The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse (41 page)

“Then tell Sovann. I am a guest in Merro, not
a Lord here,” Neph grumbled without bothering to look up. “You are
better suited to this than Sovann, Lord Delvay,” Foster
pressed.

Neph exhaled loudly, letting his annoyance
show through clearly and leaned heavily back in his chair. Glaring
at both men he raised a hand and motioned for them to continue. “It
is obvious you aren’t going to go away until I listen, so please
tell me your woes. If I think it’s something that Sovann could have
handled or could have waited for Valor’s return, though, I’m going
to kill you both.” He spoke in a matter of fact tone and looked
directly at Noble.

“It can wait,” Noble announced with a quick
nod and turned for the door.

“No, it can’t,” Foster snapped as he grabbed
his friend by the arm and spun him back to face Neph once more.
“Tell him or I will kill you myself,” he growled.

Neph raised an eyebrow, eyeing Foster with
interest. He had heard the man threaten others before, but never
Noble. The two of them were best friends and if Foster was
threatening him now it must be important. “Spit it out, Noble,
before I get even more annoyed,” Neph ordered in a calmer
voice.

“There was a spy in Merro a couple of days
ago,” Noble said and turned to leave again. Foster caught him
roughly once more and shoved him back toward Neph’s desk. Noble
sighed heavily looking from his friend to Neph and nodded
reluctantly. “Fine,” he grumbled and cleared his throat. “She found
me in one of the taverns and tried her best to get me drunk. She
was fit and entirely fuckable so I played along,” Noble
continued.

“How eloquent, Noble,” Neph observed
dryly.

The knight shrugged unapologetically in
response. “She was asking a lot of questions about you and Jala,
and then Zoelyn.” “Did you answer them?” Neph cut in sharply before
he could continue.

“Uhh, kind of, yes,” Noble stammered and
shrugged again. “I told her you were here because your people had
exiled you and you were going to be Jala’s steward now,” he spoke
with obvious hesitation and from the glances he was giving the door
he was ready to bolt at any moment.

“Steward,” Neph repeated coolly. “Please
continue, this is getting better and better.” He waved his hand as
he spoke, then crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the
knight. The knowledge that a spy had been in Merro was important,
but he had a feeling he was going to kill Noble by the end of his
story.

“Hmm,” Noble murmured and took another step
back from the desk. “Well, I sort of told her that Jala was
preparing for an attack on Arovan proper and was on her way to
Seravae to ally with the Reaver faction and that’s why she didn’t
take Ash. She knew Ash would support his mother. As for Zoelyn,
well…” he paused again and glared at Foster. “I told her that she
was a Rivasan Magebreaker and that we were secretly allied with her
against Avanti. She wanted to know if Zoey could kill with a touch
and I assured her it only worked on plants, which is why we
recruited her to our side,” he paused again and rubbed the back of
his neck as he took another hesitant step back from Neph’s desk. “I
didn’t want her causing trouble for Zoey so I kind of elaborated a
lot on her.”

“How so?” Neph demanded. He narrowed his eyes
as Noble took another step back glancing once more at the door. “I
fail to see why a Rivasan plant killer has you ready to bolt,
Noble,” he added dryly, his gaze flicking to Foster who had a grim
expression.

“Well, she probably didn’t believe me. At
that point I was acting pretty drunk,” Noble began with a nervous
smile. “I told her Jala had plans to collapse the Avanti economy by
wiping out their crops with Zoey and that in return for her work
she was offering Zoey citizenship in Merro and a marriage.” Noble
swallowed heavily and grinned sheepishly at Neph. “To you,” he
added softly.

“What?” Neph snarled. “Are you a flaming
moron? The Rivasans destroyed my homeland. Do you actually think
the spy believed I was going to marry one of the bastards?” His
voice rose as he half stood from his chair and glared at Noble.
“Did it ever once cross your mind that maybe you should have
arrested her and brought her to Valor rather than feeding her full
of your bullshit? We could have questioned her and figured out who
she was serving.”

“He did question her,” Foster broke in loudly
as he glared down at Noble once more. By his posture the knight
looked ready to fight, but Neph wasn’t sure if he was ready to
attack him or Noble.

“I did,” Noble agreed with a quick nod. “See,
I was drinking with her the entire time we talked and I made sure
she was downing the fortified wine. It’s a trick I use at the
gambling tables so I’ve gotten pretty good at slipping things into
drinks.” “Why exactly do they call you Noble?” Neph snapped with a
disgusted shake of his head.

“Kind of like calling a giant Tiny, I
suppose,” Noble said with a shrug and exhaled slowly. “She answered
my questions pretty easily and I think some of them she answered
truthfully.” He paused and rubbed his neck again frowning.
“Actually she spent more time bitching, once I got her talking than
she actually did answering questions. She was pretty peeved with
her boss.” “Who did she work for?” Neph prompted.

“Hemlock,” Noble answered softly. He stepped
back as Neph’s glower intensified and Foster shoved him forward
once more. “She, uh, was pretty upset that Hemlock was favoring her
rival on their mission in Merro. Apparently the guy was a
half-blood Soulreaver and had been spirit riding a scout during
Valor’s briefing that morning in the garden. So he likely knows the
truth about everything, but I didn’t realize that when I was
spinning lies for her.”

“Bloody buggering hell. So Hemlock knows Jala
is in Seravae with just Valor as back up,” Neph mumbled as he
leaned back and rubbed his face.

“By the way she talked, I don’t think Hemlock
wants Jala dead. She said Hemlock didn’t show her partner favor
until she asked why they weren’t killing Legacy, and then she
bitched because Hemlock wanted to keep Jala happy,” Noble spoke the
words with obvious hesitation and by his expression Neph knew the
man was feeling extremely guilty.

“So, of course, you arrested her after she
admitted wanting to kill the Heir of Merro,” Neph said in a cold
voice.

“I had intended to arrest her in the
morning,” Noble admitted quietly. “She was pretty drunk and I
didn’t see any way she would wake up before me,” he added.

“So you chose bedding the spy over arresting
the spy,” Neph surmised with a faint nod.

“She was fit,” Noble sighed in remorse.

“Arrest him and take him to the cells,
Foster. Vaze or Valor can deal with him when they return,” Neph
ordered as he stood from his chair and carefully folded the map he
had been examining.

“What?” Noble gasped his eyes widening. It
was obvious the man knew he had screwed up, but he apparently
didn’t realize how badly. “I’m not really sure what Jala will call
your actions, but in Delvay what you did is called treason. Until
they return, you will be treated accordingly,” Neph informed the
knight coldly as he headed for the door. “If he isn’t imprisoned by
the time I return, Foster, I will consider you guilty as well.”

“He will be in the cells, Lord Delvay,”
Foster informed him coolly. “Are you going to support Lady Merrodin
in Seravae, Sir?” he asked before Neph could close the door behind
him.

“No, I am going to speak with Jail and see
what we can discover about Hemlock’s motives. I believe the part
about Hemlock wanting to keep Jala happy. If he had any other plans
he would have acted on them while he was here. So Jala is safe
enough for now. I’m not sure about the rest of us, though,” Neph
answered with a shake of his head. He glared at Noble and shook his
head with disgust before closing the door and turning down the
hall. He would never understand people no matter how long he was
forced to deal with their stupidity.

* * *

Neph paused as his transport spell faded
around him and turned slowly in a circle staring at his
surroundings in confusion. He had directed his spell to the Merro
district and should have been very close to the main house, but
that wasn’t where he had appeared. A large crowd of people milled
around him and the area he stood in appeared to be some kind of
holding pen. At first glance he had thought someone had managed to
pull him out of his spell and he had ended up in slave pens, but
that couldn’t be right. He recognized the city around him. This was
Sanctuary. It was just the wrong part of Sanctuary.

“Next!” A man bellowed ahead of him and the
crowd shifted as someone moved forward.

“What the bloody hell is going on here,” Neph
snarled and the woman in front of him turned to regard him with an
annoyed expression. “It’s a security check,” she informed him with
a shake of her head. She rolled her eyes as she turned back to
watch the line in front of her. “Haven’t been to Sanctuary since
the Empress made her changes, eh?” an older man behind him said in
a conversational tone.

Neph half turned where he stood and shook his
head slowly. The man was half-blood, if that, with a short squat
build and garish colored clothing in blue and yellow. By his
appearance, he likely was a merchant Neph decided. While he would
have preferred to simply glare and turn away, he needed the
information the man had, and apparently the merchant was willing to
chatter. “The last time I was here you could use transport magic
anywhere in the city,” Neph prompted in the most polite tone he
could muster. It was difficult to keep the annoyance out of his
voice. He hadn’t expected this kind of delay, and by the size of
the crowd in front of him he was going to be here for hours.

“No one is allowed to simply come and go as
they please anymore. All transport spells are directed here, and
all ships must pass through customs,” the man informed him in a
superior tone as if he were addressing a country bumpkin.

Neph nodded slowly and scanned the horizon
once more, taking note of the buildings he could see. The arena was
obvious enough, but he wasn’t sure what the massive building beside
it was. It hadn’t been there the last time he was in the city. His
eyes narrowed as he examined the twisting spires that lined its
roof and the pale white marble it was crafted from. It had to have
been created with magic. Nothing that big could have been built so
quickly by hand. Its location didn’t make sense either. It sat to
the west of the Arena, closer to the center of the city, and from
what Neph knew of that part of Sanctuary, there simply wasn’t room
for a building of that size. Its foundation would have covered the
entire city market as well as the park and fountains.

“The Empress’s palace. I was here the day
they raised it,” the merchant informed him in the same smug tones.
“They shifted the entire city to make room for it. Quite the work
of magic to behold.”

“What happened to the park and the city
market?” Neph asked curiously. It wasn’t worth the effort to put
the little man in his place. If he wanted to feel smug and superior
then Neph was inclined to let him. It was obvious the stupid
bastard didn’t realize he was addressing the High Lord of Delvay.
People were generally a lot more subservient when a High House was
involved.

“The little park that was there was leveled
and rebuilt. It’s called the Walk of Heroes now, and the Empress
has had statues placed as a memorial for all those who died to save
the city,” the man answered with a note of pride in his voice.

“Really? Must have taken a lot of stone to
craft images of all of the commons that were killed that night. I
doubt there is any room for plants in her garden with that many
statues,” Neph commented dryly and rolled his eyes. “It’s good to
know, though, that the Empress is working on such important
projects while the rest of the world rips itself apart.” He shook
his head in disgust and started to turn away, but paused as he
noticed the man’s look of outrage. He raised an eyebrow at the
squat little merchant daring him to object.

“Do not dare to speak ill of the Empress. She
saved us from the tyranny of the High Lords,” the merchant snapped
in a tone filled with anger. His pudgy cheeks began to flush red
under the sparse bristles of his graying beard.

“The tyranny of the High Lords, eh?” Neph
mused with a slight nod. Taking a deep breath he rounded fully on
the man and looked down at him giving him a full view of his face,
and his obvious high birth. “Not all of the High Lords are tyrants
and I think you might have your facts a bit wrong. Your Empress did
not save the city, the High Lady Jala Merrodin did. If not for her
husband the barrier wouldn’t have fallen and if she hadn’t chosen
to fight that night, the Fionaveir wouldn’t have won. So don’t puff
up like a little frog to me about insulting your Empress when she
didn’t do anything but build a pretty house and redecorate a
garden.” His voice rose as he spoke and his last words were more a
snarl than anything else. Everyone was staring at him now and he
could see guards pushing their way through the crowd to reach
him.

“It is against the law to speak ill of the
Empress,” the merchant informed him as he took a hasty step away
from Neph.

“Breaking the law, eh? How about I shatter it
instead,” Neph growled and glanced toward the approaching guards.
“This little security check wouldn’t be needed if the Empress were
truly doing her job. Because she sits on her pretty ass in
Sanctuary and plants roses, the world is still at war. Maybe if she
took a moment to look beyond the city and came out of hiding, I
wouldn’t have to stand here in this pen like cattle waiting for the
slaughter. Or even better, how about the Fionaveir actually support
the people that gave them power to begin with? Way to leave your
allies to rot, fuckers!” he finished loudly as the guards reached
him. Smiling coldly at the two men he held his hands out in front
of him. “Go ahead, arrest me. At least it will get me out of this
pen,” he snarled.