Unleashed Fury (BloodRunes: Book 1)

by Laura R Cole

CHAPTER 30

  Jezebel paused as she heard a snippet of a conversation ahead of her.

  “Have you heard about the back alley killings?” said a voice from around the corner.

  “No,” answered a second, “what are they?”

  “Well, apparently there's some crazy killer on the loose that keeps taking vagabonds and other scum, and they disappear never to be seen again. People would hardly notice except that you can suddenly walk around the streets at night without having to step over a drunken lout laying in the gutter.”

  “And they haven't found any bodies?”

  “Not a one,” the voice said soberly, “makes you wonder what he's doing to them...”

  “You know what else I've heard,” a third voice joined in. “I've heard that there are hordes of magical beasts being created and banded together to form armies that they're going to start marching across the countryside and start killing everyone in their path.”

  “Why would they do that in their own country?” asked one of the first. “That seems pretty pointless.”

  “Well, not if you're one of the lords who own the land, and you want your neighbor's lot as well.”

  “I think it's because of the war with Treymayne,” said another which produced a snort from the first.

  “There is no war with Treymayne, where have you been?”

  “Well,” the man backtracked, “there will be soon. Haven't you seen all the signs that they're preparing for an invasion? They want our land!”

  “I dunno about that, but my wife's uncle swears that he saw a wolf in the woods that was not natural. He says it was three times as big as a normal wolf would be and twice as fast. It was stalking him in the dark, and had him scared half to death. He can deal with a normal wolf, but he said this one was smart, tracking him all along even when he tried to lose it and backtrack around behind it. He swears it would have taken him out if he hadn't run into another hunting party and traveled with them back to town. He only caught glimpses of the thing, but swears it had bright red eyes, glowing in the dark watching him.”

  “Why would something have glowing eyes? That just makes no sense.”

  “I don't know,” the voice was irritated now, “but they're magical creations, who knows what's in the heads of those crazy magic types.”

  Jezebel listened to this conversation with amusement. It was a group of peasants speaking to her driver, who luckily for him was keeping quiet about the whole thing. Their talk moved on to more mundane matters and Jezebel grew bored with it, so she stepped out from around the corner where she had chosen to stand when she first heard the conversation.

  Her driver jumped at her sudden appearance, but managed to keep himself together enough to open the door for her. She gave him a sly little smile letting him know that she had heard the conversation and he paled.

  “To the country manor,” she told him, and she noted with even greater amusement that he realized the irony of this. Because, of course, that is where I keep my own pack of magical beasts.

  This business about there being one in the woods worried her, however. As far as she knew, she was the only one with hellhounds. And as far as she had been informed, they were all accounted for. Other than the four that had been sent after the renegades, of course, but those should not have been running around the woods here chasing after hunters. She may need to speak with the man she had put in charge of the pack, and make sure he was not keeping anything from her in order to try and save his own hide after an unfortunate mistake. Or else the hounds may be getting a treat tonight.

  They arrived at the manor shortly before sundown, and Jezebel treated herself to a stroll into the paddock where the hounds were kept. It gave her a sense of satisfaction to be able to walk amidst the raving beasts and have them quiver at her feet. They knew her as the one that caused them pain, but who also gave them life, and in a heartbeat she could take it away. They were only animals, but to them she was a god, and she reveled in that fact. She moved among them, watching their behavior. She gave one who had the audacity to meet her eyes and not move out of her way fast enough a sharp kick in the ribs. It yelped in pain, and scampered out from beneath her. She glared around at them. She was tempted to retrace the runes, but she didn't really have time. She had a whole volume of accounts still to sort through, and she intended to go over it in detail.

  She liked to play with numbers, move a number here, conveniently erase one there, and voila! You could come up with a whole new conclusion. The stipend that she had been receiving for being on the Council was quite a bit more substantial than the measly amount she was able to weasel out of her father. But she was sure that if she just raised taxes a bit for the peasants who didn't know how to use money anyway, she could make herself quite a bit more.

  She moved through the beasts, carefully inspecting each one and then motioned to her overseer that he should come to the edge of the fence. He came timidly over and bowed to her, all the while keeping his eyes glued to the ground in front of him. “Yes, my lady?”

  “I think perhaps we should change their diet a bit, a few are looking a bit too lean. Let's try to increase the fat intake shall we?” The man nodded to her and she smiled.

  She really was God to these creatures, she chose when they ate, what they ate, where they could go, and really everything about their lives, and still they groveled before her. Such a wonderful feeling, and it will be so much more satisfying when I have the country at my feet as well. She exited the paddock, carefully closing the lock behind her, and she went to go search out the man in charge of the pack.

  She found him knee-deep in deer as he dressed out part of tonight's dinner for the hounds. “I heard some interesting rumors today,” she commented to the man, who looked up, startled at her voice.

  “My lady,” he greeted her and waited for her to continue.

  “I heard,” she said, “that there may be a hellhound on the loose. Might it be one of our little pack?”

  The man was visibly taken aback, and there was a quiver in his voice as he answered. “No, no, my lady. I have kept perfect track of them, and can give you my word that none have escaped here, other than the ones that you requested be sent to your other manor.”

  Jezebel watched him closely, weighing the chances of his honesty before deciding that he seemed sincere. “Alright,” she said finally, and the man relaxed. “But I want extra precautions in place to ensure that none do, understand?” The man nodded emphatically and Jezebel left him to his bloody work of preparing their dinner.

  She made her way into the house, and she was in the midst of wading through a particularly dense section of the financial overview when one of the servants knocked softly at the door and informed her that she had a caller. Upon inquiry, she found that it was her father.

  She carefully put on a controlled expression for him as she walked to the door, though underneath the fake smile she was seething. She was angry that he would presume to come and check on her here, as she had no doubt was his plan – no matter what excuse he gave her. She hated the need to keep quiet about knowing of his control until such time as he could be brought to task for it and didn’t care to come up with a lie about what she was doing out here.

  When he entered, he admirably gave her no excuses. As she greeted him, asking what the occasion was for his visit he answered bluntly, “I'm here checking up on you. I've heard some unsettling rumors that I hope you will put to rest.”

  “Why, whatever type of rumors?” she asked innocently, careful not to let her annoyance show. The servants better have had the wits to cover the evidence of the hellhounds here.

  “I heard that you are acting in league with the King to upset the balance of power in the government.”

  “I don't know what you're talking about,” she answered, relieved that it was not about the hellhounds, “the balance of power is exactly as it should be.” He loo
ked sternly at her, obvious annoyance on his face at her reluctance to share her actions with him and she said grudgingly, “Just because the King has seen fit to make me his First Advisor, a position that I so rightly ought to have, I would think you'd be happy that your daughter is doing so well for herself.”

  Her father sat solemnly for a moment. “Be advised that I will not be able to get you out of this situation should it go awry. Upsetting the delicate balance of power is a dangerous thing to do, one that is likely to make you many powerful enemies. You can't just do as you please all the time. Do not underestimate the influence of those behind the scenes, who will not approve of your disruption to their plans. Eventually all your machinations will catch up to you and you will run out of luck. The real power in this country is outside of sight and things are going on that you can't possibly hope to comprehend. Thinking that you're important simply because you were given a title is just foolish. I don't know how I could have raised you to have turned out this way.”

  Jezebel was at a loss for words, and was silent for a moment before answering icily, “Well, shame on you then. I know far more than you think I do, Father, and that title that you so belittle is one that is directly bestowed upon me by the King so no matter what your feelings on it are I suggest you show a little respect before you find yourself in some trouble. And don't think you can control me with magic, Father, because it won't work anymore. I have it on the King's own authority that you will be coming to justice for the injustice you did to me. Maybe that's really why you're having this little temper tantrum; because you've finally realized that I've outgrown you and you can't use me like one of your little puppets anymore.” Jezebel knew she was rattling on, but couldn't help it.

  Her father gave her a long look before standing, and Jezebel felt a probe against her newly fortified shielding. His face paled a bit as he realized that his previously unbreakable bonds had indeed been broken and were now scattered in the wind. She mentally berated herself for her weakness in revealing this fact to him before she had meant to, but his reaction pleased her nonetheless.

  “Well, there is obviously nothing more to say on this matter,” he said dumbly, obviously shaken by this revelation and probably by her threat of the King's punishment as well. “But be forewarned that you are getting yourself in over your head.” He left her then, and she found it difficult to focus properly on her financials after being so worked up by the conversation. She took another stroll through the pens instead, happy to see that the servants had indeed covered the evidence, before she headed back to her regular manor for the night.