Queen of the Darkness

quickly checked through another house. There was evidence of at least minimal fighting in all the houses, but that had been Glacian against Eyrien. "That makes them very efficient."
    When they reached the living quarters in the Sanctuary, they both stared at the young Priestess—or what was left of her.
    "Hell's fire," Falonar said, disgust filling his voice as he backed away from the door. "Well, I guess gang rape is a kind of slow execution. But why keep just this one? And why beat her to death when they'd probably already done enough to kill her?"
    "Because the other women fought, while this one expected a different kind of reward," Lucivar replied. When Falonar stared at him with horror-filled eyes, he laughed, a low, nasty sound. "You spent enough time in the Terreillean courts to know how to get dirty, Prince Falonar. Someone had to help that Green-Jeweled bastard go through the Gate to get back to Terreille—or at least keep the old Priestess from realizing the Gate was being used without her knowledge or consent. As for the beating ... I guess when the bastard realized he was trapped in here, he needed to take it out on someone."
    "The cat didn't kill him slow enough," Falonar muttered, turning away from the room. "Not nearly slow enough."
    I imagine the High Lord will know how to extract the final payment for the debt, Lucivar thought, but he didn't tell Falonar that.
    As they left the Sanctuary, Zaranar made a "come here" gesture.
    "Rothvar's at the back door," Zaranar said uneasily. "I think you should handle this. All we've done is keep an eye on the doors," he added quickly.
    Before Lucivar could move, Kohlvar sent an urgent message. *Prince, there's a Glacian at the landing web who says he's Lady Karla's Master of the Guard. He's got forty guards with him.*
    *Tell him to stay put,* Lucivar replied sharply as he and Falonar headed for the back of the house. *I'll talk to him in a few minutes.*
    Before he reached the back door, he could hear the nervous snarls coming from inside the house. Rothvar stepped aside. Lucivar started to go in, then stopped abruptly.
    The Arcerian Warlord was almost full-grown, so there wasn't much room in the small kitchen for a cat his size to pace. On the table was an odd assortment of food. On the floor was a goat, neatly killed.
    When Lucivar took a step toward the goat, the cat pounced on it and snarled.
    *Mine,* the cat said.
    "All right," Lucivar replied mildly.
    The cat seemed puzzled by his easy agreement. *Payment for work.*
    Interesting, Lucivar thought. Was this a kindred testing of a human idea? "Since you're guarding this place instead of hunting, it's fair that you be paid with meat."
    Relaxing a little, the cat looked at the table. So did Lucivar. There wasn't anything on it he thought a cat would want to eat. "Is that also payment for work?"
    *Human food.* The cat made it sound more like a hopeful question.
    "Yes, it is."
    *A she-kitten would like this food?*
    Lucivar rubbed his chin. "I don't know."
    The cat growled, but the sound was filled with discouragement. *We burned some meat for her, but she would not eat.* He wrinkled his lips to indicate what he thought of ruining good meat by cooking it. *I promised to bring human food.*
    A chill whispered down Lucivar's spine. "A child survived this place?"
    *Yes. The she-kitten. KaeAskavi's friend.* The cat studied him, then asked hesitantly, *You will help?*
    Lucivar blinked away tears that would only confuse the cat. "Yes, I will help."
----
    5 / Kaeleer
    "Did we do the right thing?" Daemon asked as he and Lucivar air walked above the deep snow toward the place that was designated as an official landing web. They weren't making that effort just to avoid floundering in waist-high snow; tracks might have shown an enemy where the Arcerian dens were located.
    "What else could we do?" Lucivar replied wearily. "The girl has lost her mother, her village, everyone she knew. KaeAskavi's the only friend she has left. There are pockets of fighting going on throughout Glacia, so placing her in another village... There's no guarantee she would survive the next time a place is attacked. Marian and I would take her to live with us, but ..."
    Daemon shook his head. "You were right about that. She wouldn't be able to handle being around Eyriens right now." Which was why Lucivar had insisted that Daemon come with him to Arceria in the first place.
    "And we can't take her anywhere else," Lucivar added grimly. "Not until we know