The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (42 page)

As he turned, she caught a full glimpse of
how young the mage truly was. He looked so much like Finn normally,
that they could pass as twins aside from Sovann’s slighter build
and longer hair. Today, however, he had the look of a scared child
about him that made him seem years younger. He noticed her watching
him and he did his best to erase the worry from his face and dark
green eyes.

“He will be back soon, I’m sure,” he
whispered and offered her a faint smile. To everyone else in the
world, the brothers maintained an act of hating each other, but
Jala knew the truth. Sovann loved Finn as much as she did and she
doubted he had slept much last night either.

“I wish I could contact him,” she whispered
back glancing up at Neph’s face to make sure she he was not
awake.

“I’m not asleep, Jala, and neither is Jail,”
Neph said quietly, his pale blue eyes cracking open. “It’s
meditation, resting, but not sleeping. You know that thing Sovann
tried to teach you?” he added.

“It seems like I spend all of my time worried
sick, waiting for him to return,” she whispered, ignoring Neph’s
taunt completely.

“Did you think he would be calm and boring
when you married him?” Neph asked with a snort of amusement.

She shook her head slightly and sat up. “No,
but I thought I would be with him, not waiting for him,” she
replied and rose slowly from the couch. She lifted her arms and
stretched and then crossed to the window to stand beside Sovann. He
offered her another faint smile and draped an arm across her
shoulder.

“Welcome to the family. I’ve been waiting and
worrying since I was old enough to walk,” he said quietly. “First
it was his slipping out at night through the window for whatever
mischief he could find, and then it was him slipping off with
Havoc. Then he left home and the worry didn’t end until he started
at the Academy,” he said with a sigh and then chuckled. “Well, I
suppose it didn’t end. There were just a few pauses in between,” he
added ruefully.

“He has Valor with him,” Neph said, as if
that should cease her worry completely.

“And I can’t contact Valor either,” Jala
replied leaning her head against Sovann’s shoulder. She was tired
but she knew she couldn’t sleep without knowing what had happened
to them.

A loud bang sounded from the front of the
warehouse, causing both Sovann and her to jump. Neph stood casually
and his fingers flexed as he readied a spell. Jail’s eyes had
snapped open at the sound and Wisp was sitting up now as well.

“Finn, Val, if that is you, better speak up
now,” Neph called.

“It’s us,” Valor called back and Jala felt
her body go limp with relief. There was a sound of scuffling from
the hall and then a figure came stumbling through the door to fall
on the ground before them. Finn stood just behind and from the way
he was lowering his arms he must have propelled the man into the
room.

She stared mutely at her husband for a
moment, taking in the soot covering his bronzed skin and his torn
and bloody clothes. He nodded to her and offered a grim smile
before looking back down at the man. Her gaze followed his and she
realized with a start that it was Madren crawling away from him
toward the wall.

“I didn’t think you would want me to let him
die,” Finn muttered and stepped out of the way so Valor could enter
the room. If anything, the knight looked to be in worse condition
than Finn. His long silver hair was tangled and matted with blood
and his normally pristine armor was battered and filthy.

“Although we should have, for all of the
trouble he has been,” Valor growled.

Neph raised an eyebrow at the two of them and
looked back to the cringing form by the wall. “Too much for you?”
he asked his tone mocking.

“He hid under the fucking bed and then
started screaming ‘Murderers’ at the top of his lungs when we drug
him out,” Valor said with disgust glaring at Madren.

“Which wouldn’t have been a problem if it
hadn’t drawn the attention of the Academy guards as well as the
Justicars that were looking for me,” Finn added and then cocked his
head looking at Jala. “What happened to you?” he asked with a
frown.

Her eyes widened slightly and she raised an
eyebrow. “What do you mean?” she asked innocently looking down at
herself and then back to him. “You seem to be the one in rather
tattered states.”

“Your hair is burnt short on the right side,”
he began and looked around the room then back to her. “Were there
riots here? Are you OK?” he asked.

“There were a few riots by the gates to the
inner city but Neph and Jail took care of it,” she replied, hoping
to evade the topic of the duel until later.

“Neph set her on fire before the Barrier went
up,” Wisp offered, earning glares from Jala as well as Neph. The
fae shifted slightly and shrugged her delicate shoulders. “He was
going to find out anyway, Neph. Jala doesn’t lie to him,” she added
quietly.

“You what?” Finn demanded rounding on the big
mage.

“Her shields dropped during a duel. She is
fine. What the hell took you so long to get here? She was worried
sick,” Neph replied, his voice calm.

Valor looked between his furious friend and
the mage and cleared his throat quietly. “We had to evade the
guards and the Justicars and ended up getting caught in one of the
riots near the market square. They killed Finn’s horse and drug me
from mine before we managed to break free of it.” He rubbed his
face, wiping some of the grime from his pale skin. Looking down at
the filth on his hand with disgust, he sighed again. “We went
through the closest gate we could to get away from that mess and
ended up in the Avanti quarter,” he added shaking his head.

“Did you know Cassia is back in the city?”
Finn asked, his tone cheerful but filled with bitter irony.

“Hadn’t heard that yet,” Jail said with a
snort of amusement. “Did she offer you Sanctuary from the
Justicars?” he asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Hmm. What was it she said, Val?” Finn asked
raising an eyebrow at the knight.

“I believe it was
Kill those fucking
bastards now
! in a screeching voice,” Valor replied.

“So, the Avanti guards swarmed us and in the
midst of the fighting Madren took off on Jala’s horse,” Finn said,
glaring at Madren who cringed closer to the wall. “We broke free of
the guards again and had to chase him down.”

“While riding double on Vanguard with two
different sets of guards hunting us as well as the bloody
Justicars,” Valor added wearily.

“So you guys had a great time,” Jail said
clearly amused.

“We hid out with Chastity for a while and
then made our way here,” Valor finished and looked around the room.
His gaze fell on an empty chair and he crossed to it and dropped
down into the cushions with another sigh. “I had to leave Vanguard
with Chastity for fear of being recognized on him,” he added,
sounding miserable.

“I could really use a drink, Sovann,” Finn
said and dropped cross-legged to the floor.

His brother nodded quietly and headed for the
kitchen. “I’ll get one for you too, Valor,” he said, earning a
grateful nod from the knight.

Jala moved from the window and sat down on
the floor beside Finn, looking up into his face with concern. “Are
you sure you are OK?” she asked as she wiped some of the soot from
his cheek.

“Fine,” he assured her, leaning back on his
arms. His gaze fell on her shortened hair again and he glared at
Neph once more. “I can’t believe you set her on fire,” he
grumbled.

“I’m OK, Finn. It was an accident,” she cut
in before Neph could reply. “Thank you for getting Madren,” she
said and gave him a light kiss on his freshly cleaned cheek.

“You are fixing whatever is broken in that
bastard’s head, Jail,” Finn said looking over to the Mind mage.

“Only if he is willing,” Jail countered.

Finn’s head snapped around to Madren and his
eyes narrowed. “You are willing or I will kill you,” he warned.

“It doesn’t work like that, Finn. He has to
be truly willing, not simply terrified,” Jail said with a faint
chuckle.

“He is willing Jail. I’m not dealing with his
mental issues as well as everything else that’s going on,” Finn
pressed his tone firm.

“I’m willing,” Madren choked out, his eyes
locked on Finn. His fear was written clearly on his face.

“You don’t have to be scared, Madren, Finn
won’t hurt you,” Jala said calmly, then elbowed Finn roughly as she
noticed him nodding to Madren. “He won’t,” she assured him, turning
to glare up at Finn.

“I will,” Valor muttered. “Cowardly little
bastard,” he added shaking his head.

“Valor!” Jala snapped.

Valor looked away from Madren and toward her.
“We lost a good horse because of him, Jala,” he said quietly with
fury in his voice.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean to,” she
replied.

“No, he didn’t mean to, Jala, it happened
because he doesn’t have enough spine to stand up to his own shadow.
He is a waste of air and space,” Valor shot back, his anger
building.

“Val,” Finn said quietly, and the knight fell
silent and leaned back in his chair.

“Not everyone is brave,” Jala said quietly
and offered Madren a faint smile.

The kitchen door opened and Sovann returned
with the drinks. He handed Valor a glass and then Finn before
setting a tray of tea down on the table. With steady hands he
poured a steaming cup and offered it to Jala.

“Thank you, Sovann,” she said taking the cup.
The scent of mint and chamomile rose in the steam and she inhaled
deeply. Both were herbs meant to relax and as tired as she was now
it was possible Sovann would have her snoring on the floor before
the cup was empty.

“I suggest we all get some rest and then have
a bit of a meeting to discuss what we are going to do. Isador and
Joseph are both sleeping now so they should be able to keep guard
while the rest of us sleep,” Sovann said as he poured himself a
cup.

“Do you actually have space for everyone to
sleep here?” Neph asked skeptically and looked around the
warehouse.

“The entire basement has been made into guest
rooms. I had a feeling I might need more space before long,” Sovann
said. He blew on his tea lightly and frowned. “Although, I must
admit I never thought it would be for this reason.”

“I don’t think anyone saw this coming,” Wisp
said sadly. “I hope my Father’s quarter of the city is OK.” Her
gaze traveled to the window as she spoke and she sighed.

“Has anyone seen Emily?” Jala asked, looking
around the room.

Jail snorted in amusement and smiled. “Does
anyone ever see Emily?” he asked.

She frowned at him and blew out her breath
loudly. “You know what I mean, Jail,” she grumbled.

“I’m here, I followed the idiots until they
made it safely here,” Emily’s voice came quietly from the
doorway.

Jala let out a sigh of relief and smiled in
the direction of the voice. “I wish I could have contacted you,
I’ve been worried about you all day.”

“I will stay here while you sleep and help
them keep guard. I promise I won’t go anywhere until you wake. We
really need to talk,” Emily said, her tone dead serious.

Jala nodded slowly and glanced to Finn who
shrugged. “We’ve told you everything that happened to us. I’m not
sure what happened to her. I don’t even know when she started
following us,” he said quietly.

“I’m not sure if I like how she always refers
to Finn and me as the idiots,” Valor remarked to no one in
particular.

“Get used to it. I doubt my opinion will
change anytime soon,” Emily said, her voice coming from closer to
the window.

“I doubt it as well. Mine still hasn’t and
I’ve known them for years,” Neph said with a smile.

“And our opinion of you will likely always
stay the same, as well Neph,” Valor replied dryly. Tilting his
glass back he finished off the last of his drink and looked to
Sovann. “The rooms downstairs have baths?” he asked, rising from
his seat.

Sovann nodded in response. “I designed them
along the lines of the Academy. Really it shouldn’t be too
different for any of you.”

“You have my thanks, Sovann, and I bid the
rest of you good day. I am in dire need of a bath and several hours
of sleep,” Valor said as he headed for the stairs.

“Go ahead and go you two, I’ll keep an eye on
things,” Sovann said, waving to Jala and Finn.

Finn stood slowly and stretched, offering a
hand to help Jala up as well. “Not something I’ll argue with,” he
said with fatigue heavy in his voice.

Jala nodded her agreement and followed Finn
down to the basement. Doors lined each side of a narrow hall at the
bottom of the stairs. The air smelled strongly of new pine and
fresh paint. “I can’t believe how much work he has done here,” Jala
said as Finn pushed open the first door he came to.

“It’s not just here. You should see what he
has done with the rest of this district. You forget Sovann is very
well funded. He has the gold to hire the workers,” Finn said. He
examined the small room with a slight nod but didn’t seem too
impressed.

Jala regarded the rough furniture with
acceptance. It wasn’t much to look at but it was still finer than
what she had grown up with. The bed especially looked perfect to
her eyes. “I can’t wait to sleep,” she murmured and moved fully
into the room.

“Go ahead go to bed,
Vezradesh
.I need
a bath and then I’ll join you,” Finn said as he closed the door and
began stripping out of his ruined clothing. Her eyes lingered on
the silver scar that traced a path just below his ribs. It was the
only scar on his body and a gentle reminder to her of how close she
had come to losing him. “You stare at that every time I take my
shirt off,” Finn observed, his gaze locked on her face.