The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey

by Melissa Myers

  The room held the appearance of a parlor. Fine plush rugs covered the stone floor. A massive fireplace covered most of one wall though no fire burned there now. On one side of the room, there was a large leather couch where a young man sat with a small stack of books laid around him in a haphazard pile. He looked younger than Christian, perhaps even younger than Jala. His sandy brown hair was long and tied back in a ponytail. She couldn’t tell his actual height with him sitting, but he seemed slight. From the simple dark clothes he wore, she didn’t think him a High Lord’s child but wasn’t sure. He didn’t seem quite right for the part, though. He was too ordinary. She wasn’t sure if that was the right word, but her mind was too tired to search for another. He was smiling up at her widely though he didn’t show any signs of being about to speak. She gave him a quick smile back and went back to looking around hoping she wasn’t being too rude. His smile was a bit unsettling though.

  On the other side of the room, was a small card table where two people sat, a man and a woman, both so alike they must be twins. They had dark hair, black from what she could tell but in a different light it might be dark brown. They were watching Christian as he approached, but she saw them give occasional glances to her, as well. Both of them wore black leather. The woman’s was tight fitting, and from what Jala could tell, was designed more for appearance than any sort of armor. Once again, she couldn’t gauge actual height, but it wasn’t hard to tell that both would be bigger than she was, if they stood. The man’s form was slightly bigger than his sister but not by much. They were easily the most intimidating people she had ever seen.

  Christian dropped lightly into a chair across from them and shared a few quiet words, then seemed to notice she hadn’t followed him to the table. She glanced toward the couch and found the young man seated there still staring at her with the same smile. She gave him another quick smile and looked back to Christian. He gave her a reassuring look and waved her over.

  She crossed the room quickly, to stand beside his chair. Perhaps too quickly, by the way the twins smiled. Their eyes were gold she noted. She had never seen anyone with gold eyes before. They were both attractive, as well. The man had a more dangerous look than Christian, but was still eye-pleasing, and the woman was still feminine and beautiful, despite her heavily toned muscles. They were studying her just as closely as she was them, she noticed with slight amusement. She saw the man give an approving nod of his head to Christian as she gave in and pulled out a chair to sit.

  “This is Alex; he prefers to be called Lex.” Christian motioned toward the man. “And this is Aleah. She prefers to be called Leah. Don’t ask me why they hate the letter A so much. I’ve never been able to solve that particular mystery.” He motioned toward the woman and gave them both a grin that they readily returned. “Lex, Leah, this is Jala. She will be staying here with us.”

  “You got a new kitten,” Leah said with obvious amusement. “Did you hear that, Madren, you aren’t the kitten anymore?” she called to the boy on the couch.

  “He will always be a kitten,” Lex interjected quietly. “A mentally deficient. Should have been a drowned kitten,” he added with a faint smirk.

  “And that is Madren,” Christian said, turning in his chair slightly to indicate the boy. “Lex and Leah are my swords. Madren is kind of a Historian for me. I say ‘kind of’ because it’s more of a general knowledge position. I just don’t have a better title for it at the moment. Pretty much he is a font of knowledge.”

  She nodded her understanding, and he turned his attention back to the twins. “Did Oma already retire for the night?” Christian asked.

  “Of course, it’s barely night anymore and dawn isn’t more than an hour or two off, Shade,” Leah replied through a yawn of her own.

  “You were supposed to be back hours ago,” Lex pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

  “Leave him be, Lex. He was obviously busy picking out a new kitten,” Leah chuckled.

  “Don’t tease her, Leah. I doubt she is used to teasing. Give her time to get to know you before you torment her.” Christian’s tone was not angry, but it held no room for objection either.

  Leah gave a nod. “You got it, Shade. No teasing the girl, only Madren,” she agreed readily.

  Christian rolled his eyes and looked past Lex to a sword resting against the wall behind him. Jala had noticed it as well but had chosen to ignore it. They were intimidating enough without weapons. “Is that the new one, Lex?” He asked with obvious curiosity.

  Lex reached behind him and pulled the sword over and casually set it before Christian on the table. “Finished it last night,” he said.

  Jala stared at it in wonder. She couldn’t see how anyone could possibly fight with it. It looked to be at least her height in length, and the blade must have been eight inches wide near the hilt.

  “You sure you actually know what a sword is, Lex? This looks more like a lance. Are you planning on using a horse when you fight with this beast?” Christian asked, without actually touching the sword.

  As if to prove a point, Lex calmly reached over and picked the sword up by the hilt and held it straight above him without any obvious effort. He raised an eyebrow at Christian after a minute and then propped it back up against the wall behind him.

  “Ok, point proven. You are tough, and I am a bitch. I bow before thee.” Christian gave a light chuckle and mocking bow as he spoke. Lex returned the grin and then slid him a bottle, still without a word.

  Christian eyed the bottle doubtfully and looked up to Leah. “His newest batch?” he asked.

  “Indeed. You are going to love this one,” Leah replied, trying hard to suppress a smile but failed miserably.

  “What flavor is it?” Christian asked, his tone still doubtful.

  “Try it and guess,” Lex urged as he pushed a glass over.

  Christian looked at the bottle and then to Jala who was watching the exchange with tired curiosity. “I’d offer you some, but you really don’t want it, I’m guessing. Lex here, decided he is going to learn to make wine. Despite how often I try to convince him to stop, he keeps trying to learn,” he explained and then with obvious hesitation poured a glass. “It’s green, Lex,” he pointed out, the doubt thicker in his voice.

  “Just try it, Shade,” Lex urged again.

  Christian slowly picked up the glass and swirled it a moment watching the wine carefully before taking a sip. He held it in his mouth for a moment, his expression going from doubtful to what looked almost pained and then swallowed with obvious effort. He looked at the wine and then to Lex with a wounded expression. “Why?” he asked. Leah finally lost the fight with the smile and burst into merry laughter. Despite herself, Jala found herself laughing, as well.

  Lex gave him a frown. “Could you tell what I used to make it?”

  Christian smacked his lips together a couple of times, the wounded look still clear on his face. “I’m not really sure, Lex. Pickles?” he answered with a shrug.

  Lex’s expression darkened, and both Jala and Leah laughed harder. “It was melon and apples,” Lex growled.

  “What by the Aspects did you do to those apples before attempting to ferment them?” Christian demanded.

  “I thought it was better than the last batch,” Lex grumbled.

  “It was, but the last batch tasted faintly of dead fish, Lex. It doesn’t take much to improve on that,” Christian replied with a shrug. “You are missing your calling, my friend. Quit trying to make actual wine. Take the recipes you have now and sell them to the Justicars. They will get confessions from prisoners in record time without the mess of standard torture, and you will make a tidy profit,” Christian suggested. Leah burst into renewed laughter.

  Jala fought down her own laughter and looked at Lex with sympathy. “Have you tried Jimpa fruit?” she asked. “It has a very sweet flavor and I’ve heard it makes good wine, though I’ve never tried it.”

  Lex looked at her and frowned. “What is a Jimpa? I’ve never heard of that before.�
� He looked to Christian for the answer but found Christian staring at Jala with a thoughtful expression.

  The answer came instead from the couch behind them. “A Jimpa is a fruit from a tree that grows wild in Merro only. There were a few attempts to cultivate it into an orchard fruit, but it required so much magic that the endeavor was deemed unworthy of the effort. No one was ever able to understand why it would only grow in Merro, or why it couldn’t be transplanted successfully,” Madren called to them in a happy voice.

  Jala was watching Madren over her shoulder and purposefully keeping her face turned away from Christian. She’d had no idea Jimpa only grew in Merro. She had never seen any near Bliss but hadn’t thought anything of it. She slowly turned back around in her chair and glanced at Christian. He raised an eyebrow briefly but didn’t say anything.

  “Well there goes that, I suppose. Nothing left in Merro. Thanks for the suggestion though.” Lex gave a sigh and spun the bottle of wine lazily.

  She nodded quietly and decided to remain silent for the rest of the conversation.

  “I probably need to show Jala to a room. She has had a long day.” Christian started to push his chair back, but Leah motioned him to wait.

  She slid an envelope across to him. “This came for you earlier. Figured I’d wait till you were about to leave the room before I gave it to you, in the event it was bad news,” she explained with a smile.

  Christian settled back into the chair and gave her a dry expression. “Gee, thanks, Leah.” He examined the seal quickly and tore it open. He read over it quickly and gave a sigh. “From my father. I have to meet with him in the morning. That changes my plans a bit.” He glanced over at Jala and then folded the letter and slid it into his pocket. He turned in his seat and looked toward the couch. “Madren!” he called and waited for the boy to look up from his book before continuing. “Jala needs help on basic knowledge of the Houses and Bloodlines. I want you to go over them with her tomorrow, all right?”

  Madren gave a happy smile and nodded his head. “You got it, Shade, it’s a date,” he agreed happily.

  “No.” Christian, Lex, and Leah all spoke the word at once, and Jala felt herself jump a bit. She glanced between them and back at Madren. The boy was looking a bit sheepish but nodded slightly.

  “It is not a date, Madren. You are helping her learn. That’s it, understand?” Christian asked carefully and waited for the boy to nod again before he seemed satisfied. He turned back to Jala. “All right, I had planned to take you to the opening of the Spring Games, but I can’t ignore this summons. So, if you have no objections, Madren will help you get up to speed on things in the morning, and when I get back we can go watch Lex fight in the first round of swords.”

  She nodded, still curious at the reaction they had toward Madren, but decided to ignore it. “That’s fine with me, as long as Madren doesn’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind at all,” Madren called happily.

  Christian pushed his chair back and stood slowly. “Leah, plan on sticking around here tomorrow. I want you here just in case they need anything.”

  Leah gave him an amused smile and a nod of understanding. “You got it, Shade,” she said with a smirk.

  “Nice to meet you, Jala, and welcome to the Academy,” Lex said quietly as she stood to follow Christian.

  “Nice to meet you, as well, Lex. Goodnight,” Jala replied with a smile and followed Christian into the hall.

  “They all call you Shade,” she said as they left the room. She hadn’t mentioned it in front of the others, but it struck her as odd. “Is it a nickname?” she asked.

  He gave a slight nod. “It is. I actually prefer it. Only my parents and strangers call me Christian anymore, and I tend to answer better to Shade,” he explained.

  “Then I’ll switch to Shade, too, if you don’t mind,” she offered.

  He nodded with a smile and led her quietly down several doors before stopping. He leaned against the wall beside the door and smiled at her again. “I’ve never actually had a Jimpa before. I saw them in a Merro market once when I was visiting there with my father,” he said quietly.

  “Bliss is very close to the border,” she said with a shrug.

  He gave a slight nod and reached over to turn the door knob. She couldn’t read from his expression whether or not he had accepted her answer and he was apparently willing to drop the topic. “This will be your room. The bed should be made, but no promises. It’s been empty for about five months, but it has spells in place to keep it fresh inside.”

  She glanced inside and then back to him. “Will the owner be returning? I don’t want to take someone’s room,” she asked. If it had only been empty five months, there was a possibility they would be returning for admissions.

  “No, he died in a duel,” he answered, and his expression showed he would rather not continue the discussion. Given how often he had let her steer away from uncomfortable topics, she was willing to let it go.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. Of course, you wouldn’t give me someone else’s room,” she mumbled.

  He gave her a shrug and let the door swing the rest of the way open and motioned down the hall a short way. “The blue door is mine. The one to the left of it is Leah’s, and the one to the right is Lex’s. Directly across the hall from mine is Oma’s, who you will meet tomorrow. As a general warning, she doesn’t talk to anyone but me. Please don’t be offended by that. I’ll explain when we aren’t exhausted. The one at the very far end of the hall past the parlor is Madren’s. If you need anything try my door first and then Leah’s.” He pushed off the wall and gave her a smile. “I think that about sums it up. Goodnight.” He gave her a wink and headed toward his own room.

  She watched him for a moment and then stepped into her room. With a yawn, she closed the door behind her. The room darkened dramatically with the door closed. She frowned and considered hunting for the light but decided she was simply too tired to care. She gave her eyes a minute to adjust and then moved toward the darker shadow of the bed. With a soft grunt, she dropped boneless onto the edge of it and removed her sandals. She shrugged out of her coat and crawled to the center of the bed without even bothering to remove the fine silk dress. Sleep took her the moment her head touched the pillows, and for once in a very long time it was dreamless and peaceful.

  Chapter 8

  The Warrens

  “Tell me why any self-respecting person would build their damn city underground?” Havoc growled. They had left their horses above hours ago and had been making their descent through the twisting narrow tunnels since then. The Warrens was perhaps one of the best named places in all of the lands. It was a maze of narrow, low tunnels with more dead ends than one could count. They had encountered at least three such dead ends in the last hour, and they had a map of this place. Anyone coming down here unprepared would likely die of starvation before ever seeing the light of day again. Magical transport was not an option either. There was Barllen lining the walls in random places, and anyone foolish enough to try using magic, would likely end up lost in transit or stuck in a wall. So you either knew where you were going here, or you didn’t go. Victory had assumed the map had meant they knew where they were going, but as he stood staring at yet another dead end he began to wonder.

  “I’m going to find the scout that drew our map and drown him,” Havoc snarled, already turning to retrace their steps.

  Victory looked back down at the map and frowned. “Wait a moment. Havoc, come here.” He handed the map over as Havoc approached. “I know I’m not exactly a navigator by trade, but I do believe I can read a map. And correct me if I’m wrong, but given our path, shouldn’t we be here?” He indicated a place on the map that showed the southern entrance tunnel to the subterranean city.

  Havoc studied the map and glanced over his shoulder as if that could somehow help him in the deciphering. He looked ahead and studied the rock wall before them and then met Victory’s eyes. “Doesn’t really matter what the map says
, that’s a wall, Vic, not a gate.”

  “What if it is a hidden gate?” Victory asked, pushing the topic.

  Havoc seemed to consider that for a moment, then shrugged. “I’m no rogue,” he replied. He raised his hands before him, and the little heat that was in the tunnel seemed to vanish. Victory’s eyes went wide as he realized what his partner was doing. With a curse, he moved quickly back the way they had come just as Havoc’s hands began to glow. He felt the concussive shock as he rounded the first corner. He pushed himself flat against the wall as a rush of heat flooded from the dead end he had just evacuated. With a worried groan, he looked up to the ceiling. It was doubtful that Havoc had considered the structural implications of his actions. Havoc was impulsive, not often giving thought to the long-term effect of his actions. They partnered me with him to keep him alive, Victory muttered to himself and glanced around the corner. Dim light came from the molten remains of the rock wall, and Havoc was looking out through the newly made hole. “I wonder if they realize how impossible he makes that task at times,” he asked the shadows about him.

  “You were right, Vic, it was a hidden door. Nice,” Havoc called back to him.

  “Do you think perhaps we should have tried to find the release for it rather than blowing it apart?” Victory asked, irritation clear in his voice as he stepped back around the corner to stand beside Havoc. The air was thick with fumes from the melted stone, and the heat was still close to unbearable for him, but Havoc seemed unfazed

  “That would have taken too long. I’d rather this be done with it,” Havoc replied.

  A sharp click drew their attention to the area beyond the hole, where four guards stood fully armored in black steel and chain mail, with crossbows leveled at them. Slightly behind them stood a woman wearing robes so dark blue they seemed black. She had dusky skin and hair the color of deep steel grey, pure and unblemished. Her face bore the look of youth as most Immortals did. She was glaring at them, her hands on her hips.