The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes (32 page)

“Any idea why he did?” Symphony asked looking
over to Vaze with a raised eyebrow.

“Her blood. The Delvay are religious,” Vaze
explained quietly.

“I see,” Symphony agreed with a nod and
smiled at Shade. “I’ll see you after the meeting, then,” she said
with a quick smile as Vaze opened the council door for her.

“You might as well come in now and hide. The
room is still empty and it will spare you having to sneak in
later,” Vaze said as Shade started to leave.

“What?” Shade asked freezing in place and
then slowly turning back to look at Vaze, an expression of
innocence painted on his features. “I wouldn’t sneak in…” he began
but Symphony held up a hand to silence him.

“Don’t even try. As I said you are a horrible
liar and Vaze is scary smart,” Symphony said with a grin.

“So scary,” Vaze agreed with a smirk as Shade
frowned at both of them as he ducked into the room.

Symphony laughed softly and dropped into her
chair at the head of the council table. “So are the rest of her
court as talented as Neph. Should I rest easier and not worry so
much for her?” she asked Vaze as he sat down beside her.

“Jail Han’shy has worked with the Fionaveir
in the past. He relayed information to our contact in the
Justicars. He is terrifying with his Mind magic and is one that I
keep a close eye on for that very reason. Valor Hai’dia was the
shining star of Arovan until an unfortunate incident when a rival
sabotaged him. He is quite possibly the most valiant one she has
beside her and has sworn a blood oath to protect her. His loyalty
is such that he accompanied her on her quest into the Darklands.”
Vaze paused and tapped the table, his eyes looking back and forth,
then rose once more. Moving to a cupboard he produced a decanter
and two glasses. “Wisp Faydwer is an Earth mage with enough power
to single handedly rebuild most of the northern portion of Merro by
herself in a little over a week. She is fully trained in court
politics and was briefly considered for raising to Heir of Faydwer
until she found out and sabotaged herself,” he continued as he
poured the glasses and sat one down before her. Taking a small sip
of his own, he dropped down into his chair and smiled at her.
“Sovann Sovaesh is an Arcanetech genius. If he can dream it, he can
build it. He was considered too advanced to bother with the Academy
at age fourteen. He also has too much integrity to side with the
Avanti, despite the fact that he was raised there.”

Symphony nodded slowly as she digested the
information and took a small sip from her drink. Eyes widening, she
looked down at the glass and then back to Vaze with a questioning
look. “What did I just drink? It tingles,” she demanded.

“Essence wine. One of Sovann Sovaesh’s
inventions. Not only does it get you drunk it restores your magic
at the same time. Not the best idea in my opinion but a popular
drink among the Elder Blood,” Vaze explained with a grin. “She has
youth surrounding her Symphony, but she has the cream of the crop.
The ones that fled the city with her were the most talented of this
generation. With the exception of Shade whose high moral standards
unfortunately left him out of that particular group.”

Symphony raised an eyebrow and looked to
Shade who simply nodded in answer. “High moral standards?” she
asked skeptically.

Shade frowned at her and pursed his lips.
“The part that Vaze didn’t tell you, then, to clarify for you. Jail
Han’shy will use his Mind magic on anyone for anything that he
wants. He has no qualms whatsoever on using it for a dark purpose –
say to have someone kill someone else so that Jail himself has no
blood on his hands. Valor Hai’dia is a drunken womanizer that I
have personally witnessed kill someone for the offense of spilling
wine on his tunic. Wisp Faydwer is a manipulator of the top degree.
She will bat her eyelashes and blow you a kiss even as she is
deciding where to plant the knife in your back. Neph doesn’t even
require an offense such as spilled wine to kill you. All you have
to do with that one is look at him the wrong way. So there is the
other side of the coin,” Shade explained with a dark glance toward
Vaze.

“Is this true?” Symphony asked looking
quickly back to Vaze.

“A bit dramatic I think, but some of that may
have occurred in the past,” Vaze admitted hesitantly.

“Will they corrupt her then?” Symphony asked
quickly, a worried expression forming on her face.

“Ask the hundreds that she killed on the
night we took the city. The Jala I met in Brannaford wouldn’t have
done that,” Shade answered softly before Vaze could even open his
mouth. The sound of voices from the hall rose and Shade silently
stepped back farther into the shadows and activated his camouflage
to hide.

The worried expression vanished instantly
from her face as the door opened and Lutheron stepped inside.
Bowing, the second in command stepped aside, allowing the rest of
the council to enter as well as a few people that Shade didn’t
recognize.

“Symphony, how was your flight?” Caspian
asked in his customary quiet voice as he moved to sit beside
her.

“Wonderful. Thank you for asking. I think I’m
finally learning how to properly control the hawk,” Symphony
replied.

The hawk and her instructor
, Shade
mused as he settled back against the wall, his eyes scanning every
face in the room and the expressions they wore. He would mark every
detail of the meeting from tone of voice to flicker of eye. It was
best to have clear evidence of suspicion when dealing with
Symphony. She was one of the rare individuals that put absolutely
no value on rumors. For her there had to be proof.

Merro

A wave of dizziness washed over her as the
translocation magic faded from them. Jala opened her eyes slowly
and let out a sigh of relief as she recognized the bedroom they had
left hours before.

“Shit,” Valor muttered beside her. “Hello
Neph,” he added in a weary voice.

Turning, Jala spotted the Delvay mage sitting
in a chair in the corner, his feet propped up on the edge of the
bed and a stormy expression on his face. “Hello Neph,” she echoed
Valor in a soft voice and raised her hand in a half-hearted
wave.

“What would you think if a friend of yours
had just recovered from a near death illness and requested sleep
and then when you went to check, you found your friend was gone?”
Neph asked, his voice flat and his expression growing darker.

“I would, uh… I would wonder where they
were,” Jala answered in a halting voice and dropped down to sit on
the bed facing Neph. All she wanted was to crawl under the covers
and fall into a deep dreamless sleep, but that was apparently going
to be a while.

“My first thought was she lied to me rather
than where is she,” Neph said his eyes locked on her accusingly. He
folded his arms across his chest and looked from her to Valor. “My
second thought was that Valor should have stopped her from leaving
when she was obviously so weak. Instead the dumb ass went with
her.”

“I have no right to tell her what to do,
Neph. I swore to follow her, not lead her,” Valor said flatly as he
leaned back against the wall with an exasperated look on his
face.

“He tried to stop me, Neph, but I insisted,”
Jala broke in before the argument between them could build. “I had
to save Sebastian Blackwolf before Death regained strength. I had
limited amounts of time to do it in and I knew you would object. I
didn’t want to lie to any of you, but I didn’t want to fight with
you either. It had to be done,” she explained in a level, calm
voice as she pulled her boots off and lay back on her bed with a
groan.

“Had you considered possibly that had you
told me that I might have understood?” Neph growled his temper
apparently not soothed by her explanation in the least.

“Have you considered that you swore to obey
her and she has no reason to explain her actions to you
whatsoever?” Valor shot back.

“Have either of you considered that you act
like rabid dogs when you are in the same room?” Jala asked with a
sigh. “No, Neph I didn’t, and I should have. Valor, he has a right
to question me because he is my friend, the same as you do. If I
choose to listen or not is another matter entirely. “She rubbed her
face and tried her best to force a smile. “ Neph, I love you, I
truly do, and I appreciate all that you have done for me beyond
what words are capable of expressing. But I’m begging you by all
that is holy in this world, let me sleep now and yell at me when I
wake up. I swear before you both on my Father’s grave that I will
go nowhere until you have had your fill of cursing and
snarling.”

“Swear to me that you are actually going to
sleep and I will consider it,” Neph snapped his eyes narrowed.

“As deeply and soundly as I possibly can,
considering the current situation. I’m too exhausted to do anything
else,” Jala replied.

“Fine, then. Before I go, though, let me
leave you with something to think on,” Neph said as he stood.
Reaching into his pocket he produced a pair of glasses set with
colored lenses that reminded her of the ones Shade had worn in
Sanctuary. “Sovann made these. He was eager to tell you about them
but you seemed so weak he decided to wait until morning to bring it
up. They allow the wearer to see Blights. He spent weeks working on
it. Had we known you were going to Glis you could have taken these
and allowed their mages to duplicate the runes on them,” Neph said
quietly and set the glasses carefully down on her nightstand.

Jala stared at the glasses, not even looking
up to watch Neph leave the room. Carefully she reached over and
picked them up to examine the runes closer. “I feel like such a
fool now,” she whispered.

“And that is exactly the reaction he wanted
from you,” Valor replied quietly. “Neph likes to be right. Neph
loves being in control, and above all else Neph adores being
superior.”

“He is right on this. Had I told them, I
could have given these to Micah and helped them end the war with
the Blights in a matter of weeks,” Jala said sadly as she set the
glasses carefully back down on her table.

“Then send them in the morning. Or form a
mind link with Micah and show him the runes. They are not fighting
the Blights tonight so a delay of one night will make no
difference. Thank Sovann when you wake. Apologize to all of them
and explain why you did it and forget about Neph’s bitching. Neph
will always have something to bitch about. He is Delvay,” Valor
said as he stood straight once more and headed for the door.

“Goodnight, Jala,” he called over his
shoulder.

“Goodnight, Val,” Jala replied softly and
watched him leave. She patted the bed beside her and Marrow jumped
up and lay down with a yawn. “It seems like no matter what I do, I
do it wrong,” she sighed and scratched the Bendazzi behind the
ears.

You are doing it wrong. Scratch more to
the left
, Marrow told her with a faint chuckle.

“You are not helping,” Jala sighed.

I wasn’t trying to help. I was trying to
mock you. If you must kick and berate yourself, do it in the
morning. I’m tired tonight
, Marrow informed her and punctuated
his words with yawning in her face before dropping his head down
flat to stare at her.

“What could you possibly be tired from? I did
all the work tonight,” Jala grumbled as she shimmied under the
blankets and pulled them up to her chin.

Hmph. Healing. All that required was your
sitting on your ass. I, in the meantime, tormented the large ugly
bear. Marked the territory of most of the town just to annoy the
Shifters. They have very sensitive noses, you know, and well,
Bendazzi musk is potent. That, and I kept watch on the knights from
time to time. Oh, and I ate a few small animals I found around the
village. With luck they weren’t actually Shifters. Just in case
they were, however you might want to hint that you believe Blights
might have been in the area.
Marrow’s voice was soothing in her
mind and she felt herself relaxing until he reached the last of his
recitation of his night’s amusement.

“Wait,” Jala began as she propped herself up
on her elbow and locked gazes with him. “While I was sowing good
will between our nations you terrorized their guard, pissed on
their town, and possibly ate some of their citizens?” she
demanded.

When you say it that way, is sounds
horrible. If they comment on the guard, say I’m curious. If they
comment on the marking, tell them the Blights fear Bendazzi and I
was helping them. If they mention missing relatives, gasp and say,
“How awful.” How hard is that
? Marrow said in a clear logical
voice and shook his massive head at her before laying it down once
more.
Really you are over reacting
.

Dropping back to lie flat on her back, Jala
stared up at the ceiling and let out a long breath. “I probably
am,” she agreed. Turning her head to look at him once more she
frowned. “Unless you ate Sebastian’s Aunt or childhood friend,” she
added dryly.

He is a Shifter. He should understand the
nature of survival of the fittest. I was fitter and now I’m fatter.
Blessed are small furry creatures that are slower than me and
tasty
, Marrow sighed in contentment and rolled onto his
back.

“Glutton,” Jala sighed as she turned her head
back to stare up at the ceiling. She gave another sigh and lifted
her arm to stare at the tattoos that still lined her wrist and arm.
Tracing a finger lightly down the gold lines she swallowed heavily.
“I miss him so much Marrow,” she whispered and felt the first of
the unshed tears gathering in her eyes. “I told myself not to
grieve, that I would have him back. I told myself that everything
we faced in the Darklands would be worth it, because I would have
him back, and now I’ve failed and I don’t get another try. I wanted
him back so badly that with my impatience I threw away my one
chance to get him. How can I live with that knowledge without the
guilt driving me mad?” The tears were coursing fully down her
cheeks now and she sniffled as she wiped them away. Rolling over
onto her side she buried her face in Marrow’s thick fur shoulders,
shaking with the grief she had been holding back for so long.