The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse (22 page)

“Why not have it a set number unless you have
a keystone and provide the High Lord of that nation with the
keystone requirements for his soldiers?” Zoelyn suggested
quietly.

“That might work,” Sovann mused and picked up
his quill again, his frown fading as he began scratching notes on
the paper once more. “She helped you with your problem, Sovann.
It’s only fair that you eat some of that food and help her with
hers,” Shade said with a grin. Sovann glanced up at Shade and then
looked to her. With a faint smile he snagged a piece of toast from
the plate and nodded to her. “I really don’t understand it. Jala
has been feeding her like this for a week now and she is still as
frail as ever,” he sighed and took a bite.

“Jala puts the food in front of her, but
Zoelyn doesn’t eat it,” Neph said in a voice that showed how
tedious he found the conversation.

“Valor is about to break,” Wisp announced
softly from the far end of the table. Grinning, she bounced Legacy
on her knee and shook her head as she watched Valor. “Daddy is
silly isn’t he,” she mused happily.

“Why is he even allowed near her sword
practice?” Shade mumbled as they all watched Valor draw his own
steel and lay into Vaze with a vengeance that spoke of fury rather
than practice. Jala fell back quickly from the match and tilted her
head upward as if beseeching the gods before turning to walk slowly
to their table.

“I don’t know why I even allow him in the
courtyard when I practice,” Jala said as she dropped into a chair
beside Zoelyn and examined her plate critically. Her eyes narrowed
as she spotted Sovann munching on the piece of toast and she sighed
heavily. “You know she might actually gain some weight if you
wouldn’t take her food,” she grumbled and looked back at Zoelyn.
“Eat, Zoey, you are skin and bones,” she pointed at the plate.

Zoelyn nodded silently and tried to ignore
the expressions of amusement that lit both Shade and Neph’s faces
as she picked up her fork and began to eat once more.

“So what is it that makes him snap daily?”
Shade asked, his gaze moving back to the sparring match once more
that was growing more intense with each breath.

“Vaze doesn’t pull punches with me. When I
miss a parry, I get hit. They are wooden swords, though. It’s not
as if I’m truly going to get hurt more than simple bruising,” Jala
explained and smiled as she leaned back in her chair and stared up
toward the clouds once more. “Valor can’t stand to see me get hurt,
no matter how small the pain, though. Every bruise and scrape is
like a hot iron to him. I’ve tried to get him to find other
entertainments while I practice, but he can’t focus on anything
else. Yet, he is the one that insists I learn to use a sword.” Her
smile widened and she closed her eyes. “He is unreasonable and
stubborn and I love him so much for it,” she added in a wistful
voice. “Bloody hell. I thought you were past the girlish romance
phase of your life,” Neph grumbled, rolling his eyes. “Why doesn’t
Valor just teach you if he objects to Vaze’s training so much?”
Shade asked in confusion.

“Because Valor can’t stand to hit her at all.
He freezes in mid-swing,” Wisp explained, her voice filled with
laughter.

“I can learn as things are now. Each morning
I get twenty or so minutes of sword training in and Valor gets an
hour of sword sparring with someone talented enough to challenge
him,” Jala said as she opened her eyes once more. Her smile
faltered on her lips as her eyes locked on the corner of the roof
and Zoelyn barely glimpsed the flash of sadness that crossed her
features before Jala forced the smile back onto her face.

Glancing up, Zoelyn caught the brief flash of
black feathers as a crow took flight from the roof. Silently, she
watched the others at the table and realized that no one but she
had noticed Jala’s slip. It wasn’t the first time she had seen Jala
falter at the sight of a crow. She had been in Merro for nearly two
weeks now and there had been at least three occasions when the High
Lady paused to watch one of the birds. It was odd behavior and
Zoelyn wished one of the others had caught it. She knew without a
doubt that Neph would have questioned Jala about it, but they were
distracted with the fight in the courtyard. With a sigh, she took
another bite of her food and watched as Jala rose from her
chair.

“You want to go play with mommy while they
fight?” Jala asked as she held her arms out for Legacy. The child
wriggled free of Wisp’s grasp and quickly moved to his mother’s
side. Smiling, Jala nodded to everyone at the table and picked up
her son. “We will be in the garden if we are needed,” she
announced.

Shade watched her for a moment and sighed
heavily as he rose from the table as well. “I need to get my ship
packed. I get to go play with Blights tomorrow,” he sighed.

“May they strip your flesh for dinner and
hide the bones well enough that not even Jala can bring you back,”
Neph said with a smile.

“If they do, I will bargain with Death for
the chance to haunt you,” Shade replied with a matching smile.

“I’m on good terms with Ash. I’m sure I could
convince him to bind your soul to the privy,” Neph called before
Shade had a chance to reach the door.

“Pissed on in death, eh? They say the
afterlife is supposed to be worse than life if you have lived in
sin. I rather enjoy sin, and it sounds like nothing will change
because of it. Good news for me, then,” Shade returned with a wink
as he disappeared into the house.

Neph watched the doorway for a long moment
and then leaned forward on the table, his eyes moving from Wisp to
Sovann and back again. “So, why do crows depress Jala?” he asked,
calmly watching both of them for the slightest reaction. “What?”
Wisp asked in obvious confusion.

Sovann looked up from his papers with a
thoughtful expression. “They are carrion birds and prone to
following battles. Perhaps the sight of them reminds her of the war
with Avanti,” he offered with a shrug.

Neph shook his head at both of them and stood
from the table. “You are both clueless on the matter. Has to be
something to do with Seth,” he mumbled as he headed off for the
garden at a brisk walk.

“He is so strange at times,” Wisp mused as
she watched him disappear. Shaking her head, she turned back to
look at Zoelyn and smiled.

“Welcome to our weird little world,” she
sighed.

“She has been part of our weird little world
for nearly two weeks, love. It’s a bit late to be welcoming her,”
Sovann pointed out in a distracted voice as his quill once again
scratched noisily across the papers.

“Better late than never,” Wisp said with a
shrug and smiled warmly at Zoelyn. “So, how are your magic lessons
going with Jala?” she asked.

“They aren’t exactly magic lessons, love.
Jala is trying to figure out how to stop her from siphoning magic.
Zoelyn can’t work spells herself,” Sovann corrected, his brow
furrowing as he scribbled more on the paper.

Zoelyn watched them both in silence as they
debated what exactly Jala was teaching her. Slowly she slid her
plate to the side when it became obvious that they were both fully
distracted. She watched as the food quickly disappeared and mouthed
the words
thank you
to the Blight. She waited until the food
was mostly gone and silently pushed her chair back. “I was supposed
to go find Jala when I finished eating,” Zoelyn announced as both
Wisp and Sovann looked up at her. Carefully she picked up her plate
and nodded to them both as she carried it back into the house.

“Too many people here,” the Blight whispered
beside her and she nodded in response.

“I’m starting to get used to it, though,”
Zoelyn sighed as she entered the kitchen and carefully placed the
plate in the sink.

She turned back for the door and paused as
she noticed two men sitting at a table watching her. Vaze, she
recognized from passing conversations with Jala. The other one,
however, she had never seen before. He was deeply tanned with
short, tawny hair and brands on both cheeks. He returned her
curious gaze with a look of mild interest as he took another bite
from the bread in his hand. His green eyes flashed toward Vaze and
then back to her.

“Zoelyn, she is Jala’s ward,” Vaze said in
explanation. He lifted his mug to his lips and took a quick swallow
as he motioned toward the stranger. “This is Sovaesh. He serves
Jala, though you won’t see much of him around here. He is either
working or at home. He doesn’t haunt Jala’s house like the rest of
them do.”

“I’m sorry I intruded. I didn’t realize
anyone was in here,” Zoelyn said as she backed toward the door.
Sovaesh was still watching her with the same look of mild interest.
He raised an eyebrow at her retreat and shrugged as he turned back
to his meal.

“We are scarcely in a private place, Zoelyn.
It isn’t intruding to put your plate where it belongs. It is good
manners,” Vaze said with a faint chuckle as he nodded farewell to
her.

“Have you ever noticed how many intimidating
men Jala surrounds herself with?” Zoelyn whispered to the Blight as
she hurried down the long hall toward the garden door. The door
slammed open as she approached and she quickly flattened herself
against the wall as Neph stormed past.

“Good luck on your lessons with her. If she
is as vague with you as she is with me you won’t learn a fucking
thing,” Neph called over his shoulder as he stormed toward the
stairs.

“Too many,” the Blight answered at last with
a hint of amusement in his soft voice.

Nodding slowly in agreement Zoelyn stepped
out into the warm sunlight and pulled the heavy door closed behind
her. Jala was standing near the garden pool with her back to the
house. Zoelyn paused just behind her and glanced back toward the
house. She didn’t know if Jala even realized she was there, and she
wasn’t entirely sure she should announce herself after seeing
Neph’s mood.

“When I was a child, all I wanted was to be
special enough to mean something to someone.” Jala’s voice was so
soft that Zoelyn still wasn’t sure she was talking to her. For all
she knew the High lady was talking to herself. “Now that I am, I
look back and wonder how I was ever so foolish,” Jala finished in a
louder voice and slowly turned to face Zoelyn. “If anyone ever
offers you a small house and a quiet life, take it, Zoey.”

“Considering my curse, I sincerely doubt I
will ever get that offer, Jala,” Zoelyn responded with a faint
smile. It seemed strange to be on a first name basis with someone
of Jala’s station, but she had learned quickly how well Jala liked
the title Milady.

“We are going to fix that, remember?” Jala
sighed and motioned toward the garden. “We are going to run a test
today. I want to see if there is a limit to your draining. I
suggest we start with the roses. I have the most of those.”

“Jala, I will destroy your entire garden,”
Zoelyn said with a quick shake of her head as she folded her arms
across her stomach tightly.

“Then, I suppose I will restore it. I need to
understand your condition to help repair it, Zoelyn, and I can’t
use magic to learn about it so that leaves trial and error. It will
be a lengthy process, but I don’t see that we have many options and
frankly I need the distraction,” Jala said and motioned once again
toward the roses. “Start with the red ones. I can’t stand the color
red.”

* * *

In Arovan she had lived so near the forests
of Glis that only portions of the sky had ever been visible through
the trees. In Merro, however, the sky was endless. A cool breeze
washed over her and Zoelyn closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying
the peace and solitude of the night. The rest of the household had
retired hours ago and she wasn’t even sure the Blight had remained
with her. Her eyes opened again and she leaned back on her arms to
stare up at the stars.

It was a brief distraction from the
devastation around her. Jala’s gardens had been beautiful and now
they were in ruins. Not a single flower or tree remained and still
her curse had been voracious. When the last tree had withered, Jala
finally admitted defeat. Zoelyn was more than willing to admit
defeat with the first plant, but Jala insisted. She doubted the
High Lady had even noticed how each tiny death had been a wound to
her. She hated killing, even when it was just a plant. To know that
just the touch of her flesh destroyed beauty and killed, was
punishment enough. To actually use that power and willingly destroy
something, was appalling to her.

With a weary sigh, Zoelyn rose to her feet,
her gaze traveling through the garden. Every wilted leaf whispered
Undrae
as she followed the cobbled path back to the house.
If Blackwolf could see this place he would go for her throat, and
she wasn’t sure she would even bother stopping him.

She pulled her boots off once she was through
the door. Jala had assured her the house had not been built with
magic, but this was the first time she had actually tested that
statement. Nervously, she watched the boards for any sign that she
was damaging anything and slowly made her way for the stairs as
silently as she could. It would have been impossible, in the boots,
to move through the house without waking everyone.

The hall above was as silent and dark as the
downstairs had been. Zoelyn glanced toward Jala and Valor’s door as
she passed and quickly made her way farther down the hall. A faint
scuffle from the next door gave her pause and she lingered outside
the door listening closely. It was silent for a long moment and
then the noise was repeated, a faint scuffle of little feet.
Slowly, Zoelyn lowered her heavy boots to the floor and pushed
Legacy’s door open just far enough to look inside. The boy was
usually sound asleep by this time. Legacy looked up at her with
wide violet eyes from a perch near his bed. A tiny wooden knight
was clutched in one hand, and by the scattering of other toys on
the floor he had been playing for a while. He waved at her with his
free hand and offered a smile before returning to his play.