The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey

by Melissa Myers

  “Do you know that saying that mothers have? ‘I hope your children are ten times worse than you are’ Mother said that to Finn so many times it became a mantra,” Sovann replied.

  “Right, so my children are going to be bloodthirsty holy terrors that are in mischief from the time they leave my womb,” Jala said her tone a bit less conversational.

  Name the first born Snack and the next Lunch, Marrow suggested narrowly dodging her half-hearted smack in his direction.

  Finn came to a stop outside large double doors engraved with two rearing horses. He looked over to her and straightened his posture. He had chosen a well-tailored suit in neutral colors rather than the Firym house colors. Running a hand through his hair, he nodded slightly to her. She moved forward to stand beside him and tried to remember everything Madren had told her about the houses. Judging by Neph’s personality, it would be a stretch to hope to get along with the heir of House Delvayon. Other than Oblivion, which she had obvious difficulties with, the other Lords shouldn’t prove too much of a difficulty.

  “Right then, and here we go,” she whispered to Finn and placed a hand on one door and pushed as he pushed on the other. The doors parted easily and all eyes inside the room rose to watch them. Jala recognized several in the room at first glance.

  Symphony sat at the head of the table with Arjuna to her right. The man to the left was Lord Faydwer judging by his resemblance to Victory. Lutheron leaned against the wall behind Symphony and Havoc sat on a chair nearby him. On the other side of the table loomed a dark haired man in black plate mail. His dark blue eyes regarded her with all of the emotion of a stone. Oblivion, she reasoned. Madren had told her how the power of destruction had also removed the emotions of the remaining Veirasha. Across from him sat a blond man nearly as large as Jail. He wore leather and chain armor and by the paleness of his hair and skin he must be the Delvayon heir. She moved into the room beside Finn, her gaze lingering on the last man. He was Jail’s father beyond any doubt. He wore his hair in the same fashion with the tattoos on the sides and back of his skull. His skin was swarthy and his expression was quite amused. Beside him sat a large man in shining plate. His long dark hair was braided down his back and his expression was neutral giving no indication of what he thought of his current company. He looked nothing like Valor so he must actually be Lord Arovan himself. From what Madren had said the General of Arovan Lord Troyelle Hai’dia usually traveled on behalf of his lord for such meetings.

  “So, this is the lady we swore an oath to hide the identity of,” Lord Han’shy said, his voice holding more amusement than his expression. “Forgive me if I’m wrong but this is also the girl that has Cassia Avanti in such a fit of outrage.”

  “I am. Cassia has a bit of a jealousy problem,” Jala agreed taking a seat near the end of the table. Finn declined the seat and leaned against the wall behind her, opposite Lutheron.

  “I am informed that you wish to speak with me,” Zachary said, his voice monotone and deep.

  “For the love of all Aspects, drop some oblivion Zach you sound like a golem,” Havoc objected.

  Lord Dark turned to look at Havoc with what appeared to be annoyance and then exhaled slowly, a dark black fog drifting from his lips. His eyes seemed to lighten to a lighter shade of blue with the action and his posture grew more relaxed. Jala watched with curiosity. Of everyone sitting at the table, she had been the only one to not lean back away from the black fog. Even Arjuna had moved his chair a bit.

  “Raw oblivion, pure destruction energy,” Lord Han’shy explained to her as he moved his chair close to the table again. “As you may have guessed, I am Lord Han’shy, but I’d greatly prefer you to simply call me Jin, or whatever four letter word you choose once we know one another better.” he bowed his head to her and motioned across the table. “The blond chap is Kadandelvayan. Yes, that’s right, the Delvay don’t separate surnames from first names but I’m sure he will allow you to simply call him Kadan.” She nodded and he pointed next to Zach. “Black, gloomy bastard also known as Zachary Dark. Over there is Jaradon Faydwer and beside me is Lord Arovan himself. It’s a special occasion when you actually get to see Elijah. He usually sends his arrogant bastard of a general out on business. I believe you should know the rest,” Jin finished and took a small sip from his drink as she nodded to each lord in turn.

  “This is Jaladene Merrodin, gentlemen,” Symphony said speaking up at last. “I’ve asked her to join us tonight given that she should know of our plans. She will have a seat on the High Council soon enough.”

  “Our plans?” Kadan objected. “I have agreed to nothing.”

  “We do hope that you will by the end of the evening, Lord Kadandelvayan,” Symphony said with a slight bow of the head.

  Jala watched the exchange and marveled at how easily Symphony managed the man’s name. There was no way she was going to even attempt it. To call him Kadan would surely be less insulting than butchering the pronunciation of his name.

  “I wish to know what a Merrodin wants with me. My house has no love for anything spawned in Merro,” Zachary prodded once again, his tone holding more emotion but none that boded well for her conversation with him. She locked gazes with him and steeled herself. She would have to trust Madren’s description for the Lords of Oblivion and pray he had spoken the truth. “You hold the souls of my people and your magic infests my land. I want you to withdraw your power from Merro so that I might restore it and I want the souls of my people back,” she said bluntly, her eyes never wavering from his.

  “And why should I care a whit about what you want?” Zachary asked, his tone growing colder.

  “Because, as I understood it, despite your little jaunt into Oblivion, you still hold the same honor as House Veirasha is renowned for. That is not your land you taint and those are not your people, any more than I am one of the Merrodin’s that wronged you. To punish me for their crimes would scarcely be honorable,” she replied.

  Zachary regarded her and seemed to consider her words. “To return the souls to you would be to return the guilty,” he said at last.

  “I have no interest in those that started the war. I want the innocents of my land. I want those that simply followed their orders and had no say in it. I want the farmers and merchants that weren’t even a part of the war. Keep those you deem guilty, I don’t care about the fate of their souls. I will have the rest though if I have to take them by force,” she said, her last words holding a warning that she sincerely didn’t think she could back up.

  “Take them?” Zachary asked with amusement in his tone. “Do you realize the lands of Oblivion themselves will fight against you. From the moment you step into my lands, the fog will begin to destroy you. First your clothes and then your body itself,” he explained.

  “Well then I suppose when I show up at your castle I will most likely be naked and in a very foul mood,” she said unwavering.

  Jin burst into muffled laughter beside her and lifted his drink in salute. “I like her,” he told the assembled lords before taking a deep swallow from the glass.

  Zachary was watching her and she refrained from looking over to any of the other lords, sensing that she needed to hold his gaze until he looked away first. “Even if I release them, Death will never let you have them,” Zachary warned her. “She is a greedy creature and she has waited a very long time for the souls of Merro.”

  “But there is a chance we can bargain with her,” a new voice broke in from across the room and Jala had to fight to keep her eyes on Zach’s. She knew that voice. She had heard it once before in Bliss. With a bit of a flourish, Fortune bowed to the assembled lords and dropped down into the empty chair beside Jala.

  “Bargain with what?” Arjuna asked, his tone suspicious.

  “I’m not sure that I care much for the idea of bargaining with Death. She is a tricky creature,” Lord Faydwer objected mildly.

  “Death is no friend of Oblivion. I doubt she will be willing to bargain with me in the room,” Zachary sai
d cautiously.

  “If I must make a bargain with Death to get my people back, then so be it,” Jala said firmly, her gaze finally free of Zachary now that he was watching Fortune.

  “I will offer her the souls of all of the creatures infesting Gaelyn,” Symphony said with a smile.

  “You cannot pay me with my own coin,” the voice was a whisper filled with ice. It seemed to emanate from the shadows themselves. “You will kill those creatures without a bargain with me and their souls will be mine.”

  “Not if we feed them to the Soul Reavers,” Lord Han’shy added wryly.

  “Do not threaten me,” the whisper rose to a snarl and a few of the assembled lords gave Jin dark looks. “What would you bargain with, girl?” The whisperer asked again and the shadows nearest her end of the table began to coalesce into a solid form. Jala watched with what she hoped was a neutral expression as the ragged form of a cloaked woman took shape barely three feet from her.

  “I will end the curse on Goswin,” she said boldly, the words out of her mouth before she could fully consider what she was saying. Silence seemed to blanket the room and even Death herself stopped in shock. “Will that suffice?” Jala asked, keeping her tone bold while she mentally kicked herself for making the offer.

  “That will suffice,” Death agreed, her tone lighter with a bit of amazement in it.

  “Then it’s settled. When I break the curse on Goswin, Lord Oblivion shall release my people, and you will not gather their souls,” Jala said, her tone firm.

  “Agreed,” Death said with a dip of her cloaked head. Her gaze seemed to travel past Jala for a moment and lingered on Finn. Wordlessly, she dipped her head again and vanished back into the shadows.

  Jala turned in her chair and raised an eyebrow at her husband. “Why did Death just nod to you?” she asked warily.

  “She did?” Finn asked and shrugged. “Creepy. I will have to be more careful in my next duel.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him and turned back to the assembled lords making a mental note to hound him about it later. “Well then, if Lord Zachary is in agreement with the bargain then that matter is settled.”

  Zachary gave an amused snort. “You raise the curse on Goswin, girl and I’ll help you resurrect your fallen myself.”

  “I’ll hold you to that, boy,” she replied emphasizing the word boy as much as he had girl.

  Jin gave another snort of laughter and nodded. “Oh, I really like her,” he repeated and looked to Symphony. “Now down to the serious business of convincing Lord Arovan and Lord Delvayon that we can manage a bloodless revolution,” he said and the conversation rapidly moved to politics and councils.

  Leaning back in her seat, Jala sipped on her glass and listened with half an ear. Her mind was wrapped around the prospect of removing a curse that had existed for decades and why Death had nodded to Finn. Absently, she let her hand drop to Marrow’s neck and ran her fingers through the hick fur around his neck. Looking over to Fortune she found him smiling at her. With a wink he leaned over closer. “It’s not just me that supports you Jala, consider the symbols on the Temple at Bliss.”

  “Luck, Love, and Healing,” she said in a quiet voice and glanced over her shoulder toward Finn once more. Realization dawned on her at how much the Aspects had helped her already. A Soul Bond was a rare thing, usually found only in stories. To be able to heal Finn from the wounds he had received in Rivana was impossible from what Jail had said. “Thank you, Fortune, and thank the others for me as well. I had no idea they watched over me too.”

  “And we will watch you break the curse as well, Jala,” Fortune assured her. “We have faith in you as much as you do in us. Now pay attention to Symphony. You will need to know all of this very soon I fear.” He faded from the table and Jala turned her full attention to the discussion at hand. If Fortune believed she would need to know this soon, then she would give it her full attention. It would seem that soon her life was going to grow very complicated.

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