Queen of the Darkness (The Black Jewels #3)(87)
Author: Anne Bishop

He scanned the village roofs with a seemingly casual eye while he quietly sank to the depth of his Ebon-gray Jewel and probed the area. Eight Arcerians. Two of them Warlord Princes. All of them wearing darker Jewels.

"Keep your hands away from your weapons," Lucivar said, keeping his voice low and even. "We’ve got company." Moving slowly, he unbelted the short wool cape and opened it to expose his chest and the Ebon-gray Jewel that hung from the chain around his neck. He held his arms out, away from his weapons. "I am Lucivar Yaslana," he said in a loud voice. "I belong to the Lady. And these males belong to me."

*I’m not sensing anything,* Falonar said on a Sapphire spear thread.

*Kindred don’t usually announce their presence,* Lucivar said dryly. *Especially the Arcerians.*

*Mother Night!* Falonar looked at the savaged Eyrien bodies. *Those cats are still here? How many?*

*Eight of them. Let’s hope they decide we’re friends, or this is going to turn into a mess.*

Lucivar waited until his arms began to ache. Finally there was a wary psychic touch. *You are Kaelas’s Brother,* said a growling voice.

*And he is my Brother,* Lucivar replied. He lowered his arms.

*Why are you here?* the cat demanded.

*To stand witness for the Lady.*

A long pause. *Kaelas told us to guard this place so that no more bad meat comes through the Gate.*

Lucivar hoped the cats watching him thought the shiver was due to the cold and not the reference to Eyriens being "bad meat." *Kaelas is wise.*

*You look and then go.* That wasn’t a question.

Lucivar turned toward his men. He raised his voice to make sure the nearest Arcerian cat would hear the orders. "Raise basic shields."

Five men gave him blank looks followed by swift comprehension. Protective shields snapped up around them.

*Will these shields protect us?* Falonar asked Lucivar, using a Sapphire thread so that the other men couldn’t hear him.

*No,* Lucivar replied shortly. "Weapons to hand." He called in his Eyrien war blade, then nodded when the others followed his example. "Kohlvar, you and Endar keep watch at the landing web. Rothvar and Zaranar, take the left side of the village. Falonar, with me." *And if one of the Arcerians actually shows himself, give him the same courtesy you would give any other warrior,* he added on a general spear thread.

They moved slowly, carefully, fully aware that the cats watched every movement, every gesture.

"How did those cats manage to kill this many Eyriens without anyone sounding an alarm?" Falonar asked quietly when they had checked half the houses on their side of the village. It was obvious that a number of the men hadn’t suspected a thing before the attack.

"When an Arcerian is hunting, you don’t usually know he’s there until he kills you," Lucivar replied absently as he quickly checked through another house. There was evidence of at least minimal fighting in all the houses, but that had been Glacian against Eyrien. "That makes them very efficient."

When they reached the living quarters in the Sanctuary, they both stared at the young Priestess—or what was left of her.

"Hell’s fire," Falonar said, disgust filling his voice as he backed away from the door. "Well, I guess gang rape is a kind of slow execution. But why keep just this one? And why beat her to death when they’d probably already done enough to kill her?"

"Because the other women fought, while this one expected a different kind of reward," Lucivar replied. When Falonar stared at him with horror-filled eyes, he laughed, a low, nasty sound. "You spent enough time in the Terreillean courts to know how to get dirty, Prince Falonar.Someone had to help that Green-Jeweled bastard go through the Gate to get back to Terreille—or at least keep the old Priestess from realizing the Gate was being used without her knowledge or consent. As for the beating … I guess when the bastard realized he was trapped in here, he needed to take it out on someone."

"The cat didn’t kill him slow enough," Falonar muttered, turning away from the room. "Not nearly slow enough."

I imagine the High Lord will know how to extract the final payment for the debt,Lucivar thought, but he didn’t tell Falonarthat.

As they left the Sanctuary, Zaranar made a "come here" gesture.

"Rothvar’s at the back door," Zaranar said uneasily. "I think you should handle this. All we’ve done is keep an eye on the doors," he added quickly.

Before Lucivar could move, Kohlvar sent an urgent message. *Prince, there’s a Glacian at the landing web who says he’s Lady Karla’s Master of the Guard. He’s got forty guards with him.*

*Tell him to stay put,* Lucivar replied sharply as he and Falonar headed for the back of the house. *I’ll talk to him in a few minutes.*

Before he reached the back door, he could hear the nervous snarls coming from inside the house. Rothvar stepped aside. Lucivar started to go in, then stopped abruptly.

The Arcerian Warlord was almost full-grown, so there wasn’t much room in the small kitchen for a cat his size to pace. On the table was an odd assortment of food. On the floor was a goat, neatly killed.

When Lucivar took a step toward the goat, the cat pounced on it and snarled.

*Mine,* the cat said.

"All right," Lucivar replied mildly.

The cat seemed puzzled by his easy agreement. *Payment for work.*

Interesting, Lucivar thought. Was this a kindred testing of a human idea? "Since you’re guarding this place instead of hunting, it’s fair that you be paid with meat."

Relaxing a little, the cat looked at the table. So did Lucivar. There wasn’t anything on it he thought a cat would want to eat. "Is that also payment for work?"

*Human food.* The cat made it sound more like a hopeful question.

"Yes, it is."

*A she-kitten would like this food?*

Lucivar rubbed his chin. "I don’t know."

The cat growled, but the sound was filled with discouragement. *We burned some meat for her, but she would not eat.* He wrinkled his lips to indicate what he thought of ruining good meat by cooking it. *I promised to bring human food.*

A chill whispered down Lucivar’s spine. "A child survived this place?"

*Yes. The she-kitten. KaeAskavi’s friend.* The cat studied him, then asked hesitantly, *You will help?*

Lucivar blinked away tears that would only confuse the cat. "Yes, I will help."

5 / Kaeleer

"Did we do the right thing?" Daemon asked as he and Lucivar air walked above the deep snow toward the place that was designated as an official landing web. They weren’t making that effort just to avoid floundering in waist-high snow; tracks might have shown an enemy where the Arcerian dens were located.