The Crow King's Wife (12 page)

“Nel had nightmares about that for weeks.
Every time I went out to hunt after that I thought she was going to
kneecap me to keep me from leaving the house.” Caleb continued as
his dagger tip carefully cut away the first layer of scar tissue
from Shade’s eye. Shade stirred under his hand and Caleb leaned
back and carefully sat the dagger down.

Jala flinched back and by her expression it
was clear that she expected Caleb to punch Shade to knock him out,
but when he reached for his bag instead her expression shifted to
curiosity.

Barely a breath had passed before Caleb
dropped his bag and leaned forward once more with a small amber
colored glass vial in his hand. He quickly pulled the stopper from
the vial and gently shook Shade. “Shade, wake a bit. Here I need
you to drink this. It will help you.” Caleb’s voice was gentle as
he held the vial to Shade’s lips with one hand and lifted his head
enough to drink with the other. Shade swallowed weakly and coughed
a few times as Caleb lowered his head to the pillow once more.
“Just rest now. We made it to Merro and Jala is going to heal you.
All you have to do is sleep.” Caleb said as he dropped the empty
vial onto the table beside him and watched Shade settle back into
the bed.

Zoelyn could tell by Jala’s expression that
Caleb’s actions had done wonders to improve her opinion of him,
despite the fact that he hadn’t paid the least bit of attention to
her. It was obvious he hadn’t been trying to impress her or anyone
else in the room with his actions.

“I’m a much harsher judge of character than
you are Jala. You want to save the entire world, and I don’t think
there are many worth saving. I would sell my soul to save Grim
though, and there are very few people I will say that of.” Zoelyn
informed her quietly.

Jala turned to look at her and then slowly
looked back to Caleb who had once again begun work on Shade’s eye.
“I’ve never heard you speak of anyone like that before.”

“There are only five that I would say that
of. Three are in the room the fourth is playing with his toys
downstairs. The last one is in Delvay.” Zoelyn said with a faint
smile. “Shade, Wisp and Sovann I would of course save as well, but
I don’t know if I would go as far as the soul selling part for them
yet.”

“You better not go that far for me either
little girl.” Caleb grumbled in a distracted voice. “I swore
Kevala’drin
on Rivasa. My life isn’t worth betting on let
alone trying to save.” He finished quietly. “That’s part of what I
need to speak with you about Valor, and now seems a good of a time
as any.”

Zoelyn stared at his back for a long moment.
After several breaths she realized her jaw had dropped and Jala was
watching her too closely.

“What is
Kevala’drin
?” Jala asked
sharply and from her tone of voice she obviously hadn’t approved of
Zoelyn’s reaction to the word.

“The Final reckoning. It’s an old Glis
tradition. Grim will fight until all of the guilty are dead…or he
is dead.” Valor explained quietly and gave Caleb a solemn nod. “I
respect you for what you do. May thousands die to your
vengeance.”

“Valor how can you support something like
this? It sounds like suicide to me!” Jala objected loudly.

“It’s sacred and most lack the courage to
pursue it.” Zoelyn said quietly. The idea of Grim dying made her
want to weep, but the act of
Kevala’drin
was the thing of
legends, and exactly the sort of path a man like him would choose
with everything he had lost.

“You too?” Jala gasped as she rounded on
Zoelyn and shook her head sharply in disapproval. “Better to live
and help others than to follow those you love to the grave.” She
added with disgust.

“The favor I mentioned.” Caleb began as if
Jala hadn’t spoken at all. “Is very important to me, and it has two
parts.” He paused as he twisted his dagger in the wound carefully
and glanced up at Valor. “Syrah still lives. I would ask that you
return her safely to my family once I save her. My Aunt and Uncle
will treat her well and see that she gets everything she requires
in life. The second part of the favor is that you not speak of me
at all. Let them believe I died in Amdany or whatever you must tell
them, but leave my name out of this. I have too many secrets to
take to the grave with me to allow any questions to be raised about
my death.”

“Grim! The sun rises and sets with you in
Syrah’s eyes. How can you follow this path if she still lives?”
Zoelyn broke in quickly and moved to stand on the opposite side of
the bed from him forcing him to meet her eyes. “This changes what I
said Grim. This makes an act of bravery into something cruel.”

“Because I swore I would before I knew Syrah
still lived, and you know I can’t break my word.” Caleb replied in
a weary voice. “Look I’m going to get the same argument from Shade
when he awakens so spare me Zoey please.”

“Bloody hell I’ll spare you, you stubborn
ass.” Zoelyn snarled and shook her head savagely. “Nel wouldn’t
want you to follow this path and you know it. She would want Syrah
with you!”

Caleb pulled his knife back from Shade’s
wound and closed his eyes for a moment before letting out a long
slow breath. “Zoey do not make this more difficult than it is!” he
snapped his voice rising and filled with pain.

“I will make it bloody impossible Huntsman!”
Zoelyn promised matching his volume with her own voice.

“So who exactly is Syrah?” Jala asked quietly
from somewhere behind Caleb.

“His daughter, she should be about six by now
I suppose, and far too young to understand why her father is
choosing this path.” Valor explained quietly.

“Not you too Valor.” Caleb groaned as he
returned to his work on Shade’s eye. He shook his head and sighed
heavily.

“I’ll do as you ask if you truly feel this is
the path you must follow.” Valor said softly and by his tone it was
clear he no longer supported Caleb’s choice.

“Thank you Valor.” Caleb said with relief. He
glanced up at Zoelyn and frowned at her continued scowl. “Drop it
Zoey.”

“No.” Zoelyn responded stubbornly and then on
a whim she moved quickly around the bed and snatched his backpack
from the ground. Not bothering to spare him another glance she
began digging in the contents. She knew the amulet was in there
somewhere. He always carried it.

“Zoey what in the hell are you doing?” Caleb
demanded, but didn’t bother to rise from his chair. He had limited
time to finish his work on Shade’s eye before Shade’s regeneration
made all of his work useless and he was forced to start over.

“Looking for inspiration for you. Apparently
you need guidance back to the right path.” Zoelyn grumbled as she
continued to dig frantically through his gear. After several more
moments her hand brushed against a metal chain and she pulled the
amulet out with a triumphant gasp. “Hah!” she proclaimed happily as
she carried it back to the bedside across from Caleb. Looking down
she carefully studied the silver pendant. It was far too large to
wear as ornament, especially for a man, but it wasn’t meant for
decoration. Its basic shape was that of a flower with a gem set in
most of the petals. Her fingers danced across the gems and she
struggled to control her power. The last thing she wanted to do was
drain something as priceless as the magic she held in her hand.

“Zoelyn don’t!” Caleb snapped and started to
rise from his chair. His gaze flicked back to Shade and he ground
his teeth in frustration.

“Jala, activate this gem.” Zoelyn ordered as
pointed to a tiny blue stone and tossed the amulet to Jala.

Jala stared down at it bewildered for a
moment, and glanced at Zoelyn once more before she activated the
indicated stone.

At the slightest brush of magic against the
amulet the blue gem flared to life and a tiny voice echoed through
the room. “
I miss you daddy, when are you coming home
?
Momma says you have been gone too long already. Will you bring
me a puppy when you come back
?”

“Syrah no! You don’t ask for things when
sending love.”
Another voice broke in with laughter hidden in
the words and Zoelyn felt her eyes go glassy at the sound of Nel’s
voice. It had been years since she had heard her, and a part of her
had been praying Nel had escaped from Amdany and was in hiding. It
was something she hadn’t allowed herself to think about at all,
until Grim had stepped off of the ship today
.

“
So sorry. Love you daddy, just come home
I don’t need the puppy. I just want you home again. We miss
you
. ” The tiny voice amended sweetly.

Caleb had frozen in place at the voices and
the entire room was silent as the magic of the amulet went dormant
once more. Tears had filled his dark eyes and Zoelyn could tell he
was struggling to keep his emotions in check. “Damn you.” He
muttered bitterly as he inhaled raggedly and tried desperately to
focus on Shade’s wounds once more.

“I didn’t do it to hurt you Grim. I did it to
remind you.” Zoelyn said softly. She met his eyes once more as a
tear rolled slowly down her cheek. “I met Syrah before you did
Grim. I was there when she was born, and I knew Nel better than
anyone else other than you. You are walking the wrong path and I’m
friend enough to tell you that no matter how much it hurts.”

“I do what needs to be done, and nothing
more.” Caleb said quietly as he turned his full attention to Shade.
Zoelyn could tell by his expression that he had pushed his emotions
too far back for her to reason with him now. Grim was quite
possibly the most stubborn person she knew, but then she was Delvay
so she was more than up to the task of butting heads with him.

“You used to only say that when Micah sent
you to do something you really didn’t want to do. No one gave you
these orders Grim. You don’t have to follow them.” Zoelyn said
quietly and stepped back against the wall once more. Jala was
watching her and gave her an approving smile. She nodded in return
and folded her arms across her chest.

Kevala’drin
was a noble pursuit, and
it required more courage than most possessed, but it was not
something she would allow no matter how much she respected the man
for suggesting it. It would have been hard enough to lose a friend
no matter how noble the deed, but she wouldn’t allow Syrah to
suffer more pain and loss than she already had.

“Rest easy where ever you are Nel. I won’t
let him die, and Syrah won’t be alone.” Zoelyn promised in a voice
so low her words wouldn’t carry to the others in the room.

* * *

Night had fallen before Zoelyn sought him out
again. It wasn’t hard to track him down. Everyone else in the house
had retired for the night, and the light in the kitchen led her
right to him. He was seated with his back to the wall and holding
the flower shaped amulet in his hands. Behind him water was boiling
on the stove and Zoelyn recognized the scent of the herbs in it at
once.

“Hero’s folly.” She observed quietly as she
stepped into the room and let the door close softly behind her. The
potion was a mixture of several very potent herbs and quite
possibly the single most thing that healers despised more than
violence itself. Once it was swallowed the potion would greatly
increase natural regeneration and deaden the nerves allowing it’s
user to fight far past the point they should. Dominic often said
that only one in ten lived through the folly and the potion itself
was often more deadly than the fight it was used for.

Caleb looked up silently and watched her as
she approached. He look exhausted and so grief stricken that she
felt like a bully for coming to pester him further. He gave a
slight nod, but remained silent as he sat the amulet carefully down
on the table before him.

“I take it that by brewing that I should
accept that you haven’t changed your mind then.” Zoelyn muttered as
she considered dumping the potion down the sink. He would likely
throttle her for it though. The herbs used to make the potion were
costly and very hard to find. He must have had them tucked into his
backpack, because she knew Jala didn’t have them in her house.

Caleb closed his eyes and leaned forward to
rest his chin on his arms still silent. One hand reached out to
push lightly at the amulet and he looked up at her with a sad
smile. “There is nothing worse than to be the last one standing
Zoey.”

“Agreed.” Zoelyn said softly leaving the
obvious words unspoken.
So don’t do that to Syrah
. She slid
slowly down into the chair across from him and crossed her own arms
on the table. “When I saw you step off of that ship today my heart
soared. They said you were dead, but part of me refused to believe
that. People like you don’t die easily. It’s been years Grim, and
now here you are, and I’m about to lose you again.” Her voice grew
faint and she felt fresh tears stinging her eyes.

“Are you ever going to explain what you are
doing here in the first place? I thought you would still be with
Dominic.” Caleb kept his voice low as if he was afraid to wake the
house. It had obviously been too long since he had been home if he
feared waking anyone here. His own home in Amdany had been nearly
as large as Jala’s house, and he should have realized he could have
screamed and they wouldn’t be able to hear him in their
bedchambers.

“Dominic took me to the last stand, and I had
a bit of an accident at the river. People found out about my curse
and Dominic handed me over to Elijah for safe keeping. Which I
might add is much better than what your father wanted for me. If
Lord Blackwolf had gotten his way I’d be dead and buried now. Long
story short, Jala arrived in Arovan for a council, irritated every
high Lord there and brought me home with her.” Zoelyn explained in
the quickest fashion she could. She didn’t want to waste what time
she had speaking with him on something as trivial as her life when
his was at stake.