“Because it’s not just about me.”
“That’s correct.”
As they walked to the steakhouse, Daemonar observed how people reacted to the man beside him. Some people were wary, but most of the people were unafraid and smiled at the two of them or gave a nod of greeting that didn’t ask for attention. Uncle Daemon might not notice all the people who had no reason to be wary of him, but Daemonar was certain Prince Sadi made note of the people who might have a reason to fear his temper.
Daemon Sadi and Lucivar Yaslana maintained a veneer of civilized behavior, but they didn’t hide the first layer of truth about what they were, even when they walked down a street. They were Warlord Princes born to stand on killing fields. They were predators. They were dangerous.
And ever since he’d made the Blood Run, they had quietly acknowledged that he was ready to stand on those fields with them.
“What’s the rube doing back here?” Dhuran said. “Isn’t having one of those bats at the school bad enough?”
Delora wanted to slap Dhuran for calling attention to the Eyrien because Jaenelle Saetien turned around and said, “That’s my cousin Daemonar.” Then she muttered, “Why is he back here?”
“Probably visiting his sister,” Delora said.
“Maybe.” And off Jaenelle Saetien went across the green to talk to the Eyrien.
“He’s not visiting,” Leena said. “I heard he’s attending classes here and Prince Raine has been assigned as his special tutor.”
“Going to try to teach the bat how to read?” Clayton said, sniggering.
“Hold your tongue,” Delora said sharply. “We don’t want Jaenelle Saetien to feel obliged to defend her lesser relations.”
“He was given Silas’s room,” Krellis said, coming up to stand beside Delora. “My source in Lady Fharra’s office said she’s concerned that he isn’t going to fit in with the rest of us and might cause trouble when he finally figures that out, but she wasn’t able to persuade Prince Sadi to send the Eyrien to another school.”
Borsala sniffed. “Fharra shouldn’t have let the first bat attend our school. I wrote to my mother and told her all about it. She was quite appalled that Fharra is lowering standards.”
“Titian might prove useful,” Delora replied. She turned to Krellis. “Why didn’t Silas come back to school?”
Krellis looked grim. “He’s dead. The girl he’d picked for some fun killed him. He must have given her the wrong dose of the party favor and she turned savage.”
“Hell’s fire,” Clayton muttered.
“Silas was from an aristo family,” Hespera said. “That girl was insignificant. She’s been punished, hasn’t she?”
Krellis shook his head. “Lady SaDiablo investigated and decided Silas was at fault. Besides, among the Blood, there is no law against murder—especially when the killing is considered self-defense.”
Delora felt a rising fury burn through her as she watched Jaenelle Saetien and the Eyrien boy. Nothing malleable about the boy, and he could ruin all the careful work she’d already done grooming Jaenelle Saetien to be one of her kind of aristo. “Blaming aristos for having a bit of fun won’t do. It won’t do at all.”
“We can’t change that,” Hespera said.
“Oh, I don’t know.” Delora smiled as she continued to watch Jaenelle Saetien and the Eyrien. “We just need to find the right tool to rupture some family bonds.”
Now Krellis smiled. “I might have found the right tool for that.”
“Daemonar?” Jaenelle Saetien ran up to her cousin. “What are you doing here?”
“Getting a feel for the school grounds and the location of everything,” he replied, smiling.
“Why? Are you looking for Titian?” Or are you checking up on me to report to Papa?
“Titian is in the potting shed. Pottery barn?” He shrugged and pointed. “She’s that way, apparently up to her elbows in mud, so I’m heading over to see her and let her know where I’ll be.”
“Where you’ll be?”
“I’m taking some classes here. I have a room in the male dormitory.” Daemonar studied her. “Is that a problem?”
“No, I’m just surprised.” Because it still stung that he’d criticized her about wanting a second dress for the dance, she added, “I didn’t think you were interested in attending classes with other people.”
“I figured I’d expand my education, in more ways than just books.”
In other words, he’d expect her to introduce him to her friends even though she already knew those friends had no interest in being around him.
She felt a twinge of disloyalty. Daemonar had always been her best ally, her partner in mischief—and the one who pulled her back before she got into too much trouble with Papa and Uncle Lucivar. But status among the Blood was three-pronged—Jewel rank, caste, and social influence. Daemonar respected Jewel rank and caste, but he shrugged off the social aspect as insignificant. The girls and boys who were at this school soon would be the social power of Dhemlan. He didn’t care about that, but she did. She wanted to dazzle. She wanted to shine. She wanted so much sophisticated gloss she was beyond comparison with anyone else.
She wanted to be like Delora, commanding the social stage and setting the standard for what was interesting and fashionable. Deciding what behavior was acceptable and what was not. They’d had long discussions already about why aristos shouldn’t be bound to the same rules as the rest of the Blood. Some rules didn’t apply to Warlord Princes because of their nature. Why shouldn’t aristos enjoy the same kind of leniency?
She was tired of rules. She wanted to make her own decisions, not be hemmed in by rules that were only there to get in the way of her being who she wanted to be.
Daemonar would interfere with all her dreams of social prominence. She could see it so clearly, but she knew him. He’d decided to go to this school, and nothing she said would change his mind.
She would just have to be too busy to spend much time with him. That shouldn’t be hard to do. She and Titian and Zoey had been friends for years, spending days at the town house laughing and talking. She barely saw them since they started school. She felt bad that the other girls had made fun of Titian and called her a fat bat, but Titian and Zoey could be such rubes, despite their bloodlines. They went to classes and did their schoolwork and thought pottery class was great fun. And, Mother Night, the embarrassment when she’d seen them doing the Eyrien warm-up exercises with the sparring sticks!
Daemonar would be out there with them for the warm-ups. Maybe even sparring with them. If they did that where they could be seen, she would just curl up and die!
“Jaenelle Saetien?”
Had he been talking all this time? “What?”
Something in his eyes, like he’d seen something that shouldn’t be there. “I’m meeting up with Titian and her friend. Do you want to join us?”
“No. Thank you.”
“Suit yourself.”
“I will.”
He started to walk away, then stopped. “Be careful you don’t suit yourself too much.”
What did that mean?
Jaenelle Saetien watched him walk away. She was glad he hadn’t insisted that she join him and Titian and Zoey.
Wasn’t she?
An hour before dawn, Lucivar stood in front of Dorian’s eyrie. She’d raised the door he’d blown off its hinges and rested it against the Ebon-gray shield that covered the doorway, as well as the rest of the eyrie.