The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes (70 page)

“In Delvay, we use Arovan knights as floor
mats and eat their horses for dinner,” Neph said, giving a Valor a
dark look.

“In Merro, you both shut the hell up and try
to act dignified when we conquer other countries,” Jala snapped,
cutting them both off before the conversation could worsen. She had
to admit though, Neph was right. The Avanti house was too damned
big. They had entered the city at the first sign of surrender and
thirty minutes later she was still trying to reach the High Lord to
settle terms.

“Isn’t he supposed to come to you for this?”
Neph asked as they followed the servant up another flight of
stairs.

“How much farther?” Jala growled to the
servant.

“The top of these stairs and to the right,
Lady,” the woman answered in a quavering voice. She didn’t look
more than twenty at the most and obviously had never expected to be
the one guiding invaders through her master’s house.

“Better not be very far to the right. I’m
sick of walking,” Neph grumbled.

“Lazy bastard,” Valor said with a quick
glance at Neph.

Jala let out a weary sigh and glanced back at
them. Against everyone’s advice she had only brought an escort of
two as well as her Bendazzi. At the time it had seemed like a
splendid idea. Neph was like a big brother to her and Valor was her
anchor. They were the two that she trusted most in the world, but
she had forgotten how they bickered. “I should have brought Ash and
Jail. They are both so serene,” Jala mused aloud, a trace of
longing in her voice.

“That you would have fallen asleep with
boredom and fallen back down the stairs, broken your neck, and
died. Then Avanti would triumph. Wise choice to bring us,” Valor
said with a charming smile.

Neph snorted in amusement and smiled at her.
“I would have laughed. Even when they rolled your body into the
ground I would have been laughing, and I would have made the
tombstone myself.
Survived everything but the stairs
,” he
said with a wicked smile.

“Yours is going to read.
She had no choice
but to kill him. He wouldn’t shut up
. And I bet you get yours a
lot sooner than I get mine,” Jala promised sweetly and let out a
sigh of relief as they reached the end of the hall.

The servant bobbed her head meekly and held
up a hand. “Please wait here while I announce you,” the woman said
in a voice that held a note of pleading.

“I don’t think so,” Jala said darkly as she
moved forward and pushed the woman aside. Shaking her head in
disgust, Jala shoved the doors open roughly and stalked into the
room, her eyes scanning the occupants immediately. Truce sat at his
father’s desk and a red-eyed Cassia was tucked into a chair in the
corner, a napkin clutched between her delicate hands. A tall man in
the uniform of an Avanti elite stood near one wall while two guards
stood on either side of the door.

“Lady Merrodin,” Truce stammered as he rose
to his feet, his gaze flicking to the door. No doubt the man was
wondering why his servant had failed to announce her.

Jala stared at the guards for a breath then
slowly turned to look at Truce. “I’ve crossed half the city to
speak with you. You surrendered, remember? Why did you not meet me
at the gate?” She asked coldly.

“I thought it would be best if we discussed
such things privately,” Truce began, his tone faltering as he
watched her.

“We never should have let her through the
gates. Daddy would have killed her,” Cassia sobbed, bringing the
tattered napkin to her bloodshot eyes.

Jala watched Cassia for a long moment and
then looked back to Truce, no trace of mercy or amusement on her
face. “Where is Sovaesh?” Jala demanded. She had expected the man
to be in the room when she arrived but there was no sign of
him.

“In prison, Lady Merrodin. He killed my
father,” Truce explained in a voice that didn’t seem quite as
grief-stricken as Jala would have expected.

“Bring him here now,” Jala snapped.

“He is in prison. Did you not hear my
brother?” Cassia snapped, her voice rising. “He is going to die for
what he did, as you should have,” she added with a whine.

Jala crossed the room in two quick strides
and brought her hand so hard across Cassia’s face that it knocked
the woman from her chair. Sobbing, Cassia began to crawl away but
Jala’s eyes were already fixed on Truce who stood staring with a
look of utter shock on his handsome face. “If this bitch says one
more word to me I will forget any thought I had of mercy and leave
your heads on spikes and your city in ruins. Is that understood,
Truce?” Jala hissed, not bothering to look at the guards who had
gone for their swords. Valor and Neph still stood by the door, as
did her two Bendazzi. If the guards chose to attack they wouldn’t
manage to get their swords clear of their scabbards before they
were dead.

“Take my sister from the room now. See that
she is kept in her own quarters until Lady Merrodin is gone from
the city,” Truce snapped quickly and the elite moved at once to
obey. Apparently neither man was willing to gamble on Cassia being
smart enough to keep her mouth shut.

Jala watched them leave and slowly looked
back to Truce, her expression deadly. “I hate to repeat myself,
Truce. I will just this once, though. Bring me Sovaesh,” she said
in a low voice her eyes locked on his.

“Bring Sovaesh here now!” Truce barked to his
guards then looked back to Jala with an expression of caution.
Obviously he had expected to speak with the same meek girl he had
met in Firym during her wedding.

“What’s wrong, Truce? Not sure what to think
of me now? You have your family to thank for what I have become,”
Jala spoke in a hushed voice her eyes narrowed. Moving forward
toward the desk she smiled coldly and dropped down into the empty
chair across from him. “Sit and listen. You will agree to what I
say or you will die, understood? I have no time for negotiating and
Avanti is in no position to demand negotiating. Your gates are open
and my Army holds your city.”

Slowly, Truce sat and nodded for her to
continue. His gaze flickered to the Bendazzi once but he remained
silent. Apparently he was wiser than his other two siblings.

“The Greenwild is mine, now. I claim the
entire country for Merro and from this day forward it is to be
considered under my protection.” Jala heard Valor and Neph mutter
in shock behind her but ignored them as she continued. “The only
border crossing I will allow from your country to mine will be in
the purpose of trade or commoners who have family there. If a
government official or soldier of your house is found on my land I
will take it as an act of hostility and if I have to go to war
again, Truce, there will be no mercy.”

“You understand that my House has frequent
dealings in the land of the Greenwild?” Truce asked hesitantly.

“Are you asking if I am aware that you
harvest most of your slaves from those lands? Yes, I am aware of
that. If you are asking if I am aware that your soldiers go there
for entertainment in the forms of rape and murder, yes, I am aware
of that as well. If you have other dealings there I don’t care
about them. If it meets my guidelines, then we have no problem. If
it doesn’t I will kill you,” Jala returned her voice still icy.

“I see. Well then I will make what changes I
must with my people to ensure that they do not cross the borders,”
Truce said with a faint nod. His expression was starting to sour
with her words. It was doubtful that anyone had ever spoken like
this to him before, except perhaps his father. Donrey Avanti had
not shown anyone respect from what Jala had seen.

“You will surrender half of the Avanti
treasury to me as well as submit to my Soulreaver’s truth-find to
verify that you have been honest about the amount of coin. This is
nonnegotiable,” Jala paused and shook her head slowly as his
expression changed. “I can see the look of dismay on your face. You
are showing more pain about giving me gold than you did at the
mention of your father’s death,” Jala said with disgust in her
voice.

“He loves gold far more than he ever loved
his father.” Sovaesh’s voice brought her attention to the doorway
and Jala nodded to him.

“Sovaesh,” Jala said in greeting before
turning back to Truce. “You will also surrender Sovaesh and his
family into my care,” she announced with a tight smile.

“What?” Truce gasped his eyes going to the
Assassin.

“If I have your pet Assassin, I don’t need to
take your son to ensure your good behavior,” Jala said and watched
him blanch at the thought. She had guessed his family would be his
weak point. It was with most.

Truce looked to Sovaesh and let out a long
sigh. Turning back to her, he nodded his head in agreement. “I
would prefer that more than being forced to punish him for a crime
I condoned,” he said with resignation. “Do you have further
demands, Lady Merrodin?” he asked in a neutral voice.

“One last demand,” Jala said, pausing until
he met her gaze once more. “Within one week of my leaving this
city, you will travel to Sanctuary and pledge your oath of peace to
Symphony.”

“I don’t even know if they will let me into
the city, Lady Merrodin,” Truce objected gently.

“They will,” Jala assured him. Standing
slowly, Jala looked to Sovaesh. “You have one hour to gather your
family and whatever items you wish to take to Merro,” she informed
him firmly then looked back to Truce. “You also have one hour to
gather my gold from your treasury,” she added.

“Milady, do you have any idea how much money
that is? It will take far longer than one hour to do,” Truce
objected.

“One hour and then I start killing household
or family for each additional hour it takes. That should be proper
motivation Truce,” Jala snarled as she nodded her head back toward
the door. “You will bring me the gold to my camp and sign the terms
of surrender that I have waiting. If you fail to arrive in my camp
I will raze the city,” she said as she turned for the door.

“Your definition of mercy is interesting,”
Sovaesh said in an amused voice.

“At least I have a definition of mercy. The
Avanti certainly don’t or I would still have my husband,” Jala
snapped as she left the room.

“It’s moments like this that make me love you
so much, Jala,” Neph said with a smile as he fell into step behind
her. “You are almost mean enough to be adopted by the Delvay
formally.”

Valor frowned and gave Jala a look of dismay.
“Please, by all the gods, say something sweet and caring so he gets
that notion out of his head,” Valor pleaded.

“Love you, Valor,” Jala said sweetly as she
started down the stairs. It was spontaneous to say it now and she
knew it, but during the few days after Jail’s visit in her tent she
had come to realize it was true. With all her focus on fighting and
planning and, of course, dealing with Jexon, she had never closely
examined what she felt for Valor. She had known that she loved him,
but had considered it love for a friend. That simply didn’t apply,
though, when she put thought into it. If Valor asked her for
anything, she wouldn’t hesitate to give it. If he showed pain, she
would do everything she could to heal him. The thought of waking in
the morning without him nearby was unbearable. There was no other
way to describe her feelings for Valor, other than love, and it was
more than for a simple friend. She heard Valor stumble behind her,
followed by Neph’s ringing laughter. Glancing back, Jala smiled at
Valor and shook her head slightly as she continued to walk.

Sanctuary

Shade watched in silence as Sebastian
Blackwolf bowed before Symphony and turned to leave the chamber.
The Blackwolf line was renowned for their dignity and pride and
Shade had spent the past three days watching Sebastian sacrifice
his as he pled with the Fionaveir for help.

“Be wise in your choice, Symphony. We have
limited resources and we can hardly afford to squander them on
nations that are as weak as Glis,” Faramir said gently.

“Glis and Arovan supported you. You can’t
just ignore their plea for help,” Shade said quietly, earning a
glare from Faramir for his words.

“This is not something you can be sentimental
about, Symphony. You must set your emotions aside and think as a
ruler,” Faramir said firmly. Standing from her chair the dark
haired woman moved behind Symphony and rested her hands on the
younger woman’s shoulders. “You must hold the city. We need
strength here and you will lose the following of the commons if you
put them on rations to send food to Glis.” Faramir spoke softly and
Shade could see Symphony already surrendering to the older woman’s
advice.

“What does your gut tell you to do, Symphony?
What thoughts crossed your mind when you watched Sebastian humble
himself before you and beg for his people?” Shade asked in a louder
voice, desperate to stop Faramir.

“Shade, she is right. I have to keep my
fighting strength here or I can’t hold against Nerathane. Morcath
may have fallen before Oblivion, but they didn’t capture Myth and
Queen Willameir is a very big danger,” Symphony said in a voice
filled with sadness.

“Symphony, please don’t do this to them. They
are your allies. Glis and Arovan have supported you since before
you took the city. Don’t leave them to die,” Shade said as he rose
from his seat and stood before her, his eyes filled with pleading.
If Sebastian’s begging wouldn’t sway her, maybe his would. It was
worth a shot anyway.

“Symphony, you cannot afford this no matter
how much your heart bleeds for them. I want you to succeed here,
love. You have to be ready to face the dragons.” Faramir spoke
softly and Shade watched with a heavy heart as Symphony’s head
bowed forward.

“She is right, Shade. I’m sorry. Glis will
have to stand on its own for now. I will send them help when I can,
I promise you,” Symphony said with grief thick in her voice.