The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse (40 page)

“I will do it,” Seth informed her and pushed
back from the window. Turning, he crossed the small entry hall and
opened the bedroom door. There was a hint of hesitation in his
posture as he stepped through the doorway and then he was returning
with Legacy held carefully in his arms.

She studied him as he passed her and
swallowed heavily at what Finn had done. Bruises lined both sides
of Seth’s face and by the way he was moving she could tell he had
other injuries. Her gaze moved to his hands and she stared at the
unblemished skin on his knuckles. She had helped Dominic patch up
enough brawlers to know what marks fighting left. Seth had none,
which meant he hadn’t fought back at all.

Seth paused in the doorway to the hall and
glanced back at her. He chewed on his lower lip for a moment and
let out a sharp breath. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I
regretted my lesson the moment I released your arms. I realized I
had pushed you too far when you hit me, and if I could take it
back, I would. The only solace I have is that you gained ground on
controlling your power. Perhaps, in time, you will forgive me, but
I doubt I will ever forgive myself. It wasn’t right to force you as
I did.” His voice was low and the expression on his face was
pained. He bowed her head and turned to leave the room.

“Seth, wait!” Zoelyn gasped. The bruises and
the obvious suffering were too much for her. He had suffered enough
already for the lesson; it wasn’t right to leave him wondering if
she truly hated him. He paused once more and turned to look back at
her with a questioning look. “You don’t have to wait for my
forgiveness, you already have it,” she said quietly. He bowed his
head at her words and a faint smile formed on his broken lips.
“Just please, Seth, don’t ever do anything like that to me again. I
know it helped me overcome part of my curse, but you terrified me
so much,” she added in a voice laced with pleading.

“Never again, you have my word,” he murmured
in a low voice. “Sleep, Zoey. Let’s put this day behind us and pray
tomorrow is better.” “It will be. I will never lose faith in myself
again, and I will learn to master my powers,” Zoelyn whispered as
the door closed behind him.

Turning, she moved back to the bedroom, a
faint smile on her face.

It had been a horrible day, and both of them
had suffered, but tomorrow would be better. She knew the cost of
giving up now, and she knew she could control her power when she
focused herself. That knowledge alone gave her more hope than she
had ever known.

At first, she had believed Jala would be her
savior. The High lady seemed capable of any miracle, and yet she
couldn’t seem to overcome Zoelyn’s failings no matter what they
tried. She knew the truth now, though. Jala was her friend and she
had helped her find her place in the world. Seth was the true
savior, though. He had given her life and purpose, and had yet to
ask for anything in return. Dray didn’t trust him at all, but then
he didn’t know Seth like she did. He had never seen the sweet smile
Seth had, or heard the whispered words of encouragement. Seth was a
demon. That was true, but he had been serving penance for so long
that he was well on his way to redemption. Dray might not be able
to see it, but she did, and she would help him any way she could.
Perhaps with her help, Seth could find a new lease on life as well.
It would be the perfect way to repay him for everything he had done
for her.

* * *

Seth paused outside the door and let out a
long sigh. With a smile, he straightened his posture and summoned
enough healing magic to wipe the bruises from his face. The wounds
had served their purpose with Finn as well as Zoelyn. Both had
reacted exactly as he expected. Finn, of course, had delivered the
wounds, but it hadn’t taken long for the Divine’s fury to fade once
he realized Seth wasn’t going to fight back. The urge to fight back
had been there of course, and he likely could have wounded the
Divine, but that wouldn’t have benefited him at all. He knew people
well enough to know that Finn wasn’t the sort of man that enjoyed a
one sided fight, and it was better for Finn to feel guilt than
satisfaction. Seth could work with guilt and he intended to use it
as fully as he could.

“Do you ever feel the slightest bit of
remorse when you do this sort of thing?” Yasny asked quietly. She
hadn’t been in the hall when he had left his room. She must have
been watching and waiting for the right moment to appear, but then
the dragon really didn’t have much in the way of entertainment so
he couldn’t blame her.

Seth took a deep breath and summoned a
thoughtful expression to his face. Tilting his head to one side he
seemed to consider her question deeply for several moments. “No,
not really,” he replied cheerfully as he smiled sweetly at her and
started for the stairs. He had a lot to do tonight before Zoelyn
woke in the morning and he wanted to be back the moment her eyes
opened.

He was making real progress with her, and now
that he had her trust it was time to push her about information on
her past. He had kept silent on the matter entirely until he was
sure she was indebted to him and trusted him enough to speak about
the matter. After her heartfelt display at the sight of his
bruises, he knew he had her. His excitement was difficult to
contain and it was impossible to keep the smile from his face. Once
he knew who had raised her, it would be a simple matter to bargain
for his own resurrection. Not as an Undrae of course, but a full
resurrection with all of his memories and powers intact. Then life
would truly get interesting and Hemlock would finally get what he
deserved. The pain of Dashara’s loss had faded centuries ago, but
the humiliation of his defeat was still a bright lance of agony
that would only be healed by Hemlock’s death. He had waited an
eternity for the opportunity and it was so close.

“Does the smile come from the guilt you gave
the Divine or the little girl’s stupidity?” Yasny asked.

Seth glanced at her in annoyance and frowned.
He hadn’t even paid attention to the fact that she had fallen into
step beside him as he descended to the throne room once more. “It
stems from the fact that she forgave me and that she is making
progress,” he lied smoothly and shook his head at her with disgust.
“Not everything has to be about the suffering of others, Yasny,” he
scolded gently.

“You liar,” Yasny murmured with a trace of
amusement in her voice. “Fine, keep your secrets, but don’t pretend
you are better than the rest of us. I know just as well as you do
that the only thing left that can make us smile is watching someone
suffer more than we do.”

“Ahh. Yasny, you are so wrong there,” Seth
replied with a grin as he quickened his pace down the stairs.
“There is so much more that can make me smile,” he added in a sweet
voice. She had stopped following him, as he knew she would. Yasny
never went to the lower parts of the Palace.

Carefully he wiped the smile from his face as
he neared the double doors to Finn’s throne room. It wouldn’t do
for Finn to see him in good humor. That would lessen the guilt the
Divine felt and give him less to work with. With a look of subdued
misery carefully painted on his face he silently pushed the doors
open, taking care to keep his eyes downcast. “Your son, Milord,” he
announced quietly.

“Bring him here and leave, Seth. I have no
desire for your company at all,” Finn replied coolly.

Seth resisted the urge to look up. That
wasn’t the reaction he had been expecting, but he did his best to
hide his confusion. Perhaps there was still a bit of the anger
left. It might have served him better to leave the bruises on his
face until after this meeting. “As you say, Milord,” Seth murmured
in his most humble voice. He crossed the room quickly and placed
Legacy in his father’s arms without once looking up. Head still
bowed, Seth backed away from the throne and left as silently as he
had entered.

He glanced over his shoulder once as the
doors sealed behind him and frowned. Finn should have been
apologetic, not cold. It was something he would have to work on
when he returned. For now he had work to do and he was looking
forward to it more than he would ever admit.

The frown faded as he wrapped his cloak
tightly around himself and called on his crow form. The shadows
blurred around him as he took wing toward one of the many windows,
and the Darklands faded away as his magic carried him to the sunlit
world.

Fading sunlight shone across the streets of
Sanctuary as he settled himself on the edge of a roof. The streets
were bustling below him and he watched in silence as the citizens
of the city finished the last of their day’s business. Vendors were
packing up their wares as customers frantically haggled for end-day
bargains.

A faint hum of excitement built in his chest
as he realized very soon he could be doing something just as
mundane as purchasing bread for his night’s dinner. It was amazing
how you never noticed little things such as that until after you no
longer had them. The taste of a well prepared dinner. The smell of
flowers in the spring. The feel of warm sunlight on your skin. It
had all seemed trivial when he lived, and now he would kill to have
those moments back.

The sound of laughter from one of the nearby
taverns drew his attention and he watched in silence as two men
stepped from the door and down to the street. They parted ways with
a nod and Seth’s eyes followed one as he strolled down the crowded
street. The half-blood was average height and build and dressed as
common as anyone else on the street. He would have faded into the
crowd if not for his long pale blond hair and the large dagger on
his hip.

Seth took wing behind him, flying slowly
until the man turned into a narrow street. Landing silently, Seth
returned to his human form and stared at the young man’s back. He
couldn’t decide exactly how he wanted to kill the boy. He could use
stealth and the half-blood wouldn’t even know what had killed him,
or he could speak and watch as terror washed over him. With a smile
he settled on the latter. He knew the boy would recognize him as
easily as Seth had spotted him tonight. He had viewed him through
Wisp’s eyes the day he had gathered Zoelyn and Legacy. It was
doubtful that the half-blood knew he had been spotted at that
meeting, and seeing Seth now was bound to be a shock. It had only
been a sliver of spirit within Wisp, but it had been enough for
Seth to notice, and it had been a simple matter to track him by it.
He might have let the boy live for simply spying, but he was spying
for Hemlock, and for that he had to die.

With a smile, Seth cleared his throat and the
boy slowed to look over his shoulder. The Half-blood froze as his
eyes found Seth, with an expression of pure shock on his pale face.
“I bet you didn’t think anyone spotted you in Merro,” Seth began
softly as he moved forward with slow purposeful steps. “You may not
have realized who I was at the time, though,” he continued calmly
and smiled at the boy. “Do you know me now, Ander?” he asked,
tilting his head to the side as he watched the boy.

“The Crow King,” Ander gasped as his hands
dropped to his daggers and he back-stepped quickly.

“Good,” Seth murmured with a nod of approval.
“Then you know exactly how much shit you are in right now. No one
spies on me, especially not Hemlock’s lap dog.” His voice grew as
cold as ice and his expression hardened.

“I didn’t even know you were going to be
there! I was there to watch Jala. It was a mistake,” Ander
stammered as he clumsily drew his daggers. The boy’s fear was
crippling him as Seth had guessed it would. Even the best warrior
could be unmanned by fear, and this boy was no exception. It was
doubtful that Ander would manage to land a single blow before he
died.

“You are right, Ander. It was a very big
mistake,” Seth agreed. His hands dropped to his dagger and he
smiled again. “I have a message for your master, Ander.”

“Whatever you want to tell him, I will relay
the message.” Hope rose in the boy’s eyes as Seth’s words sank into
his fear sodden mind. Licking his lips nervously he took another
step away from Seth and let out a harsh breath. “What do you want
me to tell him?” he asked after a long silence between them.

Seth remained silent for another long moment
letting the hope build in the boy. The fool actually thought he was
going to live. “You haven’t been an Assassin long have you boy?”
Seth asked. Confusion flickered in the boy’s eyes and he opened his
mouth to answer, but Seth continued before he could utter a word.
“I don’t need you to relay words to your Master. When he finds your
body he will get the message clearly. You are going to be my
calling card, Ander, and Hemlock will understand exactly what I
want him to know without a single word being spoken.”

Merro

The sound of the door opening drew Neph’s
attention from the map he had been studying. His eyes narrowed as
he recognized Foster and Noble. Both were commanders in Valor’s
knights and both were highly irritating company in his opinion. By
the expression on Noble’s face and the way Foster was pushing him
forward, Neph guessed they were going to be even more irritating
today.

“Tell him,” Foster commanded with an
expression of carefully controlled anger written on his tanned
face. Foster was typically as immaculate as Valor in his
appearance, but today his short golden hair was tousled and his
clothing looked scuffed and dirty. Judging by his appearance,
getting Noble into the room hadn’t been an easy thing to do.

“No, don’t tell me. Wait and tell Valor when
he gets back,” Neph snapped before either of them could speak
again. He turned his attention back to the map hoping both men
would recognize the dismissal and not trouble him with further
conversation. He was rather curious about Foster’s disheveled
appearance, but not curious enough to deal with the headache that
would likely accompany the explanation. “With all due respect, Sir,
this is too important to wait,” Foster said in a louder voice.