“The goblin is mine, Granger,” Kella declared stubbornly. “No, it isn’t,” Granger corrected her with a smile.
“You expect me to go hungry tonight?” Kella snarled, her anger rising once more.
“No,” Granger said with a shake of his head and waved a hand toward the campfire. “There is a pot of stew right there, Kella, ” he informed her as he turned back to Shade. The smile faded from his lips as he regarded his captive with distaste. “Follow or I leave you to her mercy,” he ordered as he turned to stalk off toward the woods.
“Is Onvalla a place or a person?” Shade asked quickly as he grabbed his pack and followed after the man. The goblin scampered after him, trilling with alarm as it clutched his pant leg. “It will be OK,” he whispered to it, although he was sure the goblin realized he was feeding it false hope. It was pretty obvious that things were not likely to be OK anytime soon.
“She is our leader and she will most likely be your executioner. Don’t misunderstand your situation Morcaillo. I didn’t save your life. I postponed your death,” Granger said coldly. “If you try to run, I promise you a very painful death. I’m already in a bad enough mood just from your presence here.”
“I have no intention of running, but if it’s a long walk you may end up dragging me the rest of the way. You might not have noticed, but I wasn’t exactly winning the fight back there,” Shade informed him dryly. “So if you want me to reach your leader in order to be questioned you may have to let me rest so that I can heal once the Tevrae has worn off.”
Granger snorted with amusement and shook his head slowly. “So it was sheer stupidity that led you here. I thought perhaps you might have actually known where you were going considering.”
“Considering what?” Shade grumbled.
“Considering you camped less than half a mile from our hive,” Granger replied with a smirk. “I think you will survive that far and I see no point in allowing you to heal before Onvalla kills you. You might actually get away if you weren’t so wounded. I’ve hunted your kind before, and I know how difficult you can be.”
“Why not just question me yourself and kill me now, then, if you are so sure she is going to kill me anyway? It would save me the walk which I’m not looking forward to at all anyway,” Shade snapped. Things were not going in a good direction at all and his wounds had pushed him well past irritable. The eye was the worst of it. He could ignore the wounds on his back and legs, but the eye was impossible to ignore. With each beat of his pulse it throbbed with pain and his remaining eye was blurring with tears making him nearly blind.
“Because she will have her own questions for you, Morcaillo, and a quick death would be too good for your kind. If not for your people, we might have found a place in this world. Instead you used us against your enemies and forced us to perform atrocities. We will be hunted down for our crimes, but we will kill as many Changelings as we can before they kill us off,” Granger replied without a hint of mercy in his voice.
“I didn’t even know my kind controlled the Blights,” Shade muttered as he followed along. “I thought it was just my father that had control over your people, and I would have gladly helped you kill him,” he added with a sigh.
“Save your lies for Onvalla,” Granger snarled.
“I think I’ll try the truth instead. I’m a lousy liar,” Shade mumbled and rubbed his good eye in a vain attempt to regain some of his vision. It would be nice to be able to see who was going to kill him when the time came. “I fucking hate Tevrae,” he grumbled to the goblin that was still clinging to him. It gibbered to him sympathetically and Shade smiled faintly. “Well, at least I won’t die alone. I’ll have one friend with me, even if I can’t understand a single bloody word you are saying.”
Chapter 15
The Darklands
“Try the next one,” Seth’s voice was calm as he flicked another mage stone toward her. Zoelyn eyed it with irritation and dropped the one she was holding. When Neph or Jala made the stones for her they were colored depending on what magic they held. Seth’s were all dark grey with no indication of what kind of magic was held inside. “Try the next one,” Seth repeated in a firmer voice.
“I’ve already tried three and it’s no use. I can’t sense anything from them,” Zoelyn objected as she leaned heavily back in her chair. “I’m sick of failure,” she added in a softer voice and turned her attention from Seth and the stone covered table. The throne room was empty aside from the two of them and Legacy who was playing in the floor beside his father’s vacant throne. She had no idea where Finn was. It was the first time she had been in the throne room when he wasn’t present.
“Are you really going to give up so easily?” Seth asked with a heavy sigh.
“Easily?” Zoelyn snapped. She shook her head in frustration, but refused to look at him. She didn’t want to see what expression he had. “I’ve been working for three weeks with Jala, and another week with you and I still can’t sense anything about the magic or control my abilities at all. I don’t have the talent for it.”
She heard the sound of his chair scraping on the floor and his soft footsteps moving behind her. “You have the talent. All Undrae do. You just need proper motivation,” Seth said in a low voice as he paused behind her chair. She had expected him to move around her, to force her to look him in the eyes, but instead he leaned over her and grabbed her arm in his iron like grip.
“What are you doing?” Zoelyn demanded as he ran a finger down her bare hand. She had taken the gloves off to work with the stones, and the way he was staring at her made her nervous.
Seth smiled at her coldly and grabbed her other arm effectively pinning her in place. “Motivating you,” he whispered. His gaze rose from her to the child across the room. “Legacy, come here.” His voice rose as he beckoned the child over with a nod.
“No,” Zoelyn gasped her eyes flickering to her bare hand and Jala’s son who was already approaching with an innocent look on his face.
“No, Seth, don’t do this,” Zoelyn begged. She struggled in her chair in an attempt to loosen his grip on her arm, but he didn’t budge.
“Legacy do you have faith in Zoey?” Seth asked calmly as the child stopped to watch them with confusion growing in his violet eyes.
Legacy nodded slowly and crossed his arms over his tiny chest. “Are you hurting her, Seth? She doesn’t look happy.” There was a note of reproach in the child’s voice as he continued to watch them.
“Legacy, get back please. Go back to your toys.” Zoelyn’s voice rose with her desperation and Legacy’s expression darkened.
“Zoey is my friend, Seth,” Legacy warned, his eyes narrowing. There was no hint of his age in his tone of voice or the look in his eyes, and Zoelyn knew the boy was dead serious. Legacy had a very fixed idea of right and wrong in his mind, and the expression he was giving Seth left no doubt on how he viewed the current situation.
“I’m not hurting her, Legacy. I’m keeping her from running. She is very afraid right now and she has lost all faith in herself,” Seth explained calmly as he knelt down beside her chair. He still held her arms pinned and by his relaxed posture it was taking very little effort to hold her in place. “Zoey has given up on herself, Legacy. She thinks she is a failure and I disagree. What do you think?”
“Momma says you never give up on what you believe in.” Legacy spoke cautiously and was still watching Seth with suspicion.
The Demon nodded and gave the child another smile. “I want to help her. Will you help me with that?” he asked sweetly. “No, Legacy please don’t,” Zoelyn pleaded. She could feel the beginning of tears welling in her eyes.
“All you have to do is touch her hand, Legacy,” Seth continued in the same sweet voice.
“Momma says never to touch Zoey,” Legacy informed him stubbornly.
“Your momma is right, Legacy, I will hurt you without meaning to,” Zoelyn gasped as she pulled against Seth’s grip once more.
Seth nodded with a thoughtful expr
ession on his face. “Do you remember when your father started teaching you swords, Legacy?” he asked.
“Yes,” Legacy replied hesitantly with a slow nod.
“Do you remember how you did really badly until Finn made you angry and then you started really trying to hit him and you got better?”
Seth prompted.
“He said bad things about my Momma,” Legacy said with a trace of anger in his voice.
“He said that because he wanted you to be angry so you would try to fight in earnest. He didn’t mean those things any more than I want you to get hurt by Zoelyn’s powers. You needed motivation to hit your father, and Zoelyn needs a reason to control her powers. She doesn’t want to hurt you at all, and she will do everything to keep from hurting you,” Seth explained.
“Legacy, I can’t help it. I can’t control the powers. Please, no,” Zoelyn sobbed and shook her head frantically at the child.
“She is scared,” Seth explained in a soothing voice and smiled at Legacy. “We need to show her that she can control her power if she really, really wants to.”
“Finn!” Zoelyn screeched, her voice echoing off the walls of the throne room. She had no idea where he was or if he could hear her, but if he did, he would stop this. She had no doubts on what the Lord of Death would think of Seth jeopardizing his only son.
“He can’t hear you. He isn’t even in his domain right now,” Seth informed her with a faint smile. “Legacy, your daddy really doesn’t want you to do this,” Zoelyn gasped in desperation.
“If we let Zoelyn give up on herself right now she will never know true happiness, Legacy. She will never be able to touch another living creature or go swimming in the river with you. She will never know love or enjoy true friendship. As long as she is governed by her curse she will always be watching others live, but never living herself.” Seth paused and pushed her hand toward the child once more. “When your Momma died in Arovan everyone said she was dead, but you and Valor had faith in her and you called her back. Right now, you and I can save Zoey just like that. All we have to do is have faith in her.”
The indecision on Legacy’s face vanished at once with Seth’s last words and his tiny hand pressed against her open palm firmly. “I have faith,” he whispered.
“No!” Zoelyn screamed kicking against the chair and pulling on her arm with every ounce of strength she had. She could feel the first kiss of her curse already draining the child. Seth’s grip on her tightened and her panic rose. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away from Legacy. She didn’t want to see the life fade from the child and she hated Seth more than anything for forcing this upon her. It was a thousand times worse than what Nicoli Blackwolf had done to her with the prisoner. That man had been a stranger and she had known he was guilty, and it had still sickened her. Legacy was her friend and she loved him. If she killed him, that would be it for her. It was a guilt she couldn’t live with. “No,” she hissed repeating the word aloud as she forced her curse back down. The pressure on her hand eased, but she couldn’t force herself to look. In her mind she could already see the shriveled husk of Legacy’s tiny form curled on the cold stone floor before her.
“Open your eyes, Zoey,” Seth whispered as he released her arms.
She moved at once, whirling on him with more anger than she had ever felt in her life. “You bastard!” she railed as her fist connected solidly with his face. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she knew her voice was hysterical, but she didn’t care. Seth stood impassively as she struck him again and again until her anger receded to a low throb of despair. Her curses faded to broken sobs and she bowed her head as she backed away from him.
“You really shouldn’t make her angry again, Seth. She is meaner than Momma when she is upset,” Legacy observed from behind her.
Shock silenced her tears at once and she turned slowly to look down at the small boy. He had backed away from the chair and was watching her with wide violet eyes. If her curse had affected him at all there was no sign. He looked just as healthy as he had before he touched her hand.
“You have to face your fears to conquer them. Congratulations, Zoey you just controlled your power for the first time,” Seth said quietly.
She turned slowly to stare at him and shook her head slowly. “I hate you so much right now,” she whispered. “You had no way of knowing I wouldn’t hurt him, and you know how much he means to me. You forced me to violence and I have never acted in violen ce before in my life. Violence begets violence Seth, and I despise it.”
His expression changed at once with her last words and Seth took a slow step back from her. “Where did you hear those words?” he asked in a tone of voice she had never heard him use before. It wasn’t fear lacing his words, it was uncertainty. She had unsettled him with the words, though she didn’t know why.
“My guardian in Arovan. He taught me that violence never solves anything and he was right. I live my life by what he showed me and you just made me turn from everything I believe in,” Zoelyn replied coldly. She had no idea what had unnerved him, but she was relishing in it. He deserved to squirm after what he had just put her through.
“What was his name?” Seth asked hesitantly as he took another step back from her.
“Dominic,” Zoelyn answered quietly, her eyes moving past Seth to Finn as he appeared behind the Assassin. It was obvious Seth hadn’t noticed Finn’s arrival yet, but by the expression on Finn’s face, it wouldn’t be long before he did. It was the first time she had ever seen the Lord of Death truly angry, and just the sight of it chilled her blood. Swallowing heavily she took a step back toward Legacy.
“She may not believe in violence, but I most certainly do.” Finn’s voice echoed through the throne room and Seth whirled at once to face him. His fist connected solidly as Seth turned and the Assassin staggered back under the blow. Seth had shown no reaction when she had vented her fury on him, not even bruising on his pale flesh. Blood streamed from a gash in his face now, though, and it didn’t look as though Finn was finished. “I trust you with my son and you gamble with his life,” he snarled as he advanced on Seth once more.
“I didn’t consider it a gamble,” Seth replied calmly. He brushed his fingertips across his cheek and stared at the blood on his hand with a frown. His gaze rose once more to Finn as he closed on him. “You look angry enough to kill me right now, Finn. If you are going to do so would you send your son and Zoelyn away first, please?” he asked quietly and the Lord of Death’s advance stopped at once.
Finn swallowed heavily, his gaze flicking to her and Legacy and a flash of regret showed on his handsome face. “My temper has always been bad,” he offered in apology. His gaze returned to Seth once more and he shook his head slowly. The anger was still there, but Finn was doing his best to control it now. “We aren’t done, but you have shamed me. I won’t rip you apart in front of my son or Zoey.”
“I thank you for that. Watching someone you care for die is a painful memory, and despite their feelings for me right now, both of them consider me a friend,” Seth replied with a bow of his head. “Zoelyn, take Legacy to my quarters. Finn will summon you back when he has finished here,” Seth ordered in a louder voice.
“Daddy, don’t kill him,” Legacy pleaded.
Zoelyn stared at Finn for a long moment then looked to Seth. Her anger with the man evaporated like mist as she realized Finn was still angry enough to kill, and Seth looked more than ready to accept the punishment. He hadn’t even raised a hand to defend himself when Finn attacked him. He had simply taken the blow with the same calmness he had accepted her own punishment. “Please Finn. It was a horrible lesson, but he was just trying to help me.” The words were out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying.
“Zoey, please take Legacy to my rooms. The Lord of Death will deliver the judgment he sees fit, regardless of your words,” Seth repeated without turning to look at her. His eyes were on Finn alone as he calmly folded his arms across his chest. Blood still
trickled down from the cut on his cheek, but there wasn’t a trace of fear or regret on his face.
“C’mon Legacy,” Zoelyn murmured as she pulled her gloves back on and took the child’s hand. She cast another glance back at Seth and Finn as she left the room, but kept her silence.
“Is Daddy going to kill Seth?” Legacy asked as they started toward the stairs.
“I don’t know, Legacy,” Zoelyn admitted. “I hope not,” she added in a softer voice. She had to fight the urge to run back to the throne room, and she knew the wait for the summons would be excruciating. Just a few minutes ago she had wanted to kill Seth herself, and now she was praying to every Divine that he would live. It made no sense at all.
* * *
The sound of a door opening brought Zoelyn out of her chair at once. Legacy had worried himself into a fitful sleep hours ago, and she had been waiting on pins and needles since then. Moving swiftly she crossed to the bedroom door and pulled it open. Her eyes searched the darkened entry room frantically until she spotted him by the small window. His back was to her, and she couldn’t see the expression on his face, but from the way he was standing she could tell he was in pain.
“Seth,” she whispered hesitantly.
“You should be asleep by now,” Seth replied quietly without turning.
“I couldn’t sleep until I knew what happened,” Zoelyn admitted softly. Taking a cautious step forward she tilted her head trying to get a look at his face. The cut on his cheek had bruised badly and swollen, but the angle that he stood from her and the shadows prevented her from seeing any more than that. “Are you OK?”
He inhaled deeply and crossed his arms on the windowsill. “I’m fine, little Undrae,. You should get rest,” he replied in a flat voice. He hadn’t called her Undrae in days and the word gave her pause.
The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4 The Blessed Curse Page 29