The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes (54 page)

“It is comprised of a master of each circle
of training. However the High Lord himself has a voice there as
well and his word is worth two votes. In order to win against Jexon
cleanly, I would need all three of the Masters on my side and that
won’t happen. The Master of Blades will side with Jexon. There is
no doubt of that, and depending on who is control of the shamans
right now he might have that vote as well,” Ash explained
sourly.

“Could you explain to me why, exactly, Jexon
would do this, please?” Jala asked. She had only met the man once
at the council in Sanctuary and he hadn’t seemed too fond of her
then. She couldn’t imagine why he would want her as a wife after
that meeting.

“Politics,” Valor said from his seat at the
prow of the ship. She hadn’t even been aware that he could hear
them speaking until now. Standing slowly, Valor stretched and
walked over to join them. “If he marries you and places a lackey of
his in control of the isles, he effectively has control of both.
From what Ash is saying, whoever is the master of blades, is his
lackey,” Valor said with a look of misery on his face. He stared
down at her with a look that held both resignation and accusation
in it.

“Scythe is in charge of Blades right now. He
has always been a staunch supporter of my father and Valor is
likely right about their goals,” Ash agreed and leaned heavily back
on the rail.

“But you aren’t going to listen to us when we
tell you to go home are you?” Valor asked, though his expression
showed clearly that he already knew the answer to his question.

“I’m not going to go home without speaking
with them first,” Jala answered carefully. It seemed as though
vengeance was going to have a very high cost. Possibly her
friendship with Valor, if she wasn’t careful. “You don’t
understand, Valor. Every plan I have is contingent on Spirit mages.
I have to have Seravae in this,” Jala sighed.

“Make new plans,” Valor suggested. “I’ve
never met Jexon personally but I’ve heard enough of him to hate the
man,” he added in a lower voice.

“Rumors, Valor. We both know how viscous
rumors can be,” Jala returned in a voice that was sharper than she
had intended.

“In my Father’s case, they may not all be
rumors,” Ash offered hesitantly.

“Maybe you should listen to the son that had
to exile himself to keep his father from killing him?” Valor added,
his voice gaining volume with his anger.

The cold drizzling rain began to fall in
heavier sheets and Jala sighed. Pulling her cloak tighter she
looked up at the sky and then to Valor. “Really, Val, as if the day
wasn’t bad enough,” she grumbled.

“Like I’m bloody well doing it on purpose!”
Valor snapped back as he pulled the hood up on his cloak. “Maybe
you shouldn’t have done whatever you did to my magic. Or maybe,
just maybe you should stop pissing me off.”

“I feel inclined to mention that it isn’t
exactly anger you are radiating right now, Valor,” Ash said
quietly.

“Shut the hell up, spook,” Valor growled, his
voice low and dangerous as he whirled to face the Soulreaver.

“OK, now it’s anger,” Ash amended quietly as
thunder cracked in the sky above them. “We should probably get the
child below until landfall,” Ash suggested to Jala, giving one last
glance at Valor and the worsening weather.

With a heavy sigh, Jala nodded and moved
toward the ship’s hold. “I never try to piss you off, Valor,” she
murmured though she doubted he could hear her through the rain and
wind. The smell of fish hit her the moment the heavy door was
opened. “I really don’t want to go down there,” Jala sighed with a
glance back to Ash.

“I apologize for the ship, Jala. It was the
best I could do on short notice. There aren’t many passenger ships
left on the water and there were no Spell Hawks available,” Ash
said with an apologetic shrug.

Moving another few steps down the stairs,
Jala found a perch that was reasonably dry and sat down. She heard
the sound of the hold door closing and then Ash was beside her.
“Valor is being stubborn, eh?” she asked softly. She hadn’t really
expected him to come into the hold, but she had been hoping he
would, regardless.

“Hurt, angry, defiant, grief stricken, but
not stubborn,” Ash corrected as he took a seat beside her. He wiped
the rain from his face and brushed his long white hair back from
his eyes and looked over at her with his pale, almost colorless
gaze. “May I speak bluntly without offending you?” he asked
cautiously.

“Will it involve a typhoon if I don’t say
what you want to hear in reply?” Jala returned dryly.

“You know it won’t,” Ash said with a
smirk.

Jala sighed again and nodded. Then looked
around in shock as she realized Marrow hadn’t come down with her.
She’d been about to lean up against him, but he wasn’t there. She
turned her head to gaze up at the hold door, a faint pang in her
chest at the realization that Marrow had chosen the cold and rain
rather than her company.

“Jexon is a son of a bitch. He is ruthless
and cold, Jala. He loves power more than anything else in this
world and you will be nothing more than a stepping stone for him,”
Ash began slowly and Jala felt her hopes sinking farther.
“However,” Ash said and paused until she looked up at him. He
exhaled heavily and gave her a faint smile. “However, if you are
set upon this and you need the shamans. I think I might have a plan
that will work,” Ash said slowly, each word spoken grudgingly.

“What?” Jala asked after a long pause.

“You have to tell me why you need the shamans
first, Jala, and then I will decide if it is worthy of what you
will suffer to attain them,” Ash said as he leaned back against the
wall. He looked even more like one of the Darklands’ spirits in the
shadows of the hold. His white clothing and pale, almost
translucent skin made him seem more dead than alive to her eyes.
The sight only strengthened her resolve.

“I go to war in the spring, Ash. There is no
question of that. The Avanti will march and I will face them.” Jala
paused as she tried to find the right words. If she phrased this
poorly Ash would abandon her just as quickly as Valor and Marrow
had. “I need the Shamans to hold my people in this world, Ash.
There will be those that fall. I know that, but I won’t let them
die. I will give her nothing, Ash, nothing. She has already taken
too much from me and I won’t let her claim a single soul. There are
three Divines in this world, Ash. I will only feed one of them. I
will not fear and I will not die.” Jala spoke the words with such
vehemence that Ash simply stared at her. “Will you help me?” she
asked softly.

“Are you sure you wish to involve the Divine
in this war?” Ash asked cautiously.

She could see the doubt in his eyes clearly
and she knew how the Soulreavers felt about Death. It was a gamble
telling him her plan, but she needed his support.

“The Divines helped create this mess. They
involved themselves in it. I’m simply the one calling them out,”
Jala replied with a shrug.

Ash nodded slowly with a thoughtful
expression and let out a long sigh. “I won’t tell my people what
you have told me. They would call you mad and there is a
possibility they might try to cleanse you.”

“Cleanse me?” Jala asked in confusion.

“It typically involves an angry mob hurling
rocks at you violently. After the mob is dispersed and the body is
removed the officials claim it was a cleansing of a tainted soul,”
Ash explained with a smirk.

“Lovely,” Jala mused and shook her head.

“OK. Well, this is my plan,” Ash began with
hesitation in his voice. “I can’t win the votes so if you marry me,
it will be just me you get in the bargain. There will be no
political advantage. We both know that and understand that. Jexon
will sue for your hand because he wants your land. He will see you
as disposable once he is settled in Merro.” Ash gave her an
apologetic look as he spoke and she nodded her understanding. “I
pretend to fight him on the matter and draw the council out for a
day or two at least. In that time the allies I have on the isles
can make provisions as to who goes in the army with Jexon. He will
be allowed to take a set number from each Circle. The Masters
decide who is to be in that number, though. If I stage it correctly
we could have an army comprised of my supporters led by Jexon and I
doubt he will be any the wiser. He will pay attention to his
officers, but not the common soldiers.”

“He won’t move against me until he is sure of
his hold on Merro,” Jala mused as she turned the plan over in her
mind. “How many officers do you think he will have?” she asked
after a moment’s consideration.

“That depends on the size of the force he
plans to take. Jexon will want to guarantee he can overwhelm your
own forces in Merro. So I would guess ten thousand common soldiers
at the least, perhaps three hundred officers if you include the low
ranked ones. Jexon won’t bother with knowing the low ranking
officers, though. He will pay attention to the top tier. So perhaps
twenty that we have to watch,” Ash surmised.

“This plan has merit,” Jala said with
approval.

“It’s dangerous, though. He won’t acknowledge
the child you have now. He will want an heir of his own to secure
him in Merro,” Ash warned, his gaze dropping to Legacy who was
peacefully asleep.

“Will he try to kill my son?” Jala asked. She
would gamble a lot for vengeance, but not Legacy. If her son was in
danger with this path, then she would have to find another way.

Ash shook his head, his expression still
thoughtful. “When we negotiate the contract, make strong references
to the ties your child has to Arjuna Firym. If he knows Legacy is
the High Lord of Firym’s nephew he won’t touch a hair on his head.
There are a few other details we have to work out, but, Jala, I
need you to understand this before we continue. Jexon sees
absolutely no value in women beyond warming his bed. He will not
respect you, he will not treat you kindly, and he will do
everything he can to break your will. Are you still willing to walk
this path?” Ash watched her closely and she knew he was reading her
emotions as well as her expression.

“As long as my son is safe, there is nothing
he can do to me that will be worse than what I’ve already seen. To
see Merro safe from the Avanti and to repay the Dark lady for what
she has done, I will willingly suffer anything,” Jala answered
quietly with resolve thick in her voice.

“A life lived for vengeance is a life not
truly lived.” Ash continued to watch her as he spoke the proverb as
if he expected to see some shift of emotions, perhaps a moment of
indecision.

“To set aside my vengeance would be the same
as saying I don’t care. The Avanti killed my husband and now they
threaten my people and lands. Death is corrupt. She kept me from
bringing Finn back and has wrongfully kept thousands from returning
to the life cycle. I do care, and I plan to let them know exactly
how much I care. They are a festering wound to Sanctuary. Their
corruption taints everything they touch, but I will cleanse them,”
Jala said with promise thick in her voice. Carefully she brushed a
strand of hair back from Legacy’s face and smiled down at her son.
“They will never take anything from me again,” she added in a
softer voice.

Nothing about the Seravae islands was
inviting, from what Jala had seen since their landing. The entire
place reminded her of what the Darklands would be if the sun turned
its face on the shadows there. Cold fog rolled across the rock
strewn fields outside the window and she wondered if even a goat
could survive on the vegetation that struggled to grow there. The
view was utterly dismal, and yet it was still more appealing than
the view of the room she sat in.

She had been in the room for hours now while
the High Lord and Ash verbally battled over who would win the honor
of leading an army to Merro. It had been a constant debate for the
past two days and the arguments were beginning to run in circles
with both men repeating themselves. That hardly mattered though.
Ash was buying time now and nothing more. They both knew she would
end up in a marriage with Jexon.

At the thought, Jala turned her gaze toward
the dark haired man standing before the heavy oaken table. At a
glance, Jexon was attractive as all Elder Blood were. When you
looked closer, though, you could see the truth of him. Every time
his dark eyes settled on her she could see the calculations and
lust for power. She could see the distaste there as well. Jexon had
made no secret of what he thought of her. At least he is honest
about that, she mused.

“I’ve heard enough of this. We are repeating
ourselves here,” the Master of Blades proclaimed in a disgusted
voice. Ash had said the man’s name was Scythe, but no one had ever
bothered to properly introduce her to him. He was lean and sharp of
features and a cold bluntness to his words that made her rather
glad no one had bothered to introduce them.