The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes (8 page)

“Thanks so much,” Shade agreed, casting his
own smile in Gretchen’s direction. It had nowhere near the same
effect, he noticed. Rather than looking charmed the woman simply
looked at him with pity clearly written on her face. “I begin to
understand your name more,” Shade murmured to Charm as they walked.
“Do you actually have some sort of enchantment you use on
them?”

Charm regarded him dryly as he pulled open
the first of the double doors and motioned him inside. “Yes it’s
insidious. I call it manners and courtesy.” Charm whispered as
Shade stepped past him.

“Smart ass,” Shade shot back quietly before
turning his attention to the room’s occupants.

Lutheron stood glowering beside a table. From
the expression on his face it was clear that he had not expected
anyone to be foolish enough to enter without knocking. Victory sat
at the table and by his expression it was clear he had been praying
for someone to open the door. Across the room from them, leaning
against the wall, stood Vaze, still wearing the strange black armor
and not bothering to look up at the sound of the door. He was
holding a glass globe in his hands and turning it over slowly,
staring at it with an absorbed look in his dark eyes.

The sound of the door closing drew Lutheron’s
gaze off Vaze and onto Charm. The rogue brushed past him and smiled
at Lutheron whose glare softened to mild displeasure. “Sorry it
took me so long to bring him back,” Charm offered and dropped down
in the seat beside Victory.

“It would seem things have changed a bit more
than I had expected. I had planned for you to help the Fionaveir in
another way but that apparently can’t happen,” Lutheron began, his
voice close to a growl.

“Oh, really? How so?” Charm asked, his tone
bright as if everything was perfect in the world.

“It’s true, here they are,” Vaze spoke up,
his voice sounding monotone and distant. Lutheron’s eyes snapped
that direction and he crossed the room quickly and leaned over the
other man’s shoulder to peer into the dark glass.

“What the hell?” Shade whispered to Charm who
shrugged and looked to Victory for answer.

“Jala has gone to the Darklands to retrieve
Finn’s soul,” Victory said softly, his voice filled with misery.
“Lutheron sent me to bring her back to the city. Merrodin isn’t
strong enough to stand on its own, but she was already gone.”

“Bloody, buggering hell.” Lutheron growled,
his face turning a darker shade of red and one vein standing out on
his forehead. “Is that Troyelle’s boy with her?” He snarled.

Vaze nodded slowly, apparently unfazed by
Lutheron’s display of temper. “It is, though I don’t know the
Darklands well enough to tell exactly where they are. I believe
they may be near the Forgotten. It’s impressive that they are still
alive thus far.” His voice was slowly regaining its usual
pitch.

“It’s true then, and not some line of
bullshit as I had hoped.” Lutheron let out a long sigh and paced
back to the table. Plucking a bottle from the center he opened it
and began to pour a drink as he locked his gaze on the three men
across from him. “This knowledge does not leave this room. Is that
understood?” He spoke in a flat voice that brooked no argument, but
Shade could see Victory squirm in his chair.

“I will have to tell Havoc. She is his
family.” Victory began but fell silent as Lutheron’s dark gaze
locked on him once more.

“You will not tell that hot-headed fool a
thing.” Lutheron growled slamming the decanter back down on the
table. Silence fell across the room once more as Lutheron raised
the glass to his lips.

Shade stole a glance at Charm and found the
rogue looking uneasy. That was certainly not a good sign. Of all of
them in the room, only Vaze seemed at ease. Shade flicked his gaze
to the warrior and watched him, hoping to get some sort of sign as
to how to act.

Vaze had lowered the globe and was watching
Lutheron with a thoughtful expression. “I could go after her,” he
offered finally. “I know the Darklands better than anyone living
that I know of.”

“Absolutely not. She has made this mess. I
can’t risk losing you over it as well,” Lutheron grumbled. His
temper seemed to be cooling.

“Actually, whoever killed the Sovaesh boy
started the mess,” Vaze corrected, his dark eyes locked on
Lutheron.

“Ridiculous. People die. That doesn’t mean
you go traipsing off into hell to collect them when they do.
Chances are if they go to hell when they die they don’t bloody well
need to be brought back to life,” Lutheron snarled.

“That is a very good point,” Shade agreed
quietly, drawing the eyes of everyone in the room.

“Shade, shut the hell up,” Charm hissed, eyes
flicking back to Lutheron with a meaningful look.

“She has very little chance of success
alone,” Vaze pointed out quietly.

“Then we have to factor her out of future
planning. I regret it, Vaze, I truly do, but she made the choice,”
Lutheron said in even tones. His anger had apparently passed as
swiftly as it had risen.

“What do you need of me that is more
important than Jala Merrodin?” Vaze asked, his voice level, but
holding a hint of warning in it. His posture had changed too, Shade
noted silently. The warrior no longer lounged. Instead, he stood
rigid with every muscle coiled as though he expected a fight.

“I expect you to secure the city. There are
Blights running loose within the bounds of Sanctuary. I expect you
to kill them. I’d give the task to another, but they would die,”
Lutheron replied with faint smirk. He knew he had won the argument
with those few words.

Letting out a long sigh, Vaze nodded slowly
and relaxed against the wall once more. “As you say, Lutheron. Do
we have a location for them?”

“No, which brings me to another matter.
Charm, I had planned to send you to help the Merrodin girl. That
was before I realized what a fool she was. Now I will keep you
close to help someone that is more worthy of your skills. You and
Shade will both be assigned to guard and help Symphony when she
arrives. Shade, I understand you have more practice with the Blight
form. Is it true they can sense their kind when they draw near?”
Lutheron spoke with a calm authority and it seemed the matter of
helping Jala would be forgotten.

“You know, I could go in Vaze’s place. I’m
not irreplaceable to the Fionaveir and Jala is a friend of mine,”
Shade offered. He knew he was treading on dangerous ground by
ignoring Lutheron’s question completely, but he wasn’t willing to
let the topic of Jala simply slide away so easily.

“No, you are needed here. Now can you sense
the Blights?” Lutheron said with a bit of irritation.

“No, I can’t. I’ve heard they can sense each
other but I haven’t figured out how they use that particular skill.
I can camouflage and that’s about it,” Shade answered bluntly
allowing a bit of his own irritation to seep into his voice. He
understood leadership well enough, but Lutheron wasn’t so much a
leader as he was a tyrant. The man simply refused to listen to any
logic other than his own.

“Then you will accompany Vaze on his first
hunt to see if you can master it,” Lutheron said with a nod and
then looked back to Charm as if in dismissal. “You will stay by
Symphony as much as she will allow it. Watch everyone that speaks
with her and take notes of what they speak about. There is a
question of trust in the Fionaveir right now and I don’t want
Symphony being fed lies. If you see anything questionable, make
note of it and inform me at your first opportunity. When she
dismisses you, ensure that Shade is there to take your place. In
the Blight form, of course, and unseen.”

“Wait! You want me to watch her without her
knowing I’m there?” Shade objected, stepping closer to the table as
he spoke.

Lutheron looked back toward him with
annoyance gleaming in his dark eyes. “For her protection, Shade.
She won’t allow a guard on her night and day, as she should. I do
what I must to keep her safe. Without Symphony, there isn’t much
point in this rebellion now is there?”

“I won’t do it,” Shade said firmly. “I’ll
guard her if she knows I’m there, but I won’t skulk in the shadows
with her oblivious to my presence.”

Lutheron gave an exaggerated sigh and looked
back to Charm. “I will leave it to you to explain it to him. See
that you are prepared for her arrival. Until then I have no further
orders.”

“When should we expect her to arrive, Sir?”
Charm asked politely as he stood from his chair and cast a
withering look in Shade’s direction.

Shade glared back at him and shook his head
in silent refusal. The simple idea of spying on Symphony was
appalling to him. He didn’t want to invade her life in that way. To
put himself in her place and know that someone was watching him
twenty-four hours a day, was horrifying.

Lutheron pursed his lips and glanced out the
window toward the wreckage of the city, then let out a long breath.
“Three days, I would guess. I want most of this mess cleaned up
before she arrives,” he answered and then motioned toward the door.
“You may go. I have a few things I need to discuss with Vaze and
then I’ll send him to Shade to arrange a hunting time.”

“Yes Sir, good day Sir,” Charm said crisply
and headed to the door with Victory and Shade in tow.

“I thought he didn’t like the
sir
treatment,” Shade mumbled as they left the room.

“When he is in that sort of mood, it is best
to be proper. By the way, never object openly like that. If it’s
something you truly cannot stomach, than give it time and speak
with another of the councilors. Remedy would have listened to you
and likely agreed,” Charm said in a voice that seemed
exhausted.

“When he is in that sort of mood it’s best
not to speak at all, let alone object,” Victory sighed and smiled
weakly at Charm. “My apologies for leaving him in such dark spirits
before you arrived. Had I known you had an appointment with him I
would have delayed my arrival.”

Charm shrugged. “Lutheron has a mean bark,
but very rarely ever bites. You have to be a complete moron to
provoke him into physical violence.”

“Why did you look at me when you said that?”
Shade asked, noting that the rogue’s eyes were still on him, even
as he spoke.

“The answer to that should be obvious. You
need to learn to read the tides better, Shade. There are days when
you can press your luck, and then, as Victory says, days you should
just shut the hell up.”

“I’m not scared of him,” Shade pointed out as
he motioned behind him with a sweep of his hand. “I’ve seen
scarier,” he added and then frowned as he noticed everyone in the
room staring at him. “I’m going back to my ship. If you want to
convince me you can do it there.”

“Did you do an inventory of the ships there
as Remedy asked for earlier?” Charm asked before he could
leave.

Shade paused by the door and nodded. “Four
Eagles, three hawks, eight doves and a sparrow though I have no
idea who had a sparrow. They stopped making that class years
ago.”

“What?” Victory and Charm said in unison both
of them staring at him as if he had spoken complete gibberish.

Shade cleared his throat and sighed then
began again. “Four Eagles or transport ships. By the look of these
I’d say they have been used for cargo vessels rather than passenger
transport. Three hawks such as my own ship in size. Eight doves
which are the same as a hawk in size but have no weapon systems.
The doves are generally used for luxury transport for the wealthy.
Then the sparrow which is a one person ship very small and not very
useful. They were originally designed for spying but failed in that
purpose as they give off too large a magical signature,” Shade
explained with exaggerated patience and then nodded his farewell to
them.

Stepping from the door, he gazed upward and
inhaled deeply. It was a beautiful day out. The air was the crisp
cold of early winter and the sky was a blanket of blue without a
cloud in sight. If he could simply keep his gaze upward and away
from the ruin of the city and manage to keep his mind off Jala’s
plight, he could possibly enjoy the day. Neither seemed likely,
however. The idea of traveling into the Darklands hadn’t been a
pleasant one, but he would have. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was
to help Jala or to redeem himself. His actions in Rivana still
haunted his conscience and surely retrieving her from hell would
have made up for it.

With a heavy sigh he crossed the streets
toward the Sky port and scanned the ships there once more. With the
exception of the Eagle class the rest barely looked as though they
had been flown. They were in immaculate condition. His own ship
looked like a heap next to them. With its battered panels and lack
of paint it was truly a sparrow among songbirds. Even the actual
sparrow class looked better than his own ship he noted with a
smirk.

“Shade, a moment before you start your work
again.” Vaze’s voice came from just behind him.

Pausing, Shade turned and looked at the man
with open curiosity. “Lutheron finished with you quickly,” he said
with a nod of greeting.

“Lutheron dismissed me early because he
didn’t like what I was saying,” Vaze replied with a shrug. “He
doesn’t like to be corrected,” he added and motioned for Shade to
continue walking.

“So, what do you need to speak with me
about?” Shade asked cautiously.

“These ships, actually. Have their owners
come forward yet?” Vaze asked as he ran his hand across one of the
Doves they were passing.

Shade shrugged. “Not that I’ve seen, but then
with all of the activity over the last few days they may be afraid
to. Why?”

“I’m going to announce that if they are not
claimed within one week they will be considered property of the
Fionaveir,” Vaze began and grinned at Shade. The expression seemed
out of place on the normally expressionless face. “I’ve informed
Lutheron of this and he isn’t happy with what I have in mind.”