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And she did love him. Shedid. So why should that beautiful, virile man be trapped playing nursemaid to a woman who no longer had any use for him? Why should he spend the next few decades sitting by a sickbed, reading aloud to a lump of flesh? Or, worse, why should he have to hide his revulsion if Jaenelle Angelline still wanted something sexual from him?
She'd fallen in love with Daemon the first time she'd seen him over a year ago. He had come to Amdarh with Jaenelle to shop for Winsol gifts and attend a few parties before returning to SaDiablo Hall to celebrate Winsol with their family and Jaenelle's First Circle. It had made sense that he would have agreed to be Jaenelle's Consort. At the time, she'd been the Queen of Ebon Askavi…-the most powerful Queen in Kaeleer. Every strong, ambitious male who had been trained for a consort's duties had wanted to wear the ring Daemon had worn on his left hand. But Daemon, beautiful Daemon, had won that coveted position.
And no wonder. He'd looked at Jaenelle as if no other woman existed…
or would ever exist. And when they danced together, every move he made was a prelude to the bedroom dance, a promise of what he could offer in private. Even when it was a dance that required several couples, you could see him bank that sexual heat when he turned to another partner, could watch it flare as soon as his hand touched Jaenelle's.
An exquisite male. The kind of male that made all the others seem lacking in some essential.
She would have waited for him to be free of his contract. After all, the Eve years he was required to serve in Jaenelle s court was nothing to someone who came from one of the long-lived races. Once his contract was completed, he would have been free to look elsewhere for a lover. She'd even tried to join the Dark Court so they could be together in some way. But the letter she'd received from the Steward made it clear there were no plans to expand the Dark Court to accommodate all the Blood who were offering to serve.
Then there was all that talk of a war between Kaeleer and Terreille, and news of fighting in other Territories. And then there was that unleashing of power unlike anything the Blood had ever experienced. When that power faded, the war was over, the Blood who had threatened Kaeleer were destroyed…and the Queen of Ebon Askavi was gone.
But not Jaenelle Angelline. Despite being hideously wounded, she'd survived somehow. Instead of grieving a few weeks for the loss of a Queen before moving on, Daemon was chained to a cripple who was still adored by the Queens and Warlord Princes who controlled the other Territories in Kaeleer.
He would never shake free of Jaenelle Angelline. So she would help cut the ties between the former Queen of Ebon Askavi and the Warlord Prince who, otherwise, would remain trapped for years, possibly decades. Oh, the Queens would snub him for a while, but in a year or two, they would realize it was better to have a Warlord Prince attached to a woman who could be what he needed. And while he would suffer a little because of the accusations of infidelity, she had no doubt, with the help of her family, she could restore his reputation.
And then he would look at her the way he had once looked at faenelle.
Four
1
Let me see if I understand this," Jaenelle said.
Surreal turned away from the window. The gray day and the sleet that would make a mess of all the roads matched her mood, but she did her best to bury wounded feelings as she approached the couch where Jaenelle sat bundled in a nightgown and robe, her legs stretched out under a quilt.
She looks better,Surreal thought. Oh, far from well and still so fragile, but better than she'd looked a few weeks ago when Surreal had come back to the Hall to spend a few days with the family during Winsol.
"You and Falonar have decided to go your own ways," Jaenelle said with a patience that made Surreal wary.
She shrugged. "It was a mutual decision."The bastard.
"Uh-huh. So you packed your bags…"
"It was his eyrie," Surreal cut in. "I certainly didn't want to live there."And I didn't want to watch him courting Nurian in ways he never thought to court me.
"…and left Ebon Rih without telling Lucivar."
"Who would have strung Falonar up by the heels"…or by the balls,which might have been interesting to watch…"before having a little chat."
"No," Jaenelle said, "he would have waited for Chaosti to show up, andthen he would have strung Falonar up by the heels." She paused. "Maybe by the heels."
Which just confirmed why Surreal had slipped away from Ebon Rih before Lucivar had time to notice. As the Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih dealing with a Warlord Prince who was his second-in-command, Lucivar would have been nasty and explosive. Chaosti, the Warlord Prince of the Dea al Mon and a kinsman on her mother's side, would have approached Falonar with the protective viciousness that made Warlord Princes such a deadly facet of Blood society.
Dealing with the male relatives she'd acquired since coming to Kaeleer was so much fun.
"And you entered the Hall through one of the side doors to avoid seeing Daemon, who's working in his study and would have met you before you got out of the great hall."
Feeling more wary by the minute, Surreal did her best to look indifferent. "No reason for him to get involved in this."Sweet Darkness, please don't let him think this is any business of his. "Besides, I don't need either of them getting all snarly and protective over something that was a mutual decision."
"So instead of mentioning this to either of them, you went to the Keep and told Saetan."
Surreal winced. "Well, I figured I should tell someone before leaving Ebon Rih."
"Uh-huh. So you told the High Lord of Hell, the patriarch of this family, the man from whom Daemon and Lucivar inherited the temper you were trying to avoid." Jaenelle pushed the quilt aside and swung her legs over the side of the couch to sit up straight. "Did I miss something?"
Unable to stand still, Surreal started pacing in a circle in front of the table that held the pot of coffee, cups, and sandwiches Beale, the Hall's butler, had brought in a few minutes after she'd knocked on Jaenelle's door.
"I thought he'd be reasonable," she snarled. "He's older and less… excitable." And Saetanhad sounded calm and reasonable while she explained that living in an eyrie with Falonar had lost its appeal and she intended to spend a few days at the Hall before staying at the family's town house in Amdarh for a while.
"Did he hurt you?" Saetan had asked too softly.
Surreal snorted. "Uncle Saetan, sugar, do I look hurt?"
Watching his eyes glaze, she'd realized she'd made a serious tactical error. Which was why she'd caught the Gray Wind and headed for the Hall as fast as she could, hoping Jaenelle would have some advice about dealing with the rest of the family.
