The Invisible Ring

Or four children?
    Or a Warlord who had killed the last Queen who had owned him?
    “You ain’t listening,” Tomas said accusingly.
    Remembering his younger brothers, Jared knew better than to bluff. So he waved his fork over the plate and changed the subject altogether. He hoped. “What is this?”
    Tomas sulked for a moment, then shrugged. “Potatoes and eggs and pieces of beef. The Lady had bought a big skillet with the rest of the supplies, and this morning she taught Thera, Polli, and Cathryn how to make it.”
    The toasted bread caught in Jared’s throat. He swallowed some coffee to force it down. “The Gray Lady was cooking ?”
    Tomas grinned. “I thought the innkeeper was going to die of shame, with her out there cooking in a skillet over an open fire as if what he served in the inn wasn’t good enough. That’s why we all got coffee and buttered toast this morning. The Lady told him she wanted the females to learn how to make this while she could still have his cook prepare her meal, but it would be best to give us the coffee and bread, too, so we’d have something decent under our belts.”
    “But this is good,” Jared said, scooping up another forkful.
    Tomas’s dark eyes sparkled. “Probably better than the Lady got.”
    Jared frowned. “Why the supplies? Where are we going?”
    Tomas rolled his eyes. “I was just telling you about her buying an old pedlar’s wagon and horses ‘cause we’re going cross-country to her Territory, and we can’t depend on finding an inn when we need it.”
    “Why not go to the nearest village that has a Coach station and buy passage?” Jared said, still frowning. “Why take the chance of tangling with marauders or a pack of rogues by going cross-country?”
    Tomas jerked as if he’d been hit. He wouldn’t look at Jared.
    Jared choked down the last mouthful. Was that why slaves who went into Grizelle’s Territory never returned? Because they never got to the Territory in the first place? Marauders and rogue packs were always male, but they might have guarded home camps where they could keep women. They’d have no use for male slaves, but what about a broken witch who could cook a decent meal over an open fire? Or a broken witch who could be given an aphrodisiac that would make her so mad with need she could be mounted all night and not care what they did to her until the drug finally wore off? Or a young Blood female that could become a breeder for the dominant male of the group? What about an intelligent young half-Blood who tried so hard to please?
    Did Grizelle come to the auctions to act as a slave trader for the marauders and rogue packs who hid in the Tamanara Mountains and wouldn’t dare approach Raej because they’d probably end up on the auction block themselves?
    Jared’s stomach churned. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and willed himself to stay calm. What could he do? Challenge a Gray-Jeweled Queen? If she unleashed the Gray, she’d destroy him completely. Which might be preferable to finding out what would happen if she used the Invisible Ring. He understood the Jewels, but this thing he couldn’t see, couldn’t touch, couldn’t sense in any way . . .
    The outside door opened, and a female voice said, “Good, you’re awake. At least we won’t have to drag you to the wagon and dump you on top of the supplies.”
    Jared leaped up, knocking over the chair, his heart hammering in his chest. It isn‘t her , he thought as he looked at the startled dark-haired, green-eyed woman standing in the doorway. It isn’t her .
    “Maybe we would have been better off if we had had to dump you on top of the supplies,” she muttered after a moment’s silence. Then she gave him one sharp-eyed, head-to-toe look that plainly said there were already too many troublesome males around for her liking, and he was going to be another one. “Better prance on out there. She’s ready to leave, and we wouldn’t want the prize dangle to get dragged along like a reluctant puppy on a leash, would we?”
    Anger flooded him, but it had no heat, no bite. It was like his blood was being clogged with ashes instead of flowing with fire.
    And there was something very wrong with the way he wasn’t responding to the presence of a witch, broken or not.
    A sour taste filled the back of his mouth, and he started to shake.
    The woman stepped forward, reaching out to him. “Are you still sick?”
    Jared recoiled from her touch.
    “He was doing fine until you came in,” Tomas snapped.
    Her eyes frosted over until they