The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse

by Melissa Myers

  “You aren’t too sweet yourself,” Neph grumbled. Letting out a long sigh, he pulled on his magic once more and focused it into another stone. If this was Jala’s idea of punishment for drinking he would be having nothing but water until he returned to Delvay.

  “I don’t see any reason to be nice to you. You are rude to everyone including your own people and as far as I’ve seen you haven’t done a thing to help Jala since you have been here,” Zoelyn pointed out in a matter of fact tone.

  Neph glanced up at her but didn’t bother to dignify her remark with an answer. In truth, he hadn’t done as much as he would have liked to help Jala. The most he could really claim as work was helping Sovann with the portal project, and that wasn’t even the tip of what needed to be done. As Jala put it, they were in a holding pattern until Vaze returned with the information on Delvay. He dropped another stone to the bed and shrugged in response to her comment. “Why does it matter if you know what magic tastes like?” He asked in the friendliest voice he could manage. The last thing he wanted was Jala storming in later to bitch at him for being rude to her new pet. If he at least made an attempt to be nicer, maybe Jala would forget about the drinking, or at least not hold as much of a grudge.

  “Seth says if I learn what the magic feels like, I can use it later,” Zoelyn explained hesitantly. “He says I’m more like a magic item than an actual mage, but it’s something. Right now, I have nothing but death, but if I learn maybe one day I can have more.”

  “What?” Neph stared up at her in complete confusion and shook his head. “That’s not how siphons work. Seth is feeding you false hope.” “I’m not a siphon. I am an Undrae. We are another matter entirely. Seth says if I store healing magic and I recognize it for what it is I can use it when I need to. It won’t work on me, but it would work on Jala if she were hurt. I just have to learn how to recognize what I have absorbed,”

  Zoelyn corrected him in a voice that brooked no argument.

  Neph paused and rolled one of the mage stones on the bed as he watched her. He could see the desperation deep in her eyes. She needed to believe that one day she would have a purpose in life beyond destruction. From what he had seen of Zoelyn so far, she hated herself. Seth had given her something to distract her. He had given her hope. “I have never heard of Undrae. I thought it was the Glis word for monster,” he said quietly and returned to his magic. As much as he wanted to argue the point on siphons, he understood how important hope could be. Even if she never achieved what Seth had promised, at least she had something to take her mind off her self-loathing. That was another aspect of life he understood all too well. He didn’t exactly get along with Zoelyn, but he could relate with her. There were few things in life worse than being inadequate.

  A faint thud from the wall behind him drew his attention and he stared at the altar by his door. One of the idols had fallen to the floor.

  Most likely it had been knocked off balance by the damned slamming of the door earlier. With a heavy sigh and a glare in Zoelyn’s direction, Neph stood and walked to the altar.

  “Seth says the Undrae were more common before the barrier. He has known them before and the stories he told me were amazing. He says if I learn enough, I can function like a mage on the battlefield and will only absorb the magic I want. Like, if there is a healer nearby I can focus on the fireballs in the distance rather than absorbing the healing magic near me. Or I could siphon a damaging spell from a friend without destroying their protective magics on their armor,” Zoelyn continued.

  Neph paused as his hand wrapped around the idol and glanced back at her. He tried his best to keep the look of hope from his own face as he replayed her words in his mind. “You can learn to drain specific magics while not damaging others?” he asked quietly as he lifted the idol, his eyes still locked on Zoelyn.

  She nodded slowly, her eyes flicking to the mage stones on the bed. “If I can learn how to taste the magics. So far I haven’t been able to. Seth says it will take a while, though. He says I have been starving for too long and it’s like asking a man starved for food what spices were in the dish you served him.” There was a note of discouragement in her voice but she smiled faintly and shrugged. “So I will keep trying until I can be useful or Jala runs out of time to help me.”

  Neph stared at her for a long moment and slowly looked down at the idol of Fortune in his hand. He had been praying for years for a way to save Delvay and the Divine had finally answered him. His salvation had been delivered wrapped in black leather and attitude and at the moment she hated him. "Seth says a lot," he murmured as he carefully set the idol of Fortune back on the shelf with reverence.

  Chapter 13

  Merro

  Sweat beaded on her face as the afternoon sun glared down at them. Zoelyn frowned and refocused herself trying to ignore the heat as well as the noise of the people behind her. Usually when she trained with Jala, the garden was empty, but today it was bustling. Scouts had arrived from the border and Jail was visiting from Sanctuary.

  “Ignore them. Valor has it covered. Just worry about focusing,” Jala’s voice was calm and soothing behind her and she glanced back toward the High Lady. She looked tired as she often did lately, but her bearing was still that of a leader. No matter what the situation was, Jala always looked in control.

  “I don’t want them to see what happens,” Zoelyn whispered as her gaze dropped to the ground. She hated the look on a stranger’s face when they witnessed her draining something. It was always a look of revulsion and no matter how often she told herself that she didn’t care what they thought, the simple truth was, she did care.

  “The goal is to touch the plant without draining its life, so if you focus, maybe they won’t see anything,” Jala pressed in an encouraging voice. She sighed heavily and moved forward beside Zoelyn, leaning over closer. “Honestly I wish they had chosen another area to talk, but Valor chose here and I can’t run them off. Don’t worry about Jail, he will understand and would no doubt be interested in your talents. The scouts won’t be here long and their attention is fully focused on Valor right now. Just try to ignore them, please.”

  Zoelyn nodded slowly and swallowed heavily. Her eyes locked on the blooming rose before her. Slowly she lifted her hand as she focused all of her will on containing her curse. With the faintest touch she brushed her fingertips across the leaves and felt her heart sink as the leaves withered and blackened. “Damn it,” she hissed as she dropped her hand back down and backed away from the rose. She didn’t look behind her at all. She didn’t want to see if anyone else had noticed.

  “It’s OK. Wisp will fix it and we will try again tomorrow,” Jala said gently. “You are too nervous right now to focus. Maybe we should work with the mage stones instead?”

  “Wisp has got to be sick of healing the plants daily and seeing no improvement from me. It’s been over a week and I still can’t grasp a single thing Seth said I could do,” Zoelyn’s frustration broke through as she spoke and she shook her head at Jala in both apology and surrender. “What if Neph was right? What if Seth was just feeding me false hope?”

  “Why would he? What does he gain from it?” Jala countered with the same patience she always seemed to have.

  Zoelyn knew she had to be growing as frustrated as Wisp. Jala barely had time to manage the affairs of her country and yet she still took the time to try to help her learn. “Why haven’t you given up on me yet?” Zoelyn asked in a soft voice.

  Jala smiled at her. “Because I never give up on anything I believe in,” she returned gently as she glanced toward the garden gate. “And look we have more company, and it’s Noble. What a surprise,” she sighed as she watched the knight approach them with a crate tucked under one arm.

  Zoelyn smiled faintly and nodded in greeting as Noble stopped near them with a beaming smile on his handsome face.

  “Lady Jala, Lady Zoelyn,” Noble said as he bowed slightly.

  “Ahh. Noble what a surprise to see you again,” Jala said dryly, he
r eyes narrowing as she stared at him. “Didn’t we just see you yesterday at around this time? What was that urgent business again? Something about a horse?”

  “A foal was born and I thought you might wish to see it,” Noble replied innocently as he shifted the crate in his arms. His long hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and his uniform was immaculate. He was perfection and the smug smile he wore showed how well he knew it.

  “It’s amazing how things always seem to require my attention while I am working with Zoelyn,” Jala continued. She rolled her eyes and glanced over at Zoelyn who simply smiled in return.

  In truth, Zoelyn liked Noble. He was always kind and even in Arovan he had tried to help her, despite hearing her called Undrae. The fact that he was handsome didn’t hurt either. He always had a smile for her, and it seemed like his eyes were on her more than Jala. The attention was nice, even if she didn’t really know how to react to it. So his visits never bothered her as much as they seemed to irritate Jala.

  “So what is it today, Noble?” Jala asked with an exaggerated sigh, her gaze flicking to the crate in the knight’s arms.

  “The first shipment from Firym arrived. I thought you might want to see what they sent, so I brought a sample of everything,” Noble informed her as he opened the crate and held it out for her to look inside.

  “Ahh. Of course that couldn’t wait,” Jala agreed with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

  “Milady, I think you may be spending too much time with Lord Delvay,” Noble returned with a grin.

  Zoelyn ducked her head to hide her smile as Jala glared at the young knight and dug around in the crate he held. With a faint smile forming on her lips Jala lifted an orange and a banana from the crate.

  “Fruit,” Jala pronounced raising an eyebrow at Noble. “Fruit was important enough to interrupt lessons?” she asked as she waved a hand toward Zoelyn beckoning her forward. “Here hold this,” Jala ordered shoving the banana toward her as she moved closer.

  “Jala, I can’t,” Zoelyn objected as the High Lady smacked the banana down in her hand. The last breath of life held in the fruit vanished the moment it touched her bare skin and Zoelyn stared down in disgust at the lump of black rotted pulp in her hand. “I can’t touch it without my gloves,” she finished softly, but Jala’s gaze was locked on Noble with a savage smile on her beautiful face.

  “Do you see why these lessons are so important, Noble?” Jala asked as she reclaimed the rotted banana and held it up for the knight’s inspection. The withered fruit slumped in her hand, bending nearly double as the peel split open dropping the disgusting mess of fruit inside to the grass between her and the knight. “We don’t want our bananas rotted, now do we Noble?” she asked firmly.

  Noble’s gaze was locked on the rotted mess in the grass between them, and Zoelyn watched him swallow heavily at the sight. “Uh, no, Milady, we like our fruit healthy,” he stammered quietly.

  “Exactly. So I suggest you keep your fruit where it belongs and out of my garden until I have had time to help Zoelyn control her talent,”

  Jala snapped as she dropped the orange back into the crate.

  “Yes, Milady,” Noble agreed softly. His face had grown pale and he was still staring at the remains of the banana.

  “Noble,” Jala grumbled. He looked up at her quickly and she motioned toward the garden gate. “Go back to your duties. If you honestly feel someone should inspect the Firym goods than take them to Joseph. He is my steward for a reason; let him do his job.”

  The knight nodded quickly and turned on his heels without so much as a wave good bye. Zoelyn watched him disappear through the gate and sighed heavily. “I wish you hadn’t done that,” she said quietly.

  “It was a lesson for him. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m simply sick of him sniffing after you like a dog in heat. I understand you are beautiful, but he has to understand that you are deadly as well, for now. That was the only way to get through his thick skull, apparently. I have tried to be gentle with him,” Jala replied apologetically.

  “I love how you say for now,” Zoelyn sighed as she crossed to a stone bench and dropped down heavily on it.

  “I never give up on what I believe in,” Jala repeated with another smile.

  “Jala!” Valor’s voice rose from behind them and the High Lady turned at once. “We may have an issue here. Can you take a look at this, please?”

  “Of course,” Jala replied easily. She glanced at Zoelyn with another smile and waved toward the house. “I have to see to this. Rest for a while and try to find some faith in yourself please. You can do this. You are just frustrated right now.”

  Zoelyn nodded and watched her walk over to join Valor. Several of the scouts were still present, as well as Jail. Most of them seemed to have their full attention focused on Valor and Jala, but one of them was watching her. He wasn’t anyone she recognized, but then she didn’t know many of the scouts. It was rare that they visited the city and even rarer that Valor brought them to the house. The scout smiled faintly at her and winked. Zoelyn blinked in response and nodded her head slowly in return. She wasn’t at all sure what to make of the gesture. With the way he was watching her, she was certain he had seen the rose wither, and most likely the banana as well, and yet he still winked.

  I don’t like the thoughts in this one’s head. Be careful of him. His mind is a dark one. Dray’s voice was a whisper beside her ear, but it brought Zoelyn’s thoughts quickly back to focus. She had been admiring the scout’s dark green eyes and tousled brown hair until the Blight spoke.

  “What do you mean?” she asked softly as she shifted herself on the stone bench to stare up at the sky rather than Jala’s group.

  Perverse, but not in the harmless way Noble’s mind works. This one likes to hurt people. Noble thinks of sex and enjoyment between both involved. This one thinks of pain and his own enjoyment, Dray explained in a disgusted voice that was still pitched low enough to not carry to the others in the garden.

  “So, essentially what you are saying is, I only attract raving perverts?” Zoelyn sighed and shook her head softly. “I don’t even know why I am complaining about what I attract. I don’t need to attract anything right now,” she added in a wistful voice. Her eyes followed a pair of birds as they flitted through the treetops and she felt herself relax further. She knew serious discussions were taking place just across the garden. With everything as peaceful as it was in Merro, it was still hard to believe the rest of the world was in chaos.

  A flash of black feathers drew her eye and Zoelyn stiffened on the bench as she frantically scanned the area. A slow breath escaped her lips as her eyes locked fully on the crow hidden in the uppermost branches of a large oak. She watched it for a long moment with held breath until it looked back at her and bobbed its head twice. A smile broke over her lips as it confirmed what she had hoped. It was a messenger from Seth rather than just a bird. She had been waiting all week to see his sign, and now she had. Seth would be here tonight, and maybe, just maybe, he would have the answers she needed so badly. Jala was trying so hard to help, but Seth was the only one that knew what an Undrae really was. Maybe he could tell her why, after a week of tasting, she still couldn’t tell magic apart. Then again, maybe he would tell her she should have been able to learn it by now. Her smile faltered with the thought and she nodded faintly to the bird before returning her gaze to the smaller finches that were still flitting through the gardens in search of food.

  * * *

  “The little bitch is a siphon,” Ander announced as he sat forward on the roof. A strand of his long pale hair swung down across his face as he moved, partially obscuring the hungry look he wore on his face.

  Hemlock nodded once and watched as a wisp of fog disappeared between the man’s lips as he reclaimed the fragment of his soul. It was always unnerving when Ander used his soulriding talents. He was so subtle that the Jala’s scout probably hadn’t even noticed he wasn’t alone in his body. “That explains why my magic isn’t findi
ng her,” Hemlock murmured softly. A childish giggle broke through the silence and he glanced over the roof to watch the boy run by with the Bendazzi following him closely.

  “So full of energy and life, and so powerful for one so young,” Niaha murmured, her dark eyes following the child as he ran. “Why are we letting him live? He will be a problem in the future,” she added as her eyes rose to meet his.

  “Because we want Jala happy right now and killing her son would not make her happy,” Hemlock explained slowly. He was beginning to wonder if he should have brought his companions to Merro at all. Both had their uses of course, but both were much more adept at killing than spying. No doubt their fragile little minds were confused at the thought of returning home without blood on their hands.

  “What else can you tell us?” Hemlock pressed, his eyes locked on Ander. Maybe, if he could manage to keep them busy enough, things would go smoother.

  “She has an admirer. One of the knights. He seemed a lecherous fellow. Niaha might be able to get something from him,” Ander began, his gaze flicking to his counterpart with a bit of loathing. It was no secret that the two hated each other, but Hemlock had thought they could manage one mission together without a fight.

  “Let’s push past Niaha’s talents and keep going. You were possessing a scout. Surely you have more information that will be useful,”

  Hemlock broke in before the two could begin to snarl at each other.

  “Jala will be leaving Merro soon. She didn’t say as much, but she seemed very concerned with the news brought to her regarding Seravae. I don’t think Jail expected her reaction on the matter. He seemed distressed that she hinted at leaving Merro,” Ander continued. “Avanti is still harassing her northern borders, though from what the scouts are saying, it isn’t military harassment, so Truce isn’t involved. She didn’t seem overly concerned with it and brushed it off. Her main focus was on the girl, even while listening to the reports her gaze kept shifting to watch the siphon. Perhaps she is training a weapon. The girl did seem to have a talent for draining life. That’s unusual for a Siphon, isn’t it? I thought they just drained magic,” Ander finished, his pale eyes moving to watch Hemlock.