1/Terreille

"You know what I think," Ettia whispered to her cousin as they walked through one of the deserted garden lanes in Draega.

"What?"

"I don't think the Prince is in that suite. I don't think he's been there since Meredith left that witch with him."

Bethaeny studied her cautiously, obviously judging whether it was safe to reply. In the last two months, she'd learned a lot about how to survive in Meredith's Court. Ettia had made sure of it. At first, it had been a way of protecting herself. She couldn't afford to let Meredith's irritation with her cousin blacklash onto her.

But surprisingly, her cousin wasn't quite as insipidly stupid as she seemed at first. Young and naïve, without a doubt. Her aunt never should've sent her to this Court. Maybe a lesser one would have worked out- but not with Meredith. Like a lamb to slaughter.

So she'd honestly begun to care what happened to her. And in the past two months, they'd made significant progress. Bethaeny had shown herself to be dependable and resourceful when dealing with the Court. She was still flighty sometimes, but now she was thinking more before she said anything. Like today.

Apparently being away from the Hall made her cousin feel safe enough to answer.

"What makes you say so?"

"It just all seems very strange- that unknown witch showing up and then all the controlling rings stopped working and the Blood males escaped. Then Meredith tells us that the Prince is confined to his suite for weeks on end."

"You think he disappeared with the rest of them, don't you?"

Ettia sent out a psychic probe around them to see if anyone was eavesdropping. It was unlikely. Ever since the controlling rings had failed them, witches in the Court rarely ventured beyond Meredith's Hall. Or their rooms.

That didn't matter, though. She didn't want anyone to hear what she was about to say to her cousin. In the wrong hands, it could be disastrous. The coast seemed clear, so she pulled in a breath and let it out again.

"Not only do I think he's gone- I think Meredith's ability to hold Hayll is gone with him. And I think it may be time to think of a new Court to take over Draega."

Bethaeny's eyes rounded.

"You could be killed or worse for saying something like that."

"By who? Meredith or Valinna? I'm saying that if the Prince is gone, then they can only rely on the strength of their Jewels instead of having his to back them."

"But Meredith wears the Gray."

"And if we had a large enough group of us, we could still win against her."

"I'm not saying that I'm agreeing with you," her cousin said slowly. "But let's say you could get a group of witches together large enough to overpower Meredith and Valinna. Who would you have rule in her place? Almost none of us are Queens anymore- much less one with a Jewel to rival hers. No one's going to listen to someone with light Jewels. Not without leverage."

"Maybe Queens have outlived their use," Ettia snapped. "Maybe we can find a better way to rule Hayll without them. I don't see life around here as anything great with Meredith in charge. Do you?"

"Well…no, not really."

"Then I say we choose who we think is best to rule- not leave it to whether someone was born into the ruling caste or not. Who decided that Queens ruled the rest of us, anyway?"

Both of them were silent for a while. Ettia had surprised herself, not having realized just how fed up she had gotten with Meredith and the whole Court lately. Until now, she hadn't said anything against Draega's ruling Queen. Since her mother packed her off to the city, she'd done nothing but emulate all the other witches at court. It didn't matter that she was treated like dirt most of the time and lived in constant fear.

None of that changed, no matter how high she'd risen. Honestly, Ettia wished she hadn't tried so hard to be noticed. Life had been safer when Meredith ignored her. Anonymity insulated her from worse abuse.

So maybe this was their opportunity to get out from under Meredith's thumb. One thing she knew for certain. If they didn't do something soon, the Blood males would rally against them and they'd all be dead. Someone was going to rise up against Meredith to take over Draega. It might as well be them.

"So what are you saying, cousin?"

"I'm saying we start asking around- discreetly- about whether some of our Sisters feel the same way."

"It will have to be very discreet if we don't want Meredith to catch wind of it."

"Maeren would be a good place to start. All she did was take the steak Meredith wanted and they starved her for three days. She doesn't feel any love for the Queen or the Court. Not anymore."

"I can think of a few others, too."

"I say we get as many of us gathered together as we can before making a move. Maybe we can take control of one of the districts in the city. Make our stand from there."

They turned a curve in the pathway, still seeing no one else. The garden was sad this time of year. Even calling it a garden was being kind. Hardly any flowers grew in the weedy beds. Only the ones that grew back from bulbs planted decades ago. Ettia couldn't remember the last time anyone tended Draega's gardens.

"I didn't realize you had ambitions for rebellion," Bethaeny mused. "I always thought you were one of Meredith's strongest supporters."

"I thought I was, too, when I first got to Court. And then I saw what she was really like. Then it was all about saving my own neck."

"All the same- it might be hard to convince other witches to believe that you want to spearhead this plan. They might think you're trying to lead them into one of Meredith's traps."

"I hear you," Ettia agreed. "And you're probably right. But I'm still going to try."

"You're not worried that someone might betray you, thinking it will make them a favorite?"

"Fat lot of good it'll do them. A favorite is little more than Meredith's slave. I think if she could figure out a way to put a Ring of Obedience on a witch, she would do it."

Bethaeny shuddered at that thought. Ettia did the same. Having seen how effective the Rings were against Blood males, she certainly didn't want to have one put on her. There would be no respite from Meredith's temper then. They walked in silence for a time.

"Do you suppose we were wrong in doing it?"

"Doing what?"

"Ringing Blood males and dosing them with safframate," her cousin replied. "We think it'd be wrong for one of us to be ringed and I've heard the horror stories of witches Meredith's dosed with safframate. But how can we feel it was wrong to do that to a witch when it was okay to do it to a Blood male? That has always bothered me, even though I got the message that it shouldn't."

Ettia hadn't wanted to admit the uncomfortable truth that she'd thought the same thing from time to time. But she didn't answer Bethaeny's question right away. She let the silence spin out until she felt she had to reply.

"I don't know, Bethaeny. We've all heard the stories about what it was like before Meredith became Queen of Hayll. Witches slaughtered all over the territory by Blood males. Maybe we did need the Ring to keep them under control."

"If that were true, we should be dead right now."

"I beg your pardon?"

"We're perfect targets right now for any Blood male looking for a chance to kill a witch. Neither of us have Jewels dark enough to fight off more than one or two. And you can't tell me that they don't know we're here. So why aren't we dead yet, if they're so dangerous?"

"I honestly don't know."

"Exactly."

"So are you thinking you want to give Warlords an equal say in whatever government we set up in Draega?"

"I don't know what I'd want to do with them. But I know I don't want to bed another one if he's been dosed with safframate first."

Ettia was surprised at the vehemence in her cousin's voice. Sure, it was a gamble whenever they used the drug, but she'd never thought it was all that bad. Obviously, Bethaeny thought otherwise.

"Oh yeah?"

"I'll be honest that I hadn't thought much about it before the Warlords escaped the Hall. It seemed like fun to get them worked up and take a ride for as long as I wanted."

"But you've changed your mind."

Bethaeny stopped walking and turned to her. Ettia stopped, too, wondering what her cousin would say. Despite all the growth she'd shown so far, this conversation had taken a far more serious turn than she expected out of her.

"Ettia- what does it say about us when no male is willing to bed us?"

"I don't follow."

"That's what drugging them with safframate means, you know. Can you count even once when you bedded any male by his free choice? Not because he thought it might get him something he wanted. Not because he was threatened, tortured or drugged into it. But because he actually wanted you."

Now that was an unpleasant thought. The longer she considered it, the more Ettia had to admit that her cousin was right. She didn't know what it was like to be with a man who wanted to be with her. It was a sickening realization, and one she wasn't sure she ever wanted to discover for herself.

"I guess I never really considered it that way."

"I didn't either- until I started talking to the serving witches in the Hall."

"Talked to who?"

"I dunno- I was down in the kitchens running some errand for one of the First Circle witches and a group of the maids were all talking."

"About what?"

"About what they thought of the Warlords leaving the Hall, mostly. Would you believe me if I told you that some of them were secret lovers?"

"Were what?"

"I'm serious. One of them- Fawne- she and Warlord Paeter were lovers and saw each other on nights he wasn't servicing any of us. No coercion, no drugs- just the desire to be together. The more I heard about it, the more I realized how unsatisfying our so-called 'conquests' were by comparison."

Ettia would never have guessed, but to be honest, she rarely thought about the servant witches in the Hall. Not as people, anyway. They did all of the unappealing tasks in the Hall and took the brunt of Meredith's temper. Beyond that, Ettia hadn't really thought of them.

Perhaps it was time to change that. Especially if they were looking for witches who had a grudge against Meredith. True, most of the serving witches were broken, but they could still be useful for something. If they'd been invisible to her all this time, they were invisible to Meredith, too. They could learn useful things.

That was a thought for later. Right now, Bethaeny seemed pretty focused on the sex issue. Ettia conceded the point.

"So what are you suggesting, cousin?"

"I'm suggesting that if you're serious about changing the way Draega and Hayll is run, we consider what other groups outside the Court have to offer. Even if that includes the serving witches and possibly Blood males."

"I'll think on it," Ettia promised. She looked around and shrugged. "We ought to be getting back now, before anyone notices we're gone."

2/Terreille

Lilith was over halfway through her regular tour of Draega's districts. After staying with Gwynn for nearly a week, she'd moved on to check in with a few other Queens in other districts. This week, she was staying in one of the southwestern districts to see how Lady Collette was keeping her Court in balance. She'd helped the young witch set it up the last time she was here, and it was time to see if they were adjusting to one another.

All of that work should have left her too exhausted to think about anything else. She shouldn't have had any time in the day to stray from her task. Shouldn't. That didn't mean she wasn't kept awake at night, thinking of how things went horribly wrong with Alex.

Although, those thoughts were preferable to the nightmares. Since leaving Meredith's Hall, the terrible dreams of her youth had returned. They were relentless.

In any case, she blamed herself every day that she'd made Alex feel like he had to service her, and because of that, had chosen to stay in Hayll instead of returning home. He should have been with his family months ago. Instead, he was skulking around Draega to avoid her.

Well, that wasn't quite true. Lilith knew exactly where he was, and had been for well over a month. He'd found his way into Queen Tarine's district, and hadn't left it since. She could have found him at any time and asked if he wanted to go to Kaeleer. But Lilith had judiciously avoided that part of the city, putting off her visit to Tarine as long as she could.

So if she were honest, Lilith would have to admit that she was avoiding him. But she couldn't do that for much longer. Gwynn was expecting her to bring Tarine a message about forming an alliance together to reclaim the district wedged between them. A district ruled by one of Meredith's lesser favorites.

It would be a bold move, but one that could be done without calling out too much attention to the current Queen of Draega. After all, Meredith had her own worries to contend with at the moment. Lilith was hearing rumblings in all parts of the city about shaking out from under her tyranny. Not just in the districts she'd helped grow.

All very interesting thoughts on her mind, but Lilith turned her attention back to the matter at hand. Collette was holding an audience to judge a case involving a man who'd tried to rape a young woman in one of the local inns. The girl was the daughter of the innkeeper, and had been heard screaming for help shortly before closing time by one of the other patrons.

Fortunately for the girl, they'd rescued her in time. But she'd been thoroughly traumatized, and the man had a history of violence. He'd been branded- recently from the look of it- with the Queen's mark. Lilith knew that meant he'd already done something similar in one of the other districts.

Collette looked disquieted that she had to make this decision. She hadn't ordered an execution since setting up her court, and wasn't happy to be deciding one now.

*What do I do, Raenel?*

*You're the Queen of this district, Collette. It's up to you what is or is not permissible here*

Lilith could hear the young woman sigh across their connection. She would not tell Collette what to do. It wasn't her place to do that anymore. This was not her territory to rule. And besides, Collette needed to take responsibility for the lives and safety for the people under her care. Even the distasteful duties.

*He didn't rape the girl*

*No, he didn't* Lilith agreed.

*I could let him go with a warning*

*It's within your right to do so*

*You're not helping* the young Queen complained.

*I already told you that I wasn't going to help you with this, Collette. You have to make this decision on your own*

*I don't like killing people*

*That's good, because you shouldn't. Even if it has to be done, you should never enjoy sentencing someone to an execution*

"I'm tellin' y'all I didn' do nuthin'!"

Lilith's eyes narrowed slightly at the man protesting his innocence in front of them, and tried to remind herself that she should take her own advice. If this were her territory to rule, she wasn't sure if she could say that she hadn't found some satisfaction in killing him. Not and be honest with herself.

He'd done nothing but sling foul language at all of them since the Queen's guard had hauled him out of the inn. Lilith heard him rant and rave about how he'd been wronged in Queen Tarine's district last month, and that all he did was look for a 'bit of fun'. She'd tended to the innkeeper's daughter this morning. Nothing about that experience had been 'fun' for the girl. She held back a snarl…barely.

*You've heard what everyone has had to say about what happened. And you've heard from Queen Tarine what happened there. What does your instinct tell you to do?*

A flash sizzled through Collette's eyes and she squared her shoulders.

*Execute him*

*Why?*

The Queen thought for a moment.

*Because he's not going to change. Whether it's his fault or not, he's been tainted and if I let him live now, one day he will succeed in raping someone. And it will be my fault for not stopping him when I had the chance*

Lilith was relieved. It was the right decision, and for the right reasons. The decades of training in Protocol and the Blood code had taken root here as she'd hoped. It had been a gamble whether any of the Queens in Hayll would be able to absorb it without a well established network to rely on. But it was working. Thank the Darkness.

*If that's your decision, I'd suggest putting us all out of our misery and render it to the Court*

Collette cleared her throat and the room was silent- even the accused. Lilith took care of that personally, not in any mood to hear him whine a second longer.

"Having listened to all evidence in the matter, it is my decision that the Warlord Henkel has committed a serious crime by the laws of our community. As this is not his first offense, and he has shown a distain for the opportunity to embrace a new life, I rule that he would present a danger to all in the future. His life is therefore forfeit."

The condemned man was nearly purple with rage and disbelief at the verdict. As much as Lilith didn't want to, she released the silence spell she'd put on him before he exploded. The room filled with his menacing curses and threats.

"Nuthin' but whores and their trained twat lickers, that's what you all are! Got no right to judge me!"

*Lilith, if I were to reconsider what I said a moment ago, he could be the one to do it. I want him to die*

*I'm sure most people in this room do right now*

*I want to be the one to kill him*

One step too far. Lilith gathered her patience and did her best to rein in the Queen's growing wrath.

*That's not appropriate, Collette, and you know it*

Another sigh across their connection.

*You're right, Raenel. Now how do I do this?*

*Task one of the guards of your Court to execute him- one who wasn't involved in capturing him or knew the girl in any way. And make sure whoever it is doesn't finish the kill*

*Why?*

*Because you're issuing justice. Exacting restitution for the crimes he's committed against the Blood is the job of the High Lord. You don't know what else he should be held accountable for. The High Lord will, and will settle the debts*

*What if he doesn't go to Hell after becoming demon-dead? What if he stays here and preys on my people?*

Lilith leveled a stony glare at the man struggling against two Warlords holding him in place. She saw him glance first at Collette and then at her, and then back again. Apparently, he saw something that only made him angrier, because his taunts doubled in volume. Lilith understood very quickly what he had noticed.

Collette was looking at him, but her head was tilted slightly towards her. Obviously, the man figured out that they were talking to one another privately. He returned his malevolent stare to Lilith, and pointed with his free arm.

"She's the one! That bitch next to her isn't rulin' anything here. It's that cunt who's givin' the orders. Troublemakin' bitch!"

Lilith didn't so much as flinch as he hurled insults at her. Thankfully, neither did Collette or anyone in her Court.

*You don't have to worry about him. I'll personally see that he makes it to Hell, and that he's introduced to the High Lord. He won't be back*

*But…you can't go to Hell. It's…*

*Trust me, Collette, I've done this before. I know what I'm doing*

*Okay, if you say so*

"Warlord Yemar, if you please."

"By your command, Lady. Your will is my life."

One second, the condemned man was spewing obscenities at everyone. The next, he collapsed lifeless to the floor, a blast of Purple Dusk bursting through his heart. Lilith breathed a sigh of relief that Collette's Master of the Guard had done just what she asked, and hadn't finished the kill. She wanted to be sure that Daemon Sadi took care of this one personally.

She gave Collette a mental nudge. *Unless you had something else to discuss, I think we're all done here*

*Oh, right*

"This audience is concluded for today. We'll resume session in two days to hear new petitions."

The observers filed out in twos and threes, some groups engaging in serious discussions about what they'd just seen. No doubt it would be the talk of the district for a few days until the shock wore off. It had been a long time since anyone had been executed here. Most people likely didn't remember the purge Lilith had done back then.

After a time, only the Queen and her Guard remained. One of the Warlords toed the body of the dead man.

"What do you want done with this, Lady?"

"Leave it be, Warlord. Lady Raenel will see to its disposal."

"As you command."

When they had gone, Lilith turned to Collette and smiled grimly.

"Well, that went well for your first execution. I wish I could say that there won't be any others, but I'd be lying."

"I suppose this won't end until we've ousted Meredith and her Court."

Lilith shook her head.

"Things like this will happen even after Hayll becomes a healthy Territory again. They happen in Askavi and in Dhemlan and in every other Territory of both Realms."

"But that man- he was poisoned by their influence."

"Yes, but as you put it yourself a moment ago- we can't know if he chose to be the way he was, or if he was pushed into it. Like it or not, there will always be Blood who are naturally inclined to do evil. There is no such thing as a perfect society."

"Oh."

"I would have liked to have let you believe otherwise, but it's kinder to hear the truth now than to be destroyed by the lie later."

"No, no- you're right."

Lilith stepped down towards the middle of the room and stared at the corpse before her. Best get this over with now before he made the transition. And before the High Lord would be receiving in Hell. Lilith had no desire for him to catch her there. She vanished the body.

"I should take care of this."

"Will you be back?"

"Oh yes. This should only take me a few hours or so to deliver him to the right place. Then I'll be back."

Collette looked relieved.

"Good. I had some questions to ask you about this whole Court thing."

"I'll be back as soon as I can to answer them. Sound good?"

"Sure thing."

With that, Lilith bid the young Queen goodbye and headed out. She caught the Ebon-Black Wind running over this part of the city and held onto it until she was clear of Draega. Then she did something she hoped none of the SaDiablos would ever find out she did. She jumped webs between the Realms.

Sure, she could have zipped over to the Keep in Terreille and asked Geoffrey to open the Gate for her to slip into Hell. But then there would be questions. So many questions. He'd want to know why she was going to Hell in the first place. And then he'd want to know why she'd been in Hayll. And so on.

Lilith could bet anything that if Geoffrey started asking those questions, he'd be supplying Daemon Sadi with her answers. This wouldn't be like her occasional requests to use the Keep's library to look at some old reams of Craft. Anything to do with Hayll or Hell would be reported immediately. She couldn't have that.

That meant she had specific rules about how she arrived at the Keep in Terreille- and how she slipped in and out of Hell. In the case of the former, she used the Gate at the Keep in Kaeleer. As for the latter, she had little choice but to jump webs.

Once the jump was made, Lilith groped for the Ebon-Black again. Before long, she was speeding along the Winds on her way to the Keep in Hell. Any other time, she might have made a detour to the island belonging to the cildru dyathe. But today she didn't have time to socialize.

She landed lightly just outside the grounds of the Keep, not wanting to leave any trace of her presence on the landing webs. It meant she had a longer walk ahead of her, but it was by far the safer option. Best get to it.

Lilith wrapped herself in a sight shield and hiked up to the great stone fortress that seemed to be one with the mountain around it. It took the better part of a half hour to get close enough that she could pass the body through into an antechamber. She was sure that one of the Keep's residents would notice it and tuck it away until the High Lord returned.

As a final gesture, she penned a quick note relating the circumstances of the man's demise, and let it rest just inside the breast pocket of his shirt. The paper had a spell embedded in it that would resist any attempt to tear it up or destroy it. The only way it was coming out of that pocket was if the High Lord pulled it out himself. That would let Daemon know he needed to look at this one carefully.

Mission accomplished, Lilith faced the downward hike with a lighter step. Not long now and she'd be back to find out what Collette had to ask her. She could only begin to guess, but wouldn't it be fun hearing whatever it was?