Accepting the formal invitation, the Arachnian Queen opened her mind to the dreams and visions in the large tangled web Jaenelle had spun between a boulder and a nearby tree.

So much death. So much pain and sorrow. And a creeping taint that soiled the ones remaining.

Pulling back from the dreams and visions, she studied the web itself and noticed two odd things. One was the delicate silver ring set with an Ebony Jewel that had been placed in the center of the web. A Jewel chip was rarely woven into a tangled web because the magic that shaped those webs was powerful—and dangerous—enough, and this particular Jewel belonged to Jaenelle, who was Witch, the living myth, dreams made flesh. The other odd thing was the triangle. Many threads were connected to that ring, but overlying them were three threads that formed a triangle around it.

Intrigued, the spider continued to study the web. She had seen that triangle before. Strength, passion, courage. Loyalty, honor, love. She could almost taste the male tang in those threads.

“If Kaeleer accepts Terreille’s challenge and goes to war,” Jaenelle said softly, “it will destroy the Blood in both Realms. All the Blood. Even the kindred.”

*Some will live. It is always so.*

“Not this time. Oh, there will be some who will physically survive the war, but…” Jaenelle’s voice broke. She took a deep breath. “All of my Sisters, all of my friends will be gone. All of the Queens will be gone. All of the Warlord Princes.”

*All?*

“There will be no Queens left to heal the land, no Queens left to hold the Blood together. The slaughter will continue until there’s no one left to slaughter. The witches will be as barren as the land. The gift of power that had been given to us so long ago will be the final weapon that destroys us. If Kaeleer goes to war with Terreille.”

*Must fight,* the spider said. *Must stop creeping taint.*

Jaenelle smiled bitterly. “War won’t stop it. I know who nurtured the seeds, and if eliminating Dorothea and Hekatah would stop this from coming, I’d destroy them right now. But it wouldn’t stop anything, not anymore. It would only delay it, and that would be worse. This is the right place and the right time to cleanse that taint out of the Blood.”

*You speak paths that go no place,* the spider scolded. *You say can’t fight but must fight. You confused? Maybe you read web wrong.*

Jaenelle turned her head toward the spider, a dryly amused look on her face. “And where did I learn to weave a tangled web? If I’m not reading it right, maybe I wasn’t taught correctly.”

The spider used Craft to make a harsh, buzzing sound that indicated severe disapproval. *Not fault of teaching spider if little spider pay more attention to catching fly than doing lesson.*