Restless, he prowled from one piece of furniture to the next, never looking directly at Saetan but always keeping him in sight. “Why not ask Chaosti? He wears the Gray, and he’s First Circle.”

“He doesn’t, as yet, have enough experience in bed to handle something like this. And his physical relationship with Gabrielle is still too new for him to respond . . . appropriately. Besides, his feelings toward Karla are too familial.”

“And mine aren’t?”

“You have the maturity to handle this.” Saetan sighed. “I know sex is . . . difficult . . . for you—”

“You know nothing about it!” Lucivar shouted. “You have no idea what it was like, being used that way.”

Seeing Saetan flinch, he regretted the words, but not enough to stop himself from using whatever weapon he could to avoid this particular duty.

“Lucivar,” Saetan said, his voice painfully calm, “Karla is a Gray-Jeweled Queen. Her Territory is divided between the Blood who supported her uncle and the vile changes he was making in their society and the Blood who have waited desperately for Karla to come of age and stand as Glacia’s Queen. Until she has her Virgin Night, she is vulnerable and could be broken, could be stripped of the Gray. Without her strength, civil war could erupt in Glacia and devastate her people.”

He knew all of that, but it didn’t make it easier. “She doesn’t like men,” he muttered. “Not that way.”

“Which will make this even harder for her, since she doesn’t have interest in the male body to quicken her own body’s response.” Saetan rubbed his forehead. “If I was physically able to do this, I wouldn’t have asked you. I would have taken care of it—because it’s Karla.”