The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (48 page)

“Well at least we won’t see it coming,” Charm
said dryly, staring at the black screen before them.

“There’s the spirit Charm! Way to find the
silver lining!” Shade cried with another laugh. From the corner of
his eye he saw the rogue brace himself and realized he was doing
the same. With an effort, he forced himself to relax. “You are the
best pilot, prove it,” he whispered to himself and guided the ship
to where his memory told him the opening should be. Long seconds
passed with both of them holding their breath before Shade let out
a nervous laugh. “We cleared it,” he whispered.

“But how are you going to land the ship,
Shade? You can’t scry directly outside of it because of the Barllen
on it,” Charm said, his moment beyond fear apparently fading.

“I’m still working that out, Charm, but don’t
worry, I’ll come up with a plan,” Shade replied and guided the ship
straight up. It was the only direction he could guarantee held no
obstacles.

Charm let out a quiet groan at the mention of
a plan and fell back into his seat. He turned his head toward Shade
and sighed. “So, how do we trigger the goblins? That was the one
part of the plan that I wasn’t really sure about,” he said quietly
apparently deciding that was a better topic to think on than flying
blind in a ship at high speeds.

Shade pulled a small glass globe from his
pocket and held it up for Charm to see. A single drop of red liquid
rested in the bottom. With a deep breath Shade wrapped his hand
around the globe and smiled at Charm. “I’ll send the magic through
this liquid. It is from the same batch I used on the goblins so it
should transfer the magic well. If all goes as planned my magic
will pass through this link and into the globes that I fed the
goblins. When the spark of fire from my magic touches the oil I fed
them …,” he paused and shrugged at Charm. “Well then we have a mess
that I’m not paying to have cleaned up and a whole lot of dead
goblins and Blights.”

“And if all doesn’t go as planned?” Charm
asked with obvious hesitation.

“Then my theory of sending the spark though
the link failed and I’m going to blow my fingers off my hand. Which
will most likely result in my jumping out of my chair screaming in
agony and you will have to land the ship blindly,” Shade replied
with a smile.

“I’ve never really been religious but I think
I’ll pray now,” Charm said with a firm nod.

“You would be amazed how often I’ve been
doing that very same thing lately,” Shade said with a grin and
closed his fingers around the globe. He took another drag from the
remnants of his cigarette and winked at Charm. “Here goes nothing,”
he whispered and sent the spark of magic into the volatile
liquid.

The echoing booms of explosions filled the
air and Shade looked down at the small globe in his hand and let
out his breath. He allowed himself another smile and glanced over
at Charm. “I wish we could have seen it. I hope Lutheron got a good
look so he can show us.”

“Shade, do you realize how often things
explode when you are around?” Charm asked quietly. The expression
on his face was pensive.

“I know. I think I may have found my true
talent in life,” Shade said, grinning wider as the last of the
explosions resounded below them.

“Please don’t say that,” Charm muttered and
looked back to the black view screen. “So how are you going to get
us down?” he asked quietly.

“Got it all worked out, Charm. No worries, my
friend,” Shade replied and dropped the globe back into his pocket.
“It might be a little rough at first though, just to warn you.”

Charm gave a silent nod in response and
buckled the seat harness. He glanced over at Shade once he had
finished. “You are a crazy bastard, Shade,” he said in a calm voice
and rubbed his face with a gloved hand. “I’m not sure that I will
ever adjust to it. I’m trying though, I really am.” He paused again
and lowered his hand to look meaningfully at Shade. “I’m a rogue at
heart, however, and typically we sneak, we hide, we backstab. It’s
a self-preservation thing that rogues have developed. We linger in
the shadows and allow warriors and such to charge blindly in, and
then we collect the spoils when those idiots have gotten themselves
killed. At no point in my training did my mentor ever mention
explosive goblins, or high speed flight, or using one’s self as
bait for very large pissed off serpents. This is simply not my
style.”

Shade grinned widely at Charm. “None of my
teachers spoke of this kind of fun either. No doubt they didn’t
want to get my hopes up for the future. Just think, Charm, from the
looks of things this is just the start of it. With a war beginning,
imagine the fun we can have.”

“I do believe you entirely missed my point,”
Charm said dryly and sighed. “I now have more incentive than ever
to fulfill Symphony’s wish of a Bloodless rebellion,” he added
faintly and fell silent, his gaze locked on the black view
screen.

Sanctuary

Winter was settling firmly over the city and
the icy wind cut through her coat like a knife. Pulling the folds
of it tighter around her, Jala shuddered and glanced down at Marrow
who looked completely unfazed by the day’s temperature. Shaking her
head slightly, she looked back up at the wooden supports being
placed and tried to ignore her chattering teeth.

In the past month, they had managed to
rebuild a good portion of the Dock ward in her district. While this
hadn’t been one of the wards they had planned on fixing first, it
had moved to the forefront due to its distance from the inner city.
Her companions were wary of the Justicars and felt the farther they
built from that part of Sanctuary the better. All in all, she had
to agree with them. She didn’t like the idea of her people being
subjected to the Justicar’s tilted view of justice either.

Warm arms wrapped around her waist and Finn
pulled her back against him tightly. His breath was warm on her
neck as he kissed her lightly. “You look half frozen. Why don’t you
wait inside until they need you?” he suggested and glanced back at
one of the finished buildings behind them.

She followed his gaze and fought back the
temptation of the warm firelight that flickered through the
windows. “I want to learn how this is done. I think I have the
basics of which supports need to go up first but I haven’t seen
them brace a roof yet,” she explained.

“Are you switching from High Lady to
carpenter then?” he teased. Warmth poured from him like an oven and
she nestled closer against him. His Firym blood made him as immune
to the winter wind as Marrow was and she envied them both.

“I think if I’m going to govern a city, I
should know what it took to build the city and how to properly
maintain it,” she replied, still keeping her gaze on the massive
oaken timbers being hoisted by the work crews. It would be so much
easier if they would simply let her use magic to lift the timbers,
but Neph had argued against it. He insisted that the people be
allowed to do the work and she had relented. His points had been
valid ones. The foremost point being that they would respect it
more if their own sweat went into it.

That, and the fact that most in her city
needed the work desperately. For that reason alone it had been easy
to recruit workers for her projects. There was a food shortage in
most of the city now, and thanks to Valor, her district was better
provisioned than most. So while they didn’t have an over-abundance
of coins they did have plenty of supplies. It had been Jail’s idea
to offer the terms for labor. The people of her city could, of
course, simply buy the food with coin, but for those without coin
there was now hope. For helping to rebuild the city, they could not
only earn food, but clothing and homes as well. Once the
announcement had been made, the labor force had swelled well beyond
what she had hoped for and the progress they were making was
impressive.

“So what’s this one to be?” Finn asked, his
attention turned on the building taking shape before them.

“A temple,” she said and expected him to
laugh. Finn was far from religious and often teased Neph for his
devotion to the Aspects and Divine.

“Wise choice. These people need that right
now. With things the way they are, the common man will need the
wisdom a temple can offer. Where are you going to find priests
though?” he replied, sounding serious.

She glanced back at him and raised an
eyebrow. “Not the response I expected from you. I have managed to
scrounge up a few priests. They are from my district as well. One
is an alcoholic and the other two don’t look like they have had a
decent meal in months. I’m not too sure how well they will do, but
for now they will work,” she said with a faint smile.

Finn shrugged slightly and motioned with one
hand toward the crowd of commons surrounding the building. “They
aren’t Firym. We can’t expect them to hold strong without
reassurance. They need to believe there is a higher power watching
over them. If they were Firym they would simply know they are the
higher power, and act accordingly. I’m sure even an alcoholic
priest will help these people.”

Jala snorted in amusement and shook her head
slowly as she turned back to the progress on the temple. “I’m not
Firym,” she reminded him quietly.

“Ahh, but you were smart enough to marry one,
so you will be fine,” he said, his voice once again holding a note
of teasing.

She tilted her chin up to look at his face
and returned his smile. Even on a dreary day such as this, Finn
seemed to glow with a positive vibrancy no one else possessed. With
his sun bronzed skin and shining green eyes, he was truly the most
beautiful thing in the world to her. He returned her gaze, staring
into her eyes and the teasing expression left his face.

“You are so beautiful,” he said quietly and
brushed a hand across her wind-reddened cheek. “Your skin looks
like cream kissed by roses after being in the cold.”

She smiled as he spoke, marveling at how
close his words had been to her own thoughts.

“Just when I think it can’t get better …” He
paused and traced her smile with a gentle finger. “You prove it
can,” he added quietly and gave her a kiss.

“I love you,” she whispered as he drew back
from the kiss.

“Love you too,
Vezradesh
,” he returned
and seemed ready to say more when the hoof beats of a quickly
approaching horse drew his attention.

His brow knit in concern as he watched Jail
drop quickly down from his saddle and approach them. Jala felt
herself tense as well. Jail was not the sort to over-react. If he
was running a horse through the city streets, something was wrong,
and by the sweat covering his roan gelding he had been running for
a while. He was bundled heavily against the cold in a thick wool
coat of dark purple. The white tunic he wore appeared to be heavy
material as well, and she was relieved to see she wasn’t the only
one the weather was affecting. He sketched a hasty bow to her as he
approached and gave Finn a nod in greeting.

“Milady, we have a problem,” Jail began,
sounding out of breath. His hair was pulled back neatly and held
with a silver clasp. His clothing, too, was some of his finest
quality she noticed, now that he was closer. The sigil of her house
was worked in silver thread on the breast of his coat and the
buttons were carved gems. Apparently Jail had been visiting another
district today. The Mind mage was usually informal in his
appearance and there was no place in her district that demanded
such fashions.

“What kind of problem?” she asked and glanced
toward the gates with concern. From the way Jail was acting she
expected to see Justicars pouring through the streets.

“Lady Chastity has been arrested and is being
taken to the Hall of Justice for judgment as we speak,” he began.
“I was visiting my sister and checking on the inner city when I
received the news. It hasn’t been long. I believe we still have
time to act.”

“Valor’s sister?” she asked with shock and
glanced to Finn. “Does Valor know yet?” she asked, turning back to
Jail. It was no secret how protective Valor was of his family and
news such as this would not set well with him.

He hesitated a moment and swallowed heavily.
“That would be our problem, Milady. Valor is in their custody as
well. I don’t have the full details, but from the street gossip it
would seem he killed several Justicars.”

“Shit, they will execute him,” Finn said, his
voice barely above a whisper. His arms tightened around her almost
painfully and he quickly kissed her cheek. “I have to get him out
of there,” he added in a louder voice and released her.

“Finn, wait,” she said, trying to grab hold
of his arm before he could go. She knew him too well. His idea of
getting Valor out of there would include a lot of bloodshed, and
chances were good that he would end up in custody as well.

“There isn’t time, Jala,” he said, already
striding toward the stable. “Jail, keep her safe until I can get
back,” he called over his shoulder and Jala watched him go with a
dry expression.

“I love how he listens,” Jala sighed. She
glanced down at the Bendazzi beside her and motioned toward the
stables. “Marrow, go delay Finn getting his horse saddled for a
minute or two,” she said sweetly and watched him stalk off toward
the stables. Most horses found the Bendazzi unsettling but this
newest mount of Finn’s particularly hated the cat.

Turning back to Jail she sighed again and
smiled faintly. “I have no intention of allowing this to happen,
but I will not allow my husband to attempt a one-man rescue mission
either. They will hold judgment today. How long until they punish
the condemned?” she asked. While her companions were doing their
best to continue her education after learning that they couldn’t
return to the Academy because of the Blights, there were still some
things she wasn’t clear on.