“As you can see, Lady Merrodin, you have no hope of facing us. I find it rather amusing that you turned to make a stand at all, but then you are rumored to be bold. I’m going to offer you the chance to surrender before I slaughter your people, however,” the man called back his voice light and filled with mockery.
“Surrender and step aside so that you can slaughter the people of Arovan?” Jala asked, lacing her tone with disgust. The man was too far away for her to see his features clearly but she recognized the colors of house Rivasa. This was doubtless one of the High Lord’s sons that she addressed and if he was anything like the ones she had already met he had very little in the way of mercy.
“Let me show you what happens if you refuse my offer, Lady Merrodin.” The Rivasan raised a hand and Jala watched in silence as two poles were brought forward. Her throat tightened as she gazed at the bodies that hung suspended like grisly banners. Despite the distance she could clearly recognize the silver of Honor Hai’dia’s hair though his body was too badly burned to tell much else. The other she knew was Micah though not even his dark hair remained to identify him.
“You son of a bitch!” Valor snarled, his voice filled with grief and rage. Frantically, Jala grabbed his arm as he pressed his horse forward. It was clear his emotions had overruled his logic.
“Valor, no, please. He is trying to goad you, please don’t,” Jala pleaded, her arms still gripping him tightly as she turned back to face the Rivasan. The man had moved his horse aside and his attention was fully focused on the ragged figure his soldiers were pushing forward to stand between the two dead Arovan. Her finery was torn to shreds and her silver hair hung over her shoulders in tangles but Blue Bess still managed to stand on her own. Even from their distance, Jala could see the blood that covered the woman.
“Tell them they have no prayer. Tell them to surrender or they will die, herald,” the Rivasan said as he rode up behind Blue and prodded her roughly forward with his boot.
Blue stumbled and Jala thought she would fall but the bard straightened and stood staring across the field at them. “Kill them all, Valor! Make them pay for what they have done! Do not trust their words. They are liars!” Blue called loudly, her beautiful voice still clear and proud despite the torments the woman had obviously endured.
The Rivasan rode forward quickly and kicked the woman to the ground. “If you listen to her you, will die Lady Merrodin. I give you until morning to surrender. If you try to flee during the night my men will hunt you down with pleasure.”
“Kill them, Valor! Punish them!” Blue screamed, her voice breaking as the soldiers drug her roughly to her feet. Jala watched in helpless torment as the woman disappeared once more into the enemy’s camp.
Turning to face Valor once more she slowly released his arm and stared at the agony written clearly on his face. Silently, she canceled the spell that amplified her voice and cleared her throat. “We will make them pay, Valor, I promise you, but it will be on our own terms, not his,” she spoke softly and kept her eyes on him until he nodded his understanding. Turning, she looked to Neph. To her surprise the Delvay wore a look of outrage on his face as well, and his eyes showed glassiness she never would have expected from him. He hadn’t even shown pain at the news that his own homeland had fallen.
Swallowing heavily, Neph met her gaze and nodded his head. “We won’t win, but I’m with you, Jala, till the bitter end,” Neph said quietly.
Nodding, Jala smiled faintly. “Bring the others to my tent, Neph. I’ll be there shortly,” she ordered and turned back to Valor as the Delvay rode off. “We aren’t going to surrender, Valor,” she said softly. Raising her hand she brushed a stray curl from her face and let out a soft sigh. “We can’t win, but maybe we can hold them long enough for Arovan to prepare for them. I won’t run here, even if I thought I could. I’d rather die fighting for what I believe in than die with an arrow in my back, running.”
Valor nodded slowly and pulled his tormented gaze from the body of his brother. His eyes were filled with tears as he met her gaze and he simply nodded and took a ragged breath. “Then this is it,” he said softly.
Jala nodded her head slowly, her own throat tightening at the thought. “At least we face it together,” she whispered, and to her surprise there was comfort in the thought.
“We are not going to surrender,” Jala began as her eyes traveled across the faces of everyone in the tent. They were all here. Neph and Valor, the dragons, the officers of the Arovan knights and archers, Ash, Vaze, Sovaesh, and not a single one of them showed surprise on their face at her words. “We will make our stand here unless anyone has a better suggestion,” Jala said, her eyes scanning their faces once more.
“There are dragons among the Rivasans as well. I cannot see them, but I can smell them,” Nigel said quietly. One of the women to his right nodded her agreement and Jala sighed.
“I suppose they don’t want us to get any illusions about a possible victory,” Jala said with a rueful smile. “They must have heard word of us from Avanti,” she added and slowly shook her head. “I will not force anyone to stand with me. I plan to inform the soldiers of that when I leave this tent.”
“I don’t think that is wise, Milady. With such obvious defeat looming, I don’t think you should give them the opportunity to run. We will lose many from our numbers that we desperately need,” Bridgette objected softly, her gaze flicking to the others at the table for support.
“I will offer it, nonetheless. I will not command those that have stood by me and fought for me, to die against their will,” Jala insisted, her expression making it clear that she wouldn’t change her mind. “If you all would please gather them outside my tent now. What I have to say should be heard by everyone.” She watched them all start to rise with her words and held up a hand before they could leave. “Valor, Vaze, Sovaesh, and Neph, please wait, I need to speak with all of you privately,” Jala said.
With a deep breath she watched them sit back down and waited until the others had gone before speaking. She felt tears beginning in her eyes and forced them back. She didn’t have time for that now. Clearing her throat she pulled a scroll from her cloak and sat it down silently on the table. “This document names Sovann Sovaesh as the regent of Merro until my son is of age to rule,” Jala explained as she pressed her hand to the worn paper. “I wrote it not long after I married Jexon, though until this morning I never truly thought that I would need it. Vaze, Neph, I would ask that you both sign it as witness.”
“I fail to see what good that will do, Jala. If we are both about to fight to the death beside you,” Neph grumbled his eyes narrowing as he watched her.
“You won’t be, Neph,” Jala said softly, her throat tightening with the words. Raising her hand she brushed away the tears that refused to remain hidden with the back of her hand and smiled at him sadly. “Some of Delvay survived, Neph, and you are going back to them. I won’t let you throw your life away here when you could return to your people. My son will need allies like Delvay in the future, Neph, and I depend on you to stand by him when he needs you as you always have for me.”
“And how, exactly, are you planning on my getting to them, Jala? I said I would stand by you to the last breath.” Neph’s voice grew hoarse as he rose from his chair, his hands planted firmly on the table top as he glared at her in defiance.
Swallowing heavily, Jala lifted her chin and shook her head at him. “You can’t, Neph. I won’t allow it. You are the Lord of Delvay and despite your sharp tongue you are one of the best people I know. Please do this for me, Neph. It will be easier if I know I’m not leaving my son to face the world alone,” Jala pleaded and let out a ragged breath as she turned to face Vaze. “You will take him to his people. Given that you are the one that informed me of their survival, I assume you know where to find them.”
“I would rather stay and fight,” Vaze objected quietly.
A sob almost broke past Jala’s lips but she forced it back. “And I would rather know that
you live to appear from the shadows to save my son as you have so many times for me. I would spare everyone here if I could, Vaze, but I can’t. It has not been easy to choose to send either of you away, but I must. The two of you have a place beyond Merro and I trust you both. Please don’t make this more difficult.”
At her words, Neph sank back into his chair with tears filling his pale blue eyes. “Damn you, Jala. You are the only one in this world that I can say I truly love and you expect me to just walk away and let you die?” His voice was thick and filled with more emotion that she had ever seen in him.
“No, Neph. I expect you to walk away knowing that I fought until the last breath to change this wretched world we live in. I expect you to stand by my son against the atrocities and finish building what we started. Finish my dream for me, Neph. Make this world a place where our children can live in peace,” Jala said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Turning to Sovaesh, she wiped her eyes once more. “My orders for you are simple to say, but will be quite difficult to accomplish, I fear. I want you to free Blue from the Rivasan encampment. I know how good you are at rescuing prisoners, Sovaesh. Use your talents tonight on someone more worthy than Cassia and save Blue. Get her as far from here as you can and return to Merro. I charge you after that to protect your Grandson at all costs. I cannot tell you exactly where Sovann has hidden him, but from Merro you should be able to locate him.”
“As you say Lady Bendazzi. I swear it will be so,” Sovaesh said with more formality that she had expected. Standing, he bowed deeply to her and smiled. “Finn chose well when he chose you. You have my respect for what you are doing and that isn’t something given lightly.”
Jala smiled faintly and nodded to him. Turning back to the others she let out a long breath. “I would like a few minutes alone with Valor, please,” she asked quietly. Neph rose and moved to her wrapping his arms around her in a firm embrace. “Delvay will always stand by Merro, Jala. I promise you. You are like a sister to me and you are asking the hardest thing you possibly could of me by telling me to leave. I will, though, and I promise you I will hate myself for doing so, but I will,” he whispered in her ear before pulling back from the embrace. Leaning forward, he kissed her lightly on the forehead and let out a ragged breath. “Kick nine colors of shit from the bastards, Jala,” he said as he backed away, his gaze moving to Valor. “Good luck, Arovan. I hope you get your vengeance on the bastards. I promise you I will never let Rivasa forget this day. Delvay will punish them eternally for this.”
Valor nodded and watched them leave before turning to Jala. “I truly hope you aren’t going to try to send me away as you did the others.”
“You said you would always stand by me. Why would I even bother trying to send you away,” Jala said softly as she met his gaze.
“Always,” Valor promised.
Shaking her head, Jala crossed the short distance between them and rested her head against his chest. “I don’t have orders for you, Valor. I just need you by me to see this through. Having you close gives me strength, I think.” She let out a ragged breath and buried her face farther into his tunic. “I am so terrified right now. Everything was falling into place so beautifully, and now…” Her voice trailed off as her throat tightened. “We almost had it, Valor. We were so close to happily-ever-after,” she whispered.
“I had it for one day, Jala. For one single day everything was perfect. That’s more than some get,” Valor replied softly as he kissed the top of her head. “You have soldiers waiting to hear you, Jala. Do you feel up to facing them?” he asked softly.
Jala nodded slowly and pulled back from him to wipe her eyes. “I love you, Valor,” she whispered as she turned toward the entrance of the tent.
“I love you, too,” Valor returned softly as he followed her out.
Jala stopped just beyond the entrance and let her gaze travel over her people. The soft murmurs in the crowd fell silent as they all watched her in expectation. Jala nodded once and cast the amplify spell on her voice once more. “You’ve all seen what awaits us. We are outnumbered so badly that it’s almost laughable. The Rivasans must have been truly terrified if they gathered that many to face two thousand.” Jala forced her tone to be light as she spoke and nervous laughter rippled at her words. Taking another step forward she raised her chin, her expression clearing and the tears fading from her eyes. “I won’t run,” she announced, her voice filled with defiance. “I won’t turn my back and say what they have done is OK. It’s not! They have invaded our ally and butchered our friends and I won’t simply walk away as if I don’t care!”
Jala paused again as War’s last words returned to her. It certainly seemed as though darkness was closing on her now and she smiled at the memory of the dream. “Not so long ago my son asked me if I planned to fix the entire world,” Jala said, her smile growing as she spoke. “I told him, no. I told him that I was building a road to a better world and once the path was set, others would follow our lead. With this stand, we lay the last stones on the road I spoke of. By refusing to back down to their brutality, we show the rest of Sanctuary what they can accomplish if they stand together. Nations that never would have considered each other as friends are represented in my forces. Never before has an army such as ours existed.”
She paused again and looked at each faction in turn. “We won’t win the battle tomorrow, but we will show the rest of the world that differences can be set aside for a common goal. I will not command any of you to die beside me. You may flee if your heart is not in the fight. I will not command you to fight, but I will ask you to help me. Help me buy Arovan the time it needs. Help me show Sanctuary the road we have built. Take one final stand against the corruption of this world.” Stepping back once more, Jala canceled the amplify spell and watched as the expressions of despair changed to defiance on the faces of those before her.
“Lady Bendazzi!” A voice rose from the crowd and others picked up the call until it became a steady chant.
“Do you mind if we add another nation to your roster?” The deep voice caught her completely off guard and Jala spun to face Zachary Dark. The lord of Oblivion stood just beyond her tent, an expression of amusement on his normally emotionless face.
“Lord Dark. This is the last place anyone in their right mind would wish to be,” Jala whispered, wondering how the man had managed to make it past the Rivasan mages.
“I have never once claimed to be in my right mind,” Zachary returned with a faint smile. “Oblivion will stand beside you tomorrow. I will do what I can to help you,” he said as he started to turn.
“Thank you, Lord Dark,” Jala whispered, her shock at the sight of him slowly fading.
“Apparently they have started to follow your road,” Valor said softly beside her as he watched the Lord walk away.
“May more follow,” Jala whispered.
“Another wave!” Jala bellowed as she moved forward ahead of the lines to block the Rivasan hellfire as it blasted down the valley entrance toward her army. Squeezing her eyes shut she held her hands out before her as the fire boiled against her wall of force. The heat was so intense it felt as though her skin was bubbling beneath her armor. She dropped the spell the moment the fire died away and fell back once more behind the line of archers. “We can’t keep this up,” Jala gasped to Valor who stood beside her, his expression of fury clear on his face.
The Rivasans had used the hellfire to keep them pinned in the valley all morning. For now, her magic was holding it at bay, but it wouldn’t last forever. Bows twanged as her archers desperately tried to use the few minutes they had to bring down a few of their enemies. Her knights were useless in the current battle and the Soulreavers were suffering the brunt of the work as they worked their spirit magic relentlessly against the Rivasans.
Jala growled in fury as the Rivasan mages moved forward once more. “Another wave!” she repeated the call and moved quickly to hold the fire at bay. The fire hammered at her wall but her heart rose as another sound rose abo
ve the roar of the flames. Craning her head she listened, desperate to hear the sound repeated. Holding her breath, she felt hope rise in her chest as the drum of hoof beats filled the air beyond the barrier.
“Firym!” A voice bellowed beyond the flames. She knew that voice. Hope soared in her chest as the hellfire died down to reveal the lines of Flameriders charging headlong into the Rivasan forces.
“Mount up!” Valor bellowed at the sight and his Arovan knights scrambled to obey.
“Havoc.” Jala breathed the name like a blessing on her lips. Falling back behind the lines once more she watched as the Flameriders collided with the Rivasan lines. “Support them!” she bellowed to her own forces, but the command was hardly needed. She could already hear the Arovan knights moving forward to join the battle, their horses slowly gaining speed as they cleared the lines.
Moving quickly, Jala mounted her own horse and rode forward just far enough to get a clear look at the battlefield. The two Bendazzi moved out in front of her horse, guarding her from anyone foolish enough to approach her directly. Drawing on her magic she lent her support where she could. The sound of hoof beats behind her drew her attention, but didn’t’ break her focus. Nodding, she watched Zachary Dark approach, her magic still flowing from her like water.
“Goswin is attacking on their flanks and I can see the banner of Delvay there as well. I’m going to hit them on the other side with the Harvesters from oblivion, though I doubt the souls of my people will be strong this far from their home,” Zachary informed her as he kicked his horse and rode hard for the outer flank of the Rivasan army.
Hope rose further in her chest and Jala poured everything she had into her assault. A dragon’s roar rose from the Rivasan lines and she watched as Nigel and the three sisters took wing to meet the newest threat. She couldn’t spare time to watch them, however. She had to trust them to handle their kin while she dealt with the Rivasan mages. Already she was too distracted. It was nearly impossible to keep her eyes from seeking Valor on the field. His knights were thick in the middle of the fighting and her gaze kept flicking in his direction seeking the flash of purple armor to tell her that he still lived and fought.
The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes Page 55
