Anne Bishop - Tangled Webs

Tangled Webs

Black Jewels Series #5

Anne Bishop

Publisher: Penguin Group, March 2008

# ISBN-13: 9781101212882 # ISBN: 1101212888

Tangled Webs

Anne Bishop

Jewels

White

Yellow

Tiger

Eye

Rose

Summer-sky

Purple Dusk

Opal*

Green

Sapphire

Red

Gray

Ebon-gray

Black

* Opal is the dividing line between lighter and darker Jewels because it can be either.

When making the offering to the Darkness, a person can descend a maximum of three ranks from his/her Birthright Jewel.

Example: Birthright White could descend to Rose.

Blood Hierarchy/Castes

Males:

Landen

non-Blood of any race

Blood male

a general term for all males of the Blood; also refers to any Blood male who doesnt wear Jewels Warlord

a Jeweled male equal in status to a witch

Prince

a Jeweled male equal in status to a Priestess or a Healer

Warlord Prince

a dangerous, extremely aggressive Jeweled male; in status, slightly lower than a Queen Females:

Landen

non-Blood of any race

Blood female

a general term for all females of the Blood; mostly refers to any Blood female who doesnt wear Jewels

Healer

a witch who heals physical wounds and illnesses; equal in status to a Priestess and a Prince Priestess

a witch who cares for altars, Sanctuaries, and Dark Altars; witnesses handfasts and marriages; performs offerings; equal in status to a Healer and a Prince Black Widow

a witch who heals the mind; weaves the tangled webs of dreams and visions; is trained in illusions

and poisons

Queen

a witch who rules the Blood; is considered to be the lands heart and the Bloods moral center; as such, she is the focal point of their society

He laid his h and on the cover of his l atest book, closed his eyes to shut out the world around him, and savored this new reality that was still so painfully sweet.

They had embraced his previous story about Landry Langston. They had read his thinly veiled discovery about himself and had bought more copies of that book than any other.

He was one of them . Cheated out o f his heritag e for so many years and discovering his true n ature only by accident, now he could stand am ong them as an equal. Somethemselves insignificanthad thought him worthy enough to be a casual a cquaintance because his writing skills had earne d him fame and wealth, had earned hi m invitations to parties and literary discussions that would otherwise be closed to a landen.

Now they would welcome him simply because of the power that flowed in his veins.

Hed been overwhelmed by his disco very and had kept it a secret for all these months. Well, an open secret, since hed put it down on paper for a ll to read. But now he was read y to walk among them, to be acknowledged by them. Not just by the society sparklers, but by the true aristos. He d even taken the first step to indi cate he would welcome just such an invitation.

He could see himself sitting at the dining table at SaDiab lo Hall, one of a sm all number of select guests. He would entertain the other guests with amusing stories, and he would flirt with the Ladybut not so much that he would offend his host. Hed heard rumors about a fool who had offended Daemon Sadi in that way.

Had Sadi really burned out the mans brain using witchfire? How intriguing. Perhaps

There was so much to learn now that he was one of them. So much. And there was so much he could do now that he was no longer shackled by landen law. So much he couldnt have tried before. Except in stories.

For a long time hed feared there was som ething wrong with him that made him crave the violence that had n o outlet except by being poured into his stories. Now he knew that violence was simply part of his nature.

Oh, yes. He was one of them now. One of the ones who walked the Realms in all their dark glory.

He was no longer an insignificant landen, chained by someone elses rules.

He was Blood.

ONE

H ells fire.

Surreal SaDiablo stared at the page sh e was currently reading, then let the book drop int o her lap. A bod y in a closet? What kind of idiot leaves a body in a closet?

Someone who doesnt have large furry friends who think hu man and snack mean the same thing? Daemon replied in an offhand way that told her he was paying some attention but not really listening, his thoughts still on the papers spread out around him.

Another woman might have been insulted by that lack of imm ediate attention. Knowing the man, Surreal just waited.

Looking at Daemon Sadi wasnt a hardship at any tim e, but at the moment, he was comfortably rumpled, which made the picture even more delicious. His thick black ha ir was disheveled from his fingers running through it while he read reports and made notes of things he wanted to discuss with Dhemlans Province Queens. His white silk shirt was partially unbuttoned, giving her a view of toned m uscles and golden brown skin, as well as little flashes of the Red Birthright Jewel that hung from a gold chain around his ne ck. His bare feet rested on a pillow he d tossed onto the low table in front of the sofa.

His deep, cultured voice always had a sexual edge that made a womans pulse raceeven when the look in those gold eyes promised pain instead of pleasure. He had a face too beautiful to be called handsom e, and he had a temper typical of his caste.

Since he was one of the two males in the entire history of the Blood to wear a Black Jewel, he was as lethal as he was beautiful. And, may the Darkness help her, he was family.

It was that last part that assured her shed have his full attention before much longer. It was the nature of Warlord Princes to be protective and territorialas well as violent and deadlyso it was pretty much a given that a Warlord Prince was going to pay attention to the women in his family.

That thought had her narrowing her gold-green eyes as she considered why he was settled in the sitting room of the familys town house in Am darh, Dhemlans capital c ity, instead of doing paperwork in his own study at

SaDiablo Hall. Where he belonged.

Hells fire, Sadi, she growled. Now that youre the Warl ord Prince of Dhemlan, dont you have enough details to keep you occupied without keeping track of my moontimes? Which reminded her of the problem that was going to be filling up the sitting room if he was still there in an hour.

He set aside his papers and looked at her, his gold eyes full of warmth and amusement.

Youre married, she said, as if he needed the reminder of an event that had taken place a few weeks ago. You should be keeping track of your wife, not me.

No answer. Just that annoying amusement.

Why dont you keep track of Marian too while youre at it? she muttered.

The warmth and amusement in his eyes deepened.

Shit shit shit. He did keep track of his brothers wife.

Her stomach gave a funny little twirl as she considered that. Daemon Sadi. Lucivar Yaslana. Half brothers linked through their Hayllian father, who wa s the Prince of the Darkness, the High Lord of Hell. Men who were ice and fire, working in tandem to look after the wom en in the familyespecially during the few days of each m oon cycle when those women couldnt use Craft and might be vulnerable.

Which made her wonder about the Warlord she had met at a party shortly after Daemon became the Warlord Prince who ruled the Territory of Dhemlan in the Realm of Kaeleer. The man had m anaged to maintain the mask of an interesting companion until she ag reed to go t o the theater with hi m. Then his true personality began to seep through. She would have gone with him anyway to find out what he really wanted, but hed canceled, sending a note to offer his regrets and apologies for b eing called away unexpectedly. She hadnt thought anything of it; just figured hed found out a little more about her and decided not to ri sk being gutted during the play s intermission. After all, men who were willing to escort a former whore who was connected to the most powerful family in Kaeleer tended to get nervous when they discovered the former whore was also a former assassin.