Unleashed Fury (BloodRunes: Book 1) (13 page)

Layna hoped that in the King's new
improvements, he took a good look at the officials in the city and
had the heart to care why their robes were adorned with gold while
innocent people were punished. Layna didn't have much hope that yet
another noble in power would care for the plight of the common
people, but it was a nice thought. People like Jezebel's father
were allowed to flourish because the system was so corrupt. If you
had enough money, you could just about guarantee any outcome you
pleased. It was what made it so dangerous to work for someone like
Jezebel. She had the money through her father to get what she
wanted, and the temper to ruin someone's life on a whim.

When Layna had first come to the city, she
had imagined that it would be a more glamorous life than that on
her family's farm. After all, Naoham was the capital of Gelendan,
something interesting was bound to happen here. Her father had been
very upset with her for even mentioning that she might leave and
had not spoken a word to her for three whole days. He had
eventually come around after much prodding from her ever-patient
and coaxing mother, and grudgingly decided to let her go and try
her hand at the big city life since it was what she really wanted
to do. They were good, loving parents. Neither of them would ever
have called her stupid as Jezebel's father had done - Layna had
just found life with them smothering and simply had to get
away.

She had packed up what few belongings she
could call her own, and made her way to the big city. There, she
had been directed by the guards at the gatehouse to a job agency
where they matched people who were hiring with those looking for
work. Layna had been completely out of her element and embarrassed
when the clerk had asked her what she was applying for and she
realized that she didn't have an answer. When the job appeared for
the maid in Jezebel's household, she had jumped at the chance,
despite her misgivings about her new mistress.

In spite of the downsides of working for
Jezebel, Layna had managed to save some money and her dreams of
becoming something on her own were still intact. She refused to go
back home without making something of herself or she would never be
able to live with her father's endless 'I told you so's'. Besides,
if she went back he'd probably end up marrying her off to some
boring old farmer and then she'd just be miserable for the rest of
her life. Her parents were always so worried about her, and never
wanted her to do anything where she might get hurt. But in her
mind, that wasn’t living. At least here it was somewhat exciting.
She was in the midst of things, and though she rarely heard the
whole story, she got tantalizing little snatches of court intrigue
that fascinated her.

Layna let her thoughts drift back to the
conversation around her and chuckled to herself as her own thoughts
had nearly mirrored those of the current speaker, Katrina. She was
asking if anyone had heard any of the new gossip about the nobles,
their constant source of entertainment. Who was seen with whom. How
relationships were going. Who and what was in style. It was such a
silly little gossip train, but Layna couldn't help herself. She got
sucked into it with the rest of them.

“I heard that Lady Renee may have actually
found a suitor recently,” she chimed in and explained as a flurry
of excitement broke out at this juicy news.

When they had exhausted all avenues of
who-knew-what in the lives of the nobility, Layna found herself
stifling a yawn. She excused herself and squeezed past the gardener
and stable boy, playfully batting at the hand of the former, which
strayed puckishly towards her.

She paused just outside the door when she
felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to find that Aaron had
followed her out. “Watch yourself,” he warned her.

“Excuse me?” she asked him.

“I may have been out of line the other day
when I accused the lord of only using you. But all this joking and
laughter,” he waved his hand, indicating the party, “about the
evilness of Jezebel is really not very funny. Servants actually do
go missing and I’d hate to see you among them.”

Layna's face grew hot. “There's nothing going
on with me and-”

“-You don't need to convince me. It's none of
my business.” He glanced back into the kitchen and smiled at
Katrina who waved back at him. Then he turned his attention back to
Layna. “But I don't think it’s just a matter of a broken heart
anymore. If Jezebel found out…” he drifted off, giving her a
meaningful look, “I promise this is the last time I’ll bring it up,
but please, just watch yourself.”

Layna nodded soberly, and gave him a grateful
smile. “Thanks. Now, go enjoy yourself.” Aaron reentered the party,
and Layna made her way to bed, idly thinking that she missed
Gryffon's company despite Aaron’s warning. A strange pang of
jealously twisted her stomach for a moment, thinking of them both
at the palace, but she shook it off sheepishly.
Why in the world
would I feel such a thing about Gryffon anyway? I simply enjoy his
company. We’re just f
riends
. In the back of her mind she
knew that she didn't believe her own reasoning for a second, but
she was too tired to argue with herself. She sank into the blankets
gratefully; letting her body warm the chilled fabric until her cozy
nest embraced her in sleep.

CHAPTER 10

Jezebel lounged on a luxurious couch adorned
with gold ribbon. She stretched out her arms and crossed her legs
daintily in front of her. “Isn't this wonderful?” she purred to
Renee, who stood looking out the window.

The large woman turned towards her at the
inquiry and gushed, “Oh yes. It would be so perfect to live here at
the palace all the time. They have such beautiful gardens, and
wonderful food, and everything is so,” she paused, searching for
the word, “perfect,” she finished with a sigh, looking longingly
around the room.

Jezebel smiled at her, amused by her obvious
awe of their surroundings. Jezebel knew that this was really where
she belonged, and no more than what she deserved. Her manor was far
too small for a woman of her stature, and she was determined to
move up into her proper place in life. That was why she needed to
gain a Council seat, and had initially been looking for her
father's support for one. Her mood soured slightly as she
remembered the episode where she had asked for it.
His refusal
soon won’t matter though
, she reminded herself. In exchange for
loyalty and obedience, the Order would help you get what you
wanted.
Or at least the semblance of loyalty,
she
amended
.
Frustratingly, that little rat of a man, Jonathan,
had left before she could ask any questions. Therefore, she was
currently stalled in her plans. Since she had no way of contacting
him, she was left in a position of simply waiting until he chose to
contact her again. She could feel herself getting worked up and
fought down the emotions, stroking the soft fabric of the couch to
soothe herself.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door and a
flutter of excitement replaced her earlier anxiety. “Come in,” she
answered, cutting off Renee's acknowledgment.

Three maids entered, each carrying yards of
fabric that threatened to overwhelm them. They quickly set the
cloth on the unused furniture, and then curtsied to the two ladies.
Once they had properly addressed the two women, the maids proceeded
to unravel each of the lengths in front of Jezebel and Renee. Renee
took a seat on the couch next to Jezebel and took a fold of the
first yard in her hand.

“Oh, feel this one,” she cooed, “it's simply
divine.”

Jezebel reached out her own elaborately
adorned fingers towards the cloth and stroked it softly. The fabric
was silky under her touch, and it shone where the light touched it.
The deep red seemed to shimmer and flow across the fabric as if it
were real wine. “Hmm,” she murmured thoughtfully. “Perhaps. I'll
have to see the others though. Come along, dear,” she said to the
maid as she tossed the bit of fabric back up the length. “Let's see
the next one.”

The girl hastened to comply and brought out
the next, a deep blue velvet. “What do you think the new King is
like?” asked Renee, running her hands all over the velvet in a
completely undignified manner. “I hear that he's some back-country
royalty that laid claim to the throne after Edward's death. Somehow
he got the entire Council to agree to appoint him even though he's
from so far north.”

“Yes,” Jezebel replied. “As you know, my
father is quite influential with the Council and he told me that
Lord - excuse me - King Nathair was found to be a far distant
cousin of Edward. The Council determined him to be next in line
since his father, the Baron Asheron, just died last year. Plus, I
hear he's made quite a name for himself on the battlefield. I
expect he'll be looking for a bride soon as well. Do you think he
likes green?” she asked, holding a delicate emerald fabric up to
her cheek and batting her eyes.

Renee laughed. “Do you think he might be
looking for one at the ceremony?”

Jezebel shrugged. “You never know. Men look
for
it
everywhere.” She emphasized the word and gave Renee a
conspiratorial look before saying effusively, “Wouldn't it be
wonderful to snag the King? Just think of the power you'd get, and
the allowance!” She trailed off, happily day-dreaming.

“Assuming he'd make a good husband, of
course,” added Renee.

“Of course,” Jezebel answered agreeably.
A
s long as he's a good husband who knows to always listen
to his dear wife
. Jezebel had heard quite a bit about the King
from her father, but she didn't care to share the information with
Renee. The woman was far too wrapped up in her domestic duties to
have even an inkling of matters of real importance.

Jezebel had gotten her father to let her in
on the secret that their new King might be amendable to loosening
the priests’ tight control on the use of talent. He was apparently
already working to establish training facilities outside their
supervision and there was talk of trying to open modes of
communication with Treymayne to gather more knowledge about the
magical arts.

Following the downfall of the Dark King, the
people in Gelendan were initially too relieved to be rid of the
tyrant to worry too much about what would happen to the future of
magic-use following the mass book-burning that had taken place. The
destruction of all this knowledge, combined with the depletion of
talent that the Massacre had caused, greatly diminished Gelendan’s
ability to utilize this important aspect of life. And it was now
further limited by the priests’ constraints. The country had become
far more handicapped in this respect than anyone had realized at
first, and more so than many admitted even now. This handicap was
made obvious, at least to Jezebel, by the magical barrier that had
sprung up between Gelendan and Treymayne.

To Jezebel's knowledge, no one in Gelendan
even understood the properties of the barrier, much less had any
idea how to get past it or what kind of people were on the other
side of it. Most of the commoners believed that Treymayne had just
stopped allowing people to pass; they didn't realize that it was
magic that kept it that way. If they knew, no doubt there would be
a lot more unrest about their own country's lack of talent. Though
their isolation made it difficult to determine what level of talent
they actually possessed, there was whispered talk that their level
and use of it was much greater than Gelendan’s own. Luckily, they
were much smaller physically so even if this were true, Jezebel had
no doubt that Gelendan could crush them.

When King Nathair revealed his plans, there
would be those opposed to the idea of bringing back more magic,
when it was magic that had been so intimately tangled with the pain
and destruction that the Dark King had caused. It had become the
scape-goat for the Dark Age, and even now there were many who were
afraid of its use in any form. However, there were many others who
saw the importance of regaining this knowledge, and no doubt the
commoners could be convinced as well, simply by reminding them that
the status of talent in Treymayne was unknown and could potentially
greatly outweigh what there was in Gelendan. With a few hints that
Treymayne’s greater magical talent would give them an advantage if
the two countries ever had a conflict, even those who were against
it would be sure to see the logic of regaining the information.
Given these facts, Jezebel had great hopes that perhaps in her
lifetime she would get to see the results of some real magic.

They had magic now, of course, she was
trained to use it and did so from time to time, but using magic was
like learning a language. If the teachers were lacking in their own
vocabulary, it was difficult to attain any great level of
proficiency as the student. She could activate surviving spells and
perform a dozen petty tricks, but it was nothing compared to the
magics of old. It was said that the old talents could call
lightening with a flick of their wrist, transport objects and even
people over large distances in the blink of an eye, and manipulate
beasts into obeying their will. Jezebel couldn't imagine what it
was like to have that kind of power, but she wanted to very badly.
Though the Dark King was said to have fallen prey to madness, he
was also known as one of the most powerful mages ever in history.
In a way, she admired him despite his eventual failure. He had the
entire country so in fear and awe of him that they actually killed
their neighbors and friends as he named them unworthy. He had
possessed the power of persuasion as well as being one of the most
powerful mages of his time. Jezebel wondered if he had used mass
mind control, which apparently was possible, or if he was simply
that charismatic.