Neph searched the room silently, looking for Jail and paused as his gaze found Dresharn in the crowd. He was easy to spot in his finely tailored black suit and well-polished boots. Neph could only imagine how the man must despise being in such a filthy place. From what he remembered of Dresharn on the Avanti campaign, though, he doubted the dragon would complain to him. He had seemed to be a very calm and rational person, which was exactly what was needed at the present, because Neph certainly wasn’t feeling rational. Dresharn nodded politely to him and turned back to the clerk to sign papers.
“You are free to go. He paid your fine,” the guard announced as he removed the manacles from Neph’s wrists and turned to return to the cells.
Neph watched him for a moment and moved closer to Dresharn with a look of curiosity. It should have been Jail that arrived for him, and the fact that Dresharn was here didn’t bode well for Merro. Of course, given Jail’s nickname, it was possible that the big Han’shy was waiting in one of the holding cells as well. “I didn’t expect to see you here,” Neph offered in greeting as Dresharn turned from the clerk to face him.
Dresharn smiled and shrugged one shoulder before motioning to the door. “I will explain it all once we are in a more fitting place. I detest the crowds in here. Too much noise and jostling for a conversation,” he replied quietly. The dragon’s low cultured voice seemed so out of place that Neph almost smiled.
“A lot has changed in the city since the last time I was here,” Neph said neutrally as they stepped out of the stuffy confines of the prison to the bright sunlit day. His gaze shifted to the massive white palace and then back to Dresharn who was taking care to keep all expression from his face.
“Indeed. There is quite a lot I should inform you of once we are comfortably back in our district. A nice tumbler of brandy and a discussion of laws. What could possibly be a better way to while away the afternoon?” Dresharn replied with a slight smile. He raised a black gloved hand and waved toward one of the coaches before glancing back at Neph. “I apologize for taking so long to respond to your difficulties, but I was at the palace when Victory brought the word to Merro’s district.”
“May I ask where Jail is?” Neph spoke quietly and watched Dresharn for any hint of trouble.
The dragon turned to look at him, but his dark glasses concealed any emotion that his eyes might have revealed. “There were matters that needed to be addressed at the palace, and Jail remained behind to finish with them. He will be in Merro shortly I’m sure. He was quite curious as to what brought you to Sanctuary,” Dresharn answered with a faint smile and motioned toward the coach as it rolled to a stop at the bottom of the stairs.
Neph nodded in understanding and headed silently for the coach. It was obvious that Dresharn wasn’t willing to speak of anything important in their current surroundings. By the way the man was acting and his vague responses, it was as if he thought they were being spied on, which Neph supposed was very possible. It seemed far too convenient to him that someone as powerful as Victory Faydwer was posted at a menial assignment such as the security check. Most likely the Fionaveir had several of their powerful members positioned all over the city in the event that someone such as he appeared. Most Elder Blood were far more subtle than he was, though, so spying would be the only option to discover their intentions.
His gaze flicked to the Bendazzi symbol on the coach door as he stepped inside and he smiled faintly. Jala had always refused to ride in coaches and the idea that she had one waiting for her in Sanctuary was rather amusing. “Does she know she has a coach?” Neph asked quietly as Dresharn seated himself across from him and closed the door.
The dragon shook his head with a smirk, and settled farther into his seat. With a glance toward Neph and a quick smile he removed his dark glasses and carefully began cleaning them. To the casual observer it looked as though the dragon’s full attention was on polishing the lenses, but Neph caught at least two glances toward the window. After several moments, Dresharn raised the glasses for inspection and nodded in silent approval before looking up at Neph once more. “Felicity Dawn was the spy in that particular quarter. I doubt you have had an opportunity to meet her, but she is a rather big thorn in the backside. She isn’t actually a member of the Fionaveir, but a rather a freelance mage. She is very good at her job, and delights in finding gossip on the pure bloods. Especially when they are connected to a major house such as you are,” Dresharn informed him with a disgusted sigh.
“I figured we were being watched,” Neph replied with a nod. “So Sanctuary has become a rather dangerous place lately,” he surmised.
“As far as crime goes it has become safer,” Dresharn corrected with a faint smile. “Politically, however, it is as treacherous as it comes,” he finished and raised a hand to rub at his temples. “Symphony, you see, is very sheltered from what is actually occurring in the world. In order for her to get the truth of things, you have to have a personal meeting with her. As you can imagine, a personal meeting with the Empress is very difficult to obtain, so most of the time you speak with her advisors instead.”
“So, Jail is meeting with the Empress herself right now or with one of the advisors?” Neph asked. From the sounds of things, Jala wasn’t going to be happy at all when she discovered how Sanctuary was being ruled. He couldn’t blame Jail for not informing her sooner, though. With the way things were going in the outside world, Jala couldn’t afford to worry about Sanctuary, and by Dresharn’s behavior so far, it appeared as though Merro was in good hands here.
“Actually we were meeting with the Magistrate of Law. As I’m sure you have noticed, all of the former laws of Sanctuary are in the process of being rewritten. It’s only natural of course, and it must be done. Sanctuary was formerly governed by a far different system and the laws must be updated to reflect a monarchy. However, Jail and I both believe that certain stipulations must be made in order for the new government to thrive.” Dresharn paused and gave him a tight smile. “Such as adding a majority clause to the section on council votes so that the High Houses still retain some power. As it is currently written, it won’t matter at all what the High Lords or Ladies think and their council is considered only advisory. Given the limited experience that Symphony has with leadership, I think it is only wise that we ensure the Lady Merrodin has a voice when it is needed. If we are successful in our mission, the new law will give the council of High Lords the power to override a decree by the Empress as long as the majority vote is high enough. I am confident that Jala can rally enough supporters behind her to reach the majority that we suggested.”
“And you think you can get this passed and into the law books without Symphony’s advisors throwing a fit?” Neph asked with a raised eyebrow. By the way Dresharn talked, he certainly seemed convincing, and to anyone that wasn’t trained in politics or diplomacy he would certainly be an influential voice.
“I believe we can, yes,” Dresharn said with a nod then waved a hand dismissively. “I highly doubt this is what brought you to Sanctuary, however, and whatever did bring you is probably a matter that we should discuss before we reach the Merro district.”
Neph nodded and let out a deep breath. “Hemlock was nosing around Vezradesh a few days ago. He seemed to have a great deal of interest in what Jala was up to as well as my presence in Merro. He also asked a good deal of questions about Jala’s new ward. I thought that since he holds power in Sanctuary it was possible that we might have some rumors about what he is doing, but with the street rats all in jail I sincerely doubt we are gathering much gossip from them,” Neph explained and shrugged at Dresharn who nodded with interest.
“As it happens, I do have someone that can look into those matters,” Dresharn began slowly and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “We don’t get much in the way of rumors in the streets anymore, and what we do hear is generally regarding the new laws or who was arrested recently. I have an assistant, however, who is rather adept at details and noticing things that others might overlook. I will h
ave her look into it.”
“An assistant?” Neph asked with an amused smile.
Dresharn returned the smile and nodded. “Typically, she handles trivial matters for me such as filing paperwork or researching laws at the Magistrates office. On occasion, she will handle matters such as delivering documents to the palace. We are required to report our revenues directly to the Palace, of course, for purposes of taxes. She has an amazing eye for details and I have never found her skills lacking,” Dresharn replied with a wink.
Neph grinned in response and nodded with approval at Dresharn’s subtle admission that they were spying on the Empress. It was nice to know that Jala had this kind of support behind her. She had enough to worry about already without losing more sleep over the laws in Sanctuary.
Dresharn glanced up as the carriage slowed and turned a tight corner then looked back to Neph. “We have two more turns before we reach the Merro house. Please humor me and tell me a good story about some devastating crop failure that demands immediate attention in Merro. Make it as boring as you possibly can. Some sort of fungus or something. The more mundane, the better. I can make a few quick arrangements once you have laid it all out for me and you can return with the shipments to Merro while your true purpose here remains obscure.”
“Well we are having a wretched problem with pests and the wheat fields are suffering. I believe Wisp said it was some kind of beetle,”
Neph lied. It was difficult to keep the smile from his face. He now understood fully why Jala had placed Jail and Dresharn in control of Sanctuary. Between the two of them he had no doubt that the people of Merro were well protected in Sanctuary.
Chapter 17
The Darklands
Seth paused on the hillside and stared down at the milling souls in the valley below him. There were thousands mingling on the narrow road leading to judgment before the Lord of Death, and all of them were the recent dead. Between the Blights and the wars raging in the sunlit world above, the Darklands were well over their typical number of dead. Finding the soul he was looking for was going to be about as easy as locating a needle in a haystack. There was no help for it, though. He had already investigated the area where Zoelyn had first been found and the village had been one of the first that was destroyed by the Blights. So that meant he had to locate the dead in order to learn where she had been found, and how.
He hadn’t been able to approach Dominic directly. There was too much of a chance that his son would recognize him, even after all this time. He had wanted to approach the boy, but Rose had warned him against it. In her words, Dominic blamed him for everything that had happened that night, and given how young Dominic was at the time Seth couldn’t blame him. The child had believed his father was invincible. Seth had failed him.
Maybe it would have been better if he had seen me die, Seth mused as he studied the souls below. Then he would have known that I tried, at least, and maybe he wouldn’t hate me so much now. That hadn’t been a possibility, of course. Hemlock would have killed Dominic if Seth hadn’t sent him away, but surely the boy had heard rumors of the corpses at the Avanti gates. He had to have known that both of his parents died that night. Donrey Avanti had made it a point to display his body in a crow cage until his bones were bleached white from the sun.
With a sigh, he shook his head and banished the thoughts of his son from his mind. He had managed to learn enough information from Dominic’s neighbors to lead him here. As it turned out, Zoelyn hadn’t actually been found by Dominic, but had been brought there by one of the local hunters. Everyone had thought she was the survivor of a plague at the time, and had been loath to go near her. Seth smiled at the thought. It was likely the only reason his son as well as the rest of the village were still breathing. Had they been stupid enough to get too close to Zoelyn or touch her, they would have died.
His eyes narrowed as he scanned the countless souls below him. It was of course too much to ask for the hunter to still be alive. That would have been too simple. Shaking his head, he drew on his magic. He hadn’t wanted to use his power to do this, but without it he would be searching for days, and that wasn’t possible. He only had Zoelyn with him in the Darklands for another week, and he should be spending every moment he had training her. If she left the Darklands with mastery of her powers, then maybe it would draw her creator out. That would save him the trouble of trying to rebuild the puzzle piece by piece, but he wouldn’t rely on just that. He wanted both options available. This was too important to rest entirely on hopes.
Lifting both of his hands above him, as he finished the spell and watched in silence as a flock of spectral crows took form in the shadows above him. “Find Dustin Winters the hunter from Denway village in Glis,” he commanded and the birds dispersed in all directions. Settling back on his heels he watched them wing toward the river of souls and glanced toward the city. It was possible that Finn would take notice of the magic he just used, but with so many souls demanding his attention he likely wouldn’t. Finn was still struggling with his role as a Divine, and for the most part he remained oblivious to the subtle actions of his minions.
Seth didn’t have to wait long before he was rewarded with a location from his spell. It typically didn’t take long for his crows to find what he needed. It was the same spell he had used to locate Jala and her Bendazzi when Jexon had betrayed her, and the speed of his return had gone a long way to seal him in Finn’s favor.
With a faint smile, Seth started down the hill in the direction the bird had indicated. Within minutes, he could see the blurred form of Dustin beneath the circling flock of his crows. The dead man was watching the birds with a look of terror on his face, but then he was from G lis, and the stories told in that region were very vivid on the Crow King. The poor bastard was probably expecting to be devoured in the next few moments, but thanks to Finn he wouldn’t be. It might have been an option for him if Death hadn’t forbidden the destruction of souls without her permission, and sadly every rule that she had placed upon Seth still stood. Finn hadn’t even bothered to review the terms of Seth’s service when he gained power.
“Dustin Winters?” Seth asked as he stopped beside the spirit and dismissed his crows.
The spirit watched the empty shadows above him for another long moment before his gaze slowly turned to Seth. If souls could pale, Seth was sure Dustin would have. The expression on the spirit’s face was one of horror. He nodded nervously and his form flickered as he glided back from Seth.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Dustin. I just have a few questions. Answer me truthfully and you will continue on your way to judgment. You weren’t an evil man in life so I highly doubt there will be penance for you. In all probability, you will be on your journey through the life stream within a week. Lie to me, however, and I will prove every story your people tell about the Crow King is far kinder than I truly am. Do you understand?” Seth kept his voice low and menacing as he spoke. His eyes narrowed as the spirit flickered once more and drifted farther back.
“Ask your questions, Crow King. I want no trouble and I will answer what I can truthfully.” Dustin’s voice was faint and quavering, but then, he hadn’t been a powerful man in life. It stood to reason that his spirit would be weak. He likely wasn’t even worth the effort of devouring.
Seth regarded him with a smirk and nodded in approval. “Good, then I will ask my questions and you will answer them and then forget you ever saw me, understood?”
“Yes,” The spirit flickered once more, but didn’t drift any farther away. Apparently Dustin realized that even if he did run, he most certainly couldn’t hide.
“I want information about a girl you found. She was young when you found her, perhaps fifteen. Everyone thought she had the plague and you took her to a healer by the name of Dominic. Do you remember her?” Seth asked politely.
Dustin nodded hesitantly. “I remember. I found her while hunting in Gaelyn and I could barely understand anything she said. She was as pale as Death herself and staggering
when I found her and wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. I gave her my old leather coat to wrap up in, but as bad as she looked I didn’t get close to her. Wasn’t really sure what she was sick with, and I wasn’t sure if she would even live to reach Dominic, but she did.”
“Good. You seem to remember it well. I want you to tell me everything you can remember. Even words she may have mumbled. If you can’t remember exactly what words she said, then mimic the sounds that you do remember. Spare no details. This is very important to me.” Seth laced his words with encouragement and summoned the faintest trace of his magic into a spell. Magic washed over the spirit and the expression on Dustin’s face grew more relaxed as the charm magic settled into his mind.
“I’ve always had a good mind for details, and that was such a strange day that it stuck in my head. I figured she was a local girl, so I asked her name right off. She was mumbling pretty good, and the closest I could determine was Zoelyn. Strange name for that area, but I’ve heard stranger. She couldn’t tell me where she was from and after hearing her name I figured Dominic’s was the best place for her. Everyone in the region knows Dominic, so if she was local he would figure out where she belonged,” Dustin began in a more relaxed voice.
“Excellent. Do you think you could remember exactly what she mumbled? I’m not certain that Zoelyn was truly her name,” Seth smiled and nodded for him to continue. With luck the man would remember enough that he wouldn’t have to worry about finding her creator. If the information he got here was good enough he would find the man himself. It was possible that he wouldn’t even need to continue training the Undrae. He frowned at the thought and shook his head. No, he would finish her training. She was well on the way to mastering her talents now and it wouldn’t take much more. He could delay his plans long enough to finish helping Zoey where he could.
The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse Page 32
