The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey (66 page)

“Well then I suppose when I show up at your
castle I will most likely be naked and in a very foul mood,” she
said unwavering.

Jin burst into muffled laughter beside her
and lifted his drink in salute. “I like her,” he told the assembled
lords before taking a deep swallow from the glass.

Zachary was watching her and she refrained
from looking over to any of the other lords, sensing that she
needed to hold his gaze until he looked away first. “Even if I
release them, Death will never let you have them,” Zachary warned
her. “She is a greedy creature and she has waited a very long time
for the souls of Merro.”

“But there is a chance we can bargain with
her,” a new voice broke in from across the room and Jala had to
fight to keep her eyes on Zach’s. She knew that voice. She had
heard it once before in Bliss. With a bit of a flourish, Fortune
bowed to the assembled lords and dropped down into the empty chair
beside Jala.

“Bargain with what?” Arjuna asked, his tone
suspicious.

“I’m not sure that I care much for the idea
of bargaining with Death. She is a tricky creature,” Lord Faydwer
objected mildly.

“Death is no friend of Oblivion. I doubt she
will be willing to bargain with me in the room,” Zachary said
cautiously.

“If I must make a bargain with Death to get
my people back, then so be it,” Jala said firmly, her gaze finally
free of Zachary now that he was watching Fortune.

“I will offer her the souls of all of the
creatures infesting Gaelyn,” Symphony said with a smile.

“You cannot pay me with my own coin,” the
voice was a whisper filled with ice. It seemed to emanate from the
shadows themselves. “You will kill those creatures without a
bargain with me and their souls will be mine.”

“Not if we feed them to the Soul Reavers,”
Lord Han’shy added wryly.

“Do not threaten me,” the whisper rose to a
snarl and a few of the assembled lords gave Jin dark looks. “What
would you bargain with, girl?” The whisperer asked again and the
shadows nearest her end of the table began to coalesce into a solid
form. Jala watched with what she hoped was a neutral expression as
the ragged form of a cloaked woman took shape barely three feet
from her.

“I will end the curse on Goswin,” she said
boldly, the words out of her mouth before she could fully consider
what she was saying. Silence seemed to blanket the room and even
Death herself stopped in shock. “Will that suffice?” Jala asked,
keeping her tone bold while she mentally kicked herself for making
the offer.

“That will suffice,” Death agreed, her tone
lighter with a bit of amazement in it.

“Then it’s settled. When I break the curse on
Goswin, Lord Oblivion shall release my people, and you will not
gather their souls,” Jala said, her tone firm.

“Agreed,” Death said with a dip of her
cloaked head. Her gaze seemed to travel past Jala for a moment and
lingered on Finn. Wordlessly, she dipped her head again and
vanished back into the shadows.

Jala turned in her chair and raised an
eyebrow at her husband. “Why did Death just nod to you?” she asked
warily.

“She did?” Finn asked and shrugged. “Creepy.
I will have to be more careful in my next duel.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and turned back
to the assembled lords making a mental note to hound him about it
later. “Well then, if Lord Zachary is in agreement with the bargain
then that matter is settled.”

Zachary gave an amused snort. “You raise the
curse on Goswin, girl and I’ll help you resurrect your fallen
myself.”

“I’ll hold you to that, boy,” she replied
emphasizing the word boy as much as he had girl.

Jin gave another snort of laughter and
nodded. “Oh, I really like her,” he repeated and looked to
Symphony. “Now down to the serious business of convincing Lord
Arovan and Lord Delvayon that we can manage a bloodless
revolution,” he said and the conversation rapidly moved to politics
and councils.

Leaning back in her seat, Jala sipped on her
glass and listened with half an ear. Her mind was wrapped around
the prospect of removing a curse that had existed for decades and
why Death had nodded to Finn. Absently, she let her hand drop to
Marrow’s neck and ran her fingers through the hick fur around his
neck. Looking over to Fortune she found him smiling at her. With a
wink he leaned over closer. “It’s not just me that supports you
Jala, consider the symbols on the Temple at Bliss.”

“Luck, Love, and Healing,” she said in a
quiet voice and glanced over her shoulder toward Finn once more.
Realization dawned on her at how much the Aspects had helped her
already. A Soul Bond was a rare thing, usually found only in
stories. To be able to heal Finn from the wounds he had received in
Rivana was impossible from what Jail had said. “Thank you, Fortune,
and thank the others for me as well. I had no idea they watched
over me too.”

“And we will watch you break the curse as
well, Jala,” Fortune assured her. “We have faith in you as much as
you do in us. Now pay attention to Symphony. You will need to know
all of this very soon I fear.” He faded from the table and Jala
turned her full attention to the discussion at hand. If Fortune
believed she would need to know this soon, then she would give it
her full attention. It would seem that soon her life was going to
grow very complicated.

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