The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (3 page)

“Why are all of those people by the stable?”
Jala asked, pausing in her steps. Both Finn and Valor stopped and
looked ahead at her words, the matter of Kali completely forgotten.
There were perhaps twenty in all and laughter rippled through the
crowd. She couldn’t see what their attention was on from where they
stood, nor did she know anyone there.

“That’s Wesler and Tombrey closest to us,
both Avanti lordlings. This is not something we want to approach,”
Valor said after a moment’s consideration.

“I see Nigel standing on the left. I can ask
him quietly what’s going on,” Finn offered, motioning toward a dark
haired man standing amidst three or four brightly dressed
women.

“I’m telling you we don’t want to approach
this, it’s bait,” Valor repeated, his tone filled with warning.

“Bait?” Jala asked, raising an eyebrow.

“There is gossip going around that Shade left
Cassia for you, and then you refused him so he left Sanctuary
completely. Cassia is in an outrage over it. She doesn’t play well
with those she considers rivals,” Valor explained.

“I’m hardly a rival of hers, beside I’m
married to Finn now. That should prove I’m not a rival,” Jala
objected, shaking her head.

“Are you really expecting her to use logic?”
Finn asked with a chuckle. “No, sorry, that’s just not Cassia’s way
of doing things,” Taking her arm gently he pulled her off of the
path to approach the stables from the back. “Val is right though,
better to avoid this,”

“Nothing good at all when Cassia is involved.
She is a vindictive bitch even when there is no reason to be
vindictive,” Valor agreed.

Casting another look toward the crowd, Jala
nodded slightly and followed Finn. More laughter rippled through
the crowd but she noticed not everyone was laughing. A few looked
disgusted. Fighting back her curiosity, she focused her attention
on the ground and made herself keep pace with Finn.

“I don’t know where he is,” a familiar voice
wailed from inside the circle.

“Finn, that was Madren,” Jala said, freezing
in place.

Nodding slightly, Finn tugged on her arm
again. He turned to look at her with a frown as she held her
ground. “And it’s not our business. I don’t even like Madren,
Jala,” he said with a hint of pleading in his voice.

“I personally despise the little worm,” Valor
said calmly.

More laughter erupted from the crowd and Jala
pulled her arm free of Finn. “He helped me in the Tolanteer,” she
reminded him.

“And we didn’t truly need the help. Have you
already forgotten his drugged candy, his midnight serenades, him
watching you sleep?” Finn asked with a heavy sigh.

“No, I haven’t forgotten, but regardless, I
will not just ignore Cassia tormenting someone who has tried to
help me. Even if it is Madren,” she said, returning his frown.

“Please don’t do this,” Finn said quietly.
There was pleading in his dark green eyes.

“Finn has it right here, Jala, it’s not our
business,” Valor said, taking her other arm and attempting to help
Finn move her.

“Aren’t you a knight, Valor?” she asked,
turning her frown to him instead of Finn. She didn’t like seeing
that look from Finn and was glad for the excuse to turn away.

“I am, and your point is?” Valor answered
with a raised eyebrow, looking unperturbed.

“Aren’t you supposed to defend the weak?” she
asked. Her violet eyes narrowed and she did her best to stare him
down.

“Weak yes, weak obnoxious perverts, no. It’s
a flexible code really,” Valor replied and glanced over to Finn who
was no longer attempting to prod her along. He wore a look of
resignation instead.

“Fine. If you two won’t do anything, I will,”
she said, glaring at both of them. “I’m not afraid of Cassia,” she
added, turning to head toward the crowd.

“It’s not that we are afraid,” Valor began,
sounding rather indignant.

“Don’t bother. Let’s just get this over
with,” Finn said, cutting him off. She heard him fall into step
behind her. His irritation washed over her through their link and
her frown deepened.

The dark haired man turned to regard them as
they approached and quickly stepped back from the crowd making his
way toward Finn. He was dressed finely in black and gold and had
the look of nobility about him, though Jala didn’t know of any
houses that held those colors as their own. She barely spared him a
second glance as Marrow cleared a path to the center. She tried not
to smile as people scrambled out of the Bendazzi’s way. It was
rather satisfying to see their discomfort, though. Most around the
Academy tried desperately to ignore the Bendazzi from a distance,
but once the cat got close their terror of him was obvious.

Don’t feel bad about wanting to smile. I’m
having to fight down the urge to snarl just to see them run for
shelter. I think it would be much simpler for both of us if I just
eat Cassia
, Marrow, said his amusement clear in his tone.

“Just tell me where he is, Madren. Stop
lying. I know you know where he went.” Cassia’s voice cut through
the crowd’s murmur like a whip.

“I don’t, though,” Madren said in a
whimper.

Stepping around the last few people, Jala saw
Madren hanging limp between two men she didn’t know. They held him
firmly by the arms, preventing him from fleeing. Madren’s face was
a ruin. His eyes were blackened and lips broken and bleeding. From
the looks of him they had been at this sport for a while. A third
man stood by Cassia with a smile stretched across his handsome
face. He had the same delicate bone structure as Cassia and hair
that was a deep gold. The sleeves to his red shirt were rolled up
to the elbows and the skin on his knuckles was torn.

“You must truly be a masochist,” the man
drawled, pulling his arm back for another swing at the helpless
Madren.

“I thought brawling in Sanctuary held penalty
of death,” Jala called loudly before the man could strike
again.

All attention turned to regard her. Most of
the gazes were cold but a few held curiosity.

“Is this the peasant whore who has been
causing you such trouble, sister?” the man asked, looking Jala over
as if she were a horse up for sale. He stepped toward her and
smiled coldly, “Not a bad package,” he said in low tones.

“Release Madren. This is ridiculous. It’s
like beating a child, Cassia,” Jala said, ignoring the man.

“Shall we question you instead, peasant girl?
I have to say that would be infinitely more entertaining for me,”
Cassia purred. As usual she was dressed impeccably and her every
move drew attention to her beauty.

Num, num, dead bitch, full Bendazzi, there
is no down side here
, Marrow said as he moved forward to stand
between Jala and Cassia’s far too attentive brother.

“I think you will find me much harder to
subdue than Madren. He doesn’t fight back,” Jala warned. She felt
Marrow tense beside her and knew if this went violent someone would
die, the Bendazzi would see to that.

“Oh, and she is feisty too,” the blond man
said with a grin and started to move toward her again, though he
was keeping a respectful eye on Marrow as he did so.

“One more step, Nate, and I’ll send you back
to daddy in pieces,” Finn’s voice came from behind her and he
quickly stepped up beside Marrow who was now crouching, waiting the
moment to pounce.

“And I’ll cover up the mess nicely so the
Justicars never hear of it,” Valor said, cheerfully stepping up to
stand on her other side. Jala contained her sigh of relief and
smiled pleasantly at Cassia. “Please release Madren. He doesn’t
know what you want him to tell you,” she tried again, keeping her
voice calm.

“Finn dear, I really don’t think you want to
be involved in this. Try to retain some of your reputation, please.
When I offered you money to befriend the little whore I really
didn’t think you would take it this far. I just wanted her away
from Shade,” Cassia said, her voice dripping with contempt. A few
whispers and muffled laughter filtered through the crowd and Cassia
smiled with satisfaction.

“My wife is not a whore and I take great
offense in you calling her that.” He paused as a louder ripple of
chatter ran through the crowd at his words. “If you really want to
talk about whores though, we can, Cassia,” he said, once the noise
died down again.

Cassia smiled at him and shook a delicate
finger at him as if scolding a child. “Be careful, Finn,” she
warned, and then broke into merry laughter. “Oh, I’m sorry, I just
can’t believe you married the peasant. How quaint, an exile and a
peasant. Your children will be true gutter rats,” she said, her
voice still choked with giggles.

“Better a peasant than a High born slut,”
Valor said, bringing the laughter to an abrupt end and silence to
the crowd.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with you
Valor,” Cassia snarled coldly.

“No, it doesn’t Val. I’ll have to agree with
her there. This has to do with Cassia and her unhealthy obsession
with my wife,” Finn said with a sigh. Turning his attention to
Valor he smiled wistfully. “In for a copper, in for a gold eh,” he
said and drew a cigarette from the pocket of his coat.

“Oh shit,” Valor mumbled as Finn lit the
cigarette and turned back to Cassia.

“What?” Jala asked, watching Finn and
glancing at Valor.

“Does she still take new customers even
though you married her Finn? She really isn’t a bad looking piece
of ass and if she is a peasant whore it’s bound to be worth the
money,” Nate cut in with a smirk. More laughter ran through the
crowds.

Finn gave a dramatic sigh and nodded,
watching Nate. “My wife isn’t a whore and if you are looking for
the bargain discount I’d suggest your sister. She hasn’t quite
figured out she can charge for it yet so you might want to take
advantage of that.” Tapping his finger lightly on his chin he
glanced at Cassia and then back to Nate. “Although, I feel obliged
to warn you that after I slept with her it took three weeks and two
visits to the priest before it stopped burning when I pissed.”

“You lying bastard, the only reason I slept
with you was because I was drunk. If you hadn’t gotten me drunk
first I never would have slummed it with the likes of you,” Cassia
snarled, moving quickly to stand by her brother.

“Oh bloody, bloody hell,” Valor mumbled
again.

“Oh Fortune, what is he doing?” Jala
whispered, her jaw dropped slightly.

“Really? It was the stable boy that told me
you were easy. Well, and the kitchen boy and two guards, but it was
the stable boy first,” Finn said, a note of disbelief in his voice.
“I really never considered myself lower than a stable boy, but oh,
well,” he added with a shrug and took a long drag from his
cigarette.

“You are lying!” Cassia screeched. The crowd
had fallen silent around them, intent on the newest gossip.

Chuckling, Finn shook his head at Cassia.
“No, I’m not, and everyone here knows how brutally honest I am.
Sorry Cassia, but when it comes to honesty my reputation is
secure,” he said with another shrug.

“The stable boy?” Nate said in disbelief,
looking back at his sister. “Which one, the twelve-year-old or the
older one with the limp?” he asked, his expression filled with
disgust.

“Limpy. The twelve year old is scared of
her,” Finn said supplying the answer with a charming smile.

“Is the fact that you were drunk, the reason
you called me daddy, Cassia? That could explain why he was so irate
when he walked in on us. I mean if he was expecting a good ride and
I had his pony he would have, of course, been pissed. I’ve always
wondered about that. And truly I feel inclined to point out that it
was you that brought the bottle of wine to the training yards and I
was the virgin in that particular arrangement,” Finn said, his
voice trailing off in thought. Looking back up at her he smiled
ruefully. “You know, given my first experience, it’s a wonder I
didn’t become celibate after that.”

“What?” Nate demanded, his voice cracking as
he stared at his sister.

“He is lying!” she wailed and spun on Finn.
“You will pay for this Finn!” she screamed, tears beginning to fill
her blue eyes.

“Shouldn’t start fights you can’t win,
Cassia,” Finn said mildly. He raised an eyebrow at her and smiled.
“Drop a coin on me Cass. I’ll be happy to kill another Rivasan for
you,” he urged, his, smile taking on a wicked edge.

Barely containing herself, she threw a black
coin to land at his feet. “Pick it up, Finn,” she dared him, her
expression caught between horror and satisfaction.

Calmly Finn bent and picked up the coin,
tossing it in the air and catching it and looked at Cassia with a
smile. “A few more marks than the typical Rivasan on this coin.
Might actually be worth going to the arena for. Two days from now
in the evening. I’m busy until then. I’ll be happy to kill your
champion then, though. Drop Madren for now. You beating morons
offend Jala.” He motioned idly toward the limp form and Cassia
turned to look with a bit of shock on her face. It was apparent she
had forgotten all about her former entertainment.

“Let him go,” she snapped to the two men
holding Madren up. Wordlessly they dropped him and he fell limply
to the ground. Spinning on her heels, she pushed her way through
the circle and stormed off toward the school, her brother close
behind her and apparently full of questions she didn’t want to
answer.

Finn glanced at Jala and then Valor and
watched the crowd disperse. His gaze fell on Nigel who was
lingering with a doubtful look on his handsome face. Silently, Finn
moved off to stand by Nigel and they began to talk too quiet for
Jala to overhear.

“What was that?” Jala asked Valor
quietly.

“That was him provoking a duel, though I
don’t know why,” Valor replied with a shrug. “You always have to
worry when he lights a cigarette, he only smokes when he thinks he
is about to fight. It’s some Firym custom or something.” Shaking
his head he shrugged. “I think they actually take a breath of
flames, not sure. I’m not exactly up to date on Firym customs.” He
frowned and looked down at Madren. “I think he is going to need
healing,” he said after a moment’s examination.