The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey (62 page)

Frowning at him, Arjuna motioned toward their
hands. “If not for your lady, I’d leave you standing on the dais
half the day for that Finn,” Arjuna said in a mock scolding.

Finn grinned and carefully positioned her in
front of Arjuna. He moved to stand opposite her and raised his
hand, motioning for her to do the same. She did, and he pressed his
hand against hers while Arjuna wrapped the chain between their
hands and around their wrists. Locking her gaze with his, Jala
smiled and kept her hand steady, not allowing it to flinch in the
slightest. His own larger hand was cool to the touch and held as
motionless as stone.

“We gather here before all under the light of
the Sun to witness the bonding of Finn Sovaesh and Jala in the
ceremony of marriage,” Arjuna began, his voice deep and steady.
“They have forged a true chain of devotion and await only the test
of endurance to be one. Are there any here who speak against this
match?”

As Arjuna’s voice carried the last words over
the crowd Finn’s free hand dropped to the ceremonial blade at his
side and rested on the hilt. Jala watched him with widening eyes
and raised an eyebrow in question.

“It’s the traditional way of saying if you
object you better be ready to fight,” Finn said, his voice too low
for any other to hear. “And if anyone does object, they will be
fighting,” he added with a grin.

The crowd remained silent, apparently taking
Finn’s warning quite seriously. Arjuna gave a nod and clasped one
hand over their two joined ones. A faint tingle spread through the
chain as he removed his hands and continued on with the
ceremony.

Finn held her gaze and grinned again. “He is
pretty much saying whatever he wants right now, there really are no
traditional words past the point of objections. For those he
doesn’t like the ceremony usually lasts several hours. Really, once
the magic fades in the chain it’s done,” he whispered.

“What happens after that?” Jala asked,
keeping her voice equally low and wondering if she shouldn’t
actually be paying attention to the High Lord.

“Feast, dancing, lots of drinking, and then I
get to have you all to myself,” he explained and as he spoke the
last part a devilish grin crept onto his face. “You, however, are
not allowed to get drunk tonight,” he warned, the grin never
fading.

“I never actually intend to get drunk you
know, it always just sort of happens,” she objected mildly.

“If you do tonight I’ll have Sovann pour a
potion down your throat,” he said in further warning.

She tried not to blanch at the thought of the
potion’s taste. “Fair enough, I will stick with water I think,” she
agreed.

“Nothing that drastic I hope,” he replied
trying hard not to laugh.

“Better safe than drinking that potion,” Jala
whispered back. “Shouldn’t we be paying attention to your uncle?”
she asked, feeling guilty about ignoring her own wedding
ceremony.

“He could be talking about crops for all I
care. The important part is you and the chain,” Finn replied,
barely stopping himself from shrugging. “I’ll pay attention when he
moves forward to remove the chain, I promise.”

“If you say so, it seems rude though,” she
said and stole a glance at Arjuna to see if he had noticed their
conversation. If he had, the High Lord gave no indication. His gaze
was fixed on the crowd, and he seemed to be motioning toward them
and the sun.

“Sun is sacred here if you hadn’t guessed,”
Finn explained when her gaze returned to him. “The Firym say the
first of their people came from the sun. In truth, they are
actually related to the Faydwer distantly and likely some demon
blood, which means they are related to either the Avanti or the
Rivasan.” His gaze flicked to his uncle who had not slowed in his
speech. “See if he was paying attention to us he would have stopped
right then to smack me upside the head,” he grinned.

Fighting back laughter, Jala gave him a
slight glare. “If my hand moves it will be your fault, Finn,” she
warned.

His expression sobered at once. His grin
vanished leaving a perfectly neutral expression though his eyes
still twinkled with mischief. “Better?” he asked, his voice low and
respectful.

“Much, thank you,” she agreed, though she was
a bit suspicious of the look in his eye.

“Don’t give me that look. I’m behaving,” Finn
said, a bit of his grin returning.

“For now, with that look in your eye, though,
I wonder for how long.”

“Till about now,” Finn said with a smile as
Arjuna moved forward and carefully removed the chain from their
joined hands. A line of deep gold remained on her hand where the
links had been, perfectly echoing the delicate pattern of the
chain. Finn moved forward the moment Arjuna stepped back. One hand
slipped behind her neck pulling her closer while the other wrapped
around her lower, the edge of his fingers slipping below her skirt
to rest on skin. He kissed her before she could object to the
placement of his hand and the kiss itself stole all objections from
her mind. He had kissed her before, but never like this. She closed
her eyes and returned the kiss, the roaring approval of the crowd
fading from her mind, as did the knowledge of everything but Finn.
Drawing back at last he smiled at her and lowered his head in
respect to his uncle. “Thank you Uncle Arjuna for blessing this
marriage with your words,” he said formally, his tone filled with
respect.

“I doubt you could repeat five words of what
I said,” Arjuna replied mildly. “And if you ever suggest my people
are related to the Faydwer, Avanti, or Rivasan’s again I’ll have
you whipped at a post,” he added with a smile that seemed
predatory.

Finn laughed and bowed in acknowledgment to
his uncle. “Are there any here who speak against this match?” He
quoted in a perfect mimicry of Arjuna’s deeper voice. “You see,
Uncle, I heard the important part,” he said grinning.

Turning to Jala with a shake of his head,
Arjuna smiled and offered his hand. She took it and he squeezed it
lightly. “Welcome to our family, Jala, though you may soon wish you
had married Sovann rather than this impudent brat,” he said with
warmth in his voice despite the words.

“Sovann couldn’t handle my
Vezradesh
.
Look at the Bendazzi, Uncle. That is the mirror of her soul. I knew
the moment I saw Marrow, I would marry her,” Finn replied taking
her hand the moment Arjuna released it. “Before we go to the feast
I feel I should warn you the others are here. Apparently Sovann
informed them of the wedding, and I have to say Wisp is not pleased
with either of us for sneaking off as she calls it,” Finn told her.
He watched Arjuna leave the platform and began leading her that way
as well.

“I’m glad they are here,” she said and then
paused. “But will Wisp and Truce have difficulties? Adana says
their houses do not get along,” she added with concern.

“Doubtless they will, and saying their houses
don’t get along is putting it mildly. However, if you want to get
into politics there will likely be more trouble from Valor and my
uncle than there will be from Wisp and Truce. The Firym and Valor’s
homeland of Arovan have a long standing feud on which lands hold
better craftsmen. It’s silly really but duels have been fought over
which sword is better crafted. Personally, I think it matters more
how well the sword is wielded.”

“Aren’t your blades crafted in Arovan?” Jala
asked quietly.

Grinning, Finn shook his head slightly. “Not
the ones I wear when I visit here,” he said patting the sword at
his side.

The crowds had thinned below as most had
already headed for the feast. Only a few figures remained waiting
and all of them were faces she knew well. Wisp moved to the front
of the group, looking almost a stranger in the deep green dress she
wore. Jala had never actually seen the Fae in anything other than
tunic and breeches and usually a cloak covered that. She stopped a
few feet from them with a broad smile on her face and her hands on
her hips.

“How dare the two of you sneak off like
that,” she said, her tone sounding far more indignant than her
expression looked.

“It wasn’t exactly planned,” Jala began.

“You are lucky that Sovann had enough good
sense to tell us,” Wisp continued, cutting off Jala’s explanation
neatly. “Had you two returned to the school married and none of us
been any the wiser I would have had Jail beat Finn senseless.”

Jail raised an eyebrow and glanced at Wisp
and shrugged to Jala. “I suppose she might have been able to bribe
me into it. Congratulations by the way.”

“I can’t believe you did it,” Valor said, his
voice holding a bit of dismay. He had pushed past Wisp while she
was speaking and now stood beside Finn with eyes locked on the
marriage marks on his hand.

“Did Jala steal your man, Valor?” Neph asked
dryly from the back of the group.

Valor glared back at the mage and then looked
back to Finn. “Do you realize what you have just done to me?” he
asked, the dismay still clear in his voice. “Not only will every
single woman in Sanctuary be looking for me now, my mother will be
saying things like ‘Finn is married, why aren’t you?’ I will never
know peace again, you bastard.”

“Why thank you, Valor, you have no idea how
much your good will means to me on this special day,” Finn replied,
smothering a chuckle.

“Congratulations. Jala is way too good for
you. I can’t believe you actually convinced her to marry you. I’d
swear you had gotten her drunk if it didn’t take a full night to
make a Firym chain and she surely would have sobered up before
standing in the damn sun with you,” Neph said, his eyes fixed with
annoyance on the brightness of the square.

“Ahh, Neph, thank you. It was her idea
actually, but thanks for the vote of confidence in me,” Finn
replied and pulled Jala closer to him with a smile.

“You were wrong, Jail, she did suffer damage
to the mind when she healed him,” Neph said elbowing Jail
lightly.

“We should probably get to the feast,” Sovann
said quietly, diplomatically ending the debate on her sanity. He
nodded to Finn and motioned for them to lead off.

Smiling, Finn nodded thanks to his brother
and headed back toward the palace, keeping the pace slow and
chatting with the others as they walked. While there was still
teasing, the general attitude of his friends seemed happy, if a bit
shocked.

Sovann moved to walk beside her as they
entered the crowded gardens behind the palace. Tables had been set
up in the open areas and the seats were already packed. Finn was
leading her toward the main table where Arjuna and the rest of his
family sat. Both ends of the table had empty chairs to accommodate
their friends from the Academy with two chairs empty beside Arjuna
himself as seats of honor for the newly married.

“Do not eat the meat courses, they are
marinated in peppers and cooked in peppers and usually stuffed with
peppers. Well, you get the idea. It makes Firewater seem like
nothing. Stick with the fruits and cheeses, though I’d avoid the
cheese with the red flecks in it. That has peppers in it as well,”
Sovann warned her in a hushed voice as they approached the
seats.

She eyed the loaded table and nodded slightly
to Sovann. Even as they approached the scents of spices were
strong. “They certainly like their peppers,” she murmured.

Nodding his agreement, Sovann squeezed her
arm before moving off to sit near Wisp, no doubt to keep her
attention from Truce Avanti. Sovann was quite apparently the
diplomat of his family.

Finn pulled her seat out as they reached the
table, placing her closest to Arjuna. Taking his own seat beside
her he smiled at his sister and Truce to his right.

“Congratulations, Brother. You look very
happy,” Nallia said, her voice soft with an allure to it that
surely caught every man’s attention. Jala tried not to stare at her
but found her gaze drawn back to her time and again. Nallia was no
different from any other Immortal as far as beauty went but her
movements were like Finn’s, fluid with grace. She had a poise about
her that spoke loudly of nobility.

“She dines often with the High Lord of
Avanti, don’t blame her for her daintiness,” Arjuna whispered in
her ear.

Jala looked away from Nallia and over to
Arjuna. He was leaning toward her one elbow on the table. His wife
sat just beyond him engaged in animated conversation with Adana. “I
wasn’t blaming her for it. I was pondering how clumsy I must look
beside her. I’ve never eaten in such fine company before. Honestly,
I had no idea Finn’s family was so impressive,” she whispered
back.

Arjuna sniffed in distaste. “Do you see my
Elandrae?” he asked, his voice still hushed in confidential tones.
With one hand he subtly motioned toward his wife. Jala glanced past
him to the tall red head. She wore a gown of red silk with black
gems forming the rearing horse of their sigil down the front. Gold
earrings hung heavy with rubies, as well as a choker so thick with
the red gems it was almost impossible to see the gold of the
necklace. Her hair flowed down her back; much as Adana’s did,
waving back and forth as she motioned with her hands while
talking.

“She is beautiful,” Jala said in
acknowledgment and looked back to him unsure of his point.

“She can curse violently enough to peel paint
from the walls. She has a tendency of spitting after a sword match,
especially if she has lost. On any occasion other than a formal one
she wears little more than a bra and breeches. When she walks she
uses a swordsman’s swagger rather than the dainty little courtier
steps. Generally, she eats with her fingers rather than silverware.
In short, my High Lady is considered a barbarian by the Avanti. And
yet in my eyes she is worth the entire country of Avanti and then
some. Do not judge yourself by their standards. You will never be
an equal in their eyes, and you will always be worth more than the
lot of them to Finn. Be yourself, and if they don’t like it, to the
Darklands with them,” he said and picked up his glass to take a
short drink.