The Crow King's Wife (2 page)

“Easy I’ve got you.” Caleb’s voice whispered
somewhere near his ear. “You are a tough little bastard Morcaillo.”
He added in a strained voice.

“He looks dead to me, not tough.” A woman
observed dryly from somewhere to his left.

“After what you have put him through he
should be. He is Morcaillo, Onvalla. A Delvay or Shifter could live
through this kind of treatment, even a Firym might be able to pull
through, but not one of the more fragile houses. Their strengths do
not lie in endurance.” Caleb scolded in a cold voice.

“He is Morcaillo as you say. So why should I
care if he dies?” Onvalla snapped back in a tone that held very
little patience.

“Because this particular Morcaillo was
Micah’s friend and he isn’t like the rest. This is Christian the
Shade. I know you heard Micah speak of him before. I know you
remember that name, Onvalla.” Caleb growled.

“The one Micah said could change House
Morcaillo if he led it?” Onvalla replied in a quieter tone. “Why
didn’t you tell me before now? It’s too late now. He is practically
dead.” Her voice held a note of regret and Shade wanted to slap her
for it. It was taking everything he had to focus on their words
rather than the jostling pain of his body, and every moment of
suffering he had endured was her fault.

“I tried to tell you Onvalla. I tried several
times to tell you or get him a healer, but your lackeys ignore my
words.” Caleb explained in frustration. “They would have continued
to ignore me if I hadn’t thrown such a bloody fit this time.” He
added in clipped tones.

“Be grateful they fetched me rather than
killing you for that.” Onvalla replied in a harsher voice. “I fail
to see what we can do for him regardless. He is too far gone now
and I have no healers. Blights have no need of healers.” Her words
echoed with superiority and Shade could hear the smile in her
voice.

“Slap her for that.” Shade mumbled hoping
Caleb could decipher his words despite the weakness of his
voice.

Caleb snorted back laughter as he gently
lowered Shade to the dirty straw covered floor. “I doubt that would
help either of us at this point.” He murmured quietly. “He wouldn’t
need a healer either if your people hadn’t been feeding him Tevrae
daily to keep him in this state. Give him the antidote and his
regeneration will do the rest of the work. I doubt he will get his
eye back or much of his strength, but he will live.” Caleb said in
a louder voice.

“Antidote?” Onvalla echoed in confusion.

“Yes Antidote. Did you not happen to glean
that particular detail when you were scanning minds? Nearly every
poison has an antidote and the one for Tevrae is fairly simple. Let
me out of this hole and I’ll be happy to show it to you.” Caleb
spoke in a carefully measured voice, but Shade could still hear the
seething anger in the man’s words.

“So you can escape? I don’t think so Caleb. I
can’t have you running back to your people with the knowledge you
have. It’s only for Micah’s memory that I have let you live this
long. I know he loved you like a little brother, but don’t make the
mistake of believing I share Micah’s sentiments. You were the one
that tracked my people down. If not for you hundreds of Blights
would still be alive. No one else can track us like you do, and
until I find out how you tracked us you are my prisoner.” Onvalla’s
voice grew colder with each word.

“And once you find out how I am what?
Dinner?” Caleb snapped back. “If you don’t get him the antidote he
will die and he could very well be the answer to your problems with
the Morcaillo. If he takes control of his house he can call back
his people and end their demands on your kind.”

Shade had to suppress a smile at the words.
There was of course no way that was the truth. He had about as much
chance of gaining control of House Morcaillo as Caleb had of
convincing Onvalla to save his life. Now didn’t seem the prudent
time to speak however. So he contented himself with staring up at
the shadowed ceiling and silently wishing someone would cut his
mangled leg off. With the pain coursing through it right now there
was no way an amputation could hurt any worse.

“And why would he? Why would he relinquish
power over the Blights?” Onvalla demanded. There was a trace of
hope in her voice though, it was barely perceptible but it was
there. She wanted Caleb to answer her with something she could
believe.

Shade wanted him too as well. He hadn’t
actually expected the Blight to be persuaded, but from the sounds
of it she was. If Caleb could spin a good enough tale there was a
chance he could get both of them out of this mess.

“Because unlike most of us in this wretched
world Shade Morcaillo is a good man. I’ve heard his views on the
world and they mirrored Micah’s. He isn’t like the rest of the
Morcaillo and Micah respected him for it. You heard Micah talking
about what needed to change in Sanctuary and I know you heard him
say Shade Morcaillo was one of the changes. Put your prejudice
aside and think with an open mind, Onvalla. Your savior is dying
before your eyes and you are doing nothing.” Caleb’s voice rose
with emotion as he spoke.

The room fell silent for several breaths and
Shade wished fervently that he could see the look on either of
their faces. His body wouldn’t respond though and he knew it
without even trying, he was simply too weak. He wanted to know if
Onvalla was truly considering what Caleb had said, but most of all
he wanted to know if Caleb had truly meant his words. Shade had
spent his entire life being judged by the name Morcaillo, and now
finally when he was a breath from dying someone was judging him by
his own merits, and comparing him with a hero. Micah Arovan had
been a good man; no one could deny that, not even his enemies. To
be considered his equal in anything was more compliment than Shade
had ever received from anyone aside from Jala.

“Tell me what you need to save his wretched
life and I’ll have my people gather it. I promise you though Caleb,
if this is a trick you will both suffer for it and I will see you
dead for wasting my time.” Onvalla spoke the words grudgingly with
suspicion lacing every word.

“Doing the right thing is never a waste of
time. You were Micah’s wife, Onvalla. I would have thought you
would have learned that. If the rest of Sanctuary would just learn
that lesson we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in right now.” Caleb
sighed.

“Jala’s road.” Shade whispered as he allowed
his eye to close once more with a faint smile on his lips. He had
only met Caleb once before and yet the knight had saved his life.
There was hope for Sanctuary yet. If they could find more people
like Caleb Faulklin Jala would have all of the support she needed
to finish her quest.

* * *

“I doubt you will ever walk without a limp
again, and I think running is completely out of the question.”
Caleb observed as he leaned back from examining the scars on
Shade’s leg. The knight had a gaunt look to him from his time in
captivity, but still appeared to be in fighting shape. His clothes
were tattered and his hair was tangled and matted with filth, but
despite it all he still had the bearing of nobility about him. Most
would have given up by now, but Shade saw no signs of surrender in
Caleb’s dark eyes.

“It is what it is.” Shade murmured, but
couldn’t bring himself to look down at the leg. He knew it was
mangled just by the tightness of what remained of his muscles. He
didn’t actually need to see it to confirm that fact. “A leg I can
live without. The eye I will sorely miss, but my life is what
counts and I owe you for that. Thank you Caleb.”

“I have no doubts you would have done the
same.” Caleb replied casually as he stood and paced away from the
small pallet he had fashioned for Shade. The thick chain around his
ankle rattled across the straw covered floor as he moved and Caleb
sighed as he reached the end of the tether.

Onvalla had allowed Caleb room to move so
that he could tend to Shade, but she hadn’t trusted him enough to
leave him unshackled. She hadn’t bothered chaining Shade. It had
been clear that she hadn’t thought he would live through the night,
yet three days had passed and he still clung to life though he was
too weak to stand.

“Do you think she will talk to me?” Shade
asked quietly. By the expression on Caleb’s face the man needed the
distraction conversation would offer.

Caleb sighed and the troubled expression on
his face faded. He shrugged at Shade and shook his head slowly. “If
she were the woman I knew before I would say yes without
hesitation. Onvalla was different with Micah and you couldn’t have
asked for a sweeter girl. She isn’t though so I can’t say for
certain. The Onvalla I’ve seen here is harder and less predictable.
I think volatile might actually be the word I want.”

“Volatile. That doesn’t bode well for peace
negotiations.” Shade sighed. It had been three weeks since he had
left Merro on his mission by his best guess, and he had spent
nearly a week in Merro before he had even left. That gave him
perhaps two more days maybe three at most before Jala released the
borders and allowed Arovan and Glis to attack. He didn’t have time
for volatile. He had to act soon or it was all for nothing, and he
would be damned if he lost a leg and an eye for nothing. “I have to
talk to her Caleb. I’m running out of time for this.” Shade let his
desperation show in his voice in hopes that the knight would
realize how serious it was.

“Before what?” Caleb asked quietly. His pale
eyes had settled on Shade once more and he had a pensive look about
him.

“Before the High Lady Merrodin allows Arovan
and Glis to wipe the Blights out of existence. She gave me thirty
days to do this, and I botched the entire mission with my
stupidity. In my arrogance I believed I could reason with the
Blights if I could just find them. When they found me I realized my
mistake very quickly.” Shade explained in a quieter voice.

“Things must have changed a great deal more
than I realized if Lady Merrodin is determining what Arovan or Glis
can do.” Caleb mused and nodded his head slowly. “Rest for now
Shade and I’ll see what I can do to arrange a meeting. You will
need full strength to deal with Onvalla so sleep as much as you
can.”

“When you talk to them will you ask if they
ate my goblin please? I don’t want to ask Onvalla directly when I
see her, but I would really like to know the answer to that.” Shade
added hesitantly.

“Your goblin?” Caleb asked with a raised
eyebrow. By the concern on the knight’s face Shade could tell he
was about to check him for a fever again.

“My goblin.” Shade repeated with a nod and
smiled faintly at the knight’s bewildered expression. “It’s not
like the rest of its kind Caleb. I suppose it’s from the same sort
of broken mold I am. I’m not like a Morcaillo either, so it was
easier for me to give the goblin a chance. I know what it’s like to
be different.”

Caleb nodded slowly and a faint smile creased
his lips. “A goblin then. Yes I will ask if I get the chance. Don’t
hold your breath for it to be safe and sound though. They ate my
horse the day I arrived. Meat is scarce here and it’s a wonder we
haven’t been added to the menu yet.”

“Pray for the best and expect the worst. That
is the motto for life I think.” Shade murmured as he settled into
the pallet once more. Caleb was right he would need all of his
strength to speak with Onvalla. Just the short conversation with
Caleb had worn him out. He had expected to recover faster than he
was, but it seemed even Changelings had limits on what they could
endure and he was well past his own. By rights he should have died
and it still amazed him that he hadn’t. Fate apparently wasn’t done
toying with him yet.

The Darklands

The life tether fluctuated again and Finn
frowned in response. He had grown used to sensing death amongst the
sunlit world, but he knew this soul, and he didn’t want it in his
domain. Shade Morcaillo had been enough of a pain in his ass when
Finn was alive and the last thing he wanted to do was try to judge
the man fairly in death. Aside from his own personal feelings on
the matter though, Shade was Jala’s ally, and because of that Finn
couldn’t allow him to die. His eyes narrowed as he focused on the
tether once more and tried to force it back away from his
domain.

It didn’t make sense for Shade to be so near
death. The man was a Changeling and by his birthright alone he
should have been able to evade nearly every danger life offered.
Yet he was closer to dying than Finn cared to think about.
Tentatively Finn searched for Jala’s tether and reassured himself
that she was well. The urge to scry on both of them was growing in
him, but he couldn’t waste the power to do it just yet. He needed
to hold everything he had to face what was coming and even the
small trickle of power he was sending to help Shade would be
considered wasteful by Fiona.

“Are you even listening to me?” Fiona
demanded and Finn slowly turned to face her with a look of
annoyance.

“I am now.” Finn announced with very little
enthusiasm as Fiona went back to adjusting his cloak and every
other detail she could think to check. She had been unbearable
since he had received the summons from the Divine, and she was only
getting worse now that the time had arrived to face them.

“Did you hear any of what I said? This is
important Finn.” Fiona sighed and moved around to stand in front of
him forcing him to meet her eyes. Her white armor had been polished
to a shine and her dark hair was pulled back in a tight pony tail.
If it weren’t for the blood stained cloak she wore, Fiona would
have looked positively respectable.

“I heard are you listening to me. The rest
well...” Finn shrugged one shoulder and smiled at her with as much
charm as he could force into the expression.