The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey (37 page)

“My full name is Amelia Faydwer,” she
explained.

“I thought all of the High Houses had their
own halls?” Jala asked in confusion. “Shouldn’t you be in Faydwer’s
hall?”

Wisp made a scoffing noise. “I’d rather be in
the Hall of Champions. I’m a third born child, not an heir or
anything, and it doesn’t really matter much where I stay,” she
replied, as she began pulling dresses carefully from the trunk and
placing them on the bed.

“Hall of Champions?” Jala asked as she moved
to help unpack. She hadn’t ever officially unpacked the trunks, she
realized as they moved the clothes out. In Shade’s hall, she had
been content to live out of the trunks, removing clothes as they
were needed.

Wisp paused and gave her a smile. “Finn is
the Champion of Swords, Valor of Joust, me of Archery, Neph of
Magic, and Jail of the Pits,” she explained. “You know, from the
Spring Games. It’s not officially called the Hall of Champions or
anything, just a nickname a few have given it,” she added.

Jala gave a snort of amusement. “I don’t see
how I’m going to fit in here then.”

“Well, not everyone in this wing is a
champion, and you will fit in fine,” Wisp assured her with a smile.
“Now, tell me how you and Finn met and how you managed to get him
to move you in? I want all the details, spare none.”

Jala gave her a smile and realized she had
never actually had a female friend before. In the Temple, she had
been surrounded by adults, and then Shade and Finn. Wisp would be
the first girl though. She lifted another dress from the trunk and
leaned back, folding it in her lap, and began telling Wisp exactly
how they had met, and made sure to spare no details.

“So, on the second night, its Valor’s turn to
cook, he can burn water so plan to go out to dinner that night.
Most of us do. Finn cooks on third night, which usually consists of
bread and cheese if you are lucky, and Neph leaves coins out for us
to buy dinner on his night to cook.”

“Why do you have assigned cooking nights,
then?” Jala laughed, interrupting Wisp as they walked down the
hall.

Wisp smiled. “Because Jail is a very good
cook when he isn’t in jail. That’s how he got his nickname, by the
way. He makes it a habit of irritating the Justicars for sport. I
am a good cook as well, so we keep the silly routine,” she
explained. She stopped in front of Neph’s door and gave a hesitant
knock. “Neph, are you awake?” she called softly, leaning close to
the door.

Jala raised an eyebrow and looked toward the
windows. It was still late afternoon outside, not even evening yet.
“Rather odd hours for sleeping,” she mumbled quietly to Wisp.

“Neph is rather odd,” Wisp replied in a
hushed voice.

“I’m up,” a voice called back, muffled by the
door.

With a gentle push, Wisp opened the door and
beckoned Jala to follow. The room beyond was pitch black without a
single light burning. A faint glow rose from strange patterns on
the walls in different colors. In one corner were blue whirls and
just below that faint yellow lines that seemed to curve as if
mimicking sun rays. Jala spent several minutes simply looking
around the room at the patterns as Wisp explained who she was.

Neph himself did not look anything like a
true mage, to her eyes. He was dressed in leather with bracers that
bore spikes on each wrist. His pale hair, which was hard to tell if
it was blond or silver, was shaved close around his head with the
top forming little hedgehog-like spikes. He reclined in a padded
leather chair with a book open on his lap. The boots he had propped
up appeared to be hobnailed such as a soldier tended to wear. He
was looking past her, she realized, his eyes locked on Marrow. The
Bendazzi stepped the rest of the way into the room, gave it a
cursory sniff, and sat down beside Jala.

“Beautiful human you have there,” Neph said
to Marrow, ignoring Jala completely. Marrow gave a slight nod, as
if in answering, and shrugged. “I don’t care much for full light.
I’m more of a nocturnal creature, I suppose.”

Jala looked down at Marrow in shock. She had
never known him to speak with anyone else. She hadn’t even been
aware he could. She had thought their bond had made that possible.
“You can hear him?” she asked at last, when it seemed he wasn’t
planning to actually talk to her.

He gave her a somewhat annoyed look. “Of
course I can. Welcome to the hall and all of that, if Finn has told
you I give magic lessons, he lied. If you want to know something,
ask Sovann,” Neph replied.

Wisp gave him a smack on the arm and narrowed
her eyes at him. “She isn’t a warmer, Neph. Be nice or I’ll hurt
you,” she warned.

Neph made a scoffing sound. “She is, and she
won’t last. Finn doesn’t keep women.”

“I’m not his bed warmer. I’m not sleeping
with him at all,” Jala objected, rather offended by his
attitude.

Both Wisp and Neph looked shocked at that
announcement. “I thought you just left that part out,” Wisp said
quietly. “You mean you aren’t…” she began.

“No, we are just friends,” Jala said, cutting
her off before she could finish.

“Well, this does change things,” Neph said in
a lighter voice and leaned forward dropping his heavy boots to the
floor. With a snap of his fingers, a mage light flickered to life
on the table beside her and he seemed to be examining her closer.
“Elder Blood, young, very pale aura. Ahh, a good girl are we?” he
said, words staggered as if he were listing off the attributes of a
new specimen.

“She does seem very nice, not snooty at all,”
Wisp agreed. “I like her,” she added with a nod of her head and a
smile.

“You would like a flea-infested mutt if it
stumbled through the door,” Neph replied dryly.

Jala glared at him. “I think I will seek
Sovann if I want lessons, so nice to meet you,” she said as she
left the room. It seemed as though every hall had one. Though she
thought Neph would be much easier to deal with than Madren. At
least Neph didn’t seem to want her around.

She was halfway to her door when Finn’s door
opened. He glanced at her expression and then back the way she had
come and let out a sigh. “Neph being an ass?” he asked.

“He was,” she agreed in clipped tones.

“He will be until he gets used to you. He is
Delveyan, and they are really not social. Kind of like the Firym,
with a bad attitude,” he explained. He moved down the hall a bit
toward her and leaned against the door frame. He was freshly
showered and wearing fine clothes, she noted.

“About to go out?” she asked, plucking
lightly at the collar of the black shirt he wore.

“About to ask you if you wanted to go get
dinner. It’s Jail’s night to cook and he isn’t available,” he said.
“I know a café not far that has an outdoor patio. We should be able
to take Marrow there without too much trouble.”

“Give me a few minutes to change?” she asked,
her temper cooled again. If it was just going to take time with
Neph, she could understand that. She was more than willing to give
him space and let him adjust to her presence.

“Take as long as you like, I’ll have a word
with Neph while you do.” He pushed off the frame lightly and headed
for Neph’s room. She watched him go for a moment and then went into
her own room.

Why don’t you just admit you would like to
warm his bed?
Marrow asked her as he followed her in.

She froze in mid step and looked at the
Bendazzi in shock.
I would not, and I don’t know why you would
say anything like that
, she huffed and busied herself with
choosing a dress. Marrow sat down behind her waiting patiently. She
dressed quickly and resorted to using magic to tame her curls and
on impulse used one of the jeweled hair nets. She studied herself
in the mirror, pushing stray locks into place and adjusting the
blue dress carefully. Satisfied, she moved to the table and dabbed
on a bit of perfume trying to ignore the faint growling sound
Marrow was making that sounded of laughter. “What?” She demanded at
last.

He shook his massive head as if it were
nothing.
Just wondering why you work so hard to make yourself
look perfect and add appealing scent if you aren’t trying to
attract him.

She blinked at him and frowned.
Maybe I’m
trying to attract others
, she sniffed in defiance.

Just what you need, another potential
mate. Isn’t two chasing after you bad enough?
Marrow asked, his
deep voice thick with amusement.

I do not have potential mates, they are
friends
, she objected and shook her head.
Shall we go, I’m
rather hungry, and I’d rather get you some food before you start
threatening beggars again.

Marrow gave a faint nod and followed her out
the door. Finn must have been watching for her because he stepped
from his doorway the moment she closed the door behind her. With a
smile, he took her arm and led her from the hall. “Blue is a good
color for you,” he said, stopping quickly and plucking one of the
dainty flowers from beside the stair. Without missing a step, he
tucked it in neatly behind her ear and led her off down the garden
paths.

“I got word from Shade earlier, when we
picked up my trunks,” she said.

“Mmph. Did he actually have anything worth
saying?” Finn asked, his tone not holding much interest.

“He has more information on the Oracle, and
we agreed to travel there on the first free day,” she replied.

He gave her a glance and a nod. “I’ll make
sure I have nothing planned.”

“Only if you promise you will try to get
along with Shade,” she warned.

He frowned and rolled his eyes. “I promise I
won’t hurt him,” he agreed with disgust.

“I didn’t say ‘don’t hurt him,’ I said ‘try
to get along,’” she corrected stubbornly.

“That would be like asking Marrow to play tag
with a lamb and not take a bite,” he argued. “You wouldn’t ask that
of him, would you?”

“It’s not quite that drastic,” she
objected.

Finn gave a snort of laughter and glanced at
the Bendazzi. “I’m buying you whatever kind of meat you want for
that,” he said with obvious amusement.

“For what?” Jala asked, unsure if she liked
Marrow speaking with others or not.

“He offered to consider Shade a lamb,” Finn
answered with another chuckle. “I’ll play nice as long as he does,
Jala, you have my word,” he added, noticing her frown.

“I’ll hold you to that, Finn,” she
warned.

“Hold me to whatever you like,” he replied
with a roguish smile.

The café he had chosen for dinner sat between
the Arena and the Greensquare, Sanctuary’s largest park. Finn led
them to a table in the back, out of the main sight of the road, in
an effort to avoid the continued stares at Marrow. It would seem
the sight of a Bendazzi was enough to stop even the hurried bustle
of Sanctuary. Their waitress, a soft spoken blond with a pretty
face, did her best to ignore Marrow as she took the order, but Jala
didn’t miss how quickly the woman retreated, nor did she miss the
warm smile she had for Finn.

“Are there any waitresses in Sanctuary you
haven’t bedded?” she asked conversationally. She leaned back in her
chair and inhaled the fresh air as she watched the park behind him.
Late summer had left everything bursting with life. The flowers
were in full bloom, and the trees were a canopy of every color of
green the mind could imagine. Occasionally she would see people in
the park as they paused to stare openly at Marrow. With a disgusted
snarl, the Bendazzi moved fully under the table.

Finn seemed to consider the question for a
very long time, idly tapping his fork on the table as he did so.
After a pause of at least three minutes, Jala sighed. “None in this
quarter I don’t think, nor in the Avanti quarter, either. The rest,
yes there are plenty of waitresses that are sorely neglected,” he
replied with a smirk, apparently deciding her sigh had been a sign
of impatience. It had, in fact, been more of a sigh of contentment.
The day was beautiful, and the company was good. He gave the blond
a wink as she sat down their drinks and a small plate of a fried
food Jala didn’t recognize. Leaning forward a bit, he took a piece
of the food and dipped it in a sauce before popping it into his
mouth.

“What is that?” Jala asked. She had tried to
determine the answer herself from the shape of the fried objects
but was coming to no clear conclusions. There didn’t seem to be a
uniform shape of the food, other than lumpy.

“Ondathi,” Finn answered after a quick
swallow and took a drink from his ale. He selected another large
piece from the plate and seemed to notice her lack of comprehension
at his answer. “It’s a type of snake from the Scarlet Jungles. The
sauce is a pepper blend,” he clarified, before dipping the second
piece and continuing his meal.

Jala eyed the food skeptically and decided
she could wait for the main course. With a frown, she realized Finn
had ordered that as well and wondered what exactly he had gotten
for them to eat. If it were another version of snake, there was a
good possibility she could find a nearby street vendor.

“Just try it,” he urged with a smile.

“I prefer food that doesn’t crawl, thank you,
though,” she declined with a slight shake of her head. He gave a
slight nod and tossed a piece of the meat to Marrow. The Bendazzi
showed no hesitation whatsoever and snapped the morsel out of the
air before it had dropped more than two inches. She raised an
eyebrow at Marrow then looked back to Finn. He gave her a shrug.
“If you aren’t going to be adventurous, he might as well get your
share.”

She barely noticed his words. Her eyes were
following a small group of people that seemed to be heading their
way. Their clothes had caught her eye as she turned back to Finn.
They wore bright, vivid colors, making the flowers of the park seem
pale in comparison. Of course, it was possible they simply wanted a
table at the café, but the more she watched the more it seemed they
were intent upon Finn. “Finn, which house has yellow and orange as
their colors?” She asked in a low voice. Not all of them were
dressed in yellow and orange, but the first three in the group
were. Over her time in Sanctuary, she had come to realize most of
the High Houses had very limited wardrobes, usually just in the
colors of their house. She knew all of the sigils but the colors
seemed to jumble in her mind. The only one she could say she knew
for sure was Morcaillo’s blue and silver.