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As the words sank in, the Ambassador shook off his fear. "What kind of agreement is that?"
"A generous one," Saetan replied. "However, if anything more is done to either of them, it will be considered a declaration of war."
The Ambassador gaped for a moment. "You think Dhemlan will go to war…"
"Dhemlan will not go to war with Zuulaman." He paused. "I will."
"But…"
"You don't understand what I am. No one would do this who understood what I am."
The Ambassador closed his eyes. Once he'd regained his composure, he looked at Saetan and shook his head. "The Queens will accept nothing less than the trade agreements. Your wife and child will remain on our islands until the agreements are signed."
"You're making a mistake."
"I serve, Prince SaDiablo. I can only give you the words that were given to me."
"Then give my words back to them, Ambassador. And hope they appreciate what is at stake."
As the Ambassador bowed and left the study, Saetan drew the shields back into the stones of the Hall and released the Black lock on the front door. He set the small box down on the blackwood desk and stared at his baby's finger. Blood sings to Blood. One touch was all he'd needed to confirm that tiny finger was flesh of his flesh, blood of his blood.
The numbness that kept the pain at bay thinned, threatened to shatter. He held on to it, as he held on to the edge of sanity, ignoring the lure of the twisting, misted roads. It would be so easy to slip over the boundary into the madness the Blood called the Twisted Kingdom, especially when it beckoned to him, promising there would be no pain. Especially when he knew he wasn't able to step away from that edge right now and stand more firmly in the sane world.
With desperate care, he closed the lid on the box, poured himself a large brandy, and settled down to wait.
6
"It won't be enough," Hekatah said to the Zuulaman Queens who had assembled in the sitting room she'd been given. "It will upset him, shake him, but it won't be enough to make him yield and give us what we want."
"There hasn't been enough time for a message to come back from the Ambassador who's staying in that village near SaDiablo Hall," one of the Queens pointed out. "We can wait and see what…"
She shook her head. "We have to strike fast, have to strike hard before he has too much time to think. We have to…"Punish him for valuing his precious code of honor more than his wife. "…provide more incentive."
"What do you suggest we do?" another Queen asked.
Hekatah smiled. "Send the other box."
7
Andulvar strode through the great hall to the door of Saetan's study. The whole damn place had a hushed quality of people having taken shelter in the hopes of surviving a violent storm.
And there was a storm coming. He could feel it building below the depth of his Ebon-gray Jewels. Hell's fire! He'd been able to sense the edge of it from his eyrie in Askavi.
Which is why he'd caught the Ebon-gray Wind and ridden to the Hall, arriving at the first breath of dawn. Something was pushing Saetan to the breaking point, and he didn't want to find out what might happen when a Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince's control shattered.
Flinging open the study door, he walked into the room.
Saetan stood behind the blackwood desk, tears running down his face as he stared at an open box that sat in the center of the desk.
"They kept his head," Saetan whispered.
Andulvar moved forward. "What are you…"
He was a warrior, bred and trained. An Eyrien Warlord Prince who had never hesitated to step onto a killing field. But he took one look at what was inside that box and stumbled back two steps. "Mother Night."
Saetan's hand shook as he reached into the box and gently brushed a finger over a little leg. "What kind of people are they? What kind of people would do this to a baby?"
"Saetan…"Andulvar swallowed hard to keep his stomach down, then approached the desk.
"I didn't think they were capable of this. Even after they sent one of his fingers, I didn't think they were capable of this."
They what?
"I'm sorry," Saetan whispered, brushing a finger over another piece. "I didn't know they had no honor. I'm sorry. So sorry."
When Saetan looked up, Andulvar saw a strong man about to break… and wondered if Saetan was even aware of the rage growing beneath that grief.
"Andulvar…" Saetan's voice hitched. "Look what they did to my baby. Look…"
Andulvar grabbed him, pulled him into arms that held on with the strength of a friend's love as Saetan shattered on the jagged stones of grief. "Hold on to me, Brother. Hold on."
As Saetan clung to him, sobbing harshly, Andulvar forced himself to look at the jumbled pieces that had been a baby.
You fools. The Darkness only knows what will come of what you've done.
The sobbing finally stopped. Saetan stepped back, called in a handkerchief, wiped his face, and delicately blew his nose. His gold eyes were dulled by pain and grief.
Andulvar took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Why don't you go up to your room to rest? I'll take care of—"
"No." Saetan shook his head, vanished the handkerchief. "He's my son. I'll take care of him." After closing the lid on the box, he picked it up. "Would you send a message to the Zuulaman Ambassador and tell him to meet me here in three hours?"
"What are you going to do?"
Saetan swallowed hard. "Sign the damn agreements and get my wife back."
The world was full of soft shapes, gray shapes, meaningless shapes. He moved through it in silence as he walked out of the Hall and went to the tree. He often came to sit beneath it and read when he wanted some time alone. He often sat in its shade while keeping an eye on Mephis and Peyton when they played around the pond.
He sank to his knees, put the box down, and opened it.
No pain now. No feelings at all. Nothing but a terrible clarity. The mist had absorbed his grief, his rage. They were no longer inside him. Now, he was inside of them.
The baby was crying. Somewhere in the mist that turned the world into gray and ghostly shapes, the baby was crying.
He stripped off his shirt, laid it on the grass. Gently took the pieces out of the box and arranged them on the cloth.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I tried to do what was right for the people I rule. Tried to keep the promises I made. I didn't know the price would be so high." Tears filled his eyes. "You'll never know your brothers, you'll never sail a toy ship on the Ph-phantom Sea, but you won't be alone.You won't be forgotten. When I come here with them, I'll be here for you, too. That I promise you. For as long as I live, you will not be forgotten."
