The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse (43 page)

“I figured we were being watched,” Neph
replied with a nod. “So Sanctuary has become a rather dangerous
place lately,” he surmised.

“As far as crime goes it has become safer,”
Dresharn corrected with a faint smile. “Politically, however, it is
as treacherous as it comes,” he finished and raised a hand to rub
at his temples. “Symphony, you see, is very sheltered from what is
actually occurring in the world. In order for her to get the truth
of things, you have to have a personal meeting with her. As you can
imagine, a personal meeting with the Empress is very difficult to
obtain, so most of the time you speak with her advisors
instead.”

“So, Jail is meeting with the Empress herself
right now or with one of the advisors?” Neph asked. From the sounds
of things, Jala wasn’t going to be happy at all when she discovered
how Sanctuary was being ruled. He couldn’t blame Jail for not
informing her sooner, though. With the way things were going in the
outside world, Jala couldn’t afford to worry about Sanctuary, and
by Dresharn’s behavior so far, it appeared as though Merro was in
good hands here.

“Actually we were meeting with the Magistrate
of Law. As I’m sure you have noticed, all of the former laws of
Sanctuary are in the process of being rewritten. It’s only natural
of course, and it must be done. Sanctuary was formerly governed by
a far different system and the laws must be updated to reflect a
monarchy. However, Jail and I both believe that certain
stipulations must be made in order for the new government to
thrive.” Dresharn paused and gave him a tight smile. “Such as
adding a majority clause to the section on council votes so that
the High Houses still retain some power. As it is currently
written, it won’t matter at all what the High Lords or Ladies think
and their council is considered only advisory. Given the limited
experience that Symphony has with leadership, I think it is only
wise that we ensure the Lady Merrodin has a voice when it is
needed. If we are successful in our mission, the new law will give
the council of High Lords the power to override a decree by the
Empress as long as the majority vote is high enough. I am confident
that Jala can rally enough supporters behind her to reach the
majority that we suggested.”

“And you think you can get this passed and
into the law books without Symphony’s advisors throwing a fit?”
Neph asked with a raised eyebrow. By the way Dresharn talked, he
certainly seemed convincing, and to anyone that wasn’t trained in
politics or diplomacy he would certainly be an influential
voice.

“I believe we can, yes,” Dresharn said with a
nod then waved a hand dismissively. “I highly doubt this is what
brought you to Sanctuary, however, and whatever did bring you is
probably a matter that we should discuss before we reach the Merro
district.”

Neph nodded and let out a deep breath.
“Hemlock was nosing around Vezradesh a few days ago. He seemed to
have a great deal of interest in what Jala was up to as well as my
presence in Merro. He also asked a good deal of questions about
Jala’s new ward. I thought that since he holds power in Sanctuary
it was possible that we might have some rumors about what he is
doing, but with the street rats all in jail I sincerely doubt we
are gathering much gossip from them,” Neph explained and shrugged
at Dresharn who nodded with interest.

“As it happens, I do have someone that can
look into those matters,” Dresharn began slowly and rubbed his chin
thoughtfully. “We don’t get much in the way of rumors in the
streets anymore, and what we do hear is generally regarding the new
laws or who was arrested recently. I have an assistant, however,
who is rather adept at details and noticing things that others
might overlook. I will have her look into it.”

“An assistant?” Neph asked with an amused
smile.

Dresharn returned the smile and nodded.
“Typically, she handles trivial matters for me such as filing
paperwork or researching laws at the Magistrates office. On
occasion, she will handle matters such as delivering documents to
the palace. We are required to report our revenues directly to the
Palace, of course, for purposes of taxes. She has an amazing eye
for details and I have never found her skills lacking,” Dresharn
replied with a wink.

Neph grinned in response and nodded with
approval at Dresharn’s subtle admission that they were spying on
the Empress. It was nice to know that Jala had this kind of support
behind her. She had enough to worry about already without losing
more sleep over the laws in Sanctuary.

Dresharn glanced up as the carriage slowed
and turned a tight corner then looked back to Neph. “We have two
more turns before we reach the Merro house. Please humor me and
tell me a good story about some devastating crop failure that
demands immediate attention in Merro. Make it as boring as you
possibly can. Some sort of fungus or something. The more mundane,
the better. I can make a few quick arrangements once you have laid
it all out for me and you can return with the shipments to Merro
while your true purpose here remains obscure.”

“Well we are having a wretched problem with
pests and the wheat fields are suffering. I believe Wisp said it
was some kind of beetle,”

Neph lied. It was difficult to keep the smile
from his face. He now understood fully why Jala had placed Jail and
Dresharn in control of Sanctuary. Between the two of them he had no
doubt that the people of Merro were well protected in
Sanctuary.

The Darklands

Seth paused on the hillside and stared down
at the milling souls in the valley below him. There were thousands
mingling on the narrow road leading to judgment before the Lord of
Death, and all of them were the recent dead. Between the Blights
and the wars raging in the sunlit world above, the Darklands were
well over their typical number of dead. Finding the soul he was
looking for was going to be about as easy as locating a needle in a
haystack. There was no help for it, though. He had already
investigated the area where Zoelyn had first been found and the
village had been one of the first that was destroyed by the
Blights. So that meant he had to locate the dead in order to learn
where she had been found, and how.

He hadn’t been able to approach Dominic
directly. There was too much of a chance that his son would
recognize him, even after all this time. He had wanted to approach
the boy, but Rose had warned him against it. In her words, Dominic
blamed him for everything that had happened that night, and given
how young Dominic was at the time Seth couldn’t blame him. The
child had believed his father was invincible. Seth had failed
him.

Maybe it would have been better if he had
seen me die
, Seth mused as he studied the souls below.
Then
he would have known that I tried, at least, and maybe he wouldn’t
hate me so much now
. That hadn’t been a possibility, of course.
Hemlock would have killed Dominic if Seth hadn’t sent him away, but
surely the boy had heard rumors of the corpses at the Avanti gates.
He had to have known that both of his parents died that night.
Donrey Avanti had made it a point to display his body in a crow
cage until his bones were bleached white from the sun.

With a sigh, he shook his head and banished
the thoughts of his son from his mind. He had managed to learn
enough information from Dominic’s neighbors to lead him here. As it
turned out, Zoelyn hadn’t actually been found by Dominic, but had
been brought there by one of the local hunters. Everyone had
thought she was the survivor of a plague at the time, and had been
loath to go near her. Seth smiled at the thought. It was likely the
only reason his son as well as the rest of the village were still
breathing. Had they been stupid enough to get too close to Zoelyn
or touch her, they would have died.

His eyes narrowed as he scanned the countless
souls below him. It was of course too much to ask for the hunter to
still be alive. That would have been too simple. Shaking his head,
he drew on his magic. He hadn’t wanted to use his power to do this,
but without it he would be searching for days, and that wasn’t
possible. He only had Zoelyn with him in the Darklands for another
week, and he should be spending every moment he had training her.
If she left the Darklands with mastery of her powers, then maybe it
would draw her creator out. That would save him the trouble of
trying to rebuild the puzzle piece by piece, but he wouldn’t rely
on just that. He wanted both options available. This was too
important to rest entirely on hopes.

Lifting both of his hands above him, as he
finished the spell and watched in silence as a flock of spectral
crows took form in the shadows above him. “Find Dustin Winters the
hunter from Denway village in Glis,” he commanded and the birds
dispersed in all directions. Settling back on his heels he watched
them wing toward the river of souls and glanced toward the city. It
was possible that Finn would take notice of the magic he just used,
but with so many souls demanding his attention he likely wouldn’t.
Finn was still struggling with his role as a Divine, and for the
most part he remained oblivious to the subtle actions of his
minions.

Seth didn’t have to wait long before he was
rewarded with a location from his spell. It typically didn’t take
long for his crows to find what he needed. It was the same spell he
had used to locate Jala and her Bendazzi when Jexon had betrayed
her, and the speed of his return had gone a long way to seal him in
Finn’s favor.

With a faint smile, Seth started down the
hill in the direction the bird had indicated. Within minutes, he
could see the blurred form of Dustin beneath the circling flock of
his crows. The dead man was watching the birds with a look of
terror on his face, but then he was from G lis, and the stories
told in that region were very vivid on the Crow King. The poor
bastard was probably expecting to be devoured in the next few
moments, but thanks to Finn he wouldn’t be. It might have been an
option for him if Death hadn’t forbidden the destruction of souls
without her permission, and sadly every rule that she had placed
upon Seth still stood. Finn hadn’t even bothered to review the
terms of Seth’s service when he gained power.

“Dustin Winters?” Seth asked as he stopped
beside the spirit and dismissed his crows.

The spirit watched the empty shadows above
him for another long moment before his gaze slowly turned to Seth.
If souls could pale, Seth was sure Dustin would have. The
expression on the spirit’s face was one of horror. He nodded
nervously and his form flickered as he glided back from Seth.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Dustin. I just
have a few questions. Answer me truthfully and you will continue on
your way to judgment. You weren’t an evil man in life so I highly
doubt there will be penance for you. In all probability, you will
be on your journey through the life stream within a week. Lie to
me, however, and I will prove every story your people tell about
the Crow King is far kinder than I truly am. Do you understand?”
Seth kept his voice low and menacing as he spoke. His eyes narrowed
as the spirit flickered once more and drifted farther back.

“Ask your questions, Crow King. I want no
trouble and I will answer what I can truthfully.” Dustin’s voice
was faint and quavering, but then, he hadn’t been a powerful man in
life. It stood to reason that his spirit would be weak. He likely
wasn’t even worth the effort of devouring.

Seth regarded him with a smirk and nodded in
approval. “Good, then I will ask my questions and you will answer
them and then forget you ever saw me, understood?”

“Yes,” The spirit flickered once more, but
didn’t drift any farther away. Apparently Dustin realized that even
if he did run, he most certainly couldn’t hide.

“I want information about a girl you found.
She was young when you found her, perhaps fifteen. Everyone thought
she had the plague and you took her to a healer by the name of
Dominic. Do you remember her?” Seth asked politely.

Dustin nodded hesitantly. “I remember. I
found her while hunting in Gaelyn and I could barely understand
anything she said. She was as pale as Death herself and staggering
when I found her and wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. I gave
her my old leather coat to wrap up in, but as bad as she looked I
didn’t get close to her. Wasn’t really sure what she was sick with,
and I wasn’t sure if she would even live to reach Dominic, but she
did.”

“Good. You seem to remember it well. I want
you to tell me everything you can remember. Even words she may have
mumbled. If you can’t remember exactly what words she said, then
mimic the sounds that you do remember. Spare no details. This is
very important to me.” Seth laced his words with encouragement and
summoned the faintest trace of his magic into a spell. Magic washed
over the spirit and the expression on Dustin’s face grew more
relaxed as the charm magic settled into his mind.

“I’ve always had a good mind for details, and
that was such a strange day that it stuck in my head. I figured she
was a local girl, so I asked her name right off. She was mumbling
pretty good, and the closest I could determine was Zoelyn. Strange
name for that area, but I’ve heard stranger. She couldn’t tell me
where she was from and after hearing her name I figured Dominic’s
was the best place for her. Everyone in the region knows Dominic,
so if she was local he would figure out where she belonged,” Dustin
began in a more relaxed voice.

“Excellent. Do you think you could remember
exactly what she mumbled? I’m not certain that Zoelyn was truly her
name,” Seth smiled and nodded for him to continue. With luck the
man would remember enough that he wouldn’t have to worry about
finding her creator. If the information he got here was good enough
he would find the man himself. It was possible that he wouldn’t
even need to continue training the Undrae. He frowned at the
thought and shook his head. No, he would finish her training. She
was well on the way to mastering her talents now and it wouldn’t
take much more. He could delay his plans long enough to finish
helping Zoey where he could.