The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (26 page)

“Jala have you slept at all?” Victory’s voice
came from the shadowy corner.

“No, I can’t sleep,” she replied quietly and
paced farther back into her cell. Placing one hand carefully over
the cut she called on the healing magic and slowly relaxed as the
pleasant warmth covered her skin.

What did you just do
? Emily’s voice
asked softly in her mind and Jala almost jumped in response. She
had forgotten completely that the Blight child was with her. Emily
had been silent since they had arrived.

What I thought I had to,
she responded
through the link.

What will he do with your blood
? Emily
asked with concern.

Blackmail me as he said he would, most
likely
, she replied with a slight shake of her head. Limply,
she dropped to the edge of her mattress and propped her elbows on
her knees. With a long sigh, she covered her face and rubbed at her
stinging eyes. She had no idea how long it would be until the trial
but she hoped it was soon.

The mattress shifted as the Blight child sat
down beside her. She felt a slight weight against her arm as Emily
rested her head on her. Careful to not give away the child’s
presence to the others in the room Jala moved her arm behind the
child and squeezed.
I didn’t even know you were in the cell with
me
, she told her and smiled faintly.

I didn’t want to leave you alone
,
Emily responded faintly.

I never got you the lunch I promised you. You
must be starved. If I had known you were in here I would have
shared my dinner.

I’m waiting. If your trial goes badly,
I’ll eat well
, Emily replied with promise in her tone.

* * *

“Jala wake up,” the voice called distantly
through the thick fog of her mind. “Jala, up now,” it repeated
again, refusing to allow her to drift back into her dreams. “Jala,
get up,” it came again, louder and more insistent.

“I’m awake, Havoc, shut up!” she growled and
sat up slowly. She felt Emily move away from where she had been
nestled beside her and rose to her feet glowering at Havoc. “See,
I’m up,” she said, holding both hands out to her sides.

“It only took my saying your name a few dozen
times,” he replied dryly.

“I was having a pleasant Firym free dream,”
she shot back irritably and stretched. Glancing toward the window,
she sighed. By the light, she guessed she had only been asleep a
few hours. She didn’t even remember falling asleep.

“Sounds more like a nightmare to me. Imagine,
no Firym,” Havoc said with a mock shudder and smiled at her.

“How are you so chipper without sleep?” she
asked, her eyes scanning her cell for something to drink. “Do you
have any water out there?” she asked, looking up from her failed
search.

“I don’t need much sleep, I’m never chipper,
and I don’t drink water,” Havoc replied. He shifted his cloak
slightly and produced a flask from an inner pocket. “I have
Firewater though,” he offered.

“I’d rather die of dehydration,” she replied
quietly.

“Technically, alcohol dehydrates you more
anyway,” Havoc responded with a smirk.

“I have water,” Victory said, speaking up at
last and handed a flask through the bars to her. “You have about
twenty minutes before they call for you. The first of the high
lords started arriving about an hour ago,” he informed her as she
took a long pull from the flask.

Nodding slightly, she handed it back to him
and yawned. “I’m in fine form for it,” she muttered and examined
the bars of the cell. Sleep had returned most of her magic to her
but she didn’t want to go into the council missing a drop of her
power. The bars should hold more than enough to refill her, though,
after Hemlock’s time magic earlier this morning.

Pulling on her magic she used a quick
cleaning spell on herself and then altered her clothing to a dress
finer than any she had ever worn. Glancing down at herself she
nodded with approval at the dark purple silks. The low cut bodice
was lined with gems and the skirts were cut high on the sides in
the Firym fashion. With another yawn, she altered her shoes and
created a long silver jacket similar to the one Fortune had gifted
her, only sleeveless. Pausing, she looked around the room for
anything she could use as a mirror. Finding nothing even remotely
reflective she let out a disgusted grumble and used her magic to
create one on the far wall.

“You’ve gotten rather good at the mage craft
since the last time we saw you,” Havoc said quietly as he watched
her creating jewelry.

“I practice a lot,” she replied with a shrug.
“Hair up or down?” she asked.

“Up,” Victory responded at the same time
Havoc said “Down,”

“Loads of help,” she muttered.

“Up with jewels like you wore on your
wedding. The ones that sparkled with light,” Jail said from across
the room.

“Up it is with sparkly jewels,” Jala said
with a nod and began the process of fixing her hair as Jail
suggested. “Who is here so far?” she asked quietly.

“Arjuna, of course. Zachary, Kadandelvayan,
and Jaradon Faydwer on our side so far,” Havoc replied.

“We don’t know Kadan is on our side. We were
banking on Neph sitting on the council today,” Victory corrected
him.

“What about Micah and Chastity?’ Jala asked
glancing over her shoulder.

“They aren’t here yet,” Victory replied
quietly.

“Who is here against me?” Jala asked.

Silence filled the room. “Avanti, Morcaillo,
Rivasa, Nerathane, and Seravae are here as well, though we don’t
know what side he stands on,” Jail answered at last.

“So it’s an even vote if the Lord Reaver
doesn’t vote and I lose if he votes against me,” Jala concluded
with a sinking feeling.

“He arrived here in the company of Myth
Morcaillo,” Victory said, his tone somber.

“What about Han’shy?” Jala asked. Yesterday
they had all assured her that Jin Han’shy would support her.

“My father hasn’t arrived yet. I’m not sure
why he isn’t here,” Jail replied.

“I suspect our missing lords may have had
unforeseen difficulties,” Victory said with a sigh. “It would be a
typical Avanti ploy to sabotage a vote.”

“The only thing that might alter things now
would be rock solid evidence as to who you are,” Jail added
quietly.

“I see no way we can arrange that,” Havoc
muttered.

“Give me a minute to think,” Jala said,
gazing at her reflection in the mirror as she began to brainstorm.
Naturally, it was too much to ask that not all of the high lords
show up for her trial. For, being as powerless as she was, she
certainly seemed to attract a lot of attention. Slowly she turned
from the mirror and began to pace the cell, her gaze on the floor
as her mind worked.

The sound of the door opening drew her
attention back and she watched the High Commander of the Justicars
enter the room in his full regalia. While Kellis himself was not a
handsome man, his shining armor and plush white fur cloak lent him
a regal quality. “They are ready for the prisoner,” Kellis
declared, putting extra emphasis on the word
prisoner
.

Nodding, Jala moved to the cell door and
rested a hand on one of the bars while she waited for him to unlock
it. With a faint smile she pulled on the magic stored in the
Barllen and refilled her reserves. Kellis glanced at her hand
several times as he searched for the proper key and seemed rather
irritated at her touching the metal without suffering. Finding the
key at last, he pulled the door open and motioned her out with a
snap of his hand. Smiling as if he had just held the door for her
at a fine restaurant, Jala stepped out and nodded respectfully to
him, which seemed to increase his irritation.

“Are you ready?” Havoc asked quietly as he
and Victory fell into step behind her.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Jala replied and
prayed to Fortune her plan worked. It was hastily made to be sure,
but if she played her cards right, the gamble might pay off.

* * *

The council room was brightly lit with a
large marble table carefully placed in the center of the room.
There were twenty chairs total but only nine were occupied.
Scanning the faces Jala picked out the ones she knew by their
colors and placed names to the ones she didn’t. Nodding
respectfully to them, she moved to the closest chair and sat.

“The prisoner should remain standing,” Lord
Morcaillo said in the slow drawl common to his country.

“The High Lady of Merrodin prefers to sit,”
Jala countered, eyeing him coldly. “I have just spent a very
uncomfortable night in a jail cell due to this nonsense and I have
no desire to stand while you try to sort out the obvious,” she
added, curtly drawing silent stares from all assembled.

“This matter is far from obvious. Do you have
proof of who you claim to be?” Lord Avanti asked and by his
expression he expected her to say no.

“Actually I do. Several witnesses in fact,”
Jala responded without hesitation earning another stunned silence.
With a smile, she regarded all of the lords in attendance and then
turned her attention to Lord Dark. “Lord Zachary, is it true that
you retained all of the souls from my lands when they were
destroyed?” she asked.

Smirking, Zachary nodded slowly. “It is true,
we gave nothing to Death.” He spoke quietly, the Oblivion he held
made his voice pure monotone.

“Invalid witness. The spirits will be
corrupted and controlled by Oblivion,” Lord Avanti protested,
shaking his head at her. “I’m not sure what you are playing at,
girl, but you will not win this vote with cheap parlor tricks.”

“I don’t expect any of this to come cheaply,”
Jala replied, barely sparing a glance to him. She turned her
attention instead to the Lord Reaver of Seravae. “Lord Reaver, is
it true that the shamans of your land can compel spirits to do as
they wish?” she asked.

“It is,” Jexon replied, his eyes
narrowing.

“Well then I suppose one of your shamans
could compel a spirit to tell the truth and could identify if it
were in fact the correct spirit?” She spoke with confidence, her
gaze never wavering from his face.

“Easily, are you expecting me to perform this
service for you?” he asked and by his expression she knew what his
answer would be, had she intended to do that.

“No, as you are a voting council member I
would not ask that of you,” she said and turned her gaze to Lord
Rivasa. “I believe you had a Soulreaver in your employ the last
time I was unfortunate enough to visit your lands. Is that man
still in your employ?” she asked sweetly.

“No, I’m afraid he isn’t,” Rivasa answered
coolly.

“Excellent. I was hoping not. I would like
his services for the questioning of the spirit. He can serve as a
neutral party. As I do not even know his name and the only time I
have ever met him, he was on the side that was attacking me, I
scarcely think anyone can accuse him of showing favoritism in this
matter,” Jala said, her eyes moving to each Lord for any sign of
objection. “That is, if Lord Dark would be willing to summon the
individual spirits here for the time it takes to question them,”
she added, letting her gaze pause on Zachary.

“I would,” Zachary agreed with what she
thought was a note of approval in his voice.

“Then if Lord Rivasa would be so kind as to
supply the name we can arrange to have the Soulreaver summoned,”
Jala said, looking back to Lord Rivasa expectantly.

Well played
, Arjuna’s voice broke into
her thoughts and she had to fight back the urge to look at him.

Thank you. Let’s hope this Soulreaver is
the man I believe him to be
, she replied without so much as
flicking a finger to give indication of her use of magic.

“His name is Ash,” Rivasa replied with
obvious reluctance and Jala noticed the Lord Reaver stiffen
slightly in his seat. That had to be a good sign she decided.

“I will have my guards see to summoning the
Soulreaver then,” Arjuna said with a curt nod in the direction of
Havoc and Victory who stood quietly by the door.

“Perhaps while we wait you could explain why
it is just now that you claim to be of Merrodin blood,” Lord
Morcaillo spoke with so much venom in his voice she half expected
him to throw something at her.

Raising an eyebrow at him she smiled coldly.
“Tell me, Lord Morcaillo did you summon the people of the city and
announce your arrival this morning?” she asked.

“Of course not,” he snapped his eyes
narrowing.

“Then by what right should you expect me to
announce my presence to everyone?” she asked. “I inform those I
deem need to know. I’m terribly afraid your name was not on that
list,” she finished, raising her chin slightly and looking
away.

“It perhaps would have been wise to inform
some of the council of who you were,” Lady Nerathane snapped in a
high pitched voice that seemed comical for a dragon to possess.

“I know who she is. I above all else should
know if a Merrodin lives. My father did kill most of them off,”
Zachary said, his attention fully on the Lady of Nerathane.

Silence fell once again as the door of the
council room slammed open and a tall man strode through the door.
He was dressed in dark grey plate mail with pauldrons in the shape
of upturned taloned hands adorning each shoulder. Small flashes of
lightning danced from talon to talon as he moved, leaving no
question to who he was. The General of Arovan, better known as the
Lord of Storms, was a difficult man to mistake. Kicking the door
shut behind him, he regarded the council coldly. Anger flashed in
his dark blue eyes as his gaze trailed across Lord Avanti. “I truly
hope I’m not too late. There were minor difficulties for me to
attend to this morning. It would seem my granddaughter Devony has
gone missing in the night,” he said, his voice nearly a snarl. “I
have no doubt she will be found soon though,” he added, his gaze
still locked on Avanti.