Chapter 76

Netya looked up at him. “I have no desire to stop being your consort,” she said, “but Adel has taught me things I wish to learn more of. I promise you, she is not trying to turn me against anyone.”

“I will not be able to teach you properly if you are still at his beck and call,” the den mother said.

“Then lighten her duties,” Khelt replied, seeing his opportunity. If he could not wrest Netya away from her immediately, he could at least set it in motion. “Look at her. She is exhausted. Even your loyal seers agree you are pushing her too hard.” He added the last with a hint of satisfaction, smiling as he saw how his minor embellishment of the truth struck home.

He had no way of knowing whether the others seers agreed with what the elder had told him, but it seemed that Adel did not know either. Perhaps she was not as certain of their loyalty as she claimed.

The den mother tilted her head back, making a show of consideration, but Khelt knew he had put her in a d