The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse (13 page)

“You have no dignity at all,” Neph informed
him dryly.

“I’d rather be able to make a child laugh and
have fun myself than worry about dignity,” Shade replied with a
shrug. “We ready, Jala?”

Shade asked as he lit the cigarette and took
a long drag.

Jala glanced at Madren who nodded once,
though to Neph’s eyes Madren looked more nervous than ready.
Kneeling down, Jala held her hands out to her son who promptly
crossed the small stretch of grass separating them at a wobbly
legged run. Wrapping her arms around him tightly she stood once
more and balanced him on her hip before nodding to Shade.

“We taking my ship or traveling by shadows?”
Shade asked as he glanced around the courtyard.

“Shadows,” Vaze answered as he stepped from a
pool of darkness and into the clearing to join them. “We don’t have
time for the spell hawk trip, it has already begun.”

“Was I the last person to figure out you are
alive again?” Neph demanded looking to Jala with narrowing
eyes.

“No, most people don’t realize I’m alive
again, but honestly have you ever tried to keep a secret from Vaze?
It’s impossible, the man is worse than an old woman. He knows
everyone’s gossip,” Jala replied with a shrug. “Madren and Shade
found out a few minutes before you, but that was only because you
were in your room rather than in the main house.”

“I tried to get her to cast an illusion of me
over herself before she spoke to you, but she saw through it and
smacked me,” Shade said with a grin.

Neph glared at Shade for a long moment and
decided it was best to not waste his breath with a response. “Is
anyone going to tell me where we are going?” Neph asked his eyes
landing firmly on Jala.

“Arovan. I understand you were naughty and
used the bad magics when you got cranky in the battle. I’m going to
settle things on that matter and conveniently they are having a
meeting of the alliance tonight. I think there must have been a
mistake when the invitations were sent out because Merro, Goswin
and Delvay didn’t seem to receive theirs,” Jala answered and Neph
could tell by the tone of her voice that it wouldn’t be Jala
Merrodin that arrived at Arovan’s meeting, it would be Lady
Bendazzi and whoever had skipped over Merrodin would soon regret
it.

* * *

Neph blinked several times as the shadows
faded around them. Bowing slightly, Vaze stepped away from the
group and allowed them all to get their bearings. They stood in the
center of a massive hallway just in front of a set of double doors
that bore the symbol of House Arovan. By all appearances, Vaze had
bypassed all of the protective wards on the palace as well as the
guards and dropped them right before the council room.

“Can you do that anywhere?” Neph whispered
turning to face Vaze with a raised eyebrow. “I mean just walk right
into the middle of anyone’s house?” Neph clarified quickly.

Vaze shrugged and nodded slowly with a faint
smile on his face. “For the most part. No one bothers to ward
against Shadow magic anymore,” Vaze replied smugly.

“I will,” Neph promised and turned back to
Jala shaking his head in disbelief.

“No, you won’t. Vaze is our ally,” Jala
corrected as she handed Legacy over to Valor and squared her
shoulders a bit. Carefully she propped her staff in the crook of
her arm and shook her arms lightly as if loosening up for a fight.
Glancing up at Neph she smiled widely. “You are going to love this.
I’ve been working on it for days. I call it
awe inspiring
Sorceress
.”

“You really need your hair down for the
proper effect,” Valor cut in and Jala frowned and looked at him,
her hand going up to touch her carefully braided hair. “Oh please
don’t look so wounded. It’s not as if that took a lot of effort to
do. I was standing right beside you when you fixed your hair and it
took all of thirty seconds and a bit of magic to do that,” Valor’s
voice trailed off as he noticed her darkening expression and
narrowing eyes. “That beautiful creation to your hair. Honestly,
anyone who looked at you would think you spent hours on your hair.
Maybe you should just leave it up,” Valor hastily amended.

“So the first two husbands are dead and you
neutered the third. If anything happens to Valor there won’t be a
line of suitors waiting at your door. I can promise you that,”
Shade observed casually.

“Are we really going to just stand here in
the hall waiting for a guard patrol while we discuss Jala’s hair?”
Madren asked, looking at them all in disbelief.

“He has a point,” Vaze chimed in with a
smirk.

“You never know the guards may have a very
good opinion on the topic,” Shade offered with a shrug.

Fighting back a snort of laughter Jala shook
her head at Shade and flipped her hand casually towards her hair.
The magic that bound it in place fell away and her wine red hair
cascaded down over her shoulders. “I love you all so much,” she
whispered as she took her staff in hand once more and squared her
shoulders. Pausing, she cleared her throat and wiped the last
remains of a smile from her face as she regarded the doors.

Wind rose behind her as she lifted one hand
and pulled on her magic to open the locks that held them in
place.

“Really? You are summoning wind for this?”
Neph scoffed, looking at Valor who was motioning lightly with one
hand toward Jala while carefully balancing Legacy on his hip.

Valor glanced at him and shrugged one
shoulder. “It adds to her entrance, Neph,” he explained with a
smirk.

Startled oaths rose from within the room as
Jala stepped through the door. Moving up behind her, Neph paused in
the doorway for a better view. All of the High Lords were assembled
around a massive table in the center of the room, and each and
every one of them bore an expression of pure shock on their face at
the sight of her. Aside from the Lord of Oblivion, Neph noticed
with interest. Zachary Dark simply sat in his chair watching her
with what almost looked like amusement on his normally
expressionless face.

“Did you forget to invite a few people,
boys?” Jala asked casually, the wind still stirring her hair as she
stopped just beyond the table. She stood with her legs slightly
parted and her staff held in front of her as if she was prepared to
battle all before her.

“Jala Merrodin is dead and this is a closed
meeting. Whoever you are, you have made a wretched mistake with
this display,” Lord Faydwer snarled as he started to rise from his
chair. Lord Blackwolf and Arjuna were rising as well with matching
looks of fury on their faces.

“I figured someone would say something like
that,” Jala sighed, her tone far from concerned. “Allow me to set
your fears at ease,” she purred and the room darkened as she drew
on her magic. Shadows writhed across the floor in front of her and
Neph turned to raise an eyebrow at Vaze who was silently wiggling a
finger in Jala’s direction. The wind rose once more, stirring her
hair as she pointed a slender finger to the floor in front of her.
A faint purple glow began to show in the cracks of the marble below
her and half of the High Lords lurched from their chairs looking
more than ready to fight. “Seth, King of Crows, Herald of Death I
summon thee!” Jala’s voice cracked through the room. Even from
where he stood Neph could feel the power emanating from her. He had
to admit it was an impressive display, awe inspiring sorceress
indeed.

The ground before her trembled and the
shadows danced wildly as a flock of spectral ravens burst through
the marble at her feet. The birds swirled, darkening the air before
her as they spiraled upward toward the ceiling. When the air before
her cleared, Seth was crouched on the floor, his raven feathered
cloak pulled tightly around him. He stood slowly, moving with the
grace of a natural hunter and the expression on his face was
grim.

Delighted laughter and clapping filled the
room and all eyes turned to stare stupidly at Legacy who was
grinning from ear to ear. “Yay!” he exclaimed loudly, looking up at
Valor and then back to his mother with an expression of utter joy
on his small face as he clapped once more. “Hi!” he called loudly,
his childish voice almost comical as he waved at Seth with
enthusiasm.

Neph stared in disbelief at the child and
then looked to Jala who had turned back to stare at her son with
wide eyes. Her expression was still serious, but Neph could tell by
the light in her eyes it was taking all of her willpower to keep
from bursting into laughter.

Seth settled back where he stood and rubbed
the back of his neck for a moment. “Well, that moment is gone,” he
muttered with a heavy sigh as his posture relaxed. He raised an
eyebrow at Jala and smiled faintly. “You called?” he prompted with
a faint smile as he waved back at Legacy.

“Oh, by the Divine, that was classic!” Shade
exclaimed as he burst out laughing loudly. “Oh kid, I love you. You
are my favorite person in the world right now!” he continued as he
leaned forward and ruffled Legacy’s hair.

Jala sighed dramatically and slowly turned
back to look at the assembled High Lords. She shrugged and smiled
sheepishly. “Well, so much for a grand entrance,” she said and
waved a hand toward Seth. “He is the servant of Death, directly. No
one in Sanctuary knows better than Seth who is dead and who
isn’t.”

Seth glanced at Jala, raised an eyebrow, and
then looked to the High Lords with a dry expression. “As the fact
that she is here speaking to you implies, Jala Merrodin is alive.
She was gone for a time, but not dead. That is something I cannot
explain beyond telling you that her life essence was not among us
for a time. Now it is.”

“Did my Nephew really just applaud and then
wave at the man that is supposed to terrify small children with the
hellish bedti me stories that are told about him?” Arjuna asked
slowly, his eyes flicking from Seth to Jala and then finally to
Legacy.

“Well…yes,” Jala answered slowly, her gaze
moving from lord to lord as she tried to assess the mood of the
room.

“I am oddly proud right now,” Arjuna
announced as he dropped lightly back into his chair, a smile on his
face. “That is Firym blood there, gentlemen. He is truly
fearless.”

“And happy,” Shade added as he stepped fully
into the room and leaned against the wall.

“This does not change the fact that they have
broken into Lord Arovan’s home and disrupted a very important and
private meeting,” Lord Blackwolf’s voice cut through the room like
a knife evaporating the smiles on most faces.

“A meeting that I believed I would have been
invited to, had you known I lived,” Jala replied sharply, her tone
every bit as serious as Blackwolf’s had been.

“Of course you would have been invited had we
known,” Arjuna broke in as he scowled at Blackwolf. “You are an
ally Jala, you have proven that time and time again,” he assured
her.

“If it’s truly Jala Merrodin, where are the
Bendazzi that accompany her everywhere?” Lord Faydwer inquired, his
expression still filled with doubt.

“They were asleep on my bed when I left,
actually,” Jala sighed and looked back toward the doorway. “Vaze,
please?” she asked with a frown.

Vaze nodded slowly and the shadows around her
darkened once more. Within moments the forms of two Bendazzi could
be seen clearly as the shadows faded away. Looking up, Marrow
yawned widely and rose to his feet stretching. He scanned the room
once with his large yellow eyes and slowly sat back on his haunches
beside Jala.

“Satisfied?” Jala asked the room in
general.

“Satisfied that you are who you say you are,
but that doesn’t explain the company you have brought with you,”
Lord Blackwolf replied sharply.

Jala frowned deeper, her eyes moving back to
Neph and Madren. Neph could tell by her expression that she was
fighting back her own sharp reply. She motioned toward him with a
casual wave. “I had thought you would all remember Lord Delvayon as
well as Lord Goswin. They were, after all, at the battle that saved
Arovan and Glis from Rivasa.”

“Nephon is not lord of Delvay, or so the
Empress says,” Blackwolf corrected.

“I’m leaving now before I’m too tempted to
take a souvenir back home with me,” Seth informed Jala quietly, his
eyes lingering on Nicoli Blackwolf.

“Thank you for answering, Seth,” Jala replied
with a nod before turning back to face the High Lord of Glis once
more. “Lord Blackwolf, we have never really had a chance to speak
before today and this is not getting off to a good start. I want to
work with you and I want to make this alliance work, but allow me
to speak bluntly in terms you will understand clearly.” Her hand
dropped to rest on the top of Marrow’s head and she stared hard at
the High Lord. “I have earned the name Lady Bendazzi through more
than just the presence of my Familiar. It was given to me to
acknowledge my talent for dealing with arrogant assholes that
refused to listen to me. So let me ask you this, Lord Blackwolf …”
she paused, emphasizing the last of his name as she stepped forward
closer to the table. “In a fight between a Bendazzi and a wolf, who
wins?” she asked coldly.

A loud noise similar to an angry cat rose
from the back of the room and Neph turned to look at Shade as the
rogue made a scratching motion with his hand. “Get him, Jala. My
money is on her if anyone is taking bets here,” he said loudly as
he noticed how many people were watching him.

“Why exactly is he here? He isn’t the current
lord of Morcath as I understand,” Arjuna sighed leaning forward on
the table for a better look at Jala and motioning toward Shade.

“I’m his advisor, actually,” Shade informed
them, pointing directly at Madren who from what Neph could tell
looked ready to crawl off into a corner to hide. “See, Madren is
competent at leading his own people and incredibly smart, but you
bastards intimidate him and, well, I gave up really caring about
who says what about me or tries to kill me a while back. I tried
being rational and law abiding and was kicked in the nuts for it
repeatedly. So now, I advise him for the time being and work as his
voice when he needs to address bullies like you guys.”