Hello, and I'm sorry that this chapter is so short- there's many reasons. But it get's its point across, and we WILL be meeting the G-boys next chapter. I swear. This fast update is NOT NORMAL, so feel pamperd while you can. Okay, enjoy!


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Terreille

Dorothea glared at the sweating messenger, and briefly contemplated using him as bait for the next hunt that her coven had scheduled. She dismissed the idea fairly quickly, though. One of her ladies was going to be making a present of suitable bait, and if they had too much meat, it would start to stink. She settled for giving him her most venomously sweet smile, as he left the room. Watching her males writhe under that look had always been fun. Except for Sadi. He had never so much as winced at it; he only smiled back.

Dorothea snarled as her mind went back to him. He should have been destroyed, should have been dead, should have been hers! But he was alive, whole, and serving that blonde bitch who had kicked her and Hekatah out of Kaeleer. Now all they had there was little Terreille, and the Dark Council.

And now the messenger had brought her news that Earth was sending different representatives to them. Nothing new in and of itself- the gutless little worms all lost their nerve for real Blood within a week of arriving, a month at the most. What was new about this was that there was a company of the gutter bastards going there, and that they were fairly high ranked. That might cause trouble to some of her works...

Dorothea smirked. Well, she'd just have to stop them before they there, wouldn't she. There was a lovely bandit tribe that should be up to the task.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Kaeleer

Gabrielle frowned at her web. It was custom, in their court, for every able Black Widow to weave a tangled web when they came together. It helped them decide what issues to discuss, what the best outcome to any conflict might be, and gave them large quantities of material of gossip and laugh over.

This web, though, was... confusing. The images there weren't easy to interpret. She saw kindred to Kindred, a circle with five points, children wrinkled with age, tropical flowers growing on a mountain top, and opening to reveal sparking gems... this was going to be something that they would all need to see.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Kaeleer

Saeten looked over the rooms that Helene had cleaned out and put together for their new guests. Like every other delegation, they would have the entire floor in this wing as their own, to do with as they needed. There were sitting rooms, gathering rooms, and sever offices. Also, five bedchambers were arrayed around a circular garden. This would allow them to talk to each other and move around with several degrees of freedom.

Not, of course, that there wouldn't be guards watching them all the same.

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

Terreille

Hekatah used every bit of her self-restraint to not to lay several very potent curses on Dorothea. The little bitch was so caught up in the schemes she made that she failed to see outcomes! If bandits attacked that delegation, then Saeten would be forced to investigate it. Somewhere, somehow, the gutter son of whore had gotten a sense of honor, and damn his balls but he stuck to it. He would investigate when that band of Craftless worms disappeared, and he would find what she didn't want him too.

If things remained as they were now.

It really was a pity she couldn't get rid of Dorothea just yet, but that ignorant bitch still had her uses. Even if she did cause so much work because she never thought things through. She'd also never learned the meaning of 'subtle.'

Contentedly watching Dorothea screaming in her mind's eye, Hekatah set off to begin removing and hiding all the things she didn't want Saeten to find.

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A/N: Well, there you have it. I hope I caught the characters to your satisfaction. Do you know, it's proving scarily easy to write the bitch-women? It's harder writing Saeten, and he's a sweetheart when he isn't ready to kill you. For those of you new to Dark Jewels, Gabrielle is one of the three Queen Black Widow Healers, and the one payed least attention to in the story. She's Dea al Mon (think elf- pointed ears, slender build, long hair, pale coloring, large eyes, etc.). Dea al Mon are famous for their secrecy and their skills with a knife. Thank yous to my reviewers:

Elven Archer of Rivendell:
I am planning very very, evil things, I assure you. And went diving off into the Twisted Kingdom years ago, remember? Hope you liked this chapter!

ZmajGoddess:
Thank you! If you have the time, re-read the trilogy- I mention some fine points from there. Hope you like where I'm taking it!

lizzy:
Thank you! I hope you keep loving it.

Rena:
I e-mailed you already- if you didn't get it, e-mail me and see if I got your address wrong. I hope you write your cross-over with this- I don't think it's possible for there to be too many! Thanks for reviewing!

Kaellyn:
Hey, you get your fix early! I haven't read The Invisible Ring yet, but I want to. I loved the trilogy, too- it's like the Matrix: it turns everything you know of the world on it's head, but still makes it make sense! Hope you liked the chapter!