The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes (37 page)

“You will regret this choice,” the High lord
stammered, his words halting and choked. Looking back up at her he
shook his head violently. “You will deeply regret this choice,” he
repeated in a louder voice filled with more confidence. “Merro will
fall and I will see you in the slave pits you little bitch,” he
snarled as he began to back toward his ship.

“I warned you,” Jala said softly as she
watched them flee. Her mind was weighing the option of destroying
the spell hawk once they had closed the door behind them. She
didn’t like the idea of killing Truce or Sovaesh though. Glancing
toward the Assassin she noted the slight crease at the corners of
his eyes before he turned away to follow his master. Finn’s eyes
had creased like that when he smiled, though she couldn’t imagine
why the man would be smiling after what had just happened.

Neph started to raise his hand for another
spell as the ship rose but Jala shook her head quickly and pushed
his hand back down. “No, we’ve done enough damage by killing their
guards. Not to mention the wards that are layering that ship. Just
let them go.” The anger had faded from her as quickly as it had
come and she found herself simply watching the ship disappear as
she pondered Sovaesh’s strange behavior. With a weary sigh she
glanced back toward Jail. “We need to talk. Gather everyone now,
please,” she said softly as she moved back inside the house.

Jala stared silently down the table and
watched with a clenched chest as Sovann carefully balanced her son
on his leg. She felt her throat tighten a bit as her mind wandered
to Finn, but she forced herself to keep watching and ignore the
pain. There was a faint shuffling of chairs as the others began to
seat themselves. Glancing away from Sovann finally, she watched
Neph put the finishing touches on the spells of protection that
would keep outsiders from overhearing anything in the room.

“Not even the gods can hear us now,” Neph
announced as he nodded to her and took the seat to her left. Valor
sat comfortably to her right with Wisp and Sovann closest to him
while Jail, Madren, and Bridgette sat opposite. The lady knight
shifted a bit in her seat and looked more confused than
uncomfortable at being in the room. Joseph sat on the far side of
her and if anything, the young man looked even more bewildered than
the knight. He had been helping Sovann with every experiment the
mage worked on, but as far as actual governmental work, he had no
idea what was going on. It was at Jala’s insistence that the two of
them were in attendance and she hadn’t bothered to explain to
anyone why she wanted them present.

“Thank you, Neph. Before I begin, I’d like to
thank Valor and Sovann for their gift to me,” Jala said as she
looked at them both in turn. “I truly appreciate all of the work
you both put into the staff and cannot thank you enough. It is a
magnificent weapon.”

“I should have made one before now. I was
kicking myself every day we were in the Darklands for allowing you
to go in unarmed. Magic is useful, but you should have something to
back it up with when it fails,” Valor replied.

“Most of the thanks should go to Valor
really. All I did was lay the protections on it. The design is
truly genius considering the difficulty you have with mana stones.
The Barllen should leech the power from the stones when it’s
uncovered and you can pull directly from the Barllen. The stones
should keep the protection runes from being drained as well,”
Sovann said quickly, his eyes alight with interest as they always
were when he spoke of his Arcane works.

“Well, regardless, Sovann, you both have my
sincere thanks. It is beautiful,” Jala said softly and let her eyes
trail over everyone at the table once more before she leaned
forward in her chair and folded her hands calmly on the table.

“Your hand Jala!” Wisp exclaimed in
amazement. “It’s whole again!”

Jala smiled faintly and looked down at her
newly repaired hand. Lifting it slowly she flexed the fingers and
admired the smooth skin. “As good as I could make it anyway. You
can still see the glitter from the focus gems in the skin, but at
least it isn’t quite so hideous.”

“Your fingers were completely gone, though.
Not even Rose replaces missing limbs. She says the magic is too
taxing,” Wisp pressed her green eyes wide in astonishment.

“Rose knew how to replace bones. She told me
how to do it. I suppose for the commons it might be too taxing, but
I wanted my fingers back,” Jala explained as she lowered her hand
back to the table.

“It was an honorable wound and you shouldn’t
have seen shame in it,” Valor said quietly, his dark blue eyes
locked on her hand. His expression, however, was one of relief.

“Not everyone sees it like that, Valor,” Jail
said softly and nodded to Jala with respect. “I am impressed,
Jala.”

Jala smirked slightly and nodded to Jail.
“Now for the less impressive part of my day,” she began with a
sigh. “As everyone in this room is aware, I just ordered the death
of ten Avanti guards while their High Lord visited on parlay,” Jala
began, her eyes moving past everyone at the table to lock on the
map on the wall behind them. “Because of that, Avanti will come for
us in the spring,” she continued, her eyes tracing over the faint
smudge of green that marked the borders of the Greenwild. That
single country was the only thing that stood between her people and
the Avanti armies. The Greenwild itself had no armies or
protections against the Avanti forces and, at best, crossing that
land would only slow her enemies for a short time.

“The Avanti used magic first. I saw them from
my perch,” Wisp objected with a shake of her head that sent her
wavy black hair rippling down her back. “I would testify at the
council that the High Lord used his magic first,” she added with a
defiant expression on her delicate face.

“There won’t be a council to testify to in
the spring,” Jail objected with a sigh and looked to Jala. “What do
you plan to do?” he asked.

“First and foremost, I plan to clear a few
things up, Bridgette,” Jala began and the knight sat sharply
forward in her seat, her attention fully focused on Jala. “I have
heard through a trusted source that rumors about Valor are running
wild in the city. If you would, please try to have this stopped. I
want everyone in this room as well as this city to know without a
shadow of doubt that Valor has my complete trust and
confidence.”

“As you say, High Lady Merrodin, though it is
difficult to keep soldiers from talking,” Bridgette replied with a
faint hesitation. She glanced quickly from Valor and then back to
Jala once more and seemed to be waiting for something.

“Regardless, make the effort please,” Jala
pressed gently.

“That isn’t necessary, Jala, I can handle the
gossip myself,” Valor objected with a frown.

“It isn’t necessary for my people to know
that I have faith and trust my General completely?” Jala asked with
a raised eyebrow.

“General?” Valor exclaimed with a bit of
shock. “You told me to build an army for you. You never said I’d be
leading the entire bloody thing. I have experience with cavalry,
not entire armies.”

“Your father is the Lord General of Arovan.
You have more training than anyone else in this room. I didn’t have
a chance to study anything remotely close to military strategy. I
do believe that makes you the most qualified in this room, Valor,”
Jala explained calmly in a voice that told him clearly the
discussion was over.

“General Valor Hai’dia,” Neph said slowly as
if savoring the words and then nodded firmly to Jala. “Yep, we are
fucked,” he said in a light voice as he leaned fully back in his
chair and propped his feet on the table.

Jala frowned at him sharply and pushed his
boots from the table. “We are not. I’ve seen Valor fight. We will
be fine,” she objected fiercely.

“Jala, fighting and leading men to fight are
two entirely different things,” Jail said calmly his expression
mildly apologetic.

“Jail can you do transfers?” Valor broke in
before Jala had a chance to speak again.

“I can, but it is highly frowned upon and
most see it as tainted knowledge. To truly appreciate something,
you must learn it yourself Valor,” Jail said hesitantly.

“What?” Jala began but Valor cut her off once
more.

“We don’t have time for proper learning if
this is all going to break loose in the spring. That gives us
perhaps three months. Transfer what I know of war to Jala. I give
the knowledge freely and want her to have it,” Valor said as he
rose from his chair and moved to stand by Jail who was watching him
with an unreadable expression.

“What?” Jala repeated, her gaze flicking from
face to face, hoping someone would clarify exactly what Valor was
suggesting. While she understood the basics of what he had
explained she didn’t know the actual workings of how such a thing
was done or what the repercussions would be. If Valor lost the
knowledge when she gained it, this was not a path she wanted to
follow.

“So you are essentially shoving the role of
General onto our High Lady? How noble,” Neph scoffed shaking his
head with disgust.

“No, but if I’m going to lead, then I want
her to understand everything I do, and if I’m doing something she
objects to, I want her to have the knowledge to correct me,” Valor
shot back, his tone cold. Turning, he locked eyes with Jala and she
could see the determination clear in his blue eyes. “I won’t do
this without the transfer, Jala. You will have to find another
General if you object. Take my knowledge and use it to help. You
have a way of thinking very clearly in situations that would
terrify anyone else, and you see things from a different
perspective,” he said in a softer voice.

“It won’t damage you in anyway if I accept?”
Jala asked cautiously.

“Consider it simply the duplication of a
memory on a larger scale. Valor will retain the knowledge and you
will learn everything he knows. However, the knowledge that comes
directly from his mind will be tainted with his opinions and
beliefs. You will not form your own ideas about maneuvers and
such,” Jail explained his expression skeptical at best.

“Then I agree to your terms Valor,” Jala said
with a faint nod. She knew how much Valor must want her to have his
knowledge to risk Jail working on his mind once more. He had stated
clearly in the Darklands that he didn’t trust the Han’shy mage and
yet here he was insisting that mind magic be worked once more. “I
trust in the fact that Valor’s mind will not be altered in any way
from this magic,” she said softly as she moved her gaze from Valor
to lock eyes with Jail.

“You have my word that no changes will be
made to his mind beyond sharing his knowledge with you. I swear by
the blood of my house,” Jail said formally as he rose to stand
facing Valor. The Han’shy towered over the knight and his hands
nearly covered Valor’s head as he placed his palms carefully over
Valor’s temples. “There will be a moment of dizziness as I work,”
Jail warned Valor quietly and then closed his eyes as he focused on
his magic.

Jala watched in silence as the spell was
worked, her eyes moving constantly from Valor’s face to Jail’s. She
had been warned that Jail might not be entirely trustworthy and she
was allowing him to work on the mind of one of her closest friends.
Of all of the different types of magic Sovann and Neph had taught
her. Mind magic had not been included in the lessons. If Jail did
alter Valor’s mind there would be no way she could fix it.

Are we having doubts
? Neph’s voice
broke through her thoughts and she glanced aside to look at him. It
wasn’t often that Neph used mental links. He usually just spoke
whatever was on his mind regardless of who he offended. His
expression now, however, was carefully neutral, giving no
indication that they were linked.

Do you trust Jail
? Jala asked him
through the same mental link.

I trust no one
, Neph answered bluntly,
a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
If Valor
starts clucking like a chicken we will know Jail isn’t our buddy
after all
.

That’s not funny Neph. I’m serious
,
Jala objected, her gaze moving once more to scan Valor’s face. He
seemed paler then before, but didn’t look to be in any sort of
pain.

Jail is on our side as far as the Avanti
are concerned. Jail has nothing to gain by sabotaging Valor so it
should be fine. The part you are going to have to watch Jail on is
the Fionaveir. He has family on their council and he is fond of
them
, Neph assured her, his tone moving from his typical
sarcasm to the gentle tones he seemed to reserve for only her.

So virtually the same as Wisp then
,
Jala replied with a sigh and nearly rose from her chair as Valor
staggered and sat heavily back against the table.