Blood Price (Noble of Blood Book 1) (6 page)

Josaleene and Victor rode out of the gate and into the village a few moments later.  They rode at a walk through town because she wanted to savor being outside the Palace.  She smiled as they passed by the theatre she used to frequent, when searching for her path to becoming a Noble.

Finally their meandering came to a halt outside a shop with a large eye painted on the door.  Josaleene knew of several such seer's shops around the village, but after digging around found this lady was reputed to be an actual visionary and not just the type to throw generic good fortunes around to make some quick coin.

She allowed Victor to help her dismount and quickly walked towards the door while Victor tied off their mounts.

"My Princess I beg of you to wait for me, I do not like these fortune teller gypsies.  They lie for gold and their prices are much too high for lies."  Victor was hurrying to get the ropes tied off so he could catch up.

Josaleene pulled up short in front of the door.  There was a vibration in the air in front of her.  It was so slight, she wondered if Victor would notice it.  Putting her hand up, she waved it in the air in front of her, feeling the vibration ripple around her hand.  It seemed almost thick in the center, nearer the eye on the door.  Staring at the painted eye, she noticed it was painted like a snake's eye and not a humans.  What she thought was eyelashes actually looked like a wing sprouting from one corner of the eye.

Victor walked briskly past her thinking her hesitation was only her waiting for him to enter the shop before her.  She watched as he passed her and saw that he did not notice anything unusual as he opened the door.

He held the door open for her after he entered, and she took a deep breath as she walked past the painted eye.

Many different sights and scents attacked her senses as she walked in the small front area of the seer's shop.  From different oils and incenses to a faint hint of animal blood, the smells had her looking all over to try to peg them all down.  When she looked straight back she noticed an older woman behind a counter.  The woman was dressed in loose draping garments with a faded silken cloth tied around her head.  Unruly and very curly wisps of silver-streaked black hair poked out of the cloth in defiance.  Her nails were painted bright red and she wore many silver and copper bracelets on both wrists.  Her hands were slightly shaking as she stared at the guests who entered her shop.

As she noticed Josaleene looking at her hands, she dropped them from the counter and down where they couldn't be seen betraying her nervousness.

Josaleene stole a glance at Victor who looked unconcerned with the woman.  He assumed she was just nervous that two Nobles had entered her place of business.

Looking back at the woman she saw a flicker of fear in the woman’s eyes, but more than that there was resignation like she had known this moment would come.  She did not yet speak and the only sound was the occasional horse passing by outside, and the metal bracelets clinking together as she started to fidget with her hands.

Seeing no reason to continue to make the seer nervous Josaleene walked toward the counter.

"Greetings Seeress.  I have need of your talents.  I am hoping to know a little about the events that will surround my child’s birth, and I was told that you are the only true visionary around.  Will you help me?  I will pay whatever your price."

"And what if the price is your blood?"  Croaked the woman.  Squinting her eyes she peered at Josaleene expecting a harsh reply.

"I do not believe that my blood is worth much, but my child's blood has importance.  I just know it."  Smiling at the older woman she pulled a small silken purse from her belt and opened it.  Pulling out several large gold coins, she laid them on the counter and pushed them to the middle.

"Your blood will be the price you pay no matter whether I give you a reading or no.  And that is not a threat from me so please let your guard know he can be at ease here.  I knew as soon as you crossed my doorstep who you were, and I have expected your arrival for many, many moons now.  However, I was not expecting tonight to be the night you would walk in here.  My name is Mordred, my Princess.  Now, let us go to the back room where you can sit and be comfortable."

Mordred scooped up the coins then turned and walked through a doorway, shoving a hanging sheet aside and leaving her to wonder how she knew she was the Princess.  Josaleene began to follow her, but stopped short when Victor grabbed her hand.  Not thinking at all about her guard's sudden possessiveness, she closed her hand around his and patted the back of his hand with her free one, and motioned with an incline of her head for him to follow.

She let go of Victor’s hand as she approached the sheet dividing the rooms.  She felt another vibration in this doorway, but sensing nothing harmful about it she pushed the sheet aside and walked through.  There were close to a hundred candles lit around the room, of many different colors and sizes.  Josaleene watched as Mordred walked around the room extinguishing all but the white and black ones.

Turning around from the last candle, she set the snuffer down and gestured to a large overstuffed chair.  "Please do sit down and get comfortable"

Josaleene lowered herself into the fluffy seat with Victor looming behind her.  Mordred walked over to a small table where there were several items.  One was a small pouch with the drawstring pulled closed.  Another was a board, square with symbols placed in what she supposed was important patterns.  There was also a small bowl with ashes in it, and a very sharp looking ritual knife laying across the bowl.

Picking up the knife and bowl she came back towards Josaleene.

"Now as I said you are safe here, but the reading requires a few drops of your blood.  To be honest, the omens I have received about you have told me quite a bit about events surrounding you.  But they have told me nothing about you, or your child.  For that I will need the blood."  Mordred was eying Victor to make sure he wouldn't make any sudden moves on her. 

Josaleene held out her hand to the aging woman.  Quick as a snake Mordred pierced one of her fingers and squeezed out a few drops of blood to catch in the bowl below it.  Returning to the table she sat herself down on a small cushioned stool.  Placing the bowl in the middle of the table, she took a match out of her robes and struck it.  She tossed the match into the bowl and POOF the blood went up in a small burst of flame.  It died out just as quick but continued to smoke for a few minutes.

Wide eyed, Josaleene leaned forward to watch closer. Mordred opened the small pouch to pour out a dozen small crystals into her other hand.  She moved the hand with the crystals through the smoke a few time then tossed them down onto the square board.  Watching mesmerized as the crystals scattered across the board she was startled when one crystal came close to rolling off the board, then seemingly stopped itself and rolled back to stay on the board.

"Did you see that Victor?"  Gasped Josaleene. 

"It was a fancy trick is all, Princess."  He replied.

"No tricks are played here.  The stones know where they want to land after they taste the blood in the smoke."  Mordred was staring intently at the board.  Sighing, she pointed to the top of the board, and the two crystals that landed there.  "Two will travel north to find answers to a question that should never have come to be.  Both will return with no answer but will bring with them a heavy burden of knowledge."

Mordred then pointed at the left side of the board and the two crystals that landed there.  "These two mean you harm.  They are jealous of your position in the Court.  They do not think you deserve that position or the power of the child you carry.  They will seek to displace you."

She then points to the right side of the board where six of the crystals had fallen.  "This is very ominous indeed.  This quarter represents large battles and with so many crystals falling there it only can mean that a war is coming."

Fixing her sight on the last two crystals, one of them the crystal that almost fell off of the board but rolled back she sighed.  "These two represent powerful beings, separating themselves from others of their kind.  Self-imposed exile maybe?  This one in particular" she says while pointing at the crystal close to the edge "is self-destructive at the time, but with the right influence or catalyst he will right himself and survive the event that drove him to running away."

"Where am I on this board?  Do you see what will happen to me?"  Josaleene asks nervously.

"All of these events are centered on you.  The two that travel north do so seeking answers to your predicament.  The two that seek you harm, well that part is obvious enough.  Do well to stay out of harm’s way and you will be safe.  Safe from them anyway.  Large battles, I think both past and present are represented here.  Your condition is unprecedented but was rooted in a past war.  I also see war coming back to the realm.  Our very survival hinges on the outcome of whether this one" Mordred pointed back to the stray crystal "survives or dies before they are needed to fight in this war."

Mordred looked back up from the board and pinned Josaleene with a very intent stare.

"There are much, much larger things happening than you merely birthing a child.  You and this child will both play a very large part in these events.  Your child is powerful.  More powerful than any Noble come before it.  You must survive to bear this child.  The land around you depends on it for their survival.  Your part will be to make sure that this person,” she again points at the crystal that almost fell "lives after you are gone.”

Mordred closed her eyes and mumbled quietly.  “The serpent slumbers now, but once awoken will seek retribution.”

Opening her eyes, Mordred folded her hands on the table in front of her.  "That is all that I can tell you, Princess.  I know there are many questions, but the answers will unfold in time."

Rising from her chair, Josaleene placed the small purse with the rest of the money on the table.  "You have earned this, and maybe more.  I truly do not know the monetary worth in this information.  But if what you are telling me is true, then I think our survival will be the best payment I could give."

Moving to leave, she turned back to Mordred.  "If ever you need anything of me, do not hesitate to come to the Palace and ask for myself or my Prince.   Thank you."

As she left the shop her emotions were conflicted.  She was not sure she liked hearing yet another confirmation of her not surviving past her child’s birth, but now she knew so much more.  The information she was given by the seer tied into things she had learned from The Patriarch about the war and the spells surrounding the Slumber Chambers.

"Victor, please do not tell the Prince of what the seer spoke about.  I would like to keep this quiet until I think about it all further."

"I will do as you ask, Princess.  But I will take the knowledge of someone meaning you harm to heart and keep an extra guard at your doors."  Victor looked solemnly at her after he placed her upon her horse, and she knew she could never talk him out of it.

"You are a great friend, Victor.  I hope that when I am gone you will be as good of a friend and protector to my child as you are to me."  Before he could respond, she spurred her horse to a trot back towards the palace and towards her beloved.

Running his hands through his hair, Dartein forced himself to look away from the books and map in front of him.  He had a very good idea of where to look for the old battleground and how to get there.  Next to the map was a reed pen and a sheet of thin vellum.  He intended to use these to write out the list of supplies he needed to gather for his journey.  He wanted to travel as light as possible to make the best time, so the list wouldn't be very long.  He just couldn't make himself write out the list.

If he wrote it he felt he was committing himself to this journey.  And if he did that then he would have to leave his Josee behind.  The thought scared him, especially after Victor reported Juron's strange conversation with his beloved in the courtyard the other night.

That was the only part of their outing that Victor would tell him about.  Being told by his guard and old friend that The Princess forbade him to speak of the other events of the night were unsettling to say the least.  He had not pushed Josaleene to tell him anything, though.  He knew she always had reasons for what she did, and would wait to hear her out.  As pensive as she had become lately though he thought he may have to break down and ask her anyway.

The door to the chamber swept open and in swept the one person who made his life worth living.  Josaleene hurried in and stopped to give him a curious glance.

"Dartein, that lopsided grin is a bit out of character for you lately.  Should I assume that you have been drinking?  Or is there another reason for it?"  It was a glimpse of the playful carefree Josee that he loved so much.  She strode over to where he sat and cupped his face with her hands.  Placing her face directly in front of his he thought she would kiss him.  Just when her lips almost touched his she winked at him. 

"No, I do not smell drink on your breath." She giggled.

Dartein wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him.  Since he was still seated, her now bulging belly pressed against the side of his face.

"You, always you.  You always make me smile whether you see it or not." He murmured into her belly.  He loved the feel of her, and loved feeling the heat coming from her middle.  He knew their child would be a girl.  And he knew without a doubt she would be as lovely as her mother.  He wondered idly if she would just as uncontrollable.

As if in response to his thought he felt a light bump against his cheek.  He pulled away and looked up at Josaleene sheepishly.

"I think our daughter knows me too well and is already kicking me for irrational thoughts."

"You are silly.  And she sure has been moving around a lot lately."  Placing her hands to her back she walked over to the bed and sat down.

Dartein rose and followed her.  Sitting next to her he began to rub at the tense areas in her back.  After a few moments, she turned and looked at him with her eyes half closed.

"Dartein, if you keep that up you won't get any more work done with your maps tonight."  She said breathily.

Dartein just smiled and pulled her to him for a deep kiss.  Pulling away for breath he whispers "I've finished with that map anyway."  He caught her mouth again with his and gently lowered her to lie on the bed. 

He ran his hands over her like he was exploring her body again for the first time.  He could never get enough of her.  And her growing belly only made her more irresistible to him, so alive and so warm.  He lost himself in her and forgot all about the list he still needed to write.

----

Lying next to him, cuddled into his arm she felt more relaxed than she had in weeks.  Dartein was close to sleep and was rubbing his fingers across her middle in a slow rhythm.  She looked over at his face, relishing every one of his fine features.  He was beyond handsome.  He was gorgeous.  And she knew that many of the lady Nobles were very jealous of her.

The sudden thought of him finding comfort in someone else after she was gone hurt her to her very core.

Of course she knew he loved her and only her.  But then again she almost felt guilty that she would leave him and he may never move on to find another woman to comfort him.  Feeling much too conflicted about the thoughts she was having, she kissed him lightly to see if he was still awake.

By the small smile that grew on his face after her kiss, she knew he was awake.

"Dartein, love, you said you were finished with your map?  What did you figure out from it?"

His eyes popped open wide as if he was faced with a thought that he did not want to entertain.  Sighing he closed his eyes again before he spoke.

"Well, yes.  I did figure out where to find what I am looking for."

"Really?  And just what is it that you are looking for?"  Josaleene was a bit curious since she never knew he was searching for something.  She had assumed he was studying more of the history of the Ancient War.

Dartein opened his eyes and looked at her intently.  "Josee, there is another Chamber."

Gasping she sat up in the bed.  She didn't know what to think.  They had been told that the one Chamber in the Palace was the only one that survived the war.

"How is there another chamber?"  She breathed.

"Two of the chambers were still intact after the war.  My Father only retrieved one of them.  The one he created, the one he was turned in.  Out there buried under the last battlefield is the other one."

Icy fingers of dread crawled up her spine as she asked her next question.

"Where is it at, Dartein?  Where do you have to go to look for it?"

"To the Northern Reaches, beyond the Lothnau Forest and to the foot of the mountains there." 

Josaleene had barely heard the last part of the sentence.  She felt so cold.

"Two will travel north.  That is what she said.  Dartein it is all true!" 

He looked frightened as he took in her now-pale features. "Do tell me what you speak of, what has you so frightened?"

"Oh, Dartein.  The night that Victor and I went out to the village I visited a Seer.  Please do not look at me that way, I know our child will be powerful and I wanted to know more!  What I found out from her though, was more about myself than our child.  She told me that two will travel north to seek the answer to my condition.  She told me that there was a war, and that there will be war again.  She also told me that the only way for us to win the war is for you to survive after I am gone."  Tears ran freely down her face.  Hearing him confirm part of the Seer's story had her scared.  She wasn't ready for everything that was told to her to unfold.  It was too soon.

Dartein looked like he was in shock.  "A seer?  Aren't those people dangerous to deal with?  Why were you at a Seer?  How could Victor let you do that?"

"Did you not hear anything else I said?  War, Dartein.  The events that are unfolding are more important than me.  I do not think you should bother seeking out useless ways to save me when war looms on our doorstep!"

"How can you say that?  You are the most important thing in my life.  I will fight wars for you, and I will find a way to save you.  Please Josaleene, forgive me my anger.  I am so scared for you.  I was frightened that this seer could have hurt you."  Grabbing her hands with his he covered them with kisses, then sat her hands in her lap and laid his hands to either side of her face.  "I will save you, my love.  I will travel to the darkest corners of the earth and back to make sure you stay by my side."  He kissed her lightly on the forehead.

Josaleene knew she would not survive.  It had been confirmed to her too many times in too many ways.  She accepted it.  She now had to find a way to keep Dartein from getting himself killed trying to save her.  He was going to be important in the war that was coming.  Maybe some distance from her would be a good way to clear his head, and get back to thinking reasonably about the events happening around them.

"When will you be leaving to find this chamber?"  She asked in resignation.

"I will be leaving as soon as I can.  In a couple of months the Northern Reaches will be covered in snow, and frozen earth will be difficult to dig into to find the Chamber."

She watched as he rose from the bed and walked over to the table where his maps and history book lay.  He began to hastily write on the parchment in front of him.  When he finished he opened the door and told the guard there to bring Victor to him.

Josaleene slipped into a dressing gown and walked over to Dartein.  She wrapped her arms around him but said nothing.

A few short moments later Victor appeared in the doorway. 

"I need you to gather up the things on this list and have them packed up and ready for me.  I will be leaving tomorrow at dusk."  Dartein instructed the guard.

Josaleene would not have him travel by himself.  "Victor, double whatever is on that list and inform Anton that he is traveling with the Prince tomorrow."  She looked pointedly at Dartein and repeated "Two will travel North." 

She heard Victor's sharp intake of breath, and knew he remembered every word the Seer had uttered during the telling.

"Princess, my Prince.  Everything will be ready well before it is time to leave."  With one last quick glance at Josaleene, Victor turned and hurried away.

She looked up at her handsome man, the love of her lifetime.  The one man who had made her life worth living, even if she had to turn into something else to have that life.

"That seer said Two will Travel North to look for an answer.  Did she say if they find the answer they seek?" Dartein asked quietly.

In answer, she just shook her head.

But the Seer had told her, told her that they would not find the answer for her.  But they would find powerful knowledge.  She wondered if that at least would make the trip worth it.