Daemon woke to a cold wet cloth being taken to his face. His eyes flicked open in surprise. It wasn't the witch from earlier. This one was Hayllian but with blond hair? An illusion spell he assumed. Why in the name of hell she would want to have blond hair with her skin tone was beyond him but he was not going to say anything about that. In a rough voice he said, "Lady"
"Kathrin, prince. I've been asked to see to your care for the moment." Her voice was soft almost airy…
He tilted his head to the side in puzzlement .A white jeweled hearth witch interesting.
Flinching he asked, "Has the witch's counsel decided?"
She stopped her wiping of his face. For a moment he thought he could see fire in her golden eyes. For a moment he could have sworn she gave him the same look one of the coven would have if they were telling him something that they didn't agree on but couldn't argue with. Finely masking her own feelings or temper she growled, "They have."
He could feel his chalice braking just a little bit more. He could feel himself stepping closer to a sheer cliff. Still he probed, "And?'
Again she made a sound close to a growl. Finally going back to her work she very quietly answered, "Three years court service and the queens demand you wear… a ring." The thought chilled her. Hadn't the bitches learned anything since the witch storm? Hadn't they learned anything about how it had been before?
Panic filled him. He knew what those rings could d by someone who knew how to use them. Hell's fire he had lived through that once already. But the knowledge about how that could be used by someone untrained using them… someone who didn't know how to gauge the pain… done wrong or without the knowledge it would be crippling.
No he deserved this. It didn't matter if he was crippled he had saved that one bit of his self for Jaenelle Angeline and now she was gone because of him…so he would let them do anything to pay the debt… with one exception… he would not let them bed him. Jaenelle may be gone and because of him but that part of his body belonged to her… would always belong to her.
His heart broke more. There had been so much they hadn't done together. Tiny moments that he could have held on to. She had never became a mother. Never lived long enough to see all her nieces and cousins grow and take lovers… or at least most of them.
Tears streamed his cheeks. This was his doing. His fault. His nephew would grow up without his father. Would grow up hating the uncle he once adored all because he had been the one to take him away without cause… without reason.
"Prince Sadi?"
Her soft voice dragged him from his thoughts. Taking a jagged breath to steady himself he asked, "Three years then what?"
She shrugged," None of the queens were from this territory…" her voice trailed off.
He saw where this was going. Three years and they would turn him loose. Would exile him or worse give him a place to stay. No. Not this time. This debt needed paid. "I don't want leniency. The punishment for killing a queen without cause is death."
Her eyes flashed with anger. There and gone with a blink. But she made no further comment.
She did what she could do for him to rid his skin for the fowled blood. She worked around fragments of his now broken life… the pile of crusty cloth that had dried with the blood of its owners still on it. The broken necklace that he now held with fierce protectiveness. He was being passive right now. Something told warned her if she took any of those things away it would awaken what was under the flesh… the mane the Blood here called the Sadist.