Mom broke the conclave for a half hour to have a pavilion erected for the Brotherhood. I held my seat, eyes locked on the gaping hole where Belaisle and his people would soon emerge and struggled to keep my cool over Eva Southway's betrayal.

She reached for me with her sorcery before I could decide whether Piers would still be interested in me if I murdered his mother.

We'd lost anyway, she sent. And I, for one, would prefer to have Liander Belaisle in reaching ...