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return to the temple and try to talk sense into the teachers.
    Nadia secured her cloak around her neck and wrapped her blanket to secure to her saddle for the chilly nights. She handed it to a young man in a brown leather vest over his blouse, one of many servants.
    Under Je'Rekun's reign of terror over humans, the servants had cowed and quivered, even in serving her, but under Je'Dron as High Lord, they stood taller, more confident that a simple error wouldn't be their last. Je'Rekun had ruled as the demonlords had for more than two thousand years, believing that humans were nothing more than livestock. Je'Dron, however, treated humans as equals, resulting in humans asking to serve to gain better lives than most peasants. Lord Je'Kaoron had something to do with that.
    Unfortunately, the progressive views of Je'Dron weren't held by all demonlords.
    That was why the Adepts sought ways to overpower them.
    She was tired of being used by their leaders. The elders needed to realize that some demonlords were allies. Maybe after she destroyed the dagger to keep their hands off it, she would return to tell them, but she doubted they would listen, especially to her, a woman.
    Only the demonlords had any respect for women. Even Je'Rekun had respected her skills without judgment of anything but being an Adept.
    She would make them respect her.
    With the servant carrying her travel pack, she exited the room. He stayed beside her, easily matching her strides as she hurried through the corridor to an outdoor walkway and staircase of the cliffside city. A warm breeze lifted from the valley, sweeping away the chill of the late morning. She inhaled the fresh air, letting it invigorate her with the freedom it promised and cleansing her soul of the shadow from the dagger.
    "Nadia!"
    Her heart turned to ice at the voice shouting from above. She motioned the servant forward. "Step faster."
    Kaelen must have been watching for her. The cliffside city was ideal for seeing everything that happened in the valley and along the outdoor stairways. Kaelen didn't have to work, only to watch and wait.
    She refused to listen to him and his lies. As much as she would like to have a lord or lady to convince him to leave her alone, it would only add fuel to the fire started by the leaders of the sects. She didn't need him spreading lies about her like his implications last night. She had to face him herself, but she could avoid him as long as possible if she hurried a little faster.
    Only a near tumble slowed her as she grasped the banister to keep from falling. How she hated those stairs!
    "Huntress."
    At the concern on the young man's face, she flashed a smile. Movement behind him fouled her mood; Kaelen descended towards them in a hurry.
    "Leave me!" She directed her words at Kaelen.
    The servant turned as Kaelen caught up to them.
    "We need to talk." Kaelen took the blanket roll from the servant and frowned. She should have taken it herself. "Are you leaving?"
    Refusing to answer, she snatched away the roll and continued down the stairs at a more cautious pace.
    "Huntress?"
    Stupid servant. She didn't need him. A kind gesture, to be sure, but he only slowed her down.
    "You're excused," she snapped without looking back. The tromp of another set of steps followed.
    "Get away from me, Kaelen."
    "I can't do that…unless you give up the dagger."
    Nadia turned on the landing to continue on the zig-zagging course of stairs. Perhaps she should have taken one of the inner staircases, but this was the easiest way to see the stables in the valley. It was too late to change her mind. He would only harass her worse in the privacy of the inner corridors.
    "Where are you going?"
    "Away from you." She continued her course, her boots clapping noisily on the last few levels of the outer stairs. He easily kept pace close behind, saying nothing.
    Until they reached the valley floor.
    Ahead rose the impressive structure of the stables, its tiled roof curving at the end to