The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey (43 page)

“What brought that smile about? It’s a good
one.”

She glanced over her shoulder and found Finn
leaning against the door frame. He wore a dark cloak, and under it
she could see fine plate and chain armor every bit as detailed as
her own. The Barllen swords hung at his side, another sign that he
thought today would be quite dangerous. She pushed the thought away
without too much consideration. With Marrow and Finn beside her,
she was not too concerned with whatever the day might throw at
them. Whatever it was, they would deal with it swiftly.

“I was remembering something my father said
once,” she said a bit dreamily. She turned from the mirror and
watched his gaze follow her, the same look from earlier was on his
face. The one Marrow had said was appreciation. “I used to be a bit
rougher when I was little and tended to prefer patched trousers. He
said one day I would wear nothing but dresses with ribbons in my
hair and all of my thoughts would revolve around boys.” She gave
him a smile and rolled her eyes. “He was wise, but he wasn’t quite
on the mark. I have never worn ribbons, and the dresses were forced
on me for so long at the Temple they became normal. My thoughts do
not revolve around boys either,” she finished with a slight
chuckle.

He raised an eyebrow and remained silent just
watching her.
The bloody aspects they don’t,
Marrow objected
loudly in her mind.

She turned her eyes to the Bendazzi and shook
her head slightly.
They don’t, and you well know it. My thoughts
rest on one, and he is hardly what I would call a boy
, she
corrected mildly and looked back to Finn. “I’m ready to go whenever
Wisp is,” she offered, pleased by the smile that warmed his
face.

“Come to my room for a moment, I’ve another
surprise for you. I hope you will appreciate it, considering how
long Valor worked on finding it for me.” He gave a slight chuckle
and motioned her to follow after.

She walked behind him, curious, and wondered
why she was getting flooded with gifts this morning. First the
armor from Wisp, then the cloak pin, and now this. She was
beginning to wonder if she had missed an important holiday as he
closed his door behind her. Two wooden crates sat in the floor in
front of his bed. They were carved from pine if she guessed right
and had slats on the sides as well as the roof.

“The one on the right is yours,” he motioned
and raised an eyebrow at her. “You have never seen these before
have you?” he asked with amusement.

“Umm, wooden boxes?” she asked with shrug.
“Yes, a few times, but not those particular boxes,” she
answered.

He gave a light chuckle and shook his head.
“No, no. They are carry boxes for transport on spell hawks,” he
explained and moved quickly to the box on the right. With a gentle
hand, he pushed the lid back revealing a small cat-sized animal
inside. From the angle of where she stood, she couldn’t make out
exactly what the creature was, other than dark colored and upset
with Marrow approaching.

Food?
Marrow asked hopefully, as he
moved closer to stand by Finn.

Finn gently pushed the Bendazzi back and
smiled. “I know they look like prey, but we will need them. Step
back please you are scaring them half to death.”

Jala moved closer for a better look. She
realized with shock they were horses after perhaps two steps and
quickly knelt beside Finn. “They are so small,” she gasped.

“And they don’t much care for being picked up
in this size. It tends to piss them off, and they will remember it
when you remove the magic shrinking them later,” he warned. He
pointed toward the little black one that seemed to be calming now
that Marrow had moved back. “He is yours. I’ve had Valor searching
for him all week. Valor knows far more about horses than I do, and
I wanted to be sure the animal was a good one and had more to offer
than just the right coloring.”

She leaned over toward the horse and smiled
at the markings. A perfect blaze and four white socks just as her
pony so long ago had been. She closed her eyes and smiled. If she
had ever wondered if Finn paid attention to what she told him, she
now had her answer. It seemed he hadn’t missed a single detail the
night she had shown him her life before Sanctuary. Wordlessly, she
leaned over and gave him a kiss, slow and sweet.

“I take it, you like him then. For that sort
of reward, you will end up with a herd of horses. If I get a kiss
for each one,” he teased.

“I do like him, but that isn’t why you got
the kiss so don’t go buying a herd,” she laughed.

He gave her a grin and bowed his head. He
returned the lid to the box and gave a sigh. “If you want to check
on Wisp I’ll take the horses outside. If I’m lucky I can get Val to
help me carry them to the sky port.”

“I can carry one,” she offered and he shook
his head at the idea and rose, lifting both boxes. “So stubborn,”
she sighed, and rose, as well. “Fine, I’ll check on Wisp and meet
you outside then,” she agreed and headed off in search of the
Fae.

Wisp was emerging from her rooms as Jala
approached. She was dressed in her house colors of green and gold
with a bow nearly matching her in height across her back. She
looked up as Jala approached and gave her a warm smile. “All
ready,” she pronounced, holding both arms out as if to display the
swords, daggers, bow and armor she wore. She looked as though she
was heading for a battlefield, Jala noted silently and wondered if
she should be armed with more than the small ruby hilted dagger she
always wore.

“Finn is waiting outside for us,” Jala said
and turned toward the door. She paused and looked at the Fae
considering. “Wisp, do you know what
Mi tevalla sel yondra mi
vezradesh
means?” she asked on impulse, hoping she had gotten
the unfamiliar words right. Wisp was a veteran of the Academy for
the past four years it was possible she would know the
language.

Wisp gave a quick curious nod. “The first
part is ‘my soul is yours my…” The last word, however, has several
meanings. It can be heart, or love, or eternity, depending. That’s
Firym, by the way, if you didn’t know,” she explained. She seemed
to consider the phrase and frowned. “Where did you hear it?” she
asked after a long pause.

Jala gave her an enigmatic smile in response.
“It may have been in a dream, it certainly seemed like one,” she
replied, and chose to ignore her friend’s confusion.

They reached the sky port only one hour late.
Shade had already loaded his own possessions, and it was a simple
matter for theirs. The only thing the three of them had brought
that they weren’t wearing was the horse boxes. Shade pulled her
aside with a bit of a glower. She knew it had nothing at all to do
with the time of day.

“I didn’t agree to his coming at all. You
know we don’t get along,” Shade fairly growled.

“I noticed Madren looking out the door of the
spell hawk as we approached,” Jala countered, her tone
conversational.

Shade frowned deeper and shook his head.
“That’s different, Madren is from Goswin, and he will be able to
direct us where to go.” He shook his head at her as if she were a
disobedient child that he had no idea what to do with. “Even were
he not from Goswin, he would still be better company to keep than
Finn Sovaesh. I would have thought the Arena experience would have
shown you that.”

“Oh, really? Yes, I would actually like to
discuss that, since it was your betrothed that accosted us at
dinner with that matter.” Jala turned her full attention on him now
and felt her temper starting to rise to the occasion. “I believe it
all started because I didn’t realize you were betrothed, and she
decided I was your peasant whore. Are you certain you want to
continue down this path, Shade? I don’t think we quite share the
same view on it.”

Shade shook his head and looked as though he
would like to shake her, as well. “Cassia aside, Jala, the man is a
butcher. Didn’t you see that for yourself? From what I hear he
practically tore Devron’s head from his shoulders. He is little
better than an Assassin.”

“And every time I have needed him, that
butcher. as you call him, has been there,” she snarled back at him,
eyes flashing dangerously. “No matter what time of day or how
ridiculous the task I ask of him, he is there without question.”
Unlike you
, she finished silently. She could see from his
expression she didn’t need to voice the words.

“You know that room you stayed in at my hall
was empty because of him. He butchered my friend the same as he did
Devron, only he used a soul blade that time so no matter how much
gold I spent I couldn’t bring him back.” Shade’s tone was quieter,
still holding anger but not as much now. He had seemed to deflate
with her last comment. “I would have been there if I could have,
Jala. You never told me when you needed someone there,” he said
with no apparent anger at all. His tone just seemed to hold
sadness. He rubbed his face and looked over to the waiting spell
hawk. “All in all, I suppose it doesn’t matter what I think of him.
That is your choice and I won’t turn my back on you for it, but did
you have to bring him today?”

“As much as you had to bring Leah and
Madren,” she replied gently. “He promised he would try to get
along, Shade. He will keep his word.”

“That’s a one-sided promise. I won’t agree to
that for anything. Nothing can make me friendly to the man, Jala,
not even you,” Shade replied and turned back to the ship. “If I
have to travel with him, so be it. Let’s get it done with.”

“I can find other transport if it bothers you
that much, Shade,” she offered, not wanting to spend the entire
time on the spell hawk dealing with this tension.

“I told you I would take you to the
Tolanteer. As you recall I keep my word, as well.” His reply came a
bit stiffly as if she had insulted him with the suggestion. Without
another word, he stepped into the spell hawk, passing Wisp and Finn
without so much as a good morning.

Finn raised an eyebrow at her as she
approached and she sighed. “He really doesn’t like you, Finn,” she
said with a hint of a smile. “But I assured him you would behave on
the trip.”

“Oh, indeed, as gentle as a lamb, I promise,”
Finn replied, his voice showing only a hint of sarcasm. They
stepped onto the spell hawk and Finn’s eyes seemed almost
immediately drawn to Madren who sat wide-eyed in one of the four
back seats. Jala gave a groan and looked to Wisp for help, but
found the Fae smirking with a look in her eyes that suggested if
Finn chose to slit the man’s throat, she would applaud.

“Uhh. Hello, Jala, and you two as well,”
Madren greeted her with a hesitant smile and looked nervously at
her companions.

“Shade treats you quite gently, doesn’t he?”
Finn cut in before she could return the greeting. Madren bobbed his
head in nervous reply and swallowed heavily. “So much as look at
Jala in a way I don’t approve of and I won’t. He slaps your hand.
I’ll cut your bloody hand off and feed it to you. Are we
clear?”

Madren paled more and gave a quick nod. “Very
clear, very clear indeed,” he agreed hastily.

“Fine start, if you think perhaps you can
stop bullying Madren and take a seat we will be off,” Shade called
over his shoulder, his expression dark.

“I suppose it can wait till later,” Finn
agreed with a smile that was so forced it was almost comical. Jala
regarded the two of them, then looked to Wisp who clearly supported
Finn, and then to Leah who sat beside Shade with an expression
identical to his own. It was as if battle lines had been drawn, and
she hadn’t yet received orders.

Quite, and the only one that isn’t ready
to fight is Madren. Does that make you the mirror of the creepy
stalker since you are peaceful as well?
Marrow nudged his way
past her and sat at Finn’s feet, making his own position on the
matter quite clear. She gave a slight shudder at the thought and
sat down in the only chair available now, the one next to Madren.
With a long sigh, she sank back in her chair and decided she would
sleep most of the flight. All she had to do was manage to get
sleepy, and that would be a splendid plan. At least she knew Finn
would occupy himself chopping off Madren’s appendages if he caught
the little creep watching her sleep. She forced back a snort of
amusement and listened to a brief hushed argument behind her. Wisp
seemed quite firm on whatever topic they were discussing and
apparently won the debate. Finn gave a brief grunt of disapproval
and moved up to her seat.

“Jala, I don’t want you sitting here, and
Wisp won’t trade you seats,” he explained in a quiet, calm
voice.

Jala, now past the point of manners, gave a
snort of laughter. “No, really, she won’t? I wonder why ever not,
the view is so wonderful,” she asked in amusement. Looking
pointedly at one dark wall of the spell hawk then the other and
then to Madren. With a flutter of eyelashes, she returned her eyes
to Finn’s, and choked back another snort of laughter.

Finn gave her a dry expression and then
shrugged. “So you are going to sit with me,” he finished with a
nod. He stood abruptly and looked down at her as if expecting her
to argue.

“But you said she wouldn’t trade,” Jala began
and then fell silent as Finn picked her body up from the chair,
returned to his own seat, and sat back down with her balanced
neatly on his lap. “Oh,” she said lamely and gave a slight nod.
“Sit with you, got it now.” He shifted her position slightly,
apparently searching for the most comfortable position for his leg,
and leaned back in his seat with a nod of approval.

“I suppose this means we are ready,” Jala
called ahead to Shade who was sitting so rigid it seemed possible
someone had left a dagger sitting point up on his seat. Shade gave
her a curt nod and wordlessly turned his full attention on the
controls. Within moments, the spell hawk rose gracefully from the
sky port and away from Sanctuary.