The Crow King's Wife (27 page)

“Did he give a reason for his choice?” Seth
asked carefully in a neutral tone.

“Of course he didn’t.” Fiona snapped and her
eyes narrowed. “He said you suggested he make some changes and that
he thought it was an idea with merit. I warn you Seth if you are
trying to weaken his defenses with this so that you can
gain...”

“I have just spent the past three hours
dealing with his problems to secure his power.” Seth interrupted in
a snarl before she could finish the threat. “Where is he?” he
demanded before she could even begin to rant again.

“In what used to be his throne room. It looks
more like a parlor now.” Fiona growled and looked ready to say
more, but Seth stalked past her before she could even draw breath
to begin.

He took the stairs two at a time noting how
even this aspect of the palace had changed for the worse. The old
staircase had been narrow and steep giving barely enough room for
two men to walk abreast to the doors. Now there was room for a full
infantry squad and a battering ram. Not that they would need one.
The doors at the top were made of mahogany and carved with
intricate designs. They were beautiful, and fragile. A stout kick
from a booted foot would shatter the frame.

The room beyond was open and bright with
tapestries hanging on the walls and a sweeping staircase that
dominated the center of the hall. Seth let out a harsh breath and
fought back the urge to curse. He couldn’t see a single fixture
that represented defense. If the demons rose against Finn in
numbers they would pillage this place in minutes.

He halted before turning for the throne room
and forced his emotions back down. Closing his eyes he willed his
breathing to slow and rubbed at his temples. He couldn’t fathom why
Finn would leave himself so open for attack. It seemed too much
idiocy for Finn. He knew the boy wasn’t a fool, but everything
about his changes screamed otherwise.

With calm Seth didn’t feel he moved toward
the throne room once more and considered the music echoing faintly
on the air. It was relaxing and sweet. Something about the notes
tugged at him, and Seth finally recognized it as he pushed the
doors inward. It was an old song, older than the barrier itself. He
hadn’t heard it played since before the fall of Tevonale.

He paused once more at the door way to survey
the room before him. The bard was seated on the dais where Finn’s
throne had once been. She wasn’t one of the spirits Seth
recognized, but then that wasn’t unusual. The Darklands were filled
with thousands upon thousands of souls, and the only ones he paid
attention to were the ones he considered threats. Finn was across
the room from her leaning over a table that was so thickly
cluttered with books and scrolls that it looked ready to collapse
to the floor. Chairs were pushed back in a circle around him with
more books stacked haphazardly on their seats. A young man leaned
against the wall beside the Lord of Death and seemed to be speaking
quietly, but if Finn was paying attention to him it didn’t show.
Other spirits milled in the room and Seth could feel their unease
growing as he closed the doors behind him and began to stalk toward
Finn. He didn’t know the spirits, but apparently they knew him and
just his presence had stolen the peace from the setting.

He stopped at the edge of the table and his
eyes swept across the books as he waited for Finn to notice him.
Most were history books, and he could see a few maps amongst them
as well. The closest to him was of Tevonale. Most of the books had
yellowing pages and looked far older than anything he would have
expected Finn to find interest in.

“Twenty-two.” Finn said quietly as he flipped
through the pages of a book. His gaze never left the pages before
him and his brow was furrowed in thought.

“Twenty-two mistakes you made when crafting
your palace this way?” Seth offered with sarcasm dripping from his
words. He had counted at least a hundred just on his way up the
stone path.

Finn frowned and looked up at him. The lines
deepened on his forehead as he shook his head slowly. “You killed
twenty-two demons.” He corrected calmly.

“I didn’t keep count.” Seth admitted and his
eyes scanned the books once more. “What is this Finn? What are you
doing?” he asked and tried to keep the frustration from his voice.
Behind them the young man was still speaking, and in the silence
that followed his words Seth realized with a start he was telling a
story, and a very old story at that. The land he was describing was
from beyond the barrier.

Finn lifted a stack of books from one of the
chairs and dropped lightly into it. His green eyes roved over the
table before turning his attention back to Seth and he smiled
faintly. “Taking your suggestion.” He answered with a faint shrug.
“I am making this place my own, and as I changed the palace it
occurred to me that people aren’t the only things that die. Places
die too, and all of these books describe them. If I am Death than I
will have everything that is dead. I will have fallen cities
instead of barren rock plains. I will have forests and oceans and…”
His voice had been gaining volume, but dwindled off at the end and
his smile grew wider. His eyes locked on Seth’s and he let out a
long sigh. “I will have what everyone above wants so damn badly.
I’m building what they destroyed outside the Barrier.”

“By the Divine, Fiona was right. You are
mad.” Seth sighed heavily and shook his head slowly. “Finn you
can’t spend your power like this. I meant add a few bloody lamps
and some new curtains not rebuild a world and leave yourself in a
defenseless position. You have to change the palace back. This
isn’t safe.”

“I can’t?” Finn asked loudly. He rose from
his chair once more and waved a hand to the storyteller behind him.
The young man abruptly fell silent as Finn moved around the table
to stand before Seth. They were nearly equal in height and frame,
Finn was slightly taller than him, but he had him on muscle. “Look
Seth.” He ordered.

With a gasp Seth stepped back as Finn
loosened the grip on his power and allowed it to show. The Divine
radiated strength like the Barrier itself. Seth could hear cries of
dismay from the spirits in the room and had to turn his gaze from
the raw magic. He wouldn’t cringe as the spirits were doing, but he
couldn’t look directly at Finn either.

“You have been cleansing my enemies and so
have I.” Finn informed him casually. The aura of magic faded around
him as the Divine once more reined his power back in. “I absorbed
them. The ones I knew would never find redemption.” He explained as
if he were describing the weather. “With the fighting still raging
above and the energy I took from the fallen I am holding more power
than I can hope to contain.”

“Finn you are supposed to judge the souls and
give them penance. You can’t simply decide they can’t be redeemed
and devour them.” Seth objected and to his dismay his voice cracked
on the words. He knew the expression on his face was one of horror,
but surely Finn could realize why. For centuries he had been
considered unredeemable, and now Finn was feasting on his kind.

Laughter rose in the Divine as Finn moved
back to his chair once more and settled comfortably. “Who made the
laws for the Divine?” he asked quietly.

“The holy circle of Divine gathered together
and formed the binding laws.” Seth answered without hesitation.
Everyone knew that answer and he wasn’t sure why Finn had bothered
asking the question.

“The holy circle of the Divine.” Finn
repeated with a chuckle and nodded. “The holy circle that is
currently outside the Barrier and can’t get to me to enforce its
laws.”

Seth stared at him in disbelief and shook his
head slowly. “But the Aspects Finn…” he began but Finn simply
laughed.

“Are a cheap facsimile just like everything
else you pointed out to me. There are only two other Divine here
aside from myself, Lutheron and War. Beyond them the Aspects are
nothing more than Elder Blood with a very specific focus for their
magic. War won’t move against me for the same reason he wouldn’t
put you in power. If he attacks me I will gather strength from the
souls here. My actions today have proven I will cross that line if
I have to.” Finn grinned like a child that had just mastered his
letters. “You gave me the freedom I needed Seth. Thank you. I’m not
restrained by their laws any longer, because I have what they
don’t. I am seated on a font of strength and if they force me to
use it they destroy themselves in the process. They were forming me
into their tool. War set Fiona to watch me like a hawk and chastise
me when I don’t do as they wish. Now she will report what I’ve done
and when they question me I will explain it all. I’m not corrupt,
I’m not a tool, and I finally have the freedom to control things
here as I wish. I will build what I want, govern as I want, and I
will be involved in the politics above just as I had planned.”

“They have you outnumbered.” Seth warned
cautiously.

“No they don’t. I have thousands in my domain
and once I am done they will fight to the bloody end for me. My
predecessor believed sins should be paid for in pain and misery. I
don’t think that is the way to redemption for most, and as I see it
that is my purpose here. I judge them so that they can return to
the Lifestream cleansed. I believe I should teach them rather than
torment them. I was redeemed through kindness and it worked, had
someone tried to teach me with misery I would have been defiant and
bitter, just like you.” He paused and let out a long sigh before
waving a hand at the room around him. “Look at these spirits Seth.
They were all serving penance and yet their sins are pathetic. I am
not simply changing the landscape. I’m changing everything. I am
rewriting the laws of judgment. I am not going to torture someone
for Adultery if it was done in love. That is a law for a country
not for the afterlife. I will not penalize for theft if the thief
was stealing food to survive. I am not a High Lord, I am the Divine
of Death and my laws will reflect that. I will not redeem them
through pain. I will show them what life could be if they walk a
different path.” Finn’s words were filled with such emotion that
Seth found himself smiling. With a start he let the grin fade and
let out a long slow breath.

“You are treading in dangerous water.” Seth
warned once more but there wasn’t much conviction in his words.
What Finn was describing was tempting, and he couldn’t deny his
interest.

“It is.” Finn agreed and locked his gaze on
Seth once more. “Will you help me keep the sharks at bay until I’m
finished?”

He was moving before he realized what he was
doing. The stone beneath him was cold as he settled to one knee
before Finn. “How may I serve you? My loyalty is yours to command.”
The words flowed easily from his lips and Seth felt his pulse
quicken as he spoke. It was the honest truth he realized with
amazement. For the first time in his life he was swearing his
loyalty and actually meaning it.

“Clear some books from a chair and join me.
Listen to the stories I’m being told and tell me if my bard is
misspoken. You have actually seen what he describes. For now that
will be enough.” Finn picked up a book from the table and then
glanced up at Seth once more. “Perhaps you will tell me your plans
for Zoey as well, and then of course there is also the matter of
Jala and speaking to the Empress for me, but that can wait until
later.”

Seth cleared the books silently and glanced
up at the bard leaning against the wall. “Take a break from your
stories of history and tell the Lord of Death one that is more
recent.
The Crow King’s wife
if you know it.”

The young man nodded slowly and glanced to
Finn for permission before clearing his throat hesitantly. “I do
know it.” He said cautiously.

The look on his face was one of dread and
Seth nearly laughed at the sight of it. He could imagine how anyone
would fear telling him this particular story. It certainly wasn’t
one that shone him in a good light, but it was typical of all of
the rumors and legends about the Crow King. Some of the stories
were well founded, this one was not, but it was one of the most
widely known story involving him.

“Tell it as they tell it in Glis. I won’t
find offense. Don’t change the story to flatter me.” Seth pressed
and the bard stiffened further.

“Is there a reason you are tormenting my
storyteller?” Finn asked with amusement.

“You wanted to know my plans for Zoelyn.”
Seth reminded him. “He is about to tell you.”

The spirit visibly flinched at his words, but
cleared his throat once more and squared his shoulders. “In the
southern hills near the river lands just past the Bramblewood a
village once stood. It was a dwelling of people so closely knit
that neighbors were as brothers and every pain or joy felt by one
was felt by all. Amongst these folks was a girl by the name of
Karalea. She was the pride of her village for more than just her
beauty. It was her gentle nature and kindness that folk spoke of
when they described her. She was a hunter’s daughter and so she
knew the land as no other did. She was not the sort to laze about
while others worked and often she was out gathering and foraging
the wilds to help maintain not just her family, but her village as
well. She would be out from dawn until dusk on her wanderings and
so it was that one day as she was foraging she came across a crow
that was wounded. To her eyes it was a poor creature that was
suffering and so by her gentle nature she sought to ease its pain.
Any other who encountered this creature might have believed the
simplest mercy would be death for the bird was gravely wounded with
a cut that scored from its breast to far past its wing. Death was
not the answer for one as kind as Karalea though and so she carried
the creature back home with her and cleansed the wound with clean
water before binding it with strips of cloth from one of the few
dresses she owned.” The bard paused and his gaze flicked to Seth
once more. There was a faint glint of accusation there and for a
moment Seth wondered if the storyteller actually believed the tale
he was spinning.