The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey (42 page)

“Maybe,” she agreed faintly. Her pulse had
quickened and her breathing seemed a bit faster, as well. She
forced herself to slow it and tried again to relax. It seemed an
impossible task, though, with his hand on her back and his body so
close. She felt him shift beside her and then his lips were on hers
and pressing her back toward her own pillow. His weight pressed on
her softly and the kiss seemed to last an eternity and an instant
in the same breath. She had never kissed a man before, and she
worried at how clumsy she must be, but if Finn objected, he gave no
sign.

He ran a hand through her hair and stared
into her eyes for a long moment before speaking. “I don’t think I
would care to sense the emotions of others. Your opinion and
feelings are the only ones that truly concern me. I can’t explain
it and I don’t want to examine it. I prefer simply to accept it and
enjoy it,” he said, as he traced a finger down her cheek, still
gazing into her eyes. “You have the most beautiful eyes,” he said
after another moment and slowly lowered himself back down to his
own pillow. “Nearly as beautiful on the outside as you are on the
inside, and that is saying a lot.”

She curled up beside him again, wondering at
the single kiss. Perhaps she had been too clumsy, though he didn’t
seem to be offended.

“Watch how close you get. I’m not used to
restraint on these matters and I’m afraid my willpower isn’t as
great as it should be right now,” he warned gently. With a deep
sigh, he closed his eyes again and took a few more steady slow
breaths.

“Should I move away?” she asked, hoping he
would say no.

He gave a slight shake of his head in answer.
“You are fine,” he said after a moment and moved his arm back
across her. “Best to get some sleep though. You were right, it will
be a long day, and if we test my willpower much more, I’m afraid it
will break.”

“Probably the best idea,” she agreed and
closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. She wasn’t
really sure she wanted sleep right now, but he obviously didn’t
want her to push matters.

Mi tevalla sel yondra mi vezradesh
, he
whispered just as she was drifting off. At first she had thought
the words mumbled and that she hadn’t heard them right, and then
realized it had been another language he spoke. She repeated the
words over in her mind committing them to memory and decided later
would be a better time to ask what he had said.

Morning came with bright sunlight and
birdsong and Finn carefully disentangled himself from her arms and
crawled out of bed. With a frown, she found herself hating mornings
more than she ever had before. She gave a sleepy mumble of protest
and curled into the warm spot where he had been laying. It wasn’t
that the room was cold. It was actually quite pleasant and promised
to be a beautiful day, that is, if and when she decided to face
it.

“I told you mornings were horrible,” Finn
agreed to her mumblings and leaned over the bed. With gentle hands,
he pulled the blanket away from her head and gave her a kiss on the
forehead. “This is your quest we are going on, though, and it’s
scarcely good form for you to be late to your own journey,” he
reminded her.

Frown still in place, she opened her eyes and
looked up at him. With barely a thought, she pulled him back down
into the bed nearly causing him to fall across her. His expression
was so shocked she found herself giggling as he straightened to a
more comfortable position. “Mornings aren’t horrible. Your getting
up was horrible,” she mumbled, and snuggled up beside him
again.

He brushed some of her hair back from his
face and wrapped an arm around her. “You are going to make us both
late to the sky port, and everyone is going to blame me,” he
pointed out, his voice low. He ran his hand up her back gently,
fingers tracing from tailbone to shoulder with infuriating
delicacy. “And I’m not going to complain in the slightest,” he
added after a moment and kissed her again with a bit more urgency
than the night before. She felt his hand slide under the back of
her nightgown, and his fingers were warm on her bare flesh. She
returned the kiss with equal urgency, not caring if the others
waited half the afternoon at the sky port. She wrapped her leg
around his and pressed herself fully against him. She was not
really sure what she was doing, and didn’t care in the least.

A heavy weight landed on the bed near them,
and Marrow promptly dropped his full weight across their legs.
You had your chance for this in the early hours of the morning.
We have things that must be done today. Cease your mating and get
up,
the Bendazzi said firmly, apparently viewing himself as a
chaperone as well as a Familiar.

“Damn you to the blackest depths of the
Darklands, Marrow,” Finn growled and pulled his legs from under the
Bendazzi with a glare of pure fury. He rose from the bed his eyes
still fixed on the Bendazzi. Slowly he took a deep breath and
looked down at Jala forcing his expression to one of calmness.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t curse him,” he amended, though from his glance
at Marrow, she didn’t truly think he was sorry in the
slightest.

“Blackest depths, indeed,” she agreed with a
half-hearted kick to the Bendazzi and rose herself. Finn’s
expression changed at once all traces of anger gone replaced by
something she didn’t quite recognize. She watched him in confusion
and glanced down at Marrow as if seeking the answer.

Your nightgown is silk and pale colored.
Your undergarments are silk and dark colored. And you are standing
in front of a bright sunlit window. You have just displayed all
that Fortune granted you, and that look on his face is
admiration,
Marrow explained patiently, and her blush rose so
fast she felt faint for a moment.

“I should…uh…I should get dressed,” she
stammered and quickly moved from the window.

You were about to mate with him before I
jumped on the bed, and now you turn colors because he sees what you
look like naked? Did you expect he wouldn’t notice you had breasts
while you were rutting?
The Bendazzi sounded both incredulous
and amazed in her mind, and she cast him a quick glare.

“I wish you wouldn’t call it that,” she
hissed in a voice so quiet only Marrow could hear.

Finn was across the room now, almost to the
door. “I’ve got to check with Valor about something before we go,
but I should be ready in about ten minutes,” he called over his
shoulder as he left the room.

Would you prefer I say the sentimental
exchange of bodily fluids?
Marrow asked in a tone thick with
sarcasm.

It didn’t seem quite right that an overgrown
cat should be sarcastic. She was willing to bet a good bit of the
remaining gold she had, that sorcerers with rats or toads as
Familiars, didn’t have to deal with sarcasm first thing in the
morning.

No doubt, but then they have a bloody toad
for a Familiar. I think sarcasm is a very small price to pay,
personally,
he replied to her thoughts smugly.
A Bendazzi is
a precious gift. Don’t you feel blessed? You should probably be
getting dressed.

Her door opened again, and she looked over to
see Wisp sliding inside with a bundle under one arm. The Fae looked
at her with wide eyes and a wider smile. “So I notice Finn didn’t
sleep in his room last night,” she said, her eyes twinkling. She
sat the bundle down and began to unwrap it. “Be a good girl now and
tell me all about it while I get your clothes ready.”

“My clothes?” Jala asked dumbly and glanced
down at the gown she held in her hands.

“You didn’t seriously think you were going to
go wandering off into the Tolanteer in a dress, did you?” Wisp
asked in amazement. “Ridiculous. Come and see what I’ve brought
you.”

Jala moved closer and looked over Wisp’s
shoulder at the dark green leathers she held. She ran a hand down
the jerkin and marveled at the softness of it. “That will never fit
me, it’s obviously yours,” she objected.

Wisp gave an amused snort. “It’s yours now,
and it will fit you as soon as you touch it, as if I would own
armor that’s not magical.” She handed the leathers over with a
light toss, and to Jala’s amazement the fine worked armor did seem
to shift as she caught it. It was crafted with such loving care
that the seams could barely be seen. An overall pattern of vining
leaves and flowers covered the majority of it making it more a work
of art than armor.

“I can’t accept this, Wisp, it’s so fine,”
Jala objected again and tried to hand it back. Wisp gave her a
scathing look and dropped a chain mail vest over the top of the
leathers she held. The rings were a bright polished gold and the
same vines and flowers adorned the vest in a pattern over the
links. There was no rattle of metal as it settled though and she
reached up to touch the rings in curiosity. “What is this?” she
asked in amazement. It was light to the touch and felt nothing like
any metal she knew.

“The leathers are made of serpent hide, and
the chain mail is made of serpent bone. It’s as strong as metal, no
worries. They have some sort of process for it where they grind the
bones up into a fine powder and mix tempers in with it before
firing it. They call it serpent bone porcelain, but it’s hardly an
adequate name. Finn’s armor is made of the same stuff, you will
see. And if he uses it, you know it’s durable.”

“I’ve never seen Finn wear armor,” Jala
admitted and carefully set the leathers down on her bed. “I have no
boots.” She began the objection as Wisp dropped a pair of knee high
matching boots onto the floor beside the bed.

“He wears it rarely. Often doesn’t think he
needs it. He will wear it today, though, mark my words. C’mon now,
out of the night gown, and I’ll help you get dressed. The serpent
hide armor is soft enough you don’t need under padding which is a
blessing. When you have to wear under padding it gets bloody
smothering in the summer,” Wisp said merrily, tugging the nightgown
up and over Jala’s head as she spoke.

“Do you think he will need it today?” Jala
asked with a bit of concern.

“One never knows, and it’s always better to
have it when you need it,” Wisp replied with a smile. “You still
haven’t told me any juicy details,” she pointed out, and Jala fell
silent once more.

With long practiced ease, Wisp helped her
into the armor, showing her where to buckle each piece and then
tugged the chain mail on over it all. “Perfect. Well, almost. Get
the boots on while I get the last touches.” The small Fae moved
quickly back to her bag and pulled a cloak of silver and white from
its depths. It seemed a reversible garment with white fur lining
one side and fine silver cloth on the other. “Finn had this made
for you, and he had me make this for you as well.” Wisp dropped a
small box into her hand with a shrug. “Though I don’t understand
why it hardly seems ladylike. You can change the colors of the
armor, by the way. Just focus on it and will it to change. Like
so.” With a quick poke to Jala’s side, the armor shifted from green
leather to a hideous bright pink while the chain mail turned to a
bright yellow. Wisp broke into peals of delighted laughter, and
Jala wasn’t sure if it was from her expression or the garish
colors.

“Oh that’s horrible, Wisp,” she gasped, as
she caught her reflection in the mirror. She closed her eyes and
concentrated, willing the leathers to a dark purple almost black,
and the chain mail to silver, while keeping the vines and flowers
on the chain a pristine white. She opened her eyes and admired the
armor. It truly was beautiful. She gave Wisp a slight shake of the
head and opened the small box. A cloak pin rested inside. It was a
simple circle with knot work around the edges and the intricately
detailed form of a badger engraved in the center. The metal was a
bit tarnished and didn’t look as though it had been polished at
all. She remained silent, staring down at the cloak pin and slowly
looked up to Wisp.

“You don’t like it then? I didn’t think you
would. The badger is not exactly a popular beast. He gave me some
worn and rusted buckles. Might have been from a saddle judging by
the size and shape, but I don’t know, and told me to make that. I
offered to get some silver, and suggested he was rather tight
fisted with his money, but he insisted,” Wisp explained, her
expression frustrated.

“No, this is perfect. He knew exactly what I
would like,” she said quietly, closing her fingers around the cloak
pin and remembering Havoc’s words so long ago in the Temple. “Your
father earned the name Badger for his tenacity. He never quit, he
never gave up, no matter the odds.”

“It is?” Wisp asked, sounding a bit
dumbfounded. “Well OK, then, maybe Finn isn’t an idiot, although I
will need further proof before I make the final decision on that
matter.” With a dainty wave of her hand, Jala felt magic wash over
her and her hair rose from her face and plaited itself down her
back into a thick intricate braid. Wisp gave a nod of approval and
handed her a slender gold circlet. “You can make it silver if you
like and change the gem color. It’s the final piece of armor. I
hate helms you see, so I have those made and enchanted to act as a
helm. It isn’t quite the same protection as a plate helm, but it’s
better than going without.” She gave Jala a final look over and
grinned at the result. “Finn’s jaw will hit the floor.” She fairly
giggled and then smiled with mischief. “I’ve decided I won’t smack
you even though you look far better in that armor than I ever did.
Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get ready myself.” And with
that the Fae bustled from the room as energetic as a
hummingbird.

Jala watched her go, and looked down at the
cloak pin in her hand. No, she decided as she studied it, lust was
certainly not the correct word to describe what she felt for Finn
Sovaesh. She ran her thumb across the engraved badger and stood
slowly. With exaggerated care, she picked up the cloak and fastened
it silver side out around her neck and then carefully donned the
circlet. With the slightest of efforts, she turned the metal to
silver and changed the green stone to a deep amethyst and looked at
herself in the mirror. It had been so long since she had worn
anything but dresses that wearing pants felt strange. She smiled
ruefully into the mirror at the memory of her father’s words.