The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey

by Melissa Myers

  “I didn’t even know they had slave plantations in Merro,” she admitted quietly. She’d never heard of the plague or any slaves before. “But what about all of the innocents in Merro?” she asked after a long moment of considering the story.

  “What about all of the innocents in Veirasha’s lands?” he countered. “No one is really sure if Damon meant to destroy everything in Merro, or if the magic was more than he expected. No one from House Veirasha, or Dark rather, has left their lands since it happened. Not even for the yearly councils,” he said.

  She gave another nod and fell silent. There was a lot to think about. She wondered why no one had ever told her the story. Surely the priests had known what happened. I should have asked Fortune, she chided herself mentally. He would have told me the truth.

  “Look, there’s Lex,” Shade said as he pointed down into the field.

  There were seven circles painted on the ground of the arena and from what Shade had explained to her there were three ways to win this contest. You could injure your opponent past the ability to fight, which seemed horribly brutal to her. You could push your opponent from the circle, or your opponent could simply yield and step from the circle himself. He had also explained the fights went very quickly, and to watch closely or you would miss the entire thing. After watching Lex easily best three opponents in less than five minutes she understood.

  “He is amazing,” she said in awe after the third fight. She was truly impressed at how quickly Lex could move his massive sword. It seemed almost a blur in the air before him.

  “This is nothing yet. He is saving his skill for Sovaesh. May he beat him bloody this year,” Shade responded with a grin.

  “Who is Sovaesh?” She asked curiously and noted Lex had dropped two more opponents in the short time they had been talking. He was knocking them down almost as quickly as the next challenger could approach the ring.

  “His main contender in this event. Three years ago Lex won this with no trouble, but Finn Sovaesh entered the games and he has been a wall for Lex since. Lex designed that new sword just for him. I’m not sure what the trick of it is yet, but I’m eager to see.” Shade leaned forward in his seat and motioned toward the sidelines. “There he is. See him in the black vest leaning on the wall?” he said, and glanced to her.

  She scanned the wall and located the man he described. He was shirtless, with just the vest on, and it wasn’t even fastened. His pants seemed to be simple dark cloth though it was hard to be sure from this height. Most of the others she had seen fight had worn at least some form of armor. He looked to be just a bit shorter than Lex, but she couldn’t be sure from the way he lounged. She could make out two swords hanging from his sides. They were quite a bit smaller than Lex’s, but between his extra height and his enormous sword, he would definitely have the reach advantage. “He almost looks bored,” she said absently.

  “He is arrogant,” Shade replied. “When it’s time for them to fight, I’ll give us a better viewing,” he added.

  “Wont Lex need a break before then? He has already fought eight others that I’ve seen,” she asked with concern.

  He shook his head in answer. “It will be a total of ten fights before he gets to Finn, and that’s just a warm up for Lex. I wonder exactly how they staged it so Lex and Finn would fight on the first day. That can’t be coincidence.” He sounded thoughtful as he spoke.

  The names were called bare minutes after Shade had fallen silent and he waved his hand quickly in front of the both of them. The air shimmered slightly and then solidified into an illusionary mirror of the fight beginning below. She watched Finn approach the ring with a smug expression on his perfect face. She spared a quick glance at Shade and wondered if he realized just how much he and Finn looked alike. Finn was bigger and much better muscled, but their jaw lines and shape of the eyes were so similar she would bet money they were related. Probably not close, given the differences in coloring. Where Shade’s hair was auburn and his eyes were blue, Finn’s hair was a tawny brown, almost gold in places, and his eyes were the deepest green she had ever seen. Just before Finn actually crossed the line into the circle, he paused and removed his leather vest with a smirk and drew his swords.

  “Bastard,” Shade muttered.

  “What?” she asked, curious as to what she had missed.

  “He removed his vest, the only thing he had on that could have remotely passed as armor, as a slap in the face to Lex. It was saying you aren’t good enough to bother with armor,” he explained, his eyes locked on the two circling opponents.

  Lex had abandoned his typical leather coat for this fight and stood waiting in leather and chain armor. Apparently he felt Finn was good enough for the use of armor, and if the insult had bothered him, he gave no indication. His eyes were locked firmly on Finn and he looked eager for the fight. Finn moved with a catlike grace as they circled, taking each another’s measure. Lex reminded her more of a prowling wolf, both were predatory and both were dangerous.

  With a burst of speed that was almost blinding, Finn took the fight to Lex with absolutely no warning. The bigger man was ready though and countered the first flurry easily turning his massive sword to deflect or block each blow. Finn weaved back and then in again several more times, each time delivering a stunning assault of blows that did not seem to break through Lex’s defense. She saw Finn smile and nod his head to Lex, as if in respect, and they once again circled each other for a breath. And then it was Lex, lunging forward with a swing of the massive sword that sent Finn so close to the circle she heard the crowd below her gasp. Lex brought his sword back up for defense just as Finn darted around the side and came in for another flurry. With a start, she realized she was holding her breath and let it out slowly. She had never seen anything like this.

  “C’mon, Lex,” she heard Shade whisper as Finn circled Lex below. As if Lex had heard the encouragement, he made his move the next time Finn darted in. The smaller man was delivering his flurry when Lex abruptly switched to a one handed grip on the two handed sword and gave a sharp twist to the hilt, turning the point of his blade toward the ground. She could tell by the falter in Finn’s blows he was as shocked as her. To her amazement, Lex’s blade split in the center and a smaller sword dropped into his waiting hand leaving a slit in the two hander’s blade straight up the middle. With another quick twist, Lex caught one of Finn’s dancing blades in the split, taking care to keep the trapped blade well away from himself as he parried Finn’s second sword with his other smaller blade. Shade gave a yell of satisfaction, and she saw Finn’s left leg buckling. She hadn’t even seen him get hit. She realized with amazement that Lex must have struck him with the tip of his two handed blade while he was trapping Finn’s blade. Lex was bringing his second smaller blade around for the finishing cut when Finn abruptly dropped both his swords, grabbed Lex by the front of the armor roughly, rolled onto his back, and used his momentum to throw Lex over him and out of the circle. Lex landed lightly and rolled to his feet, his swords held out away from him as he tumbled, lest he impale himself.

  The crowd roared around them, and Shade sat back in his chair heavily. “I thought he had him,” he admitted with disgust. “That was a nice trick he added to the sword, though. I wouldn’t have thought it would work like that. I would have been afraid of weakening the main blade,” he added.

  “I thought he had won,” she agreed. She chose to remain silent on the matter of the sword. She had no idea on such things and would rather be quiet than look foolish.

  Finn was standing shakily now using one of his swords to balance himself. She could see his blood pooling on the dirt and was relieved when healers quickly arrived to help him off the field. She didn’t know him, and by Shade’s reaction toward him doubted she wanted to, but she had no desire to watch anyone bleed to death.

  “Ahh…well, there is always the possibility he won’t be here next year,” Shade said with a sigh.

  “Is he about to graduate?” She asked. He had looked Immortal t
o her and she had guessed he would be first circle. If he was about to leave, though, she must be wrong.

  He gave a slight snort. “No, he is very close to getting exiled from Sanctuary. He is prone to duels and fighting in the city. While dueling is legal, the last brawl he was in was with an off duty Justicar, and they have made it very clear he is on thin ice. You remember when we arrived I told you bloodshed in the city itself meant death or exile? He keeps the duels to the arena, but the brawls will be what get him. I give him another few months and he will be gone,” he said.

  She gave a slight nod and went back to watching the fights. As far as she could tell after the first few, she had already seen the best contest the day had to offer.

  Chapter 11

  Sanctuary

  Charm perched like a gargoyle on the edge of the Justicars hall, carefully placed to be in the shadows of one of the building’s countless eaves. He had sent word back the moment the information reached his ears. If High Commander Kellis planned to kill Fionaveir, Charm meant to see it didn’t succeed. Caspian had, of course, told him to keep his focus on the girl, and he would take care of it.

  Isador was watching the girl now, though, and the first of the executions was due to start any time. A crowd was already gathering below. A large crowd. Nothing draws attention like the promise of blood, he thought with disgust. They had set up a small stage below the stairs. From what he understood from taproom gossip, they had three Fionaveir in their custody and all three were to be beheaded. He scanned the crowd again, hoping for some sign of Caspian’s intervention but saw none. There were too many people packed into the square to notice small details. He shook his head in disbelief. The first day of the games and three executions. It didn’t bode well for the remainder of the festival.

  “A beautiful day for beheading, isn’t it? There’s not a cloud in the sky, with a nice cool breeze. If I were going to be executed, I think I’d prefer a day such as this.”

  Charm looked up sharply at the voice and found Fortune sitting balanced on the wall beside him. He sat in plain sight, not sticking to the shadows. “Get down,” Charm hissed.

  Fortune looked at him with a raised eyebrow and looked down at the crowd below. He was dressed in bright blue with a black bowl shaped hat balanced neatly on his golden hair. A large blue feather was pinned in the band around the hat and waved merrily in the breeze. “Looks pretty crowded down there, and it would make it rather difficult to talk to you,” he objected.

  Charm repressed a growl, certain that at any moment that damn waving feather would draw the attention of someone below. “Not down there, but beside me and out of sight,” he clarified.

  “While you are an amazingly attractive man and no doubt desirable to the ladies I believe I will abstain from cuddling. Don’t worry, Shadow hopper, they won’t see me. With luck, no one will even look up.” Fortune gave him a droll smile and looked back down at the crowd.

  “Why are you here?” Charm asked, deciding that arguing with an Aspect was about the biggest waste of time he could devise.

  “Same as you, Charm. I want to see the show. I think it will be a performance the Justicars aren’t likely to repeat. A one-time deal if you will, and I want to witness this,” Fortune answered with a cryptic smile.

  The man always seemed to be smiling, Charm realized in annoyance. It was as if the world were a great joke to him. “I’m not sure if it will be as you hope, Fortune. Caspian hasn’t had much time to counter this. I only received word of it a few hours ago. I didn’t expect them to act so soon.”

  “Oh, Caspian is nothing if not punctual. Just watch and see, for it will go my way,” Fortune assured him with that same damn smile.

  They were leading the prisoners out now. He studied the placement carefully. If he had friends below he would have to be able to move fast if needed. While he was quite possibly the sneakiest individual in the prison, with the exception of perhaps Hemlock, he wasn’t much of a stand up warrior. And if it came to one-on-one with an armored Justicar, he didn’t have much chance of winning. There were six Justicars that he could see, placed at the bottom of the platform, their silver armor gleaming beneath their snow white cloaks. Two more stood on the platform itself, and another three escorted the prisoners. Eleven then, not good at all.

  He sighed and tried to get a better look at the prisoners. He knew most all of the Fionaveir and their abilities. Depending on who was down there, he might have help in the fight. With a frown, he realized he didn’t know any of them. While it was possible that he might not know one Fionaveir, it was highly unlikely there would be three that he didn’t know. The Fionahold was not that large, and he was social with his order. It was simply good policy to know who you worked with and what they were capable of.

  “Isn’t it sad when the Justicars have to sink to such levels,” Fortune mused.

  “They aren’t Fionaveir,” Charm said quietly.

  “Of course they aren’t. Those are lovely tattoos, though, aren’t they?” Fortune replied.

  Charm frowned deeper. Even from here he could see the tattoos were wrong. He found it somewhat amazing that the Justicars had no actual idea of what the tattoos should look like. As long as the two orders had been at odds, one would think they would have noticed that rather important detail.

  “They are going through all of this trouble just to turn the commons against us?” Charm asked in disbelief.

  “The commons are hardly likely to help your people if they think you’re rapists and murderers. As long as you maintain the appearance of fighting to help them, they will hide you. If Kellis can undermine that, the commons will be turning your people over left and right for the reward alone, and feel no guilt about it at all,” Fortune explained, his smile gone at last. “Kellis is a bastard. Too bad it’s not him on the block.”

  They were leading the first prisoner forward now, and Kellis himself was reading off the man’s crimes in a loud clear voice.

  “This man before you stands accused of two counts of rape as well as the murder of both women. He is accused of the molestation of no less than three children and the defilement of a holy Temple to the gods,” Kellis called.

  “Oh, he is a busy one, isn’t he? A child molester, rapist, and Temple defiler.” Fortune sounded amused and made a tisking sound.

  “That’s Danny from down in South Town. He ain’t a Fionaveir. I’ve known him since he was in swaddling clothes,” a voice rose from the crowd and Charm quickly tried to find the source. The Justicars were looking, as well, but with the sheer number of people one could tell a direction but not the individual. Several other voices rose in objection, one ringing loud enough to be heard over the clamor. “Those ain’t real tattoos either.” It was a man’s voice, and rough with the harsh accent of the lower class.

  “Silence. How dare you question the voice of Justice!” Kellis boomed, his words causing a temporary hush to the crowd.

  “When exactly was the voice of Justice speaking?” another man’s voice called, his tone clear and rich and one that Charm did recognize. He inhaled sharply and watched as a cloaked figure pushed through the crowd. Lutheron moved carefully, not jostling the commons, and they quickly cleared a path for him. Their attention was now fully drawn to this newest turn of events.

  “Seize him,” Kellis demanded. Charm smiled as he watched the crowds thicken around the Justicars trying to follow their orders. There was no way they were getting through that crowd without cutting people down and that would bring a riot.

  Lutheron stopped about ten feet from the platform and pulled his cloak down allowing the crowd to see his face. A general murmur washed through the people. Caspian was not the only one who had a statue in his honor. Lutheron’s was in the arena, as was fitting. There were few in Sanctuary that didn’t know his face. He was a legend, one of the only individuals to win every one of the Spring Games, from jousting to mage craft. He had not only won that year, he had won easily. making it look to be child’s play. “Your mockery of our
tattoos are insulting, Kellis,” Lutheron called and removed the clasp to his cloak. The thick black wool fell away to be lost in the milling crowd. Lutheron stood bare to the waist now with his tattoos showing clearly. They began at the wrist on his left arm and rose up to cover most of his chest and back. “These are true Fionaveir tattoos,” he called to the crowd.

  “Stand aside at once, this man is a criminal,” Kellis demanded of the crowd, his voice cracking with fury. Their eyes, however, were locked on Lutheron, and they ignored Kellis. The Justicars continued to try to push through the crowd to reach Lutheron, and Charm wondered how stupid the men must be. How long could they expect to live if they did reach him, their armor wouldn’t count for much against a man of his skill.

  Lutheron turned his back on the Justicars and addressed the crowd with his action speaking more loudly of his contempt for them than words ever could. “Each of these tattoos was earned defending people such as yourself. A Fionaveir does not rape; he kills those that do. A Fionaveir protects children and stops any who would harm them. A Fionaveir has honor. Do not be fooled by these pathetic attempts. They mean to turn you against us with their lies. They think you are simple enough to be fooled by such antics,” he called to them, his voice louder than Charm had ever heard it. The crowd roared in answer, and the Justicars found themselves being pushed back with more force as the mood turned.

  “Your day will come, Kellis, and you will be judged for your lies,” Lutheron called once again, his voice rising over the roar.

  “Cease this at once or I will have you all arrested,” Kellis threatened, and Charm smirked. Not the wisest thing he could have done. The crowd surged again, breaking over the platform and knocking the Justicars back toward their hall. “You will all find yourselves in chains for this defiance,” Kellis called again as the commons surged even closer.

  “Just a guess, but I’m going to say Kellis cancelled the executions he had scheduled for tomorrow,” Fortune said with a wistful sigh.