The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey (22 page)

“Oh, no, not really, I’ve been trying to kill
you bastards off since they put up the barrier. I created the
Serpents, my demons of the sea, the Genji, my delightful little
goblins, and the Bendazzi, the real reason you Immortals stay out
of the woods at night. All in hopes that one of them would kill you
all off.” She gave a sigh. “So far the Bendazzi are doing the best
job at it. Not many of them left, though, because you all cheat and
gang up on my poor little kitties.” She sniffed as if the idea of
killing the monstrous things was wholly undignified. “It’s not the
idea of the game that gives me pause, Myth. I’m well used to the
game of making nasty little surprises to kill you off. I’m just not
used to someone asking me to play my games. Naturally, I’m
suspicious.” She picked up Christian’s half full glass of wine and
took a dainty sip. “There is of course the matter of payment. I
think you all tell enough spooky bed time stories about me to know
what that is,” she said as she set the glass back down.

He gave a slight nod and relaxed back in his
seat, his temper cooling with the fact that she would do as he
wished. “Morcaillo will have to suffer its losses of course. If we
survived this without loss, it would look questionable. I will not
be giving you my own blood of course, but if you want the
Changeling genetic as badly as I think you do, I’m sure some blood
can be gathered from our losses,” he said quietly.

“Your sweet son then? Aww. That’s a shame,
and he tries so hard to make you happy. You really are a bastard,
aren’t you, Myth?” Kali asked.

“Perhaps my wife, I’m not sure at this point,
but both would suit your purpose,” he answered. It really would be
a shame to part with Christian. The boy was naïve and always eager
to please. Sarah, however, had her uses as well by producing more
sons. He would have to put thought into the matter, and he had time
for that due to the months it would take Kali to finish their
little project. He would decide by then.

“Ahh, that’s right. I had forgotten your
house only has one branch on the family tree now. Does your sweet
little boy know he could also call his mommy, Sis? Such a twisted
man you are.” She kept her tone light despite her words.

“I took what measures I had to, in order to
ensure the Changeling Bloodline remained strong. As far as what he
knows, it is none of your business,” he snapped. Once again, she
had proven to know far too much about him, and he mentally noted to
find her informant quickly. “I do hate to be rude, Kali, but
Christian has thrown my schedule off for the day, and I have a man
due to arrive at any moment. It would be awkward if you were still
here, so if there is nothing further that we need to cover on this
matter…” He kept his tone polite and hoped she would just accept
the dismissal easily. He wasn’t sure how he would explain to the
High Commander of the Justicars why Kali was here. The man had been
bought, but every arrangement had its limits, and Kali was hated by
just about everyone. With good reason, of course. Her creations
tended to make life difficult for all.

“Ah, yes of course, Myth. You need to tell
your pet Justicar to frame the Fionaveir. The Spring Games should
be much livelier with daily executions,” Kali said with another
dainty smile and stood stretching like a cat. “Are you going to use
real Fionaveir or just tattoo some thugs?” she asked lightly.

“I don’t see how that is any of your
concern,” he snapped back. As a matter of fact, he had planned for
tattooed thugs, but there should be no possible way she should know
about that. With an inward growl, he decided to ignore it for now.
It wasn’t as if Kali would be talking to anyone that might actually
listen, anyway. If she was too well informed, oh well, his
reputation was carefully honed and sterling. No one would ever take
her word over his.

She gave a slight humph and shrugged. “Suit
yourself. I’d go with the thugs myself. Fionaveir do have very long
memories and hold grudges like no other. Ta Ta,” she said. She cast
a quick transport spell and vanished. Myth watched her go with a
raised eyebrow. Not many would dare use a transport spell, there
were too many ways it could go wrong. For her to do so right in
front of him, was as much a slap in the face. She was saying
without words that he couldn’t possibly interrupt her magic. He
pondered that as he waited for the Justicar to arrive.
Either he
had lost a lot of his intimidation value, or he had seriously
underestimated Kali’s power
, he mused.

They were seated high above the arena floor
in the Morcaillo family seats. Jala waited until the servant had
gone with the trays of empty plates before looking to Christian.
“Why do they call you Shade? Is it because of your ship?” She kept
her voice low and leaned a bit toward him to hear his answer, and
in truth to lean a bit closer to him.

He gave her a smile and leaned over slightly
in his own chair to where they were only inches apart. “Actually,
the ship is named that because they started calling me Shade. It
goes back to a debate in my ethics class my first year here. The
professor was trying to illustrate right and wrong and good and
evil, using black and white to emphasize his point. I objected
saying the world simply isn’t that way. That there is no black and
white.” He gave her a glance and a smile. “I’m glad you asked me
when the others weren’t around, actually. They would club you for
bringing this topic up again,” he teased.

She felt her eyes widen a bit. “Umm, why?”
she asked.

“I believe the world is shades of grey. There
is no such thing as black and white as far as right or wrong go. I
used the Fionaveir as an example in my debate. Yes, they break the
law. In a black and white world that would be black, it would be
evil. However, they break the law for good reasons, which makes it
grey. No single person is completely good or evil, and the same can
be said for actions. It all lies in between, thus grey. I preached
this theory for weeks after the debate and gradually my closest
friends stopped calling me Christian and started calling me Shade.
If the topic was brought up again, they would either cry or fight,
I’m not sure which.” He gave her a smirk.

She frowned at him. His theory had merit, but
she could see holes in it. Some acts were purely and simply evil.
“What about the destruction of Merro? How could that possibly be
considered grey?” she asked.

“Do you know the full story?” She shook her
head in answer, and he nodded. “House Dark was called House
Veirasha before that happened. It was one of the original houses
and was renowned for its strength, in both power and character.
They had very rigid beliefs, and when someone threatened those
beliefs, they defended them. That’s part of what got them locked in
the prison.” He paused and took a sip of his wine before he
continued. “Anyway, House Merrodin and House Veirasha were always
at odds with each other. Merrodin was a bit of a tyrant, and
Veirasha was known for making their life difficult. In a play,
finally to be rid of a thorn in their side, Merrodin released a
plague in Veirasha lands. It was unstoppable and started with the
livestock and worked its way through the people. No matter what
type of magic was used to attempt a cure, it had very little
effect. Veirasha was in ruins and weaker than they had ever been.
Damon and his two sons Tyber and Zach were forced to man the
borders themselves with the reinforcements they had recalled from
Sanctuary. Their standing armies had been decimated. Even the High
House itself had not been spared, for Damon’s own wife and daughter
died from the plague before he could return to the capital. All the
while, Merrodin’s armies were preparing to assault him and finish
off his house while he was weak. So, in an act of desperation, he
did the unthinkable. He destroyed what was left of his own land and
people. He seized the Mantle of Destruction and turned that power
on the one that had forced his hand. The only ones spared were his
two sons. His land is as barren as Merro.” He watched her
expression and shrugged. “In Damon’s eyes, if his house wasn’t
there to block Merrodin’s evil, no one else would. So when he saw
all hope was lost for his land he made sure to take his enemy with
him. In a manner of speaking, it was a shade of grey. Merrodin was
a monster. If you have ever heard some of the stories of the slave
plantations in that land you would understand better,” he added
quietly.

“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.