The Crow King's Wife (47 page)

Still stunned and utterly confused she
focused on the wound before her. It required most of her
concentration to locate and remove the quills which was nearly
enough to keep her from dwelling on Shade’s last words.
I am
most definitely a traitor
. It was almost impossible to imagine
Shade as a traitor. She had seen him throw himself into the thick
of danger too many times. Shade couldn’t be described as anything
other than a hero, and yet he was wearing the blue and silver of
House Morcaillo. Grinding her teeth she forced her mind clear once
more and pulled another quill from Grim’s side.

“He was lying to us.” Syrah spoke quietly
breaking the silence of the room with her timid voice. “I watched
him fight. He isn’t a traitor. He wouldn’t have killed his mother
if he meant to return to his house.”

Zoelyn froze and slowly looked up at Syrah.
“Matricide.” She whispered and felt her mouth go dry at the word.
She hadn’t truly focused on Shade’s crime until now. Her mind had
locked on the fact that he had saved Grim’s life and she hadn’t
bothered to consider the consequences of Shade’s actions. There
wasn’t a single house on Sanctuary that would condone the killing
of kin, let alone killing a parent no matter what the circumstances
were. “He is cutting his ties with us to protect us. He knows how
everyone will react when word spreads.”

“So what do we do?” Syrah asked softly.

“We keep your Father asleep as long as we can
so I can sort out what to do without him going for my Brother’s
throat.” Zoelyn mumbled and let out a long slow breath. “And then
we strangle Shade for putting me in this position. When I have to
answer to Grim about all of this he will go for my throat.” She
added in a softer voice.

* * *

She was finishing the last stitch as the door
opened and glanced up to see Dray poking his head around the
doorway. The Blight’s expression was troubled and she felt her own
stomach knot in response.

“Have you finished enough that you can come
to the main hall? Jala has just arrived and Neph is calling for
everyone to attend in the Great Hall. Shade has refused to answer
any of his questions and Neph is so pissed the vein in his forehead
is standing out. You have to see this for yourself Zoelyn. Shade
isn’t acting anything like he was in here. He is being a complete
ass.” The words poured out of Dray and she could hear both
excitement and dread in his tone.

Nodding slowly she rose from her chair and
looked to Syrah. “Will you keep an eye on your Father until I
return?” She asked hopefully and sighed with relief when the child
nodded. “If he wakes find me at once alright?”

“I will.” Syrah promised as she moved to the
chair Zoelyn had just vacated and settled into its cushioned
depths.

Stifling a yawn Zoelyn stretched her back and
followed Dray from the room. The knots in her stomach didn’t seem
inclined to loosen and she had the unsettling feeling they would
only get worse as the day progressed.

“When I came to fetch you Jala had just
arrived at the front gates. If we hurry we might be in time to hear
everything that is said.” Dray explained as he picked up his
pace.

Wordlessly Zoelyn nodded and quickened her
own steps to match the Blight’s. The halls of the city were empty
as they practically ran toward the Great Hall, but she could hear
the buzz of conversation echoing toward her. Everyone was already
gathered, and by the sound of it something big was going on. It
might be the return of the children or the arrival of the High
Lady, then again it might be something Shade had done and they had
already missed it.

She was practically breathless when they
finally reached the door and barely managed to slip inside and
press herself back against a wall as Jala entered from the main
doors. The High Lady was dressed like a queen in a long purple gown
and wore a serene expression on her beautiful face. Valor walked
easily at her side with a faint smile creasing his lips while the
two Bendazzi trailed behind them both like royal guards.

“She looks more like the Empress than the
actual Empress does.” Dray whispered and Zoelyn had to nod in
agreement.

Zoelyn’s gaze shifted to her Brother who wore
the same battered leather armor that he always did. Neph’s face was
lit with a scowl that was softening as Jala approached, but Zoelyn
could see the tension in his body that spoke of contained anger. It
didn’t take much to determine the source of Neph’s fury. Shade
lounged near Neph looking perfectly relaxed and rather insolent by
the way his boots were propped so casually on the small table that
rested in front of Neph’s throne. There wasn’t even a trace of the
grief she had seen on him in Grim’s room and even his color seemed
to have improved. He no longer looked pale and weary, if anything
he seemed amused. A faint smirk pulled at Shade’s lips as he
watched Jala draw closer, and Zoelyn could see the flicker of
hesitation on Jala’s face as she caught sight of it.

Jala didn’t falter in her steps though
despite the confusion in her violet eyes. Her gaze never left the
dais Neph was seated on until she drew to a stop a few feet in
front of him. Her head bowed forward and her wine colored curls
fell over her face as she gently released Valor’s arm and dropped
to her knees before Neph’s throne. The gentle murmur of the room
faded to silence as the High Lady of Merrodin humbled herself
before the Delvay throne. Neph’s scowl faded completely in his
shock and he leaned forward quickly to stare down at Jala in
disbelief as she lowered her head to rest on the stone floor.

“I come to Delvay for several reasons today,
but the foremost is to beg your forgiveness High Lord
NephonDelvayon. I turned my back on Delvay in anger and I spoke
words that I regret more than I can say. I ask your forgiveness for
my childish behavior and beg that Delvay will once again consider
Merro as an ally, though I know I have no right to ask such things
after my unforgivable behavior in your own city.” Jala’s words rang
through the Great Hall and Zoelyn could see mouths dropping open
around the room. The High Lady couldn’t have stunned the people of
Delvay more had she paraded into the room naked and clucking like a
chicken. Such things were simply not done in Delvay. No High Lord
they knew would beg anything of anyone no matter the situation.

“I’d accept that apology, Neph. Do you know
how many men in Sanctuary would give their left nut to say Jala
dropped to her knees before them? Of course no one will blame you
if you embellish the story a bit when you retell it. A person could
add so many tawdry details to that kind of story.” Shade observed
in obvious amusement.

The silence of the room deepened at his words
and Neph glared daggers at the man before rising from his throne to
move quickly to Jala’s side. Still silent he took her gently by the
arm and pulled her to her feet. “Never feel you have to grovel
before me again, Jala. I deserved your treatment and there is
nothing to forgive. You accused me of a crime I was guilty of,
nothing more can be said of it.” He wrapped his arms around her and
pulled her into an embrace as he spoke. “Merro will always be
considered an ally of Delvay. If not for the actions of High Lady
Merrodin we would not be sitting here today.” He declared loudly to
everyone in the room as he stepped back from Jala and smiled down
at her.

Neph seemed to notice Valor for the first
time then and Zoelyn watched as the gentle smile on her brother’s
face slowly withered. Letting out a deep breath he bowed his head
in Valor’s direction. “Lord Hai’dia I know you are expecting me to
return the children of Arovan to you today, but I regret to inform
you that two of the ones rescued are not in my keeping. I would be
happy to tell you where they are, but Shade has refused to explain
that to me. He left the city with them as well as some two hundred
rescued slaves and did not bother to bring them with him when he
returned.”

All eyes moved to Shade at Neph’s words and
Zoelyn could see the furrow on Jala’s brow even from the distance
she stood at. To his credit Shade looked perfectly relaxed despite
the attention that was now riveted on him.

“Shade?” Jala asked in obvious confusion. Her
full lips drew into a frown and she glanced at Valor and then back
to Shade as if she thought perhaps she had misheard Neph’s
words.

“Does it really matter where they are? The
two hundred were commons and the girls that are missing were fat
with child. It’s not as if their families would have welcomed them
back anyway.” Shade returned casually as he dropped his feet to the
floor and stretched is arms in apparent boredom. “I’m a bit more
interested in the fact that we need to visit the Blights. I fail to
see why a few missing slaves merits this much attention.” He added
in annoyance.

“Two hundred people is more than a few
missing slaves. Delvay does not believe in slavery. Those people
were refuges to us.” Neph snarled in response and Zoelyn could see
the anger tearing through her Brother’s patience. If Shade didn’t
answer soon Neph would resort to violence and she knew it.

“I find myself rather interested as well.”
Jala said quietly as she studied Shade intently her eyes lingering
on his fine clothing.

“I sold them. I realize that you and Neph
consider it dishonorable, but honor doesn’t repair my ship or put
clothes on my back. Unlike the two of you I don’t have the luxury
of drawing on a treasury when I need something.” Shade replied
flippantly and waved his hand as if to move the conversation past
something he obviously found trivial. By the reaction of the
gathered hall though he was the only one that found the matter
trivial, angry murmurs had begun to fill the room with his first
few words.

“You what?” Neph demanded in outrage. The
vein in his forehead was indeed pulsing Zoelyn noted with growing
alarm, and by the expression on Jala’s face the High Lady wasn’t
far behind Neph with her anger.

“You sold children of Arovan?” Valor gasped
in complete bewilderment. Unlike his friends Valor looked more
aghast than angry, and seemed to be holding his composure far
better than his wife.

“They were commons!” Shade returned with
anger edging his own voice. He rose from his chair and took a
single step toward Jala and glared down at her. “Do you honestly
expect me to live like a pauper and beg for scraps from your table
Lady Merrodin?” He demanded in an outraged voice. “It will be some
time before the Blight’s have enough treasury built up for me to
survive on. If I am going to govern them properly I will have to
have funds to draw on.” He continued and shook his head at both of
them in apparent disgust.

“What?” The word burst from Jala’s mouth with
such force that it was barely coherent. Magic roiled off of her in
angry waves, and the Bendazzi behind her looked ready to attack.
Shade was on treacherous ground, and he seemed to be the only one
that didn’t realize it.

“Oh please let him shut up now.” Zoelyn
whispered. Dray had stiffened beside her at Shade’s words about
governing the Blights, and she knew she was the only one in the
room that was feeling the slightest bit of sympathy for Shade. When
he had spoken with them privately she hadn’t understood what he
meant when he asked for no one to defend him. Now she understood
perfectly and it was taking everything she had to remain silent
despite her earlier agreement.

“How exactly do you expect to control those
creatures without me, Jala?” Shade demanded and held up a hand in
front of him to show her the rings covering his fingers. “Do you
see that signet? That is a true House Morcaillo ring. I threw my
own away when I left home, but I managed to scavenge this one off
of my Mother’s corpse when I killed her. It’s fortunate that she
was in Rivana. This gives us the extra edge we need to control the
Blights, and through them we should be able to kill off my Father.
With him dead I can turn control of the Blight’s over to you and
take my rightful seat as the High Lord of Morcaillo.”

All color bled from Jala’s face and her eyes
widened as she shook her head in disgust. “I don’t want to control
them.” She hissed as she shook her head more violently at Shade.
“Is that what you think I’ve been doing?”

“Anything else would be idiotic. Have you
actually seen how those creatures behave? Did you honestly expect
them to govern themselves?” Shade asked mockingly and shook his
head in rebuke. “Don’t be an idealistic fool, Jala. We are right on
the brink of success and you are all hung up on the sale of
cattle.”

“They were human beings!” Neph roared in
response. Zoelyn could see the dim glow of magic forming around her
Brother’s hand and tried not to imagine what spell he was
preparing. With the level of anger Neph was feeling she sincerely
doubted it would be a simple disabling when it hit Shade. She would
bet solid money it was something intended to be fatal. She knew her
Brother hadn’t cared much for Shade even before today’s upset.

“They were culls and guttertrash. Even the
Arovan girls had been turned into whores. One of them offered
herself to me for food.” Shade returned loudly. “You are better off
with them gone, and I have the funds to repair my ship now. You
should both be thanking me rather than acting like fools. Do you
realize how many times I’ve used my Spell Hawk to run favors for
you?”

“Shade.” Valor spoke his name like a plea and
Shade turned to look at him with annoyance. “Shade this has to be a
wretched joke. I can’t believe after everything you have done in
the past that you would do this. Please speak the truth before this
charade damages things beyond repair.” Valor’s words seemed to
dampen Jala’s anger and the High Lady bowed her head and turned
away from Shade with disgust on her pale face.