The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (7 page)

Kicking his horse forward at last, Valor
approached the corral with Jala and Finn close behind. “Is that
anyway to treat your liege, lord Honor?” He called loudly to the
man still managing his hold on the horse that appeared to be
wearing down.

“I have the easy job Val,” the man holding
the rope called over his shoulder without taking his attention off
the horse. “It’s Honor that will carry the bruises from this.”

Shocked, Jala looked closer at the man
standing in the center of the corral. She had thought him a groom
or perhaps a horse trainer and hadn’t paid much attention to him.
He was dressed plainly in rough linen and covered with dust and
splattered with mud up past his filthy boots. He wore gloves that
looked more fitting for a field hand and his long dark hair was
pulled back loosely with tangled strands sticking to his sweaty
face.

“This one is going to be his pride and joy,
Val,” Chastity said sweetly, walking over to stand by her brother’s
horse. The little silver-haired girl followed her meekly, stopping
to stare up at Valor with wide blue eyes nearly the same color as
his. Jala watched the child nervously as she approached Vanguard’s
dancing hooves but neither her mother nor her uncle seemed the
least bit troubled. Leaning out of his saddle Valor held his arm
down for the girl, keeping his balance perfectly despite the
horse’s continued motion. The child grinned with delight and
wrapped herself around his arm, giggling as he drew her up into his
saddle.

“Uncle Val,” she cooed and hugged him, her
cherub-like face lit up with delight.

“And how is my favorite niece?” Valor asked,
giving her a hug.

“Don’t try to buy favor like that Val, she is
your only niece,” Chastity said dryly and leaned back on the rail.
“That mare he is breaking is Arovan mustang stock. Honor caught her
near the Black rock cliffs. To hear the stories, Honor actually
went over one of the cliffs in pursuit of her, nearly killing
himself and his horse.” She paused and looked up at her brother,
blue eyes alight. “Father was furious,” she purred and smiled.

“Why would he bother with a mustang?” Valor
asked, distaste thick in his voice.

“One of our scouts swears they have traits
unlike other horses. He says they are being affected by the
elemental works we do. I don’t know if he is right but Honor seems
to think he is,” Chastity explained and casually looked past her
brother to where Jala sat watching the horse that now trotted in
circles her head held low. “Are you going to introduce me to your
friend?” she asked sweetly and glanced briefly at Finn. “Hello,
Finn, so glad no one has killed you yet. Amazed, yet glad
nonetheless.”

Valor flushed and cleared his throat. “I’m
sorry Jala, I was rude. Jala this is my sister Chastity, her Lord
Husband Sebastian and their daughter, Devony.” He motioned to each
as he spoke and then waved a hand graciously toward Jala. “This is
Jala, Finn’s wife. She is a fellow student at the Academy and a
very impressive Sorceress I might say. The Bendazzi beside her is
her familiar, his name is Marrow.”

“So good to meet you,” Chastity said with a
smile. She looked her over once, then flicked her gaze back to
Finn. “How did you convince her to marry you? A lot of strong
alcohol?” she asked sweetly.

“I’m much nicer to her than I am to you Chas.
You are like a bossy older sister to me. There is no reason
whatsoever to be nice to you,” Finn answered with the same
sickeningly sweet tone.

Pushing off of the gate Sebastian approached
slowly and stood by his wife. He was tall and well-built, standing
a good six inches over his wife’s more petite frame. She understood
what Finn had meant about the Shade of his eyes when she locked
gazes with the man. They were a bright green with flecks of gold,
almost the color of a cat’s, too vivid a color to be considered
normal. His expression was calm and serene but Jala could see
darker emotions lurking in that gaze. Probably due to the troubles
in his own lands she decided, and bowed her head respectfully to
him.

“Finn married? That is an unusual
announcement. I would have bet good money that he would have died
single,” Sebastian said in a quiet voice. “You must be
exceptional,” he said, his gaze still on Jala.

“She is,” Finn agreed, drawing the lord’s
attention away from her.

“Did you meet at the Academy?” Sebastian
asked, his tone suggesting he was asking out of courtesy rather
than interest.

“At the Spring Games actually. She saved me
from some planned mischief by the Justicars,” Finn explained.

“She is far too beautiful for you Finn,”
another voice broke in, and Jala turned to see Honor sitting on the
exhausted grey mare near the rail. The horse stood placidly, her
head low and breathing heavily. Up close, Honor looked so much like
his brother they could have passed for twins. They had the same
fine bone structure to their faces, giving them features that would
leave most girls swooning. Had she not been told in advance that
Honor was years older, she would have never guessed. He had more of
a roguish look than his younger brother, though with shorter hair
and one ear pierced with a decently sized diamond.

“Thank you,” Jala said bowing her head with a
smile. She was rather glad she had taken the extra time fixing her
hair and choosing a dress today. Valor had given her no indication
that she should expect to meet so many influential people.

“So what did you want to see me about, Val?”
Honor asked, allowing himself to relax back in the saddle. One of
the mare’s ears twitched but other than that she showed no sign of
moving.

“I’d rather discuss it inside, actually,”
Valor said looking back at the house.

“I have a fairly good idea as to why you are
here. Father warned me to expect a visit from you,” Lord Arovan
said as he approached. Unlike his more refined comrades, he climbed
the rail of the corral, removed a filthy glove, and offered his
hand to Jala. “My name is Micah. Don’t bother with titles or last
names. I don’t care much for them. It’s nice to meet you and
congratulations on your marriage,”

Grasping his hand gently she smiled. “Nice to
meet you Micah.” She released his hand and he swung both legs over
to rest on the top rail of the fence.

“He wants his majority funds, Honor,” Micah
explained and Honor looked at his brother skeptically.

“The gold bit wearing through and you need a
new platinum one?” he asked dryly.

“Actually I want it in form of food and
lumber,” Valor replied in the same dry tone.

“For what?” Honor asked incredulously. “That
would be a lot of bloody lumber, Val. Do you have any idea how much
you have in your majority fund. You know if you take it now you
will have nothing left in Arovan.”

“I’m not going back to Arovan,” Valor replied
and silence filled the yard. The only noise was the heavy breathing
of the grey mare.

“You not coming home, Uncle Val?” Devony
asked, breaking the silence. Her wide blue eyes were locked on his
face and her lower lip was beginning to tremble.

“I will still come to visit as I already do,
Angel. Don’t get upset. I’m just going to build a new home
somewhere else when I decide to leave Sanctuary,” Valor said in a
soothing voice and kissed the child on the top of the head.

“Where?” Honor asked raising an eyebrow.

“Somewhere else,” Valor replied vaguely and
shifted in his saddle.

“Oh that’s golden, Valor. Does father know?”
Chastity asked, shaking her head.

“Not as of yet. But I will tell him soon,”
Valor said, the confidence in his voice failing for the first time
since Jala had met him. It was becoming more obvious by the moment
that he was the youngest of the siblings.

“Leave off and give him what he wishes,”
Micah said bringing the attention of all three of the Hai’dia
children to him. Despite the ragged clothes and dirt covering him,
he managed a demeanor of authority well. “Father has already
contacted me and told me that Valor may do something of this nature
and to support him. I do not question the High Lord of Arovan, do
either of you?” He flicked his gaze from Honor to Chastity and they
both shook their heads looking sufficiently reprimanded.

“I can have it done by next week Val, just
give me a list of what you want and I’ll have it shipped to
Sanctuary,” Honor said, his tone subdued.

“I want to know where you plan to live,”
Chastity pressed, gaining a dark look from Micah.

“That is his business not ours,” Sebastian
said mildly, wrapping an arm around his wife’s waist.

“I do have something for you inside, Valor.
My father sent it with his compliments,” Micah said, dropping down
from his perch on the fence. “Give me a moment and I’ll fetch it.”
He moved past them in long strides, headed for the manor.

Honor watched him go and then locked his eyes
on his little brother. “What’s going on?” he demanded, once Micah
was out of ear shot.

“Spill it,” Chastity said, adding her stare
to her brother’s.

“Love, I really don’t think we should …”
Sebastian began.

“I don’t get involved when your people start
their growling Bast, don’t get involved when I’m cornering my
family,” Chastity said cutting him off.

“He isn’t going to tell you anything right
now. He can’t. You will know soon enough. Don’t press him,” Finn
broke in, coming to Valor’s rescue.

“He would tell you if he could,” Jala added
with a frown.

“Mysterious,” Honor murmured and flicked a
gaze at his sister.

“Is Finn about to get you killed?” Chastity
demanded.

“No, that’s ridiculous,” Valor said, rolling
his eyes.

“I try to only get myself in dangerous
situations,” Finn said calmly.

“Like dueling Kithkanon,” Valor said dryly.
Both of his siblings turned and looked at Finn in disbelief and
Jala watched Valor sigh in relief.

“Are you insane?” Honor demanded.

“When?” Chastity asked, her voice equal parts
disbelief and interest.

“Two days from now. Give me a few hours and
the entire city will be talking about it. You should stop by. It
will be quite the fight,” Finn said casually and smiled at them
both.

“You are going to die,” Honor said slowly,
drawing the words out.

“I never lose,” Finn objected mildly.

“You are about to,” Chastity said.

“I won’t,” Finn said firmly and gazed past
both of them as Micah approached. He carried a letter in his hands
and even from the distance Jala could make out the array of seals
on it. There was no doubt it was an official document.

He stopped nearby Valor and handed the letter
up to him. “I’m not sure what it is regarding but father was
adamant about me getting it to you as soon as I saw you next,”
Micah said and took a place on the rail once more.

“Finn is going to fight Kithkanon,” Honor
blurted, once the lord was seated.

Micah regarded Finn thoughtfully and nodded.
“When? I’ll place money on you,” He said calmly.

“What? Finn is obviously out-classed here,”
Chastity said her tone filled with disbelief.

Micah shook his head and smiled down at
Chastity. “Finn has more tricks up his sleeve than anyone gives him
credit for. He is one of the best I’ve ever seen with a sword and
Kithkanon is predictable. Finn will win,” He said with true belief
in his words.

“See, Micah has faith,” Finn said with a
smirk.

“By the Aspects,” Valor said in a breathless
tone. All eyes turned to the knight whose gaze was locked on the
open document before him.

“What is it?” Jala asked. From his expression
she couldn’t tell if it was good news or bad.

He looked up and smiled widely at her. “High
Lord Arovan has just granted me command of my former Cavalry
regiment. I now command a thousand lancers to be used as I see fit.
They will remain on call in Arovan, awaiting my summons,” he
explained, his voice holding a strong note of disbelief.

“He is parting with troops now?” Sebastian
asked, his expression incredulous.

“My father has a substantial Cavalry and
armed knights aren’t doing much good against the foes we currently
face. If he believes they will benefit Valor more he is most likely
right,” Micah said and bowed his head to Valor. “Congratulations,
Valor, now you can put to work everything you have learned from
your father and from all of those military strategy courses you
take at the Academy.”

“Thank you Micah, and thank your father for
me. I’m shocked. This was the last thing I expected,” Valor said,
his voice still faint.

“If we want to finish everything we had
planned to do today we had better go, Val,” Finn said gently,
drawing the Knight’s attention back from the document.

“Yes, of course,” Valor replied distractedly
and carefully handed Devony back down to her father. He fished in
his pocket for a moment and pulled a folded paper out. “This is the
list of things I will be needing, Honor. I’d appreciate it if you
would let me know when it makes it to the warehouses.” He handed
the paper to his brother and carefully tucked the letter from Lord
Arovan into his coat.

“It was nice to have met all of you,” Jala
said with a smile and turned her horse to follow Finn who was
already departing slowly.

Valor lingered to share a few words with his
siblings but followed soon after. “To Merro’s district then?” he
asked as he caught up.

“For a few hours and then to the gambling
houses,” Finn said with a nod.

“I have training with Neph tonight so I
suppose I’ll part ways with you two after we are done in my
district,” Jala said with a sigh.

“You will need a drink after you see the
district. Skip a night’s practice with Neph and join us,” Finn said
giving her a sympathetic look.

“It can’t be that bad,” she objected. Both
Valor and Finn looked at her for a long minute but remained silent
as they rode, apparently deciding it would be better to let her see
for herself.