The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (30 page)

She rolled her eyes at him and sighed. “I was
devastated and lost in despair and you were enjoying candy,” she
grumbled.

“Well, to be truthful, the sword through the
chest rather ruined most of the enjoyment. See, I thought through
moving the innards around. I, however, did not consider dulling the
nerves. I really should have. It was rather excruciating. I thought
Val was going to vomit on me when he had to draw it back out.
Honestly, for a knight to be so squeamish is just wrong,” he said
and glanced around them as they made their way up the stairs to
their hall. “Is Emily with you?” he asked in a voice barely above a
whisper.

“I should claw your wound back open for
making her cry like you did,” Emily hissed from the shadows.

“Well there is my answer,” Finn said dryly
and flicked his gaze in the direction of the voice.

“Why do you want to know?” Emily asked from
another location, suspicion thick in her voice.

“Because it’s nice to know when I’m alone
with my wife,” Finn replied and then looked to Jala with confusion.
“Why, exactly, does she hate me so much?” he asked.

“Because she scanned Shade’s mind and he
hates you I suppose,” Jala replied with a shrug. “Honestly, I don’t
know but I think she will realize you are a friend soon.”

Shaking his head Finn led the way up into
their hall and paused by the doorway watching her. She glanced at
him raising an eyebrow at the grin on his face and then looked
around the entry way in confusion. “What?” she asked at last.

Shaking his head, he motioned ahead toward
their rooms with that same smile on his face.

“Infuriating at times, you know,” she
muttered and began walking again. Her steps slowed a bit as they
neared Valor’s door and she noticed it was wide open. She had lived
with the knight long enough to know that could be a recipe for
embarrassment. One never knew when a half-naked woman would stagger
out, or Valor himself for that matter. Silence loomed from the
doorway as she drew closer and she glanced inside. The room was
bare, with not even a curtain still remaining. Confused, she looked
back to Finn who was smiling wider and still silent. With a dark
look to express how much she appreciated his silence she continued
on and noticed as she progressed down the hall that each of her
companions’ rooms were empty and all of the doors were open.

“Did they reconsider their allegiance?” she
asked at last when she reached Neph’s door. Seeing his room empty
was like a punch to the gut. While she considered all of her
companions trusted friends, Neph had grown closer than that during
their daily training.

Finn shrugged wordlessly and she had to
repress the urge to slap him again. Taking her arm gently he tugged
her toward their room and pushed the door open. It was empty, aside
from her trunks that sat near the doorway. “The last to be moved,”
he explained quietly.

“Moved where?” she asked, her eyes flicking
between him and the trunks.

“To your hall, Lady Merrodin,” Finn replied
calmly.

“What?” Jala asked staring at him.

“While I was hunting for Devony, Valor and
Neph repaired the Merrodin Hall. It hasn’t been used for some time
but mostly it was just dusting and minor repairs. While they were
busy at that, Wisp and Sovann were finishing your orphanage in the
Merro district. Your vassals are dutiful Milady.” He winked at the
last and picked up one of her trunks. Carefully, he balanced it on
his shoulder as he had the day he had moved her into this hall.

“The orphanage is done?” she asked faintly
and felt joy at the thought. That put them one step closer to
repairing the damage to her people.

“The building is secure and safe and the
clinic is provisioned. Sovann has started to pass the word among
the streets but we won’t officially consider it open until you have
a chance to look it over tomorrow after school.” He carefully
balanced the other chest and nodded toward the door.

“Why don’t you let me carry those with
magic?” she asked motioning toward the chest.

“I’ll let you carry this one with magic.
Honestly,
Vezradesh
, how could silk weigh so much? Are you
hiding bodies in it?” he replied, lowering the larger of the two
back to the floor carefully.

“Shoes mostly. Oh, and jewelry,” she said
with a smirk and quickly cast a levitation on the chest. With a
faint tremble the chest rose into the air and rocked unsteady for a
moment before settling into a steady hover about a foot from the
ground.

“I think you may have too many shoes,” Finn
commented dryly and headed out the door.

“I don’t,” she replied, falling into step
behind him once more.

“Of course you don’t. All women are
apparently obsessed with shoes,” Finn replied with amusement.

“It’s not obsession, Finn,” she said
pointedly as they headed back down the stairs. “Consider this, my
dear. I have about two hundred dresses of all different styles and
color. According to Sanctuary’s ridiculous fashion code, I’m
expected to wear a different set of shoes depending on occasion,
style of dress, weather, and so on. If it were as simple as
changing a tunic I could get away with owning two sets of boots
such as you do, the fancy ones and the OK-to-get-blood-on-them
ones,” she explained as Finn motioned toward one of the curving
garden paths.

“Defensive about shoes, aren’t we,” Finn
replied with a barely suppressed chuckle.

“I don’t make the fashion rules here. I try
to live by them, but I certainly didn’t make them. I’m perfectly
happy with no jewelry or annoying strappy sandals,” she said,
rolling her eyes.

He glanced down at her legs and back up to
her face with a smile. “They are rather appealing though, you have
to admit.”

“That’s because you don’t have to lace them
on each morning and make sure none of the straps are crooked,” she
countered.

“Barefoot is better,” Emily added quietly
from somewhere behind them.

“I don’t know if I would go that far Emily.
It’s been some time since I wandered barefoot,” Jala said with a
slight chuckle. Turning back to Finn she smiled and let out a long
sigh. “I missed you last night. Sleeping alone is impossible now,”
she said quietly.

“I couldn’t sleep last night. I spent half of
the night driving Valor insane and the rest of it driving Sovann
insane,” Finn admitted.

“I think I got a few hours of rest early this
morning,” she said with a shrug and instantly regretted the line of
conversation. It brought images of Hemlock and a vial of blood to
mind, the first and hopefully last secret she would ever keep from
Finn. “Where is the Merrodin Hall? I don’t think I’ve ever seen
it.”

Finn motioned ahead of them with his free
hand and flicked a finger in the direction of another path. “We
take a left up there at the crossroad and it’s not too far past
that,” he explained. “It’s not too far from the Morcaillo hall
actually, so you shouldn’t have any trouble adjusting to it.”

“What made them decide to move there?” she
asked, grateful that he hadn’t noticed the abrupt topic change.

He shrugged the free shoulder and grinned at
her. “You are out of the closet now,
Vezradesh
. It’s time
that we all started treating you like High Lady Merrodin. That
means proper housing and a few other changes, but you will see what
I mean when we get there,” he said cryptically, drawing a look of
suspicion from her.

“I don’t want my friends to treat me
differently,” she objected.

“The only one that is truly irritated is
Neph, but I’m sure he will voice his complaints when we get there,”
Finn replied with a snicker.

“Why is Neph upset with me?” she asked
carefully watching his expression.

“You will see,” Finn replied.

* * *

Jala stared up at the door, her gaze locked
on the sigil carved into it. It was obvious the door was new. The
former symbol of Merrodin had been two eagles in flight. This
however was a beautifully rendered Bendazzi crouched low as if to
pounce. Moving closer she ran a finger across the image admiring
the attention to detail the artist had used. There was certainly no
mistaking what it was and by the way the wood had been bleached it
reminded her of Marrow.

“I take it you approve?” Finn asked from just
behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled
warmly at him. “It’s beautiful. It looks so much like Marrow …,”
she trailed off and slowly lowered her hand. “It’s perfect in every
detail,” she finished and pushed the door open. The interior of the
hall smelled strongly of fresh flowers and she inhaled deeply. “So
much better than the musty smell of the Hall of Justice,” she said
faintly.

“You can thank Wisp for that. I assure you,
Val and Neph had nothing to do with the flowers,” Finn said with a
smile.

Movement at the corner of her eye stopped her
before she could reply. Looking up she saw Marrow running down the
hall toward her. Her face broke into a smile once more as she knelt
to greet the Bendazzi.

“Slow down Marrow,” Finn commanded, as the
Bendazzi grew closer. “Marrow, slow down!” he repeated with more
force when it was obvious he was being ignored.

“Marrow!” Jala exclaimed as the Bendazzi
plowed into her, knocking her back on her butt. Laughing, she
scratched behind his ears and tugged lightly at the ruff of fur
around his face. “I missed you too.”

If you ever consider doing something that
stupid again I’ll take your legs off at the knees.
His voice
was a deep rumble in her thoughts. His concern and relief washed
over her like a tide.

“I’m sorry I worried you so much,” she
whispered back to him and pressed her forehead against his own. “I
didn’t like being away from you either,” she assured him.

“Marrow you are an oaf. You could have
injured her,” Finn scolded, the anger in his voice causing her to
look up in bewilderment.

“Finn, I’m fine. He just knocked me back on
the carpet,” she said in a calm voice. “Into the new carpet at
that. It’s actually very soft,” she added as she pushed herself up
and looked back down at the dark purple flooring.

“He should be more careful,” Finn grumbled,
shaking his head at the Bendazzi in disapproval. “Don’t threaten
me, cat,” he warned narrowing his eyes slightly.

Jala raised an eyebrow and looked between the
two of them.
You threatened him
? she asked Marrow, mentally
guessing she was more likely to get an answer from her
familiar.

I told him to quit his whining and that
you are fine, and if he wants to scold me like an animal, I can
start acting like an animal. My first priority would be to use his
closet as my litter box
, Marrow explained, sounding far too
pleased with himself.

Biting her lip to keep from smiling Jala
looked down the hall and back to Finn. “Are the others already in
bed?” she asked.

He exhaled a deep breath and shook his head.
“No, they are waiting to see you,” he answered and nodded his head
toward the back of the hall. “In your sitting room, actually.”

“I have a sitting room?” she asked.

“And private kitchens. No more sharing our
kitchen space with the rest of the hall. You have a private laundry
too, though I think most of us use either magic or a laundress for
our clothing,” he replied.

“So we have a laundry we will never do
anything with,” she concluded with a faint smile.

“Actually, Val and I were kicking around the
idea of using it as an indoor practice area for the less
destructive skills. It would be helpful when the weather turns
bad,” Finn explained.

“That’s a wonderful idea,” she agreed, her
smile growing. “I was wondering if we would move the practice to
Sovann’s house. I can promise you I wasn’t enjoying the prospect of
long snowy walks there.”

Finn shook his head at her adamantly. “Lady
Merrodin will not be walking in snowy sludge anywhere. She has a
horse and if the weather is too bad for that we will call a coach,”
he informed her gently.

“A coach?” she stammered pausing to stare up
at him. “Finn I’ve never rode in a coach in my life,” she said
suppressing a laugh.

“I don’t think you have ever lived as a High
Lady before, either. Things will change, Jala. There can be no help
for it.” He motioned her ahead to the last door on the left as he
spoke and she nodded once before walking past him.

The door opened before she could even reach
for the knob and Wisp poked her head out. “Marrow was right, you
are here, finally. We were beginning to worry,” she said as she
pushed the door the rest of the way open. “Well, some of us were,
anyway,” Wisp added quietly as Jala walked into the room.

The walls had been freshly painted a crisp
white and the furniture was obviously new as well. Valor leaned
against the wall closest to the door, a wine glass in his hand. His
usual black and silver clothing had been replaced with a rich deep
purple and white with silver trim. Raising his wineglass to her he
nodded and smiled. “Welcome home, Lady Merrodin.”

“Thank you Valor,” she said quietly, her eyes
roving across her friends. Jail and Neph sat at a table near the
opposite wall and both were dressed similar to Valor in purple,
white, and silver. Glancing over at Wisp, she realized the Fae was
dressed in that fashion as well.

“Even Sovann is wearing your colors now. Did
you like the sigil on the door?” Wisp said with a smile.

“It was beautiful,” Jala replied, her tone
filled with amazement.

“Purple?” Neph demanded, his expression
stormy. “I suppose I should be grateful I wasn’t forced to wear
pink but bloody purple, Jala! Why would you do this to me?” he
demanded.

Wisp snickered and shook her head at Jala.
“Ignore him. He will get used to it.” Prodding Valor lightly Wisp
motioned for him to push off the wall. “Show her your cloak, Val.”
Jala raised an eyebrow at Valor and glanced back at Wisp. “You will
love it. If he will ever tell me who his tailor is I’ll have one
made as well,” Wisp assured her.