The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams

by Melissa Myers

  “He followed him when he left. He says he used a portal stone in our district,” she whispered to Finn.

  Looking down at the Bendazzi, Finn seemed to consider the news and shook his head. “We store that information for later. It will just create more problems if we get nosy now,” he decided and nodded to Marrow with respect. “Takes talent to follow a man like him and not get caught.”

  “Today has been a whirlwind. I don’t really know if I could consider it good or bad. I think I just want to stop considering it all for a while,” Jala said with a sigh as they made their way through the Academy gardens.

  Finn stopped at the stairs to their hall and gave her another kiss. “It will all work out. I promise you. Seeing how bad things are there shouldn’t depress you. It should show you what to do next. We can fix it, but it will take time. As for the rest of it, don’t worry so much.” He spoke gently and wrapped his arms around her again, resting his chin on the top of her head.

  “How can you promise something like that? You don’t know it will all work out,” she whispered into his shirt.

  “I do too. It will work out because you want it to so badly. Both you and I are determined people. When we want something we get it,” he reassured her and slowly pulled his arms back. “Right now I want to be in our room and see my wife smile.” Taking her hand, he led her up the stairs and held the door open for her and Marrow.

  At the sound of the door opening, Wisp poked her head out from her own door. “I was hoping it was you two. I have some good news for you, Jala. I found a couple of healers that are willing to work in the Merro district,” Wisp said happily, stepping from her room into the hall. She took a moment and surveyed the two of them and cocked her head to one side with a concerned look. “What’s wrong Jala? You look upset.”

  “We rode through the entire Merro district today. It was horrible,” Jala said quietly and moved over to Wisp giving her a light hug. “Thank you so much for looking for the healers. They are desperately needed there,” she added as she released the Fae and stepped back rubbing her face. Finn brushed his hand against her back and nodded to Wisp and continued past them toward their room.

  “It was no trouble at all. I knew who to talk to about it. We can go meet them tomorrow after classes if you like,” Wisp offered.

  “I’d like that a lot, actually,” Jala said somewhat distracted as she watched Finn close the door to their room behind him. She turned back to Wisp the moment the door latched and leaned closer. “He is going to duel Kithkanon. I don’t know how to talk him out of it. Any ideas?” she whispered quickly.

  “What?” Wisp hissed back and glanced over Jala’s shoulder at the closed door. “Why?” she asked, looking back at Jala with even more concern written on her delicate face.

  “Cassia hired Kithkanon and he had a scene with Cassia today and now …” she let her voice trail off. There was so much she could add that she wasn’t sure where to start explaining.

  “That little bitch,” Wisp growled and looked as though she wanted to find Cassia just to strangle her. “Don’t worry hon. He will win, Finn always wins,” Wisp said and Jala could tell she was forcing herself to sound reassuring.

  “So there is no way to talk him out of it? Is that what you are telling me?” Jala asked with a sigh.

  Sadly, Wisp shook her head. “Not if he said he was going to. There isn’t much talking Finn out of things,” she said shrugging at Jala.

  “That’s what I was afraid of,” Jala said, her voice filled with resignation. Leaning over she gave Wisp another quick hug and turned for her room. She paused just before the door and looked back at Wisp. “I have training with Sovann and Neph tomorrow. Can we go to meet the healers right after school in the afternoon? I should have time then,” she asked.

  “You have too much to do Jala. Yes that would be fine,” Wisp said shaking her head slightly. “You are going to go mad within a year at this pace.”

  “I doubt it,” Jala replied with a faint smile and pushed the door open quietly. Marrow brushed past her silently and headed for his customary spot in the corner. She closed the door softly behind her and turned to look at Finn.

  He was standing half-dressed by their bed, carefully folding his shirt and had a smirk on his face. “Dirty, asking Wisp for help,” he said with a faint chuckle.

  “You weren’t supposed to hear that,” she mumbled and began to remove her jewelry.

  “Did you think the door being closed would prevent it?” He asked sounding amused.

  “Yes, actually. Most people can’t hear whispers through closed doors. What were you doing, pressing your ear to the door?” She rolled her eyes at him and pulled the pins from her hair. Yawning, she ran her fingers through the curls and opened her eyes to find Finn leaning against the bedpost watching her. “What?” she asked, lowering her arms slowly and raising an eyebrow at him.

  “Just admiring,” he said quietly and then slowly shook his head. “I don’t have to lean against the door to hear things. Neph is reading aloud right now, Wisp is singing quietly and Jail is getting ready to leave his room,”

  The sound of a door closing outside in the hall drew her attention as he finished speaking and she slowly turned back to look at him in shock. “You heard all of that?” she asked quietly.

  “When I focus I can. I don’t focus all of the time or I would go deaf in bars,” he explained and crossed the room to her. With nimble fingers he began to unlace her dress.

  “Then you know I don’t want you to duel,” she whispered.

  “And Wisp just warned you that you wouldn’t be able to talk me out of it,” he replied, leaning close to kiss her on the neck.

  “Don’t you remember Death nodding to you at the council meeting and you said you would have to be extra careful in your next duel and this is your next duel.” She spoke quickly, the words pouring forth in a flood as she tried to ignore his lips working their way slowly down her shoulder.

  “Mmm hmmm,” he mumbled, never slowing in his progress with the dress or the kisses.

  “But Finn, I really don’t want you to fight him,” she pressed, as her dress dropped to the floor.

  He traced his hands up her body slowly and lifted his face to hers. “I have too much riding on this now, Jala, I can’t forfeit on the bets I’ve made. I would lose what I have bet and that isn’t an option,” he said firmly before picking her up by the hips and setting her gently on the edge of the table behind her.

  “It’s just money, Finn. I can’t lose you over money,” she whispered, leaning back on one arm and wrapping her other arm around his neck.

  “It’s more than money,” he said quietly as he unlaced his pants. “Leave it alone Jala, you won’t talk me out of it,” he warned as he slid a hand up her thigh and leaned in to kiss her again. Mercilessly he continued with his lips and hands until all conversation dwindled from her mind and there was nothing in her thoughts but him.

  Chapter 6

  Sanctuary

  Morning sunlight filtered in through the windows. Jala’s eyes flickered open slowly and she turned her head to look at the empty side of the bed. As usual, Finn had left silently for his morning exercise. Fighting back a yawn, Jala sat up, slowly arching her back to stretch. She could see Marrow sprawled on his side near the wall. His chest still rose and fell, deep with the rhythms of sleep. Standing slowly, she moved to the mirror and picked up her brush. With an incoherent grumble, she began combing out the night’s tangles and then paused, looking slowly down at a folded letter lying on the corner of the nightstand. It hadn’t been there a minute before. She was sure of it. She glanced around the room once. Her gaze paused on Marrow’s still sleeping form and then slowly picked up the letter, turning it over in her hands. Her name was scrawled on the back in elegant script.

  “I didn’t think you were ever going to wake up,” a child’s voice said beside her.

  Startled, Jala jumped back with a squeak and frantically searched the room. She heard Marrow growl low in
his throat and glanced back to see him scanning the room.

  “Are you going to read the letter?” The voice came again from a different corner.

  “Who are you?” Jala asked cautiously, her gaze flicking back to Marrow once more.

  I see nothing. I sense nothing. There is no scent at all, Marrow’s voice rumbled in her mind, irritation thick in his tone.

  “Read the letter. It explains everything,” the child urged from yet another area of the room.

  Marrow rose and stalked over to her as she unfolded the letter quickly. The Bendazzi stopped just in front of her and pushed her gently back until she was pressed against the wall. Until I know what and where it is, keep the wall to your back, he ordered and lowered his head, inhaling deeply, searching for the creatures scent.

  Jala nodded absently and read over the letter in her hand, quickly scanning a few parts of it twice. “It’s from Shade. He says her name is Emily and that she needs a safe place.” she glanced up and looked around the room again, then back down to the letter. “She is one of the Blight children from Gaelyn but she isn’t corrupt. He says she has agreed to guard me,” Jala said and folded the letter. She had never heard of a Blight child before but from what the letter said they were not to be trifled with.

  “Are you explaining it to the big cat thing or do you have another invisible friend in here?” Emily said, her voice closer now.

  “The big cat thing is a Bendazzi. His name is Marrow. He is my familiar and yes I was explaining to him,” Jala said, her eyes searching the room once more. “Will you show yourself to me?” she asked finally, not really sure what to expect.

  “I will to you, but if he comes back I’m gonna hide.” The childlike voice came again and a form appeared, sitting on the edge of her bed. The child was naked and filthy with tangled brown hair. At least Jala thought it was brown. It was difficult to tell the true color through the filth.

  Jala stared at her condition in shock and tried to decide if the majority of the filth on her was mud or blood. Blood, she decided after a moment and cleared her throat gently. “So I am to take care of you and keep you safe and in return you guard me and keep me safe, correct?” she asked, keeping her voice very polite.

  “That’s what Shade said,” Emily agreed with a shrug.

  “Well then, the first thing would be to get you a bath and clothes,” Jala said with what she hoped was a parental tone.

  “What kind of clothes?” Emily asked, suspiciously eyeing Jala’s discarded dress.

  Following her gaze, Jala eyed the dress and felt a blush start to rise. Moving swiftly, she retrieved her robe from beside the bed and shrugged it on and then looked to Emily with a smile. “When exactly did you arrive here, Emily?” she asked sweetly and prayed it was this morning and the child hadn’t been in the room last night. Her gaze flicked involuntarily toward the table by the wall where she and Finn had engaged in acts no child should witness.

  “This morning. I came into the room when the asshole left,” Emily replied and then narrowed her eyes at Jala. “What kind of clothes?” she repeated slower, in a quieter voice.

  “Asshole? You mean Finn? Why would you call him that?” Jala asked in confusion.

  “That’s what Shade calls him. Are you going to answer my question?” Emily was watching her closely her expression still holding suspicion.

  “Clean ones, beyond that I don’t care. If you don’t like dresses that’s fine with me as long as the clothes are clean,” Jala said and frowned. “Please don’t call him that, he really isn’t an asshole. It’s just that Shade and Finn don’t get along well at all,”

  “Why not?” Emily asked, her expression all innocent curiosity.

  “Why don’t I run you a bath and after you are dressed I can explain. I have to meet Sovann soon so I really don’t have much time this morning.” Jala moved across the room as she spoke and opened the door to the bathing room. With a quick flick of her hand she filled the tub with steaming water. Her reservoir of magic was getting built up enough from use that she barely noticed the missing power from the spell. With a wave of her hand she motioned for Emily to approach. Taking a closer look at her new charge she realized water alone wasn’t going to cut it. With another wave of her hand and quick cast spell, a majority of the filth disappeared from the child. The Blight froze in her tracks and looked down at herself as Jala stared on in shock.

  “What?” Emily said as she looked back up and noticed Jala’s slack-jawed face.

  “I’ve never seen something so dirty a simple cleaning spell didn’t take care of it on the first try,” Jala muttered in amazement. “I’m sorry. It’s just … Oh never mind. Go on, get in the tub. I’ll get my soap for you.” Shaking her head, she moved to her assorted essentials that she kept separate from Finn’s belongings and picked up a bar of lilac soap and a sponge.

  With both weapons in hand she returned to the bathing room and froze again. The Blight was sitting in the middle of the tub looking less than pleased and the water around her had turned a frothy brownish gray color just in the short time she had been immersed. “Uhh, let’s just freshen that water a bit,” Jala said slowly and dismissed the water, filling the tub with fresh clean water.

  You won’t need to fill a stone tonight. By the time you get that creature clean you are going to be out of magic, Marrow said with a bit of disgust.

  She is only a child and we have no idea of knowing how long it has been since she bathed last, Jala said gently into the Bendazzi’s mind not wanting to insult Emily.

  I’m going to go with never as my guess and continue pondering why I couldn’t smell her. From the looks of her I should be able to smell her half way across the city.

  “That stinks,” Emily said, pointing at the soap and wrinkling her nose.

  Jala bit her lower lip to keep her expression neutral and glanced down at the soap. “It’s all I have, unless you want to use Finn’s soap. It doesn’t really have much of a scent to it,” she said with a shrug.

  “No, I don’t want asshole soap,” Emily replied and snatched the lilac-scented bar from Jala’s hand. She examined it closely turning it one way and then the other and raised it to her nose sniffing it again. Abruptly, her expression changed to one of disgust and she let out a snort as if to clear her nose. “Why would you use this?” she asked in dismay.

  “Because to me it smells good. And please don’t call Finn that,” Jala replied patiently and took the soap back from the Blight. Dipping it in the water quickly she ran it over the sponge a couple of times and then began rigorously scrubbing the child’s head. She tried in vain to ignore the various bits that fell from the child’s hair and settled instead for trying to not identify what they were.

  “Do you have to do that?” Emily objected, trying to squirm away.

  “Yes, I do, though I think I’m going to have to use magic to get the tangles out. How long has it been since you brushed your hair?” she asked, still working the majority of the filth from the brown locks.

  “Brushed?” Emily asked in dismay.

  “Well, that would explain that,” Jala said with a sharp nod and added more soap to her assault. She stepped back after a few moments and rinsed the soap from her hands. Nodding her head in approval she smiled at Emily. “Now dunk and rinse it out,” she said with a motion toward the water.

  “What?” Emily said eyes going wide in alarm.

  Nodding Jala smiled sweetly again. “Just hold your breath,” she said quickly and placed a hand on Emily’s head, pushing her under the water quickly. Two hands shot out of the water, clawing frantically for purchase and a sharp pain shot down Jala’s right arm. She let go of the child who came up sputtering indignantly. Leaning back against the wall Jala raised her arm to see blood flowing freely down her wrist. The talons had missed the artery there, but not by much.

  “I’m sorry,” Emily said quietly, her chin resting on the edge of the tub as she stared at Jala in dismay.

  “It’s my fault. I scared you,” Jala
said with a slight shake of her head. She watched the blood continue to well for a moment and wished in vain that she regenerated like Finn. “I was just in a hurry. Go ahead and finish cleaning up while I wrap this.” Turning she left the room and nodded with approval at the sounds of splashing water from the other room. She hadn’t been sure the Blight would listen and continue bathing but apparently the child was.

  With a sigh she fished her old blue dress from her trunks and tore strips of material from it. Finn healed so quickly he didn’t keep medical supplies on hand and she didn’t have anything else to use. There was of course the option of asking one of the others in the hall but she didn’t really want to explain to anyone about the Blight just yet.

  Awkwardly, she began wrapping the arm cursing under her breath as the strips came loose. It was at an odd angle to do one-handed. She looked up as smaller hands took the strips from her and watched as the child quickly wrapped the makeshift bandage tight around her arm.

  “Thank you,” Jala said quietly and brushed a lock of hair from her face. “You have very pretty hazel eyes,” she added and lifted the lock of hair to examine the tangles. Emily was watching her with obvious remorse and her gaze kept flickering to the bandage. “It’s OK really. I know you didn’t mean to and like I said it was my fault.”

  “I’m supposed to protect you not hurt you,” Emily replied quietly.

  “And I’m sure you will as long as I’m not dunking you under water,” Jala reassured her and ruffled the tangled hair as best she could. Cocking her head to one side she took in the child’s measurements and pulled on the magic once more to create clothing that would fit her. With a wink she handed the heavy linen trousers and tunic to her as well as small clothes fit for a child. “There. Those should be nice and durable and they are a dark enough color that if you get them dirty I won’t notice for a while,”