"Good," he purred when her spasms slowed to small shudders. "I want their votes. Get them for me. And I want Mull and Great Lord Harrod too. Do what you must." He clasped her shoulder and pressed her down to her knees before him. Without instruction, her hands went to the buttons of his trousers. Of all his umagi, Jiarine was the one whose insatiable appetites most closely matched his own. "I know how"-his voice broke off and he gave a faint groan as her mouth closed around him-"persuasive you can be." It was his turn to close his eyes.

A half bell later, Kolis stood watching from behind a marble column as Jiarine rejoined the courtiers gathered beneath the large canopy. She moved around the crowd with easy grace, pausing at the queen's side to murmur something in Annoura's ear that made the queen smile. After one brief glance over her shoulder, Jiarine lifted a flute of iced pinalle from a passing servant and strolled across the lawn towards Great Lord Harrod.

Kolis stepped away from the column into plain view and waited for Queen Annoura to catch a glimpse of him. He knew the moment she did. Even from a distance, he could see her body go motionless. He held her gaze for a long, hypnotic moment, long enough to refresh her memory of sultry Ser Vale's appeal, then turned away, knowing she would be thinking of her Favorite for the rest of the day. Temptation, as Kolis had long ago learned, worked best when delight was just out of reach, and despite Annoura's resistance, her hunger for forbidden pleasures was growing stronger with each passing day.

Lauriana sat across from Selianne Pyerson at a small window-front table in Pimbold's bustling keflee shop on King's Street, where she and Selianne had come after the day's devotions. A small blue-and-silver-wrapped gift-Selianne's wedding present to Ellysetta-lay forgotten on the table between them. Lauriana's reflection in the window showed a face as stricken as her heart felt upon hearing Selianne's whispered news ... rumors whispered in confidence from a friend with palace connections.

Ellysetta had been part of some ... some carnal banquet at the palace two nights ago. The results of a spell woven by the Tairen Soul.

"I'm sorry, Madame Baristani." Selianne reached across the table to clasp Lauriana's hands. "I didn't know what to do, but I thought you should know.”

"No, Selianne, you were right to tell me." Pulling her distracted thoughts back to order, Lauriana patted the younger woman's hand.

"I'm frightened for Ellie, Madame Baristani. I'm frightened of what's happening to her, of what will become of her when the Fey take her away. I know you've always been a beacon of strength for her. I fear what will happen when she doesn't have you to guide her." Selianne lowered her eyes and hesitated, as if gathering courage to speak. "My mother has a friend ... a sea captain ... He's agreed to offer Ellie safe passage on his return voyage. He can take her away to someplace where she'd be safe from the Fey.”

"What?" Lauriana snatched her hands away and drew back to regard Selianne with shocked disbelief. Two days ago, awash in tears, Selianne had shared her fearful concerns about Ellie being exposed to the corruption of the Fey, but Laurie hadn't realized her worries would take her down this path. "Selianne, I know you mean well, but-”

"Please, Madame Baristani, hear me out. He can take all of you. Your whole family. There would be no repercussions and you'd all be safe ... together and free of the Fey.”

"No repercussions? Oh, killing, by the king's own command, before the Supreme Council and with half the court as witness, we pledged Ellysetta's troth to the Tairen Soul. If we fled our bound oath, we'd all be outcasts, exiles. And the Fey would never give her up so easily. We'd be hunted for the rest of our lives.”

Tears sparkled in Selianne's blue eyes. "I'm only thinking of Ellie. I can see her changing before my eyes, and it frightens me. I'm afraid of what the Fey are doing to her.”

"As am I," Lauriana agreed grimly. "But we cannot right a wrong with a more grievous wrong, Selianne. No matter how tempting or justified it may seem. Every teaching in the Book of Light tells us that is the first step down the Dark Path.”

"But what else can we do, Madame Baristani?”

Lauriana stared helplessly at the younger woman. Her eyes felt dry and burning, and the small luncheon they'd shared churned uncomfortably in her belly. "I don't know.”

She was still worrying over it a bell later as she walked home, her arms full of packages she'd collected from various tradesmen. Her steps slowed as she neared the corner of West Avenue and Poppy. An unshaven man in a moth-eaten coat stood on the corner beside the lamppost. He held a large sign that proclaimed "The Shadows Are Among Us" and cried out for Celierian to repent their sins and seek the Light.

Lauriana grimaced. Shadow Seer. One of the crazed religious zealots who saw the end of the world in every cloud and flickering lamp. His sort gave true followers of Adelis a bad name.

She shifted closer to the street to give the man a wide berth, but as she passed him, he leapt at her and grabbed her arms. She gave a shrill scream of fear. Her purse and packages tumbled to the cobblestones. The man thrust his face so close to hers, she could see the spidery red veins in the whites of his wild eyes.

"He's here!" the man cried. "The demon-beast of the Dark Lord. He'll steal her soul, mother! Save her! Only you can save her!”

"Here now, let that woman go." Several men rushed to Lauriana's aid, prying her from the ragged Seer. "Get on back to the slums, you crack-skull." Two of the men shoved the Seer down the street, while a third bent to gather Lauriana's fallen belongings.