lighter and darker Jewels because it can be either.

When making the Offering to the Darkness, a person can descend a maximum of three ranks from his/her Birthright Jewel.

Example: Birthright White could descend to Rose.

author's note

The 'Sc' in the names Scelt, Sceval, and Sceron is pronounced 'Sh.'

blood hierarchy/castes

Males

landen – non-Blood of any race

Blood male – a general term for all males of the Blood; also refers to any Blood male who doesn't wear Jewels

Warlord – a Jeweled male equal in status to a witch

Prince – a Jeweled male equal in status to a Priestess or a Healer

Warlord Prince – a dangerous, extremely aggressive Jeweled male; in status, slightly lower than a Queen

Females

landen – non-Blood of any race

Blood female – a general term for all females of the Blood; mostly refers to any Blood female who doesn't wear Jewels

witch – a Blood female who wears Jewels but isn't one of the other hierarchical levels; also refers to any Jeweled female

Healer – a witch who heals physical wounds and illnesses; equal in status to a Priestess and a Prince

Priestess – a witch who cares for altars, Sanctuaries andDark Altars; witnesses handfasts and marriages; performs offerings; equal in status to a Healer and a Prince

Black Widow – a witch who heals the mind; weaves the tangled webs of dreams and visions; is trained in illusions and poisons

Queen – a witch who rules the Blood; is considered to be the land's heart and the Blood's moral center; as such,she is the focal point of their society

prologue

Kaeleer

The Dark Council reconvened. Andulvar Yaslana, the demon-dead Eyrien Warlord Prince, folded his dark wings and assessed the other Council members, not liking what he saw. Except for the Tribunal, who had to attend, only two-thirds of the members were required at each session to listen to petitions or pass judgment when disputes occurred between the Blood in Kaeleer that couldn't be settled by the Territory Queens. Tonight every chair was filled, except the one beside Andulvar.

But the chair's occupant was also there, standing patiently in the petitioner's circle, waiting for the Council's answer. He was a brown-skinned, golden-eyed man, with thick black hair that was silvered at the temples. Seeing him leaning on the elegant, silver-headed cane, one might simply have said he was a handsome Blood male at the end of his prime. His long, black-tinted nails and the Black-Jeweled ring on his right hand said otherwise.

First Tribune quietly cleared his throat. 'Prince Saetan Daemon SaDiablo, you stand before the Council requesting guardianship of the child Jaenelle Angelline. You did not, as is customary in a Blood dispute, provide us with the information needed to contact the girl's family so that they could come here and speak on their own behalf.'

'They don't want the child,' was the quiet reply. 'I do.' 'We have only your word on that, High Lord.' Fools, Andulvar thought, watching the barely perceptible rise and fall of Saetan's chest.

First Tribune continued. 'The most troubling aspect of this petition is that you're a Guardian, one of the living dead, and yet you want us to place the welfare of a living child into your hands.'

'Not just any child, Tribune. This child.'

First Tribune shifted uneasily in his chair. His eyes swept over the tiered seats on both sides of the large room. 'Because of the. . unusual. . circumstances, the decision will have to be unanimous. Do you understand?'

'I understand, Tribune. I understand very well.'

First Tribune cleared his throat again. 'A vote will now be taken on the petition of Saetan Daemon SaDiablo for the guardianship of the child Jaenelle Angelline. Those opposed?'

A number of hands went up, and Andulvar shuddered at the peculiar, glazed look in Saetan's eyes.

After the hands were counted, no one spoke, no one moved.

'Take the vote again,' Saetan said too softly.