The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse (11 page)

“Milord, please stop this,” Dominic begged,
his eyes moving from Troyelle to Elijah and back.

“My son is dead and this man claims he is
innocent,” Elijah began in a quiet voice. He regarded the prisoner
with a cold stare and nodded to Nicoli. “I approve of this
test.”

“I don’t!” Zoelyn broke in loudly as the
prisoner took a step toward her. “Please don’t touch me. It won’t
save you. I promise you that.” “You think he will die if he touches
you, then?” Lord Blackwolf asked, holding a hand up to stop Amlon
from approaching her any closer.

Slowly, the High lord rose from his chair and
moved around the table to stare down at her. His every movement
reminded her of a predator and it took all of her will to keep from
stepping away from him. Had she moved, though, it would have put
her even closer to the doomed prisoner and she knew Blackwolf
himself wouldn’t get close enough to touch her. The desperate man
might, however.

“I don’t know if he will or not, but I don’t
want to risk it. I don’t like hurting people or animals or plants
for that matter, Lord Blackwolf. I don’t want this test of yours,”
Zoelyn cried, her voice rising as she searched the tent for anyone
willing to help her escape his torment.

Blackwolf nodded slowly at her and lifted his
hand. A pulse of magic filled the air and the earth bucked under
her feet propelling her toward the prisoner. Stumbling, she tried
desperately to avoid the man, but he was quicker and had balance on
his side. Even with the manacles on his wrists he still managed to
break her fall. The world seemed to slow as Zoelyn looked from his
filthy hands grasping her upper arms tightly to his wide blue eyes
filled with pain and utter confusion. She could feel her curse
draining him and watched in breathless panic as his eyes glazed and
his skin darkened. By the time she regained her balance the man was
dead and she knew it had taken only seconds.

“Now, imagine a Blight with those powers,
Elijah, because if they find out she exists, they will breed with
her. We know they seek out the most powerful for their mates and
after witnessing that can you truly tell me she is not powerful?
She is Undrae. She is a servant of death. Her kind are a curse upon
us and must be extinguished,” Lord Blackwolf said calmly as he
returned to his seat at the table.

“I agree with you about the Blights,” Elijah
Arovan began slowly, his gaze moving from the dead man to Zoelyn.
His expression was much calmer than she had expected and still
there was no loathing on his face despite what he had seen. “I do
not agree with you on her death, however,” he continued after a
long pause. All eyes in the tent moved to him as he let out a long
sigh and offered her a faint smile. “You are terrifying, girl, but
I saw how you tried to avoid that man even knowing he was a
traitor. Given what I have seen, I have a question for you,
Dominic.”

“Yes, Milord?” Dominic’s voice sounded faint
and his eyes were locked on the shriveled husk on the ground before
him. Both Dominic and she had always wondered how powerful was her
power to siphon life. Now they had their answer.

Bile rose in her throat and Zoelyn stared
down at her own boots in shame. It was bad enough knowing she had
killed someone, but the feeling of energy and warmth flowing
through her was even worse. She almost agreed with Nicoli on his
reasoning for killing her. The Blights were creatures of impulse
and if one had powers such as hers it would kill as quickly as it
could simply to achieve the sense of wellbeing she had now. They
were all right. She was Undrae in every sense of the word.

“If you were trying so hard to keep her from
being noticed why did you bring her with you here? This is a very
crowded camp. Surely you knew she would be noticed here?” Elijah
asked with a thoughtful expression on his face. His gaze had
returned to her once more and he seemed to be studying her hair and
eyes with interest.

Zoelyn didn’t need to look in a mirror to
know what he was seeing. It had been the same with the kitten as it
was with the fish so she knew how she looked now. Her skin would be
pale rather than grey and her hair and eyes would be gold. All
magic seemed to have its own signature on her body and life essence
always showed as gold.

“I knew the battle was a very large one and
that I would likely be gone for some time. I didn’t want to leave
her alone in the village, Milord,” Dominic answered quietly.

“Were you afraid she would damage something
or injure someone?” Elijah asked, though by his tone she could tell
he already knew the answer to his own question.

“I was afraid of what would happen to her
without my protection, Milord,” Dominic answered and shrugged. “The
villagers don’t understand her at all, Milord. They fear her, but
they respect me so they leave her be when I am there,” he added
after a short sigh.

“As I suspected,” Elijah said with a slight
nod and leaned back in his chair once more. Still watching her, he
steepled his fingers in front of his mouth and frowned. His gaze
dropped to the corpse lying before his table once more and then he
nodded again more firmly. “Because of the bruise on her face as
well as your answer and my respect for Lord Blackwolf’s concerns, I
will be taking your Ward, Dominic. She isn’t safe where she is,
though it’s by no fault of yours. I am sure you have done what you
could for her while she has been in your care,” Elijah said at
last.

“Taking her, Milord?” Dominic stammered as if
he didn’t quite understand what he was hearing.

“She will return with me to my home and live
under my protection, Dominic, until further notice. I will not kill
her for simply existing. From what I can see, she has committed no
sins. Were she aggressive as the Blights are, I would not hesitate
to deal with her accordingly, but from what I have seen she is
simply a scared child that seems to carry a very large curse on her
shoulders. Perhaps, given time, a method of helping her will be
found, but until then she is mine to look after.” Lord Arovan stood
as he spoke and looked down at her. “I leave for the capital
tomorrow, Zoey. Please be prepared to ride as well.” His gaze moved
to each of the others in the tent and he nodded faintly. “We are
done here. Troyelle, please do something with that body and be
discreet about it. I don’t want questions rising about what killed
him.”

Zoelyn watched them all with a detached
shock, her eyes slowly moving to Dominic who seemed to be taking
the news as poorly as she was. It was better than death, she
supposed, but not by much. The capital was brimming with people and
not only would she be in the capital she would be in the palace
itself. She had imagined a hundred ways that this meeting could
end, none of them had been good, and yet none of them had been this
one either. Elijah had caught her completely flat footed with his
choice.

“Come on, Zoey,” Dominic urged, and she
nodded faintly as she followed him silently from the tent. It was
hard to believe this was the last night she would spend in his
company. For seven years he had been the only person in her life.
Now everything was changing and she couldn’t think of a single way
to stop it. Even if she ran from the camp, she lost Dominic.
Swallowing heavily, she fought back tears and tried to stop her
mind from thinking about what was waiting for her tomorrow.

Southern Goswin

Neph closed the door behind him and it took a
force of will to keep from slamming it so hard the boards rattled.
For the past two weeks it had been a constant struggle to keep
order among his people, and it was wearing on his nerves. Most of
his remaining people were too old or too young to fight, but the
ones that were of fighting age seemed to have nothing on their
minds but pissing him off. It was barely two days into the week and
he had already had to kill a man for challenging his right to lead.
That brought the total number of Delvay warriors he had killed to
six since he had arrived in Goswin. At the current rate he was
progressing he wouldn’t have enough of a fighting force left over
to even contemplate retaking his land.

Closing his eyes he tilted his head back and
slowed his breathing. After several moments his fists unclenched
and the desire to rip off someone’s face began to fade. Life had
never been this difficult at the Academy. Sure, Valor and Finn
could be obnoxious at times, but he had never truly wanted to kill
them. The desire to punch them in the face a few dozen times had
been there, but that was only natural considering how they behaved.
Every time he had a conversation with his own people he had the
overwhelming desire to light someone’s face on fire and attempt to
put out the flames with a knife. They simply didn’t listen and they
were as thick as stones when it came to strategy. Honestly he
believed Kadan had killed off everyone with the slightest bit of
common sense and left him with a herd of halfwits to command. He
had no doubt whatsoever that Kadan was sitting in the afterlife
laughing his ass off at his little brother’s difficulties.

“Damn it,” Neph muttered darkly as he
realized his hands were once again clenched into fists and he was
gritting his teeth just from thinking about dealing with his
people. Closing his eyes once more, he leaned back heavily against
the door and willed himself back to calm once more. “I need to
punch something,” he muttered darkly after several long
breaths.

“Neph, are you in there?” Shade’s voice
called from the hall beyond and Neph’s hands twitched in
response.

“I swear to the Divine, Shade, if you come
any closer to this room I will not be responsible for what happens
to you,” Neph warned loudly not bothering to move from his spot
against the door. At least with his full weight resting against it
there was no way Shade could get into the room. It wasn’t that he
wanted to preserve Shade’s life; it was simply not in his best
interest to kill the little bastard. Neph was Madren’s guest until
he reclaimed his own land and Shade was Madren’s friend.

“Are we having a moment, Neph?” Shade asked
with amusement clear in his voice.

Neph cocked his head and glanced over his
shoulder at the closed door. By the sound of Shade’s voice he was
just on the other side of the door and likely leaning against the
door frame. It was possible, if he aimed the blow just right he
could jab a dagger between the boards of the door and stab the
little bastard. It wouldn’t be a fatal blow, but Neph would take
what satisfaction he could get. “I really think you should go away
now, Shade,” Neph advised through clenched teeth.

“Madren just received a letter from the
capital, Neph. It is apparently from the Empress Symphony to all
High Lords. There is going to be a council in Sanctuary and all
High Lords are requested to attend. There is a problem, though,
Neph. Your name isn’t on the missive as a High Lord. There is a
Rivasan listed as the Lord of Delvay currently,” Shade’s voice had
grown more serious and he paused as if waiting for an answer. Long
breaths passed as Neph fought to control his already frayed temper.
“Madren wants to know how you want him to respond to the letter. He
is considering refusing her invitation unless she names you as the
lord of Delvay.” Shade paused again. “You know, I really hate
having this conversation through a door. If I could see your face
I’m sure I could just read the level of homicidal lunatic you are
right now from your expression and decide what to tell Madren
without you even saying a word.”

“It’s a really, really high level right now,
Shade,” Neph snarled. The trick of slow breathing wasn’t helping at
all anymore. Every muscle in his body was rigid and if anyone so
much as looked at him wrong he knew he would snap. That didn’t bode
well for the irritating little worm outside his door, but then he
had tried to warn Shade to leave him alone.

“Like you are trying to figure out how to
stab me through the door? That high?” Shade asked in a tone far too
conversational for the current topic.

“No, Shade that’s the level I was at when you
arrived. That was before you opened your mouth,” Neph hissed
through clenched teeth. His knuckles were beginning to turn white
from how tightly his fists were clenched.

“So you must be somewhere near chewing
through the door to strangle me with my own entrails about now,”
Shade mused thoughtfully.

“I don’t need to chew through the door,
Shade. I know how to work a door knob, but yes, I would like to
choke you with your own entrails right now and stab you repeatedly
in the face and possibly piss on whatever remains of your body when
I’m done stomping on it,” Neph spoke over his shoulder in a voice
that was far too calm for his current frame of mind, but he wanted
to make sure Shade got the full picture painted very clearly in his
mind.

“Colorful. Very good imagery there, Neph. You
are incredibly cranky. Got it. I will let Madren know and advise
him how to ans wer accordingly, then. Have a good night pumpkin.”
By the sound of his voice, Shade was already part way down the hall
and it was quite possibly the only thing that saved his life.

“I want to go home,” Neph whispered and when
he closed his eyes once more it was Merrodin he pictured in his
mind, not Delvay. He missed them all, though he hated to admit it.
He would happily trade everything he had for a chance to just sit
and work with Jala on magic again. Jala was dead, though, and he
was the lord of Delvay. He had responsibilities no matter how much
he might despise them.

Pushing off the door he slowly crossed to the
far side of the room and dropped lightly to his knees in front of
the make shift altar he had fashioned. His eyes roved over the
symbols of the Aspects and Divine and he let out a heavy sigh. He
had been praying every night since he had arrived in Goswin and so
far he had no signs that the gods were listening.