The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey (34 page)

“They can rot, and you don’t want to get up,”
he whispered, his lips brushing her neck as he spoke.

“They are both my friends and I don’t leave
friends to rot,” she objected once more, her voice fainter barely a
whisper. She felt her breath catch again and tried to push away.
How wonderful it felt having him so close!

He remained silent but didn’t release his
grip. She lay there for another long minute before she found the
resolve to move again. When she tried to sit up he moved his arm.
She glanced back at him as she threw off the blankets and stood. He
was watching her with a look of irritation on his face.

“I would do the same for you, Finn. If you
needed to speak with me, I would talk no matter what time it was,”
she said, hoping her words would soothe him.

“I’ve never actually had a woman crawl from
my arms to answer to another man. I think I’ve finally found
something I hate more than mornings,” he said in reply and rose
from the couch himself. “You are dangerous to the ego, Jala,” he
added as he moved across the rooms and picked up his sword belt.
With practiced ease, he buckled the blades on and left the
room.

She looked back to where he had left his
shirt and boots, and frantically sought for a reason he would need
blades other than to kill Shade. Marrow rose from the floor beside
the couch and gave a long stretch.

He regarded her a moment before she heard his
voice in her mind.
He is a predator and those swords are his
claws. He will not go anywhere without them, calm yourself. It is
doubtful he truly means to kill your friend. I sense annoyance in
him, but no anger.

“I hope you are correct,” she said quietly
and looked down at herself. It wasn’t exactly proper to greet
Shade, dressed in a nightshirt, but her clothes from the night
before were filthy. She could of course clean them with magic but
waved the notion off. “Proper” really didn’t fit in her life any
longer. It wasn’t proper to sleep on a couch beside someone like
Finn. It wasn’t proper to wander the streets barefoot, or to drag
friends halfway across the world in the middle of the night.
Greeting Shade in a nightshirt seemed paltry in comparison. She
left the room pulling her hair back into a somewhat tidy ponytail
as she walked.

She found Shade and Sovann seated in the
large open room where the Essence wine vats were. Sovann was
pouring tea for the two of them as Shade watched the doors. His
eyes landed on her the moment she stepped into the room, and she
could see the concern on his face shift to disbelief as he noticed
Marrow beside her. With a slight nod in greeting, she crossed the
room and took a seat at the table. Sovann gave her a smile and
poured a third cup. She returned the smile, and glanced around the
room. There was no sign of Finn.

Marrow gave her a gentle nudge and paced off
toward the door.
I will return shortly, I don’t think your
friend wants me to soil his home.

She gave a slight nod in answer and prayed
silently to Fortune he wouldn’t be seen outside or eat anyone.

“When I returned home, Lex told me what
Madren did,” Shade began. He was having obvious difficulty taking
his eyes from the retreating Bendazzi but forced himself to look to
her, eyes full of questions. She met his gaze and nodded for him to
continue. “I spoke with him about it this morning, about all of it.
I’m not really sure an apology will cover how much he has tormented
you, but I can give you my promise it won’t happen again,” Shade
assured her.

“She already has that promise from me,” Finn
cut in as he entered the room. “I plan to kill the little bastard
to ensure it doesn’t.” He carried a tray on one arm as he
approached and sat a small plate down in front of her before
leaning against the table. She glanced down and found bacon and
eggs as well as sliced bread arranged neatly before her. She looked
back up at Finn and wondered how he had found the time to cook food
between leaving the couch and now.

“Thank you, Finn, and no Shade, he isn’t
going to kill Madren,” she said with a sigh.

Shade was watching Finn. His expression was
guarded, but his eyes held loathing. “Madren lives under Morcaillo
protection,” he pointed out.

Finn gave a wordless shrug, as if that was
not a particular concern of his. “Jala was supposed to, as well,
and your little bastard tried to feed her enough Nesra to
intoxicate a dragon,” he returned.

Jala looked between the two of them and then
to Sovann for help. Sovann gave her a slight shake of the head and
rolled his eyes.

“He explained that to me, Jala, and he didn’t
know what he added to the chocolates. He bought what he thought was
a love potion from an apothecary and added it to the chocolate,”
Shade explained.

“And that’s better, how?” Finn demanded,
cutting Shade off before he could say more.

Jala gave a sigh, lifted the tea to her lips,
and blew on it softly, before taking a small sip, as she wondered
exactly how she was going to diffuse this situation. Sovann
apparently thought it would sort itself out, but she wasn’t
sure.

“I didn’t say it was better, I was explaining
why there was Nesra powder in them. It won’t happen again, and I
won’t allow you to kill him,” Shade snapped back.

“Even if I don’t kill him, it won’t happen
again. Jala won’t be around him to give it a chance to happen.”
Finn growled back.

Shade snapped his head around to look at her.
She raised an eyebrow and shrugged and looked to Finn. “Where will
I be?” she asked mildly.

“In my hall.” Finn answered her calmly, as if
the matter was already settled.

“I will be?” She paused. “Do I get any say in
this?” She asked.

“I told you I would need to look after you.
It was as good as settled then.” Finn replied.

“She is perfectly safe in my hall.” Shade
objected.

Finn regarded him doubtfully and looked back
to Jala. Shade turned his attention to her, as well, and she sat
for a moment while they both stared at her. Frowning, she sat her
teacup down and cleared her throat. “I will not be returning to
your hall Shade. I don’t want to seem ungrateful. You have done so
much for me, and I count you as a true friend, but I do not wish to
be around Madren. There is also the matter of your betrothed
finding my presence there quite vexing. While our relationship is
purely innocent friendship, she doesn’t seem to view it that way,”
she said calmly.

Finn gave Shade a triumphant smirk and lit a
cigarette stepping back from the table. “And there we have it,” he
said.

She glanced at Finn and sighed. “I will not,
however, be staying in Finn’s halls either.” She began and watched
the smirk fade from his face. “I am a disciple of luck and I have
been acting against my faith. Life is a gamble and I’m cowering. I
will move into my own rooms and trust my luck to keep me safe,” she
finished.

Both men looked at her in disbelief, and, for
once, they seemed to share the same view. “Jala, you can’t, you are
already in danger,” Shade began.

“I agree with the Lordling, this is not a
good plan,” Finn added.

“I agree with Jala.” Sovann said, his voice
joining the conversation at last. He shifted slightly as all three
of them looked at him. “She has a Bendazzi at her side. He will
warn her if trouble comes so she will not be caught unaware. She is
mastering her magics well, and in a short time will be formidable.
There is no reason why she can’t stay by herself if she wishes to,
which she apparently does,” he explained and gave Jala a nod of
encouragement.

“And there we have it,” Jala said with a
smile. Finn frowned at her echoing of his own words but remained
silent, his jaw set in disapproval.

“I still don’t like it, but I suppose I have
no choice but to accept it.” Shade relented with a frown. “I really
think you would be safer with me, but if that is so horribly
unbearable, stay with Finn at least. While I don’t like the
thought, at least you would be reasonably safe.” His expression at
the last showed how distasteful he found the thought.

Jala gave him a smile. “It’s not a horrible
thought, Shade; it’s just not what I want. Madren is your friend,
and I respect that. Cassia is your betrothed, and I pity you for
that. Things are best this way,” she said gently.

“And your reason for refusing my hall?” Finn
asked, his tone indignant.

She looked at him in amusement. “Mainly
because you assumed I would. I’m being petty,” she admitted. With a
smile, she took another sip of tea and watched Sovann try to
smother a laugh.

Finn gave her a nod and held his hands out in
surrender. “Of course, petty is a much better path than wisdom,” he
said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

She shrugged at him, lifting a piece of bacon
from the plate. With a smile, she offered it to Marrow under the
table. From their reactions, she noticed none of the men had even
realized the Bendazzi had returned. Her smile widened as she picked
up her toast and took a bite.

“See, she will be perfectly safe,” Sovann
said with a smirk.

It’s going to take more than that pathetic
piece of meat to fill me,
Marrow complained to her.

I’ll get you more once we are done
here
, she reassured him. “Sovann if I wanted to know who I
truly am, how would I go about it?” she asked.

Shade looked at her with confusion. “How can
you not know who you truly are?” he asked.

“Are you sure you want to discuss this with
him here?” Finn objected.

Sovann ignored the two of them. “A time mage,
perhaps, though they are few and far between. Most choose not to
specialize in that particular field. It is rather risky. The only
one I actually know of in Sanctuary is Hemlock.”

“No.” Finn and Shade objected in unison and
looked at each other in annoyance.

Jala nodded slowly and followed Sovann’s
example. “The leader of the NightBlades, right?” she asked.

Sovann nodded and looked toward the two other
men. “I have to agree with them, though, it isn’t a wise course. He
has a reputation of being rather…” His voice trailed off as he
searched for the proper word.

“Cruel to women, abusive to those under his
power, insane,” Finn offered, and Sovann nodded.

“Yes. All of that.” he agreed. “There is also
the option of a life mage. With a small amount of your blood, they
could read your entire family tree.” He took a sip of his tea and
watched her reaction.

“Couldn’t they also use that blood to control
or kill me?” she asked.

Sovann nodded again. “You have paid close
attention to our lessons. Other than those two options… Mmm. We
could try to find someone that might have known your parents,” he
offered with a shrug.

She shook her head. “I’ve already spoken with
those that might know. If they wanted me to know they would have
told me.” She frowned at the available options, neither was a good
one.

“There is the Oracle,” Shade offered.

Sovann looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Oracle?” he asked, making the single word a question.

“Madren told me about her. She lives in the
Tolanteer Forest,” Shade explained.

“The Witch’s Wood?” Finn asked,
incredulous.

“Umm. What is the Tolanteer Forest?” Jala
asked, completely lost in the current conversation. She didn’t
remember reading about such a place in any of her books.

“It’s in Southern Goswin,” Sovann replied.
“Goswin is the only nation on the planet that actually destroyed
itself. They had a civil war and the country divided into Northern
Goswin and Southern Goswin. An order of Mages ruled Southern Goswin
while the High Lord retained power in the north. Over the course of
the war, the Southern half of the country was cursed,” he
finished

“Cursed? How?” Jala asked, leaning forward
with curiosity.

“I’m not really sure of the semantics of it,
though it’s doubtless recorded in the Great Library, but
essentially the mages that ruled there are trapped in a sort of
living death. They are bound to their land eternally, as guardians.
Since the fall of Goswin, no settlement has ever successfully
survived in the southern lands. Only those few villages that
survived the war remain and most of the land has gone to pure
wilderness,” Sovann explained and looked to Shade. “I’m not sure
what Oracle you are speaking of, I’ve never heard of anything like
that.”

Shade shrugged. “Madren is from Goswin,
originally. He was here in Sanctuary during the war and was
considered useless by his father, given that he is a half-blood
bastard, so he was never recalled back to the fighting.”

“I’m sure his father considered him useless
for other reasons as well,” Finn added dryly.

Shade gave him a quick glare and looked to
Jala. “I can find out more from him and see if it’s an option. It
seems a better choice to me than to trust Hemlock or a Life mage,”
he offered.

“I would appreciate that,” she said with a
smile.

“It’s the least I can do after the trouble he
has caused you,” Shade replied and stood. “Now that we have this
mostly sorted out, I do need to go. I will let you know when I find
out something, Jala. Please let me know when you decide where you
will be staying.”

She gave him a nod and watched him leave.
Finn promptly sat in the vacated chair and glanced at his brother.
“Oracle?” he asked with skepticism.

Sovann shrugged. “It might work, you never
know.”

Jala ate her breakfast in silence and
compared the three options. She had to agree with Shade. Out of the
three options, some Oracle in a cursed forest seemed the best
choice. She took a sip of tea to wash down the last of the meal and
looked at Sovann. “I have a favor to ask of you, Sovann, though I
know I have already asked a great deal of you.”