Anne Bishop - Queen of Darkness

”As long as he says it calmly so you know he doesn’t mean it.”

A male who could remain calm in this place must have an amazing amount of self-control, Daemon thought. He rubbed his forehead and began to understand Lucivar’s warning about having one of the coven explain things to him.

”Having Lucivar threaten you doesn’t bother you?” Daemon asked. Since Lucivar usually sounded calm when he threatened someone, only a fool wouldn’t take him seriously,

Karla twitched her shoulders. ”Oh. Well. Lucivar. He rarely says anything if he’s annoyed with you. He just picks you up and tosses you into the nearest body of water.” She paused. ”Although to be fair-”

”Who wants to be fair?” Daemon growled.

”Spent the morning with him, didn’t you?” Karla said knowingly. ”If it’s a watering trough or a fountain, he dunks you rather than tosses you so that you don’t get hurt. However, that’s Lucivar. We strongly discourage other males from acquiring that particular habit.”

”If you didn’t, you’d be wet most of the time,” Daemon muttered.

Before Karla could respond to that comment, Morghann, the Queen of Scelt-the red-haired Queen he’d seen earlier that morning-and Gabrielle, the Queen of the Dea al Mon, gave the balcony door a token tap before walking in.

”The coven’s rooms all face this inner garden, so it’s quicker to use the balcony doors rather than walking all the way around inside,” Morghann said at the same time Karla said, ”Where’s Surreal?”

Gabrielle hooked her silver-blond hair behind her pointed ears and grinned. ”Chaosti claimed her on the pretense of giving her a tour of the Hall. She was still snarling about having to apologize to Graysfang for sounding like she meant it when she threatened to smack him.”

”I was explaining some of the rules to Daemon,” Karla said.

”I really do have an appointment,” Daemon muttered, then said, ”Come in,”-loudly-when someone knocked on the sitting room door.

Saetan walked in, took one look at the three women, and stopped.

”Kiss kiss,” Karla said.

”We were going to explain the rules to Daemon,” Morghann said.

”May the Darkness have mercy on Daemon,” Saetan said dryly.

”I’ll get my jacket,” Daemon said, not about to ignore a chance to retreat. Pride kept him from bolting into his bedroom. Common sense made him linger far longer than necessary, so that when he finally walked back into his sitting room, Saetan was the only one waiting for him.

”Have they gone off to plague someone else?” Daemon asked sourly as they left his suite and started walking through the corridors.

Saetan chuckled. ”For the moment.”

Daemon hesitated. ”Maybe you’d better explain those rules to me.”

”I’ll give you a book of court Protocol to review.”

”No, I meant the rules that are peculiar to this court. Like-”

”I don’t want to know,” Saetan said quietly but firmly.

”You have to know. You’re the Steward.”

”Exactly. And if this court has some rules that I have been blissfully ignorant of for the five years that I’ve been the Steward, I do not want to know about them now.”

”But-” Daemon said. The implacable look in Saetan’s eyes stopped him. ”That’s a prissy attitude for you to take.”

”From where you’re standing, I suppose it is. From where I’m standing, it makes a world of sense. You’re younger. Deal with it.”

Before he could make a comment he might regret, a small brown-and-white dog raced up to them and stopped a few feet away, his tail wagging in effusive greeting.

He’s here! Jaenelle’s mate is finally here!

Daemon felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him, not only because he had heard the dog but because he’d seen the Red Jewel hidden in the white ruff.

”Daemon, this is Lord Ladvarian,” Saetan said. ”Ladvarian, this-”

A Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince,Ladvarian said as he danced around in front of them. He’s a Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince. I have to tell Kaelas.The dog dashed down the corridor and disappeared.

”Mother Night,” Saetan said under his breath. ”Come on. Let’s get out of here before you meet anyone else. You’ve already had a sufficient amount of education for your first day in the court.”

”He’s kindred,” Daemon said weakly as he followed Saetan. ”When Lucivar said someone named Ladvarian would be pleased to see me, I thought… Unless he meant someone else?”

”No, that’s Ladvarian. He would have gone to the service fair to look for you himself, but kindred aren’t well received in Little Terreille, and I wasn’t willing to risk him. His ability to explain kindred behavior to humans and human behavior to the kindred makes him unique. And his influence on Prince Kaelas is not to be taken lightly.”

”Who’s Kaelas?”

Saetan gave him an odd look. ”Let’s save Kaelas for another day.”

Daemon studied the well-kept cottage and neat yard. ”I’d always wanted Tersa to live in a place like this.”

”She’s comfortable here,” Saetan said, opening the front door. ”A journeymaid Black Widow lives with her as a companion. And then there’s Mikal,” he added as they followed the sound of voices to the kitchen.

Daemon stepped into the kitchen, gave the boy sitting at the kitchen table a quick glance, and then focused on Tersa, who was muttering to herself as she busily arranged an assortment of food.

Her black hair was as tangled as he remembered it, but the dark-green dress was clean and looked warm.

The boy hastily swallowed a mouthful of nutcake before saying in a suspicious voice, ”Who’s he?”

Tersa looked up. Joy brightened her gold eyes and made her smile radiant. ”It’s the boy,” she said as she rushed into Daemon’s arms.

”Hello, sweetheart,” Daemon said, feeling swamped by the pleasure of seeing her again.

”He’s not a boy,” the boy said.

”Mikal,” Saetan said sternly.

Leaning away from Daemon, Tersa looked at Mikal, then back at Daemon. ”He is a large boy,” she said firmly. She pulled Daemon toward the table. ”Sit down. Sit. There is food. You should eat.”

Daemon sat across from the boy, who openly regarded him as an unwelcome rival. ”Shouldn’t you be in school?”

Mikal rolled his eyes. ”It’s not a school day.”

”But you did finish the chores your mother assigned to you before you came here,” Saetan said mildly, accepting the glass of red wine Tersa offered him while his eyes never left Mikal.

Mikal squirmed under that knowing stare, and finally muttered, ”Most of them.”

”In that case, after we’ve eaten, I’ll escort you home and you can finish them,” Saetan said.

”But I have to help Tersa weed the garden,” Mikal protested.

”The weeds will still be there,” Tersa said serenely. She looked at the two ”boys,” frowned at the glasses of milk she held, then put both of them in front of Mikal. She patted Daemon’s shoulder. ”He is old enough for wine.”

”Thank the Darkness,” Daemon said under his breath.

The meal was eaten with little conversation. Saetan inquired about Mikal’s schoolwork and got the expected evasive answers. Tersa tried to make mundane comments about the cottage and garden, but each time the remarks became more disjointed.

Daemon clenched his teeth. He wanted to tell her to stop trying. It hurt to watch her struggling so hard to walk the borderland of sanity for his sake, and seeing the concern and resentment in Mikal’s eyes as her control continued to crumble stabbed at him.

Saetan set his wineglass on the table and rose. ”Come on, puppy,” he said to Mikal. ”I’ll take you home now.”