He had almost reached the dining room when he met up with Saetan.

“Prince Sadi, there’s something I need to discuss with you,” Saetan said quietly, but his expression was grim.

Saetan using the formal title caused a chill down Daemon’s spine.

“Then shall we get it over with?” Daemon replied as he followed Saetan to the High Lord’s official study. He felt one layer of tension ease when Saetan leaned against the front of the blackwood desk instead of sitting behind it.

“Are you aware that your valet is fully shaved?” Saetan asked softly, ominously.

“I’m aware of it,” Daemon replied with equal softness.

“There are very few of our laws that, when broken, justify that punishment. All of them are sexual.”

“Jazen didn’t do anything except be at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Daemon snarled. “Dorothea did that to him to entertain her coven.”

“Are you sure of that?’

“I was there, High Lord. There wasn’t a damn thing I could do for him except slip past the drugs they’d given him to keep him aware and knock him out. His family took care of him for a while, but many of them are in personal service. Once the word got out—and Dorothea always made sure that it did—Jazen would have been considered tainted because, of course, it wouldn’t have happened to him if he hadn’t deserved it. If he had stayed with his family, they would have lost their positions as well. He’s a good man, and a loyal one. He deserved far better than what happened to him.”

“I 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.