Queen of the Darkness

see," Saetan said quietly. He straightened up. "I'll explain the situation to Beale. He'll take care of it."
    "How much will you have to tell him?" Daemon asked warily.
    "Nothing more than that the maiming was unjustified."
    Daemon smiled bitterly. "Do you really think that will change the other servants' opinion of him? That they'll believe it?"
    "No, all it will do is suspend judgment until the Lady returns." Saetan looked solemn. "But you have to understand, Prince. If Jaenelle turns against him, there's nothing you or I or anyone else can do or say that will make any difference. In Kaeleer, once you step outside of Little Terreille, Witch is the law. Her decisions are final."
    Daemon considered this, then nodded. "I'll accept the Lady's judgment." As he followed Saetan to the dining room, he kept hoping that the woman Jaenelle had become wasn't too different from the child he remembered—and had loved.
----
    2 / Kaeleer
    Lord Jorval's heart pounded as he returned to the room where the sandy-haired man with worried gray eyes waited. He sat down behind the desk and clasped his hands together to hide the tremors of excitement.
    "Have you already found out where my niece has gone?" Philip Alexander asked.
    "I have," Jorval replied solemnly. "When you explained the family connections, I had a suspicion of where to look."
    Philip gripped the arms of the chair hard enough to snap wood. "Did she sign a contract with a court in Little Terreille?"
    "Unfortunately, no," Jorval said, struggling to put just the right amount of sympathy in his voice. "You must understand, Prince Alexander. We had no way of knowing who she was. A couple of Council members remembered her saying that she was trying to find her sister, but they had assumed the sister had immigrated earlier—and in a sense, that is true. But the Dark Council was never provided with a record of where Jaenelle Angelline came from before the High Lord acquired guardianship over her. There was no reason for them to link the two women, and by the time they began to wonder about the significance of her inquiries, it was too late."
    "What do you mean, 'too late'?" Philip snapped.
    "She was... persuaded ... to sign a contract with the Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih—and he is Lucivar Yaslana."
    Satisfaction warmed Jorval as he watched Philip's face pale. "I see you've heard of him. So you can appreciate the danger your niece is in. And it's not just Yaslana, although he's bad enough." He paused, giving Philip time to swallow the hook as well as the bait.
    "She's trapped with all three of them, isn't she? She's trapped with Yaslana, Sadi, and the High Lord—just like Jaenelle."
    "Yes." Jorval sighed. "To the best of our knowledge, Yaslana took her to SaDiablo Hall in Dhemlan. How long she'll remain there ..." He spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "You may have some chance of slipping her away from the Hall, but once he takes her into the mountains that ring Ebon Jih, it's unlikely you'll ever get her back—at least while there's enough left of her to be worth the risk."
    Philip sagged in the chair.
    Jorval just waited. Finally, he said, "There is nothing the Dark Council can do officially to help you at this time. However, unofficially, we will do everything in our power to restore Jaenelle Angelline and Wilhelmina Benedict to their rightful family."
    Philip got to his feet like a man who had taken a savage beating. "Thank you, Lord Jorval. I will convey this information to my Queen."
    "May the Darkness guide and protect you, Prince Alexander."
    Jorval waited a full minute after Philip left before he leaned back in his chair and sighed, well satisfied by their meeting. Thank the Darkness that Philip was a Prince. He would worry and brood, but, unlike a Warlord Prince, he would go back to Alexandra Angelline and abide by her decision. And how fortunate that Philip hadn't thought to ask if Yaslana served a Queen—or who she was. Of course, he would have lied if he'd been asked, but how interesting that Philip hadn't considered, even for a moment, that Jaenelle might be a Queen powerful enough to control the males in the SaDiablo family.
    As for Alexandra Angelline... She would be useful in distracting the High Lord and dividing loyalties in the court at Ebon Askavi—as long as she didn't realize the real importance of getting Jaenelle away from the Dark Court.
----
    3 / Kaeleer
    Daemon wandered through the Hall's first floor rooms, distractedly noting each room's