The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes (74 page)

Legacy turned and smiled up at his mother,
his violet eyes flashing with delight. “Momma!” His childish voice
rose to nearly a squeal as he dropped the stick and sprinted toward
her. “Grandpa said you would be here tonight. I told him to make it
Merro that we played in because you always talk about going home,”
Legacy informed her, the words bubbling from him in a happy
stream.

Jala felt her throat tighten and she smiled
down at her son. “You play with Grandpa often?” she asked, her gaze
flicking to War then back to her son.

“
Every night,” Legacy answered, his smile
wide. “Usually we go to boring places, though, and he makes me
remember things about them. Not tonight, though. Tonight, he says
we do nothing but play.” His tone had been a bit petulant at first
but rose to happiness once more as he wrapped his arms around her
waist, resting his head against her hip. “I miss you, Momma. When
are we going home?” Legacy asked softly.

Jala pressed her hand gently against the back
of his head and ran her fingers lightly through his dark red hair.
“Soon, Love. I have to fight just a bit longer. I can’t leave the
world the way it stands or we will never be safe,” she whispered,
her eyes rising to War once more, the questions evident on her
face.

“
I visit him nightly, Jala. I don’t want
Lutheron to have power from this one,” War said softly, his
expression softening to a smile as he gazed down at Legacy. “He is
an exceptional child. So clever and so much like you in spirit. He
is stubborn and has his mother’s firm views on what is wrong in
this world.”

“
Grandpa was showing me all of the cities
that are gone now, Momma. He said that if you don’t finish what you
are doing Merro could join them,” Legacy’s voice faltered a bit and
he pulled back to gaze up at her as if hoping she would tell him
otherwise.

“
He is right, Legacy,” Jala said gently,
wishing she could deny the truth. “Our world is so broken that if
someone doesn’t fix, it we will never know peace.”

“
You are going to fix it all? Won’t that
take a really long time?” Legacy asked, his eyes widening and a
note of sadness filling his voice.

“
I’m not going to fix it all, Legacy. I’m
going to start the process and show the others how it’s done. All
it takes is building a road. Once the foundation is laid, others
will follow our path,” Jala assured him as she slowly sat in the
grass to stare up at her son. “You are so big,” she whispered, not
truly able to believe her magic had changed her child so much in
her short absence.

“
This is not a true reflection of him,
Jala. Though it will be soon if you don’t end the magic that is
aging him. He is still the small child that you remember for now.
He simply prefers to be bigger in the waking dreams,” War explained
with a smile.

“
I don’t like being little. Devony calls
me a baby and I’m not like Nathan. Nathan cries when he gets hurt,
but I’m tough like you, Momma. The only time you cry is when you
are hurt here,” Legacy placed a small hand over his chest. His
childish face was locked in an expression so serious that Jala
found herself smiling sadly in response. Leaning over, Legacy
wrapped his small arms around her neck and rested his head against
her shoulder. “I miss you, Momma,” he whispered again, his voice
softer and she could hear the sadness more clearly.

“
I miss you too, Legacy. More than I can
possibly say. But let’s not waste the time we have with sadness.
Grandpa said you had the entire night to play, didn’t he. We should
play then,” Jala said as she gently pulled his arms free of her
neck and stood slowly, his hands still locked in her own. Forcing a
smile onto her face despite the hollow feeling his words had left
in her chest, Jala lifted her son and spun him through the grass
until he erupted into giggles. Slowing she released his hands and
truly smiled as she watched Legacy stumble dizzily, a wide smile on
his face. “Thank you for this,” Jala whispered to War.

“
You will need this in days to come, Jala.
When darkness closes on you, remember this and never forget that it
was a waking dream. This is truly what waits for you at the end of
your trials. You do have a happily-ever-after, Jala, but you have
to fight to keep it,” War said softly and motioned her toward her
son. “Enjoy what happiness I can give you, Jala. It is not nearly
as much as you have earned, but it is something.”

“So it’s true,” The deep voice pulled Jala
from her dreams and she blinked in the morning light. She felt
Valor tense under her and pulled back as he sat up in the bed. “Do
you have any idea how furious mother would be to know you had a
girl in bed with you in her house without the proper rings of
marriage?” The voice slowly registered in her mind and Jala could
see expressions of outrage and joy crossing Valor’s face. Turning
she stared in disbelief at Honor Hai’dia who stood grinning in the
doorway.

“Have you ever heard of knocking?” Valor
demanded, though the joy in his voice was evident.

Honor laughed and a warm smile spread across
his face. Turning to Jala, he bowed deeply the smile still showing.
“Please forgive me, Lady Merrodin. I couldn’t believe it was true
when your man found us. We rode all night to reach home and I
couldn’t wait to see for myself,” Honor said and glanced back to
his brother. “Or miss an opportunity to torment Val, of
course.”

“My man?” Jala asked in confusion and glanced
over at Valor. They had arranged for scouts to go out this morning,
but no one should have been on patrols the night before.

“Grey haired fellow. He stepped right out of
the shadows on the trail and nearly caused Micah’s horse to throw
him. He said you would be here. He is waiting with the others if
you would like to speak with him,” Honor explained, then seemed to
realize their predicament. “I’ll leave you both to dress and wait
downstairs. Don’t be long, Val. Micah has so many questions, and
the only one to answer them is the damned Delvay.”

Valor turned to Jala as Honor closed the door
and his smile seemed to lighten the room. “I couldn’t ask for a
better morning. To wake up beside you and then find out that my
brother still lives. I doubt there is anything that can take the
smile from my face today.”

Jala returned the smile and leaned over to
kiss him. Pulling back she nodded toward the door. “Let’s not leave
them with Neph too long then,” she suggested as she climbed from
the bed. “I left my armor in the other room,” she realized with a
sigh and pulled her robe back on.

Valor looked back at her from where he was
dressing and grinned wickedly. “I prefer the robe.”

“I don’t want to greet Lord Micah in a
bathrobe,” Jala objected with a grin of her own. “I’ll meet you
downstairs. Don’t wait for me,” she said quickly as she left the
room.

Pushing the door open to the master bedroom,
Jala started toward the bathroom then paused as she spotted Vaze
seated at the small table. With a casual wave he motioned toward
the bed and Jala turned to see her freshly cleaned gear waiting for
her. Her eyes widened as she spotted the black staff lying near her
pile of armor and she turned back to Vaze, an expression of shock
clearly written on her face.

“Next time you lose that weapon would you
please try to make sure it’s not in serpent infested waters?” Vaze
asked with a faint smile.

“You retrieved it from the sea?” Jala gasped
as she crossed to the bed quickly and plucked up the staff,
wrapping her hands tightly around it. Jala could feel the energy
humming through the weapon and looked up at Vaze in confusion. She
had drained the weapon fully in Goswin yet it brimmed with
magic.

“I did, and Symphony charged it fully for
you. She wants to help so badly, Jala but her hands are tied.
Faramir has convinced her that in order to protect and hold the
city she must keep all of her strength in Sanctuary,” Vaze
explained as he rose slowly from the chair. “I want to help you as
well, Jala, but I’m not sure of my welcome. I wanted a chance to
speak with you in private to settle things between us,” Vaze said
with a heavy sigh, his gaze locked on her every move.

Jala nodded slowly and sorted her thoughts.
Every time she had needed help, Vaze had appeared and had never
asked a thing of her in return. It was true that he had sent Finn
back to the Darklands, but perhaps he was trying to help her then,
too. Her Uncle seemed to know everything. Perhaps he had known the
truth of Finn’s feelings and had been trying to spare her the pain.
“You are welcome here, Vaze,” Jala said at last as she carefully
sat the staff back down on the bed and crossed the room to stand
before him. “I don’t always understand what you do or why you are
doing it, but you have never moved against me. In every action you
have taken you have tried to protect me, though I didn’t always
understand it at the time. Thank you,” she said as she wrapped her
arms around him and hugged him lightly.

Vaze stiffened for a moment then hesitantly
returned the hug. “You are my kin, Jala. You are the only family I
have left in this world aside from my father. I will always try to
protect you,” he said softly as he pulled back from the embrace.
“The others are waiting downstairs. I will let them know you will
be down shortly,” Vaze said as he stepped back toward the door.

“Thank you for that as well, Vaze. You have
no idea how much it meant to Valor to see his brother alive,” Jala
called after him, a faint smile tracing her lips as she remembered
the look on Valor’s face. She turned back from the bed as the door
closed behind Vaze and began to dress quickly. Things were looking
up rapidly. Between the dream of Legacy and then the morning’s
events, she shared Valor’s opinion. She couldn’t see how anything
could steal her smile today.

Music filled the hall and Jala leaned back in
her chair with a smile on her face. Blue’s clear voice was filled
with joy and the mood around the table reflected it. Her eyes moved
slowly across the faces of her people as they traded stories with
Lord Micah’s men.

“You will have to explain to me sometime why
your people are so protective over the Seravae. There have been
four fights in the camps outside for the use of the word Spook,”
Micah said quietly from her left and Jala smiled as she glanced at
him.

“If not for Ash, Jala and I both would have
died in Avanti. Our people know that and they have learned that our
Soulreavers are different from the raiders they are familiar with,”
Valor explained from her other side.

“I wasn’t awake during the rescue, but from
what I hear, Ash held our spirits in our bodies until they were
able to get us to a healer,” Jala added with a nod toward Ash who
sat in animated conversation with Nigel.

“And how did you happen to get dragons to
help you?” Micah asked quietly, his attention moving to follow her
gaze.

“Nigel and his comrades arrived after the
second battle with Avanti. When Valor brought down an entire army
with just his company,” Jala replied and felt Valor shift beside
her.

“That is a story I would dearly love to hear,
but I fear the night is already growing long and we have much to
discuss,” Micah said with a sigh, his gaze moving to her once more.
“I can’t believe that you are here and I cannot begin to express
how grateful I am for it. We didn’t expect anyone to help
Arovan.”

“I don’t leave friends to rot, Micah. We came
as soon as we were able. I only brought two thousand with me, but I
don’t think it will take that many to face the Blights,” Jala said
with another smile. A month ago the act of smiling had seemed
impossible and now she couldn’t seem to keep the expression from
her face.