Queen of the Darkness

father and brothers would have gone to Hayll to kill him."
    Surreal stared at her. "How in the name of Hell did they expect to get past all of Dorothea's guards in order to get to Kartane?"
    "They would have died," Titian said simply. "And I didn't want my father and brothers to die. Can you understand that?"
    "Not really, since I've spent most of my life preparing for the day when I can kill Kartane. Now, if it had been your mother..." Surreal tried to smile and couldn't. "What do you think your father would have said about your choice?"
    Titian's smile was rueful. "I know what he said. He was in the Dark Realm for a little while before he returned to the Darkness. But he lived the full span of his years, Surreal, and my brothers raised children who never would have been born." She paused. "And if I had chosen differently, you wouldn't have been in Chaillot thirteen years ago, and we would have lost the greatest Queen the Blood has ever known."
    "And if you hadn't ended up in Terreille, under Kartane, you would have been a Queen and a Black Widow."
    "I still am a Queen and a Black Widow," Titian snapped. "When Kartane broke me, he severed me from the strength that would have been mine, but he couldn't take away what I am."
    "I'm sorry," Surreal said, not sure how to express regret without giving insult.
    "Don't shoulder regrets, little witch," Titian said gently as she got to her feet. "And don't shoulder the burden of anyone's actions but your own." She held out her hand. "Come on. You'll need your wits about you if you're sparring with Lucivar tomorrow."
    Surreal rose wearily and followed Titian. Between that scene with Vania at midday, the extra workout with Falonar, and coping with the aftermath of Jaenelle's fury, she was more than ready to crawl into bed. She had hugged more distressed males that day than she had in her entire life. Which reminded her of something else. "How do I deal with the male relatives I've suddenly acquired?"
    "You set your boundaries," Titian replied as they reached the corridor near Surreal's room. "You decide what you're willing to let them do for you and what you have to do for yourself. Then you tell them—gently. This is Kaeleer, Surreal. You have to handle the males—" Titian froze. Her nostrils flared.
    "Titian?" Surreal asked, startled by the awful expression on her mother's face. "What's wrong?"
    "Where's the High Lord?" Titian snarled. Not waiting for an answer, she ran for the nearest staircase.
    Surreal raced after her, catching up to her when Titian jerked to a halt in front of a door.
    Titian banged the door once with her fist, then flung it open. "High Lord!"
    A muffled sound came from the adjoining room.
    Titian flung that door open and rushed into the room. Surreal rushed in behind her, then stopped abruptly.
    Saetan froze in the act of reaching for the dressing robe that was on his bed. He slowly straightened up and turned to face them.
    Surreal couldn't stop herself from giving him one quick, professional—and approving—glance.
    Titian didn't seem to notice that she had walked in on a naked, and now irritated, man.
    "There's a tainted male in the Hall," Titian said abruptly.
    Saetan stared at her for a moment. Then he grabbed the robe, said tersely, "Where?" and was out the door, with Titian at his heels, before Surreal could gather her wits.
    By the time she caught up to them, Titian was questing back and forth in the corridor like a hound searching for a scent while Saetan prowled more slowly. Neither of them paid any attention to her arrival.
    "It was here," Titian said as she searched. "It was here."
    "Can you still sense it?" Saetan asked too quietly.
    Titian's shoulders tensed. "No. But it was here."
    "I'm not doubting you, Lady."
    "But you sense nothing."
    "No. Which only means that whoever created the spells designed to hide him knew exactly who and what to hide him from."
    "Hekatah did this," Titian said.
    Saetan nodded. "Or Dorothea. Or both. Whoever he is, they made sure he would blend in so there would be no reason to give him a closer look. The only thing they couldn't anticipate was a Harpy catching a trace of his true psychic scent. But why was he lingering here?" He turned to study the doors. "Surreal's room. And Wilhelmina's room."
    Surprised by her own discomfort, Surreal cleared her throat. "It could just be a man who hasn't heard that I retired from the Red Moon houses."
    Saetan gave her a long, assessing look, then turned to Titian, who