Queen of Darkness

It wasn’t fair to hold Wilhelmina in any way responsible for what had happened to Jaenelle, but he still resented her presence in his home and her reappearance in her sister’s life.

”What can I do for you, Lady Benedict?” He tried, but he couldn’t keep the edge out of his voice.

”I don’t know what to do.” Her voice was barely audible.

”About what?”

”All the other people who signed the contract have something to do, even if it’s just making a list of their skills. But I-”

She wrung her hands so hard Saetan winced in sympathy for the delicate bones.

”He hates me,” Wilhelmina said, her voice rising in desperation. ”Everyone here hates me, and I don’t know why.”

Saetan pointed at the other end of the couch. ”Sit down.” As he waited for her to obey, he wondered how such a frightened, emotionally brittle woman had managed to make the journey through one of the Gates between the Realms and then tried to acquire a contract at the service fair. When she was seated, he said, ”Hate is too strong a word. No one here hates you.”

”Yaslana does.” She pressed her fists into her lap. ”So do you.”

”I don’t hate you, Wilhelmina,” he said quietly. ”But I do resent your presence.”

”Why?”

Faced with her hurt and bewilderment, he was tempted to blunt the truth, but decided to give her the courtesy of honesty. ”Because you’re the reason Jaenelle didn’t leave Chaillot soon enough.”

Her swift change from frightened to fierce startled him, and he realized it shouldn’t have. He should have looked for the common ground between her and Jaenelle instead of letting the past cloud his judgment.

”You know where to find her, don’t you? Don’t you?”

She looked like she was about to shake the answer out of him. Intrigued by the change in her, he wondered if she would actually try.

”Not at the moment,” he said mildly. ”But she’ll be home soon.”

”Home?” Her fierceness changed back to bewilderment and then thoughtfulness as she looked around the study. ”Home?”

”I’m her adopted father.” When she didn’t react to that, he added, ”Lucivar is her brother.”

She jumped as if he’d jabbed her with a pin. Her blue eyes were filled with something close to horror as she stared at him. ”Brother?”

”Brother. If it’s any comfort to you, while you’re both related to the same woman, you’re not related to each other.”

Her relief was so blatant he almost laughed.

”Does she like him?” Wilhelmina asked in a small voice. He couldn’t help it. He did laugh. ”Most of the time.” Then he studied her. ”Is that why you came to Kaeleer? To find Jaenelle?”

She nodded. ”Everyone else said she had died, that Prince Sadi had killed her, but I knew it wasn’t true. He never would have hurt Jaenelle. I thought she had gone to live with one of her secret friends or with her teacher.” She looked at him as if she were trying to measure what she saw against something she knew. ”It was you, wasn’t it? She came to you for lessons.”

”Yes.” He waited. ”What made you think of Kaeleer?”

”She told me. After.” Wilhelmina brushed a finger against her Sapphire Jewel. ”When Prince Sadi unleashed his Black Jewels to escape the Hayllians who had come for him, I heard Jaenelle yelling ’ride it, ride it.’ So I did. When it was over, I was wearing a Sapphire Jewel. Everyone was upset about that because they thought I had somehow made the Offering to the Darkness. But it wasn’t my Jewel. It was Jaenelle’s. I couldn’t actually use it, but it protected me. Sometimes, when I was scared or didn’t know what to do, it always gave the same answer: Kaeleer. I left home because Bobby-” She pressed her lips together and took a couple of deep breaths. ”I left home. As soon as I was twenty, I made the Offering. I got this Jewel. The other one disappeared.”

”And you’ve spent these past years trying to find a way here?”

She hesitated. ”I wasn’t ready for a long time. Then, one day, I started wondering if I would ever be ready. So I came anyway.”

Which meant this woman had more courage than was readily apparent.

”Tell me something, Wilhelmina,” Saetan said gently. ”If, thirteen years ago, Jaenelle had decided to leave Chaillot and had asked you to go with her, would you have?”

It took her a long time to answer. Finally, reluctantly, she said, ”I don’t know.” She looked around the room, sadness in her eyes. ”Jaenelle belongs here. I don’t.”

”You’re Jaenelle’s sister and a Sapphire-Jeweled witch. Don’t judge too quickly.” And I, too, will try not to judge too quickly. ”Besides, you would have had a different opinion of this place if you’d been here while ten adolescent witches were in residence,” he added in a deliberately mournful voice.

Her eyes widened. ”You mean ”the Queens who are here?”

”Yes.”

”Oh, dear.”

”That’s one way of putting it.”

She ducked her head as she stifled a laugh. When she dared to look at him again, he could tell she was thinking hard, reassessing the Hall and the people who resided here.

”I still don’t have anything to do,” she said hesitantly.

The almost-hopeful expectation in her eyes made him realize she had taken a long step toward accepting him as the family patriarch-and expecting him to fulfill the duties of that position.

”Lucivar didn’t say anything?” he asked, fully aware that the only reason Lucivar had brought her there was to keep her away from anyone who might try to use her relationship to Jaenelle.

For the first time, a bit of temper flashed in her eyes.

”He told me to try not to faint because it will upset the males if I do.”

Saetan sighed. ”Coming from Lucivar, that was almost tactful. He’s right. Blunt, but right. Males react strongly to feminine distress.”

Wilhelmina frowned. ”Is that why that large striped cat keeps following me?”

Saetan looked at the study door. A quick question on a psychic spear thread gave him the answer. ”His name is Dejaal. He’s Prince Jaal’s son. He’s appointed himself your protector until you feel comfortable with the other males at the Hall.”

”He’s kindred? I had heard stories-”

”The Blood in Little Terreille don’t have much use for the kindred, and the kindred have even less use for the Blood in Little Terreille,” Saetan said, and then added silently, Except when they’re hungry.

Rising, he offered a hand to Wilhelmina and led her to the door. He called in a grooming brush and gave it to her. ”If you want to do something that will help all of us right now, take Dejaal out to one of the gardens and brush him. Once you get used to him, perhaps it will be easier for you to be around the rest of us.”

”If it’s supposed to make me feel easier, maybe I should brush Lucivar instead,” she said with just a hint of tartness. Saetan burst out laughing. ”Darling, if you want to get along with Lucivar, just show him that bit of steel in your backbone. Since he’s lived with Jaenelle for the past eight years, he’ll recognize it for what it is.”

8 Kaeleerspan

”Are you sure this is the path back to the Hall?” Daemon asked as he ducked under a low-hanging branch.

We left the path, Ladvarian said. We have to cross the creek, and the path has no bridge.

”I don’t need a bridge to cross the creek.”

Ladvarian looked at Daemon’s shoes. You would get wet.

”I’d survive,” Daemon muttered.

When he left Tersa’s cottage, he’d found Ladvarian waiting to escort him back to the Hall. At first, he’d wondered if this was a subtle kind of insult, implying that he couldn’t find his way back by himself. Then, when