The Crow King's Wife

by Melissa Myers

  “They were culls and guttertrash. Even the Arovan girls had been turned into whores. One of them offered herself to me for food.” Shade returned loudly. “You are better off with them gone, and I have the funds to repair my ship now. You should both be thanking me rather than acting like fools. Do you realize how many times I’ve used my Spell Hawk to run favors for you?”

  “Shade.” Valor spoke his name like a plea and Shade turned to look at him with annoyance. “Shade this has to be a wretched joke. I can’t believe after everything you have done in the past that you would do this. Please speak the truth before this charade damages things beyond repair.” Valor’s words seemed to dampen Jala’s anger and the High Lady bowed her head and turned away from Shade with disgust on her pale face.

  “Do you want a joke, Valor? How about examining what I’ve done for you all without a fraction of the gratitude that I deserve. If I were actually thinking of myself I would be on the other side. If you haven’t noticed they happen to be winning. They have lost a few battles, but a good deal of that was due to my intervention. I sabotaged the Spell Hawks of Morcath. If not for me they would have taken to the air at the Last stand in Arovan and none of you would be alive today.” Shade paused and shook his head at everyone in the room. “You say that Delvay doesn’t believe in slavery? What have I been doing aside from being a slave? I run everyone’s errands and risk my life for you ungrateful bastards daily. I sold cattle and somehow that sin erases every time I have saved your pathetic honorable lives. Fine. Try to finish this without me. I wish you luck of it.” His hand dove into his pocket with his last words and Shade threw two storage stones to the floor in front of Jala. “Those are the bodies of Derrick Rivasa and Grace Morcaillo. I wish you luck finding peace with the Blights without me to control them, you will need it. They are little more than animals.” He snarled as he dropped down from the dais and headed for the door. “Do not seek me out for anything in the future. This will be the last time I speak with any of you without violence.” Shade warned as he pulled the doors open and stepped from the room.

  Neph started to move but Jala placed a hand firmly on his arm. “Let him go. He has done enough for us in the past to allow him escape now. If we see him in the future we will deal with his crimes then, but for now we let him go.” Anger edged her voice as well as grief and Zoelyn could see the glassiness of Jala’s eyes. The High Lady was using considerable willpower to keep her tears at bay.

  Moving quickly Zoelyn slipped from the room and started after Shade before anyone but Dray could notice she had even been present. She broke into a run once she was far enough away from the Great Hall and even with her haste she barely caught up to Shade before he reached the main gates of the city. “Shade wait!” she yelled before he could step out into the bright sunlit day.

  He paused and turned back to look at her with the same sad smile he had worn in Grim’s room. “You shouldn’t have chased me down Zoey.” He chided her as she drew closer.

  “I don’t understand.” Zoelyn began, but fell silent as his hand clamped down firmly on her wrist. She could feel her curse draining his magic and life force, but he didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned. Clenching her teeth she fought the curse back under control and felt a moment’s regret that she hadn’t remembered to put her gloves back on after tending to Grim. Only the difficulty of removing the quills and stitching his wounds shut with gloves on had prompted her to remove them at all.

  “Let it drain please.” Shade said softly and stared pointedly down at her hand. Despite her confusion Zoelyn nodded slowly and released her hold on her curse. Shade winced slightly but smiled in response. “My father is scrying on that signet ring. I’ve felt his magic since the moment I touched the ring. I wanted him to see what I said in the throne room. I have a feeling I don’t want him to see what you are about to say however.”

  “But wouldn’t what you said in Grim’s room contradict what you just displayed to him?” Zoelyn stammered.

  “I wasn’t wearing it then. I’ve been careful to only let him see pieces. He will assume there were stronger wards on the sickroom and they caused the scry to fail.” Shade explained with a sigh.

  “I don’t believe you really sold those people.” Zoelyn began and shook her head at him in frustration. “And I don’t understand why you said all of those things in the Great Hall. Do you not realize how much they hate you now?”

  “I hope they do.” Shade mumbled and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. For a moment she could see his complete misery, but he hid it quickly. “I don’t have long to explain. I’d rather not be here when Neph and Jala are finished speaking. I don’t want to run into either of them right now.” Shade said as he glanced back toward the Great Hall and sighed once more. “When I killed Grace, I killed the last female pure Blood Changeling. I damned my entire race to extinction with that single attack and my life is as good as over now. There are only three pure blood changelings left now, my father, my Uncle and myself. The only way a pure Changeling can be born now is if one of us chooses to live as a female and mates with one of the remaining two males. That will never happen. There is too much hatred between us to allow it. So we are damned to extinction because of me. Neither my father nor my Uncle will ever forgive that, and the rest of the world will want me dead for Matricide. I don’t regret saving Grim, but I am not talented enough with my Changeling powers to evade my kin. I have too many habits that will give me away if I try to hide. The only way I can protect my friends is to make them my enemies. If Myth thinks I still have close ties with any of them he will use them as bait to lure me out. You have to keep Grim from looking for me. Find some way to force him to focus on Syrah. Let him hear every rumor of what is said about me in Delvay and don’t correct it. Let me be remembered as a traitor please.”

  “He won’t believe it any more than I did, Shade.” Zoelyn protested. She could feel tears burning behind her eyes and knew it wouldn’t be long before she lost her control and was sobbing like a child. “They would have helped you fight, Shade. You didn’t have to choose this path.”

  “I thought my mother hated me my entire life.” Shade mused quietly and the sad smile returned as he spoke. “It wasn’t until I was desperately thinking of ways to preserve my friends that I realized every time she pushed me away or ignored my scraped knees she was protecting me the best way she could. She made everyone believe she despised me so Myth wouldn’t use me against her. I understand why she drank so much now too. I could use a drink myself.” He chuckled bitterly and let out a harsh breath. “It’s funny how it all makes sense when it is too late to do anything about it.” He fell silent for a moment and shook his head once before continuing. “I don’t even know where Myth is, and after watching Grace fight I know how talented she was with her Changeling powers. If she feared him enough to shun her own child, I should be terrified. To allow my friends to help me now would be condemning them to share my fate, and I won’t do it. I will save Charm, and then I will deal with Myth. Once I am taken care of he shouldn’t bother with anyone here beyond his pursuit of this stupid war. It won’t be personal once I’m gone. I know how he is with personal grievances and I’d rather no one else face that.” He tilted his head upwards as he spoke and cleared his throat huskily before looking back down at her. “Good-bye Zoey, and good luck. I hope you get things sorted out with Seth, or Dray, or whatever makes you happy. You should find happiness soon. You never know when Fate is going to spit in your face.” He whispered then pulled his hand free of hers and turned toward the gate once more. “It’s nice to know at least one person in this damn city can see my worth, but your groveling isn’t enough to keep me here so save it for someone stupider than me.” He snarled as he stormed from the city toward his waiting Spell Hawk.

  “And everyone says you are a terrible liar. My how you have them all fooled.” Zoelyn whispered as she turned back toward the great hall. The knots in her stomach were gone replaced by a strange hollow feeling and a tight thro
at. She knew Shade believed he was doing what was best, but she didn’t see any way this could end well. He was facing a point in his life where he needed his friends more than anything else, and he had chosen to face it alone. “The Aspects keep you well Shade Morcaillo. I will pray for you nightly.” She promised in the same hushed voice and kept her steps slow enough to give herself time to force back the worst of her grief before she entered the hall. It was better if no one realized she had even seen Shade’s speech let alone spoken with him.

  Dray would be the only one she would have to explain anything to that way, and she wasn’t even sure what she could say to him. Shade had sacrificed everything in his life for his friends, and now he was sacrificing his life as well, and somehow she was supposed to keep that knowledge buried in her own heart while she listened to everyone around her scorn him. It was the kind of secret that would sit like a lead weight in her mind, and she had no idea how she was going to deal with it, especially when Shade died because of her silence.

  * * *

  “Are you paying attention to me at all, Zoey?” Neph snapped and Zoelyn turned away from her window to gaze at her brother in confusion. Her attention had been so focused on the outer city that she hadn’t even heard him speak.

  Her room was one of the few in the inner city that actually had a window to the outside world and she wondered if anyone else even realized the entire outer city was covered in crows. She had forced herself not to think about Seth after seeing him in Rivana. She didn’t want to remember how he had looked when Finn had taken him back to the Darklands, but the crows outside her window had forced the memory back to the surface.

  She doubted if anyone else in Delvay would realize what it meant, but she couldn’t help but be reminded of an old story from Glis every time she looked at the birds. If she was right the next part of the story would be the appearance of a spirit, and then the disappearance of her people would follow. Silently she prayed she wasn’t right and she wasn’t witnessing the first part of The Crow King’s Wife being displayed outside her window

  “I’ll take that glazed look as a no.” Neph said dryly and shook his head at her in mild reproach. “I asked you if Grim has woken yet. It’s been three days and I haven’t heard any mention of him being on his feet. Was the damage he suffered permanent?”

  Zoelyn shook her head slowly and sank into a chair by the wall. “Jala healed him before she left, but I asked her to make sure he rested a few days more. I need time to sort things out before he wakes. I don’t know what to tell him about Shade.” She felt bile rise in her throat as she spoke and turned her gaze back out the window before Neph could see the expression of grief on her face. After everything Shade had said in the Great Hall no one in the city would understand why she was grieving over his absence.

  “Tell him that Shade is a backstabbing little wretch and be done with it. You can’t keep Grim like an invalid to spare him the truth of the matter. I know he considered Shade a friend. We all did and Shade spit our faces with his actions.” Neph snapped with obvious irritation.

  “Maybe I should let you explain it.” Zoelyn mumbled, though she had no intention of letting Neph be the first to speak with Grim when he awoke. If Neph explained what was going on it would end in blood and she knew it.

  “Perhaps I will, but it’s something I will worry about later. I came here to fetch you for other reasons. There are a few things I need to explain to you, but it will be easier if I just show them to you instead.”

  The tone of his voice drew her attention back to him once more and Zoelyn frowned at the look of hesitation on Neph’s face. He was nervous about something, and she couldn’t decide what it would take to make Neph nervous. Her brother was usually either calm or angry, she rarely saw him in any other mood.

  “Show me what?” she asked cautiously and her imagination immediately supplied her with images of Shade’s broken corpse. It was possible that Neph had ignored Jala’s request to leave Shade be for now and gone after him. Shaking her head she cleared the image from her mind and let out a sigh. It was a silly thought. She knew Neph hadn’t left the city.

  “As I said, it’s easier to show you than tell you. Come to my room for a moment and you will understand what I mean.” Neph sighed and turned for the door.

  Numbly Zoelyn rose to her feet and followed him. She didn’t want to follow him. She hadn’t been sleeping well and exhaustion was dogging her heels almost as badly as the curse was gnawing at her gut. No matter how many mage stones she consumed it didn’t seem to quench the hunger. Her curiosity was too much for her to ignore his words despite her discomfort though. It was too unusual for Neph to act so mysterious about anything. He was usually painfully blunt on everything and rarely saw the need to dance around any topic no matter how painful it might be.

  Neph moved in silence all the way down the stairs and only glanced at her once as he paused outside his door. “I’m not sure how you will react to this. I didn’t handle it well myself.” He warned her in a low voice as he pushed the door open slowly.

  Zoelyn gazed at him with concern then slowly stepped inside the room and froze at the sight of the woman sitting across the room. She was an exact duplicate of the painting on the wall above her with the exception of the worried look that pinched her delicate features. “Momma.” Zoelyn gasped and quickly grabbed the door frame as her knees wobbled beneath her.

  Cora rose from her chair and waved a hand toward her quickly. “Neph help her to a chair. I think she might faint.” She ordered with concern thick in her voice.

  Zoelyn felt a solid arm brace her and could only stare at her mother as Neph guided her quickly to the small table. Cora paced beside them murmuring in worried tones until Zoelyn was seated then smiled sheepishly down at her.

  “I’m so sorry love. I didn’t know how you would react to seeing me, but we couldn’t think of a better way to approach you.” Cora explained as she lowered herself to the chair across from her.

  Zoelyn nodded dumbly and stared at the woman in confusion. Everyone had always told her that her mother was dead, and yet here she was looking as healthy as the last day she had seen her. “I don’t understand.” Zoelyn mumbled as she looked from Neph to Cora for some kind of explanation.

  “But you shortly will.” A voice she didn’t know broke in and she turned quickly in her chair to regard the blond haired man by the bookshelf. She knew he hadn’t been there a moment before. The room had been empty aside from her mother she was certain of it.

  “I don’t know you.” Zoelyn stammered dumbly as her confusion grew.

  “But you shortly will.” The man repeated with a smile. He drew a heavy book down from the shelf and blew the dust from its cover. “Neph why don’t you fetch us some drinks? Cora would you be kind enough to roll a cigarette for me?” When both nodded to his requests he smiled at Zoelyn once more and raised an eyebrow. “Do you enjoy stories my dear? What am I saying? Of course you do. You are living one right now aren’t you?” He winked at her look of shock and dropped the book down on the table as he took his own chair. Leaning toward her he grinned conspiratorially. “Don’t worry I won’t let them know how that particular story ends. Neph would get bitchy and no one likes to deal with him when he is bitchy.” He whispered in a voice that was so low Zoelyn was certain only she had heard him speak.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Zoelyn lied then she glanced between the strange man beside her to her Brother and Mother.

  “Of course not.” The man agreed as he flipped the cover of the book open to a family tree and turned it toward her. “Get comfortable. While I expect you will accept what I say far easier than your brother did, it will still take a while to explain.”

  “Trust me Zoey. It is easier this way.” Neph grumbled as he placed several glasses down on the table and poured her a generous helping of Delvay dark whiskey. “And you will need every drop of that by the time he shuts his mouth.” He added ominously as he took a seat near Cora and glowered at the
handsome blond man beside her. “Please Fortune, feel free to shatter my sister’s childhood memories as thoroughly as you did my own.”

  “Ah, but the memories she has can only be improved by what I’m about to tell her.” Fortune returned lightly, but Zoelyn could only stare at her brother in shock.

  If he was telling the truth then one of the Aspects was seated with them at the table sharing a shot of whiskey. Wide eyed she turned slowly back to the man feeling more than a little lightheaded.

  “Steady yourself girl. If you faint now this will take even longer, and we are already running low on time. Better to be done with this quickly so you understand everything that lies before you.” Fortune said calmly as he pushed the glass of whiskey toward her.

  “I promise you love it will all make sense soon. Even what you are will make sense.” Cora assured her in a voice that was far too calm for anything Zoelyn was feeling. With a shaking hand she lifted the glass to her lips and took a small sip of the whiskey before nodding for Fortune to begin.

  Chapter 16

  Delvay

  Moonlight covered the city in a blanket of silvery white that made everything beyond her window seem pristine. With a heavy sigh Zoelyn crossed her arms on the sill and rested her chin lightly on them. She wanted to be outside herself, but knew better than attempt to leave the city now. After everything that had happened in the last week Neph would think she was running away and in all honesty that didn’t sound like a bad plan to her at the present.