The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (21 page)

“I yelled, ‘no!’ really loud,” Jala replied
with a shrug.

“Huh, never tried that one before,” Wisp said
in amusement. “I doubt that technique works for everyone though.
You likely had the what-the-hell-is-she-doing-here advantage on
your side.”

“Very likely,” Jala agreed with a smile that
quickly faded as she noticed the large number of men in white
cloaks and silver armor approaching. “What are that many Justicars
doing in this section of town?” she asked Wisp quietly.

“There it is, kill it,” large man near the
front commanded his finger pointing directly at Marrow. Snarling,
the Bendazzi dropped to a crouch in response.

“Wait, what is the meaning of this?” Jala
demanded, stepping protectively in front of Marrow.

“Don’t come any closer,” Wisp warned her hand
dropping to her sword. Though the Fae was famous for her use of the
bow, Jala had seen her practice with blade as well and knew she was
formidable.

“That creature is responsible for multiple
deaths in the city. Stand aside and allow us to do our job,” the
large man bellowed, his eyes narrowing at Wisp as she drew her
blade. “Do you have any idea about the penalty for drawing steel on
a Justicar, girl?” he demanded his tone filled with threat.

“I’ll be doing more than drawing it if you
take one step toward that Bendazzi. He hasn’t killed anyone. He
eats beef from the market,” Wisp growled back.

Jala’s eyes flicked from Marrow to Wisp and
she tried to guess where Emily might be. Behind one of the
Justicars, no doubt, ready to attack if needed. The situation was
growing worse by the second. If she didn’t do something soon, they
would all likely be dead or fleeing in exile. Clearing her throat,
she stepped forward again and leveled her gaze on the large
Justicar. “How dare you threaten my companions in my district.
Stand aside now,” she snarled with as much force as she could
muster.

“Your district?” the Justicar asked, his tone
mocking.

“I am Jaladene Merrodin and this is my
district. Stand down now,” Jala commanded, her voice cracking like
a whip. Several of the men behind him shifted uncomfortably and
looked to their leader with confusion.

“The last Merrodin died ten years ago,” the
Commander said smugly. “Do you know what the penalty for
impersonating a High Lord is, girl?” he asked, his voice cold and
filled with threat.

“Do you have any idea what the penalty for
ignoring one is?” Jala shot back, her eyes narrowing.

“Arrest her and kill the Bendazzi,” the
Commander snapped, his glare turning to the milling men behind
him.

“Actually, we can’t kill the Bendazzi before
we determine if she is truly Merrodin.” The voice came from off to
the side and both the Commander and Jala turned to regard the
speaker. He was dressed as the others in silver plate though his
had a bit more engravings on it. His jet black hair was cut short
and fashionably tousled. He smiled at the two of them and shrugged.
“Per regulations a council must be called to verify her claim,
Sir,” he said quietly to his Commander and moved toward Jala with
manacles ready.

“What is your name, Justicar?” the Commander
demanded, his eyes narrowing.

“Lieutenant Skyler sir,” the man replied and
stopped a short distance from Jala. “If you truly are who you say
you are, submit and get this over with. It shouldn’t take long,” he
said in a quieter voice that seemed oddly familiar.

Nodding slowly, Jala held her wrists out in
front of her and looked to Wisp. “Take Marrow back home with you,
Wisp, and I’ll meet you there soon,” she said in a level voice.

“No, I’m not leaving you alone with them,”
Wisp objected, her hand still clutching her sword.

“Please Wisp I need you to keep Marrow safe,”
Jala pressed with a note of pleading in her voice.

I’m not leaving you either so you are
wasting your breath
, Marrow told her firmly.

I won’t be alone, Emily will be with me.
If things go badly she can help me escape. I can’t risk them
hurting you, Marrow. We are linked. If something happens to you,
not only do I lose my closest friend, I will likely die at the same
time. Please, just go with Wisp
, she begged praying the
Bendazzi would listen to reason. Turning her attention back to Wisp
she locked her gaze on the Fae. “Wisp, I gambled a lot here. Please
don’t waste it,” she said quietly.

With obvious reluctance, Wisp nodded slowly
and looked to Marrow. “Come on Marrow, let’s do what she wants us
to. I don’t like it any more than you do.” The Fae spoke with
hesitation and looked ready to change her mind at any moment.

“Wisp, I need you to let Neph know what’s
going on, but not Finn or Valor. I don’t want them distracted right
now,” Jala said slowly, keeping her gaze on Wisp as the Justicar
clamped the manacles down on her offered wrists. Waves of cold
washed over her and she lowered her gaze to the Barllen restraints.
“Is Barllen really necessary? I’m not resisting,” she said softly,
already feeling the metal feeding hungrily on her reserves.

“Standard policy. Please come along,” the
young man replied with a shrug and gave her a reassuring smile.
Once again the feeling of
déjà vu
washed over her as she
watched him and she nodded slowly and began to walk toward the Hall
of Justice with him close behind her. The remaining Justicars
closed ranks around her, forming a wall of armor and cloaks that
made it all but impossible for her to see beyond them.

They walked in silence, the Justicars intent
on their duty and her attention focused on the Barllen. She didn’t
dare drain power from it in front of them but she was managing to
slow its progress on draining her. Her attention barely shifted
from the restraints as they climbed the stairs to the Hall and the
massive white doors swung open before her.

“I will see her to a high cell sir,”
Lieutenant Skyler said with a bow to the Commanding officer and led
her toward another narrower flight of stairs carefully.

She climbed steadily, wondering how long it
would take before they released her and praying it would be in time
for the duel. The thought of not knowing if Finn had won or not
tore at her, but she didn’t see that she had been given many
options. It was take the action she had or lose Marrow. Swallowing
heavily, she glanced up to see a cell door being opened in front of
her. Calmly she stepped through the doorway and noticed as the door
slammed shut behind her that the bars were made of Barllen as
well.

“Well now I believe you owe me a thank you,”
the lieutenant said in a low voice barely above a whisper and the
tone triggered the reason for the
déjà vu
.

“Hemlock?” she asked in a voice barely above
a whisper.

“Shhh. Not so loud. Do you know you are the
only one living in the city that knows what I really look like? In
all of Sanctuary there is only one other person that knows my
appearance. I’m showing you a great amount of trust,” he said, his
tone mocking. Casually he looped his arms through the bars and
crossed them, leaning forward to watch her carefully. “I’m afraid
you are going to miss the duel but if you talk sweet to me I might
open a scry for you,” he said sweetly, his voice still the same
quiet tones she remembered from the bar.

“Why are you helping me?” she asked, not
daring to approach him.

“Mmm. Well, I decided that I wouldn’t kill
you. You see I treasure people like you and Shade. You are precious
to me and while it was a lot money, I don’t really need money. I
tend to kill for entertainment rather than wealth and keeping you
alive is much more entertaining,” he explained with a smile, his
dark eyes flashing. He pointed a finger at her and motioned her to
come closer. Hesitantly she edged a few steps closer and he smiled
again. “See, people like you and Shade genuinely care about others.
You want to make the world a better, happier place,” he
continued.

“And you treasure that?” she broke in,
somewhat confused. It didn’t seem the sort of mentality an Assassin
would have.

Chuckling lightly, Hemlock shook his head.
“Not for the reason you are thinking. No, not because you are a
good person, Jala. I treasure you for the entertainment. I like to
watch you strive for a better world and then see realization hit
that the people you are trying to save aren’t worth it. I like to
watch the light die as you realize they would sell you out for a
loaf of bread and there isn’t a single thing in this world worth
preserving,” he explained, his words slow and drawn out.

“That isn’t true,” she objected.

Chuckling, he smiled at her and nodded. “And
that is exactly what they all say. Did you know I’m a Time mage,
Jala? Did you know I can see ahead and get glimpses of what will
happen?” he asked.

“I have heard it mentioned,” she replied
cautiously.

“I see a glimpse of you soaked in blood and
screaming for death, Jala. I see all light gone from your heart and
nothing but hate written on your soul. I’m going to keep you alive
until I see that happen,” Hemlock whispered, his smile as cold as
winter.

“Then I never need fear death and I can count
you as a lifelong guardian, because that won’t happen,” Jala
replied, her jaw clenched.

“We shall see. I have to be a good pretend
Justicar, and go file an arrest report on you now. It’s the way
they do things you know,” he said, pushing off the bars. “I’ll be
back in time to show you the duel though don’t worry. I, of course,
already know how it’s going to end but I don’t want to miss the
expression on your face when you see it.” He began to whistle
lightly as he left the room and it took her a moment to recognize
the tune -
The Lover’s Lament.
The words sprang to her mind
as the whistling continued to echo back up the stairs.

Alone you’ve left me as darkness falls.

No hope and no answer to my echoing
calls
.

Shaking her head, she pushed the words from
her mind and paced the cell. She had never liked that song anyway.
It was one of those pieces that could depress you even at a
festival.

“I’ve always hated that song,” a familiar
voice said from one of the cells across the room. “The lyrics are
so whining you wonder why they didn’t just kill themselves instead
of writing a song.”

“Jail,” she gasped, and her eyes flashed back
to the door that Hemlock had disappeared through.

Movement from the cell caught her eye and she
watched in quiet awe as the large man calmly slipped a hand through
the bars and unlocked his own cell. “He didn’t notice me, don’t
worry,” Jail reassured her as he crossed the empty room to her
cell. “Now explain what is going on. I’m afraid I’m a bit out of
touch on recent events.”

“You have a key?” she asked in a dumbfounded
voice.

Glancing down at the key ring in his hand,
Jail nodded slightly, his expression amused. “As many times as I’ve
been in here, of course I do,” he replied with a light chuckle. His
gaze flicked back to the door and then to her again. “We should
have about twenty minutes. The reports are long ones.” Calmly he
pulled a chair closer to her cell and sat down quietly taking care
to keep away from the Barllen.

“He is a Time mage, Jail. He has to know you
are in here,” Jala objected, wondering how Hemlock would react to
having another person that knew his identity.

Calmly, Jail shook his head. “Just because he
can see glimpses doesn’t mean he sees everything, Jala. Time is a
fickle magic. It changes often. That rubbish he spoke of about you
covered in blood. Well, that’s just one possibility and it may
never happen.”

“Why do you stay in here if you have a key,
Jail?” she asked in utter confusion.

“Because someone needs to relay information
to certain individuals inside this building discreetly. I am the
best for that particular job due to my form of magic. I can make
them forget why I was arrested, or release me when I’ve
accomplished what I need to do. There is, of course, the bonus of
getting to smack around Justicars as needed as well. We are wasting
time though. Why are you in here? I wouldn’t be surprised to see
Finn or Valor land in one of these cells but to see you here, well,
I’m rather shocked.” Jail spoke in low tones and leaned toward the
cell.

“I’m here for impersonating a High Lady,” she
replied her tone disgusted. With a heavy sigh she sat down
cross-legged on the floor across from him and looked up to his
concerned face. “They were going to kill Marrow and then Wisp drew
steel. I didn’t see any other way to get out of it, Jail. I
couldn’t let them kill Marrow or Wisp,” she explained.

“Why would they kill Marrow? He has been in
the city for months and they haven’t paid any attention to him,”
Jail said shaking his head slowly.

“There are Blights hunting in the city and
they are trying to blame the deaths on Marrow, but then you don’t
know about the Blights do you?” Lifting both hands to her face she
rubbed her eyes and let out a long slow breath. “And now Finn is
about to fight Kithkanon and I won’t be there and if he dies …,”
her voice trailed off slowly and she stared down at the floor in
despair.

“I know what the Blights are. I didn’t know
they were in the city. As far as I knew they were only affecting
Glis and Arovan. This changes things drastically. So they are
calling a council now to determine if you are truly a Merrodin?”
Jail spoke slowly as though working through the new information.
“That could take several days, Jala, depending on how quickly the
high lords respond to their summons,” he said after a moment and
she felt her shoulders slump farther.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” she said
miserably.

“Someone is coming,” Jail said sharply and
moved his chair back to the wall quickly. Silently he moved back to
his cell and pulled the door almost shut. To the casual glance it
would appear to be latched.