The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (22 page)

With a crash, the door to the cells slammed
open and Neph strolled in with two Justicars trailing him and
protesting loudly. Neph scanned the room quickly until his gaze
fell on her and he crossed the room in two quick strides. “Are you
okay?” he asked, his eyes locking on the Barllen manacles.

“I am okay physically. Mentally I think I’m
fraying,” she replied quietly.

“Get these damn manacles off of her now!”
Neph bellowed, turning to the two Justicars who still milled behind
him.

“That is against regulations,” one protested
and shook his head at Neph, quickly stepping back as the mage
advanced.

“As long as Kadan is out of the city I am the
acting Delvayon for Sanctuary. Are you telling me you are going to
defy the word of a Delvay lord you little worm?” Neph asked, his
tone filled with threat as he advanced on the Justicar. “I may not
be able to get her released without the council present, but I can
see that she is comfortable until they arrive. Do you want to
hazard a guess as to how High Lord Arjuna will react when he sees
his niece in Barllen chains?”

Paling in response the youngest of the
Justicars flicked a gaze toward Jala. “She is Lord Arjuna’s niece?”
he asked in a tremulous voice.

“Have you been living under a fucking rock?”
Neph yelled, his voice echoing off the stone walls of the room.
With a violent kick he sent one of the chairs skittering across the
floor at the young man and nodded. “The whole damn city knows she
married Finn Sovaesh, you fucking moron. Get those gods-be-damned
chains off of her now!”

“Ahh. You would make an excellent high lord,
Neph,” Jail said quietly with a low chuckle.

“You either help or shut your hole, Jail, you
lazy bastard. Lounging in a damn cell while the rest of us work,”
Neph snarled, pointing a finger accusingly at Jail. The mage didn’t
seem the slightest bit surprised by Jail’s presence but Jala could
tell by the Justicars reaction they hadn’t realized he was in the
room.

“I could use my talents. They would likely be
more effective than your crashing and stomping,” Jail offered.

“Then, fucking use them, you ass,” Neph
snarled, whirling on Jail with a look of pure fury on his face.

“Temper, temper, Neph. I can’t do much when
you have them scared witless,” Jail said in a soothing tone.

“Neph, please calm down. I don’t want you
sharing a cell with us,” Jala said quietly.

Looking back over his shoulder at her, Neph
smiled with a predatory light in his eyes. “They can’t arrest me,
Jala. I’m the acting Delvay until Kadan is back. I have the
authority of a high lord right now,” he assured her, his tone cool
and dangerous. Turning slowly back to regard the Justicars, his
smile darkened. “I could kill one of these little fucks for
annoying me and they still couldn’t arrest me,” he added and his
voice turned to ice with the words.

“Oh, that did volumes to help the fear. OK,
Neph do it your way. Kill the one on the left though. That one by
the wall is actually pretty nice,” Jail said with a sigh and waved
a hand slightly toward the Justicars. Turning his attention to Jala
he smiled faintly. “Have you ever seen a pissed off Delvay before
Jala?” he asked in neutral tones.

Shaking her head slightly she glanced at Neph
and then back to Jail. “No, I’ve seen Neph grumpy but never truly
angry,” she replied.

“Well it takes a lot to piss one off, so it’s
rare to see,” Jail said sagely and smiled at her. “However, once
you do get one pissed it generally takes a lot of bloodshed and
destruction to calm them back down. Honestly, I’d be surprised if
he stopped at just one Justicar. I think I would be removing the
manacles if I were them,” he continued his voice calm.

“I will remove them Lord Delvayon,” the
Justicar by the wall spoke quietly and removed a set of keys from
his belt. “Just please calm down. We have treated her fairly and we
are only following regulations,” he added, his voice level.

“Don’t just stand there, then, remove the
damn chains,” Neph ordered, pointing meaningfully at Jala. “Now!”
he bellowed and the Justicar moved quickly to her cell.

“Just hold your hands up by the bars Lady
Sovaesh,” he said as he reached through with the key and quickly
unclasped the manacles. With a hand that was shaking only slightly
he gathered the chains and backed away from the cell.

“Now get out! I want to speak with her
privately,” Neph ordered, pointing at the door and glaring at both
men.

“Sir we can’t leave you alone with the
prisoner,” the Justicar holding the chains protested.

Jail let out a low sigh and shook his head at
the man. “I really wouldn’t have objected there if I were you,” he
said quietly.

Staring coldly, Neph began to slowly approach
the Justicars. The muscles of his back rigid. “You have two choices
and I really don’t care which one you choose.” He paused, eyes
flicking from one to the other. “You can both leave this room and
allow me privacy, or I can kill you both and achieve the same. I
don’t mind killing you at all so if you don’t move in the next few
seconds I’m going to assume that’s the choice you have made and
slaughter you both like pigs.” He spoke each word clearly and
paused a few feet from the men glowering.

Without further hesitation, both men left the
room, closing the door behind them with a solid bang. Turning
slowly Neph looked at Jail and let out a snort of laughter, then
turned fully to Jala. “I leave you for one hour and you get
arrested,” he said with a dramatic sigh.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” she said
with a weak shrug.

“Wisp explained it all to me. You did what
you had to,” Neph assured her, all trace of fury gone from him.

Glancing at Jail and then at Neph, she raised
an eyebrow. “All of that about Delvay tempers was a lie?” she asked
hesitantly.

“Oh no, that was truthful, it’s just Neph
wasn’t truly that pissed off. He was just trying to spook them.
With a gentle nudge of Mind magic it worked fairly well,” Jail
explained.

Neph looked over at him sharply and let out a
disgusted snort. “Naturally you would assume it was your magic, you
arrogant ass. That was all natural intimidation,” he said, rolling
his eyes and looking back at Jala. “Listen, Jala, they are going to
try to make you fray as much as possible. Everyone in the city knew
Finn was dueling today and they are using your worry for him
against you. They want you scared and upset when you see the
council. You can’t be, though,”

“Neph is right. If you look like a scared
little girl the council will run over the top of you, even the ones
you might consider allies. They won’t support a child,” Jail said
as he stepped from his cell once more and righted the chair Neph
had kicked at the Justicar. With a smile at her he dropped lightly
into the chair and shrugged. “As Sovann says, nine tenths of power
is the appearance of power. Walk into that room looking powerful.
At the very least, if you show you aren’t intimidated or scared,
you will give them pause. They will wonder what you are hiding,
since any person of sound mind would be terrified in your
position.”

“I’m not terrified for myself. I can survive
this. I’m worried about Finn,” Jala said miserably and dropped back
onto the floor once more. “I should be there. I didn’t realize this
would take days.”

“It won’t,” Neph said, his tone confident.
Shaking his head he waved his hand lightly toward her. “By now,
every high lord has heard of this and they will be here soon. Your
Bloodline is the first to return from the grave and they will all
want to know if it’s true and you really are Merrodin. With the
exception of Nerathane and Seravae of course. I doubt they will
care.”

“Tomorrow at the latest,” Jail agreed with a
slight nod. “Arjuna will likely be here tonight and my father won’t
be long after that. He was impressed with you at the meeting in
Firym and he will support you,” Jail assured her.

“I can’t say what Kadan will do, honestly,
but if he isn’t here by the time the rest of the lords are I will
take his place on the council and you know you have my full
support,” Neph said, his expression thoughtful. “I wonder if I can
keep him from showing up …,” he began and trailed off, quietly
looking deeper in thought.

“Sabotage your brother? That’s sweet of you
Neph,” Jail said dryly.

Shaking his head absently, Neph frowned. “No,
Kadan hates councils and I’m sure he would let me field this one if
I can convince my father, who happens to hate me, so that makes it
a bit tricky,” he said quietly.

“Family politics. Aren’t they great?” Jail
said with a sigh and smiled at Jala. “Lucky you, your birth family
is dead and your new family is much easier to deal with.” He
chuckled at her confusion and grinned wider. “Do you not realize
you have a new family, Jala? Did you not just witness a big brother
storming in to rescue you?” he asked quietly.

Jala looked over to Neph thoughtfully, who
was in turn glaring at Jail. “No I hadn’t realized it,” she replied
softly. “I like the idea of it though,” she added, drawing a mild
glare from Neph.

A commotion from below drew their attention
and all eyes shifted to the door. Neph raised an eyebrow calmly and
looked to Jail. Standing slowly, Jail paced closer to the door and
listened closer. A loud whoosh sounded from below followed by a
concussive blast.

“Arjuna,” Jail said with a nod and stepped
back away from the door.

“What was that noise?” Jala asked as she
stood once more and paced closer to the bars.

“A fire blast hitting something,” Neph
explained calmly, his attention still focused on the doors.
“Possibly a Justicar, if we are lucky,” he mumbled and glanced back
at Jala. “Welcome to basic high lord politics. In this course you
will learn how to bully, threaten and kill if needed, as it suits
your mood,”

“Normal laws do not apply to ruling high
lords,” Jail explained with a smirk and moved closer to her cell as
another whoosh resounded closer, the resulting blast rattling the
door. “Damn, I hope he doesn’t roast us by mistake,” he grumbled,
eyeing the door cautiously.

“He won’t. High Lord Arjuna is quite
precise,” Neph assured them. “Well, if he is already in the city
your father shouldn’t be too far behind. The only ones lagging will
be Seravae and Nerathane if they even choose to send a
representative.”

“I really would prefer if they don’t. We
won’t need a full council to get this done. Just over half would
work and it’s doubtful that we would have votes from either of
those countries. We need Han’shy, Firym, and Glis. I wonder if
Sebastian is still in the city?” Jail paused and looked to Neph in
question.

“If he isn’t, Chastity will take his place.
I’m sure and we can count on her vote from Valor’s influence alone.
I don’t know if Micah is still here either, but his vote would be
assured. Let’s see, that gives us four so far. Throw in Faydwer and
that’s five,” Neph said, tapping a finger on his chin lightly. He
glanced at the door and then back to Jail. “He really should have
been up here by now. How long until Finn’s duel?”

“Less than an hour,” Jala answered quietly
and paced her cell once more. “Why do we need votes to prove I’m
who I say I am? I’m telling the truth so why do they have to
vote?”

“Because there is no definite proof to your
claim. You don’t even look like a Merrodin. The last Merrodin high
lord was swarthy with black hair and dark eyes. The council will
have to determine if you are lying or not,” Jail explained.

“Oh, bugger. What about Oblivion, then, will
they show up?” she asked, realizing if she needed seven out of
twelve votes she would need everyone she had met in Firym to
attend.

Jail shook his head slowly. “The Darks never
leave their land. We can’t count on them for a vote,” he replied
with a frown. “Still if Nerathane and Seravae don’t show that
brings the total votes down to ten, and if Neph sits in for Kadan
we have six out of ten votes,” he said hopefully.

“That’s if Micah is still in the city. If
Arovan doesn’t vote, we only have five,” Neph countered and moved
to the door, cracking it open to look down the stairs. The sounds
of angry voices rose from below and Neph nodded slightly closing
the door once again.

“What about Valor. Can he sit in?” Jail
asked, eyeing Neph.

“No, he isn’t a direct line of the ruling
house. His father is a proxy council member. General Hai’dia could
sit in but not his son. Honestly, I don’t think the General will
show for this. With the Blights infesting their lands he will stay
in Arovan. We need Micah.”

“What about a Truthfinder?” Jail asked slowly
and raised an eyebrow at Neph.

“Do you know one that you trust with Jala’s
life?” Neph asked.

“No,” Jail said with a resigned sigh. “An
Oathkeeper?” he asked sounding hopeful once more.

“Won’t work. Oathkeepers hold power with
temples and most high lords do not recognize their authority,” Neph
said and leaned back against a wall, eyes distant.

“What if Nerathane and Seravae do show up?”
Jala asked quietly drawing the eyes of both men.

“Then we break you out of jail and get you
out of the city. It is extremely doubtful that we will have either
of their votes and if the council votes that you are not a Merrodin
they will execute you,” Neph answered with a frown.

“Wonderful,” Jala grumbled and began to pace
once more.

“Avanti will be against us, there is no
question of that,” Jail said with a sigh. “Morcaillo and Rivana
along with them. But that is only three that I know for certain
Neph, this could go our way.”

“I don’t like this situation at all,” Neph
spoke quietly and stared up at the ceiling in frustration.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs behind them
and the door opened a moment later as Arjuna stepped into the room
followed by two guards and a figure in black steel plate. Glancing
briefly at Jail and then Neph, Arjuna crossed to Jala’s cell.