Heir to the Shadows

pleased at the fear in his glazed eyes. "You don't serve in my court," she purred. "Why are you here?"
    "I was sent, Priestess. I was t-told to please you."
    Dorothea studied him. The words sounded flat, forced. Not his words at all. There were some kinds of compulsion spells that could force a person into performing a specific set of tasks, even against his will.
    She took another step toward him. "Who sent you?"
    "He didn't tell me his—"
    Before he could finish, Dorothea called in a dagger and drove it into his chest. Her attack was so fast and so vicious, the guards were pulled down with the youth. Then she unleashed the strength of her Red Jewel against his pitifully inadequate inner barriers and burned out his mind, leaving no one, leaving nothing to come back and haunt her.
    "Take that to the woodlands beyond the city for whatever wants the carrion," she said through clenched teeth.
    The guards grabbed the body and hurried out, Valrik following them.
    Dorothea paced, clenching and unclenching her hands. Damn, damn, damn! She should have probed the youth's mind before destroying him so completely, should have found out for certain who had sent him. But this had to be Sadi's work! That bastard was toying with her, trying to wear down her vigilance, trying to catch her off guard.
    She hid her face in her shaking hands.
    Sadi was out there. Somewhere. Until he was dead. . . . No! Not dead. There would be no hope of controlling him then, and once he was demon-dead, he would surely join forces with the High Lord. And she had never forgotten the threat Saetan had made, his voice rising out of a swirling nightmare: when Daemon Sadi died, Hayll would die.
    Finally exhausted, Dorothea returned to her bed. She hesitated a moment, then extinguished the candle-light completely. There was more safety in full darkness—if there was any safety at all.
    Dorothea threw back her cloak's hood and took a deep breath before entering the small sitting room in the old Sanctuary. Hekatah was already sitting before the unlit hearth, her hood pulled up to hide her face. An empty ravenglass goblet sat on the table in front of her.
    Dorothea called in a silver flask and set it beside the goblet.
    Hekatah let out an annoyed sniff at the size of the flask, but pointed one finger at it. The flask opened and lifted from the table. Its hot, red contents poured into the goblet, which then glided through the air to Hekatah's waiting hand. She drank deeply.
    Dorothea clenched her hands and waited. Finally out of patience, she snapped, "Sadi is still on the loose."
    "And each day will hone his temper a little more," Hekatah said in that girlish voice that always seemed at odds with her vicious nature.
    "Exactly."
    Hekatah sighed like a sated woman. "That's good."
    "Good?" Dorothea exploded from the chair. "You don't know him!"
    "But I do know his father."
    Dorothea shuddered.
    Hekatah set the empty goblet on the table. "Calm yourself, Sister. I'm weaving a delicious web for Daemon Sadi, a web he won't escape from because he won't want to escape."
    Dorothea went back to her chair. "Then he can be Ringed again."
    Hekatah laughed softly, maliciously. "Oh, no, he'd be useless to us Ringed. But don't worry. He'll be hunting bigger prey than you." She wagged a finger at Dorothea. "I've been very busy on your behalf."
    Dorothea pressed her lips together, refusing to take the bait.
    Hekatah waited a minute. "He'll be going after the High Lord."
    Dorothea stared. "Why?"
    "To avenge the girl."
    "But Greer is the one who destroyed her!"
    "Sadi doesn't know that," Hekatah said. "By the time I'm done telling him the sad tale of why this happened to the girl, the only thing he'll want to do is tear out Saetan's heart. Naturally the High Lord will protest such action."
    Dorothea sat back. It had been months since she'd felt this good. "What do you need from me?"
    "A troop of guards to help me spring a trap."
    "Then I'd better choose males who are expendable."
    "Don't concern yourself about the guards. Sadi won't be any threat to them." Hekatah stood up, an unspoken dismissal.
    When they were outside, Hekatah said coolly, "You've said nothing about my gift, Sister."
    "Your gift?"
    "The boy. I'd thought to keep him for myself, but you were entitled to some compensation for losing Greer. He's a most attentive servant."
    "You know what to do?" Hekatah said, handing two vials to Greer.
    "Yes, Priestess. But are you sure he'll go there?"
    Hekatah caressed Greer's