“While all of that is very good, Christian, the neutral quarters are not our concern. Our people are. It would have been cheaper to hire more guards for our own gates to keep them out than to take the steps you chose. I know you meant well, but our taxes are there to provide for our quarter. I cannot believe a few more citizens paying taxes will cover what you have spent improving a quarter that is not our responsibility.” There was mild reproach in his father’s tone. “Still, you have acted nobly to help those people, and I’m sure you will consider other paths in the future.”
“I actually believe I will have the full cost covered, father. I have made another arrangement as well that I believe will prove quite profitable.” Shade stood as he spoke and crossed the room. He took a decanter and two glasses off the shelf and hoped his gamble paid off. “This is actually part of that arrangement, Father,” he said as he sat back down and placed the decanter and glasses on the table beside him.
Myth regarded him for a moment and raised an eyebrow. “Wine? Explain!” The disapproval was gone from his voice replaced with a trace of interest.
“Sovann Sovaesh makes this, actually. When I heard of it, I offered him a building free of charge in our quarter to produce it. He accepted, and from what I understand the first of this will be distributed at the Spring Games.” He opened the decanter and tried to ignore how his father’s face had darkened at the word free. “It’s called Essence wine,” he said and poured the liquid carefully. It glowed a faint blue in the glasses with a delicate pale mist rising from it. As he had hoped, his father’s attention had turned to the wine and his expression had gone back to neutral. “Try it,” he urged and offered his father a glass. He picked up his own and took a sip, his eyes closing part way as the first taste of it hit his lips. Sovann had truly out-done himself with this. The wine was simply the finest tasting beverage to be had, and there were of course the benefits to it, as well. He watched his father closely as he drank the wine and waited a long moment until the first effects had time to set in.
“The tingle after the drink is that it replenishes your magic,” he explained and was rewarded with a look of genuine surprise on Myth’s normally stoic face. “He has found a way to distill magic, Father, and it will be produced in our quarter. Not only does it taste wonderful, it is beneficial.” He allowed himself a smug smile. “And the best part of it is this: In order to make it, he must have a healthy supply of mage stones. He cannot possibly fill the stones himself, without leaving himself open to attack, so he pays our citizens to fill the stones. It takes more of them to fill them, of course, but they make very good money doing it and it is all recorded in our books and taxed,” he finished and sat back to wait.
His father was silent for a long time, regarding the glass in his hand, and Shade had to fight the urge to fidget. “I’m impressed, Christian. The bottles of wine will be taxed as well?” he asked.
Shade nodded. “Yes, Father. He will be selling them for five thousand gold per bottle,” he answered quickly.
Myth’s eyebrow rose slightly. “Very impressive indeed. Now explain to me how it is that you convinced a Sovaesh to work in our quarter. That family serves the Avanti House, if I’m not mistaken. As a matter of fact, if I remember correctly, the senior of the Sovaesh family is House Avanti’s private assassin.”
“Sovann is a bit of a black sheep as far as his family goes. His father favors his elder brother, Finn, and Finn is an ass, so Sovann avoids the entire situation and keeps to himself. He is not on good terms with the Avanti, either, so that will not create difficulties between our houses because he had left their shelter long before I approached him,” Shade explained. He was rather proud of himself for the arrangement, and seeing his father pleased, was well worth the effort he had gone through to accomplish it. Once Shade had sweetened the deal with lighter taxes and a free building, Sovann wasn’t hard to convince.
Myth took another sip of the wine and gave another slight nod of approval. “Very good, Christian, I am pleased on all accounts. You have done very well indeed. Now, I’m sure you are eager to get to the games. I understand Alex will be fighting this year as well.” His father’s words were a clear dismissal and Shade rose accordingly.
“Yes he will, Father, and thank you for your praise,” he said quietly, doubting Myth truly understood just how much his praise was worth, nor for how long he had sought it. He was almost to the door when his father spoke again.
“Oh, one more matter, Christian. We are to dine with the Avanti house in four days. Odd that they should be in our conversation already but life works in ironic ways. I will expect you here no later than the fifth hour of the evening, and dressed for a formal dinner,” Myth said.
“As you say, Father. I will be here,” Shade agreed. He quietly opened the door and left the room a bit curious to know why they were dining with the Avanti but was loathe to ask. His father did business with the house from time to time, and this really wasn’t all that unusual. Better simply to wait and see, than to press his father now.
Myth watched his son go and took another sip of the wine. It really was a choice beverage. The boy had done well on that, at least. As to the matter on the neutral quarter, it was idealist nonsense but could serve as well if he used it correctly. No doubt the council would approve of such acts. He heard the door behind him open and didn’t bother turning to look.
“He really is a sweet and thoughtful boy,” Kali’s voice purred from behind him. She moved silently across the room and dropped lightly into the chair Christian had just vacated. She was a pale, beautiful creature, and was covered from head to toe in a black silk robe. A few strands of her snow white hair and just a hint of her full red lips showed from within the cowl. “Is he adopted or did your wife cheat on you?” she asked, all traces of purr gone from her voice.
Myth gave her a disdainful glance. “He is not adopted, and as to the latter,” he shrugged. “Who knows?” He set the wine glass down with exaggerated care. “I did not summon you here to speak of my son, however. You are here to speak of business, not my family.” He kept his tone firm. This was not a woman to trifle with, and he did not want her misunderstanding their positions here, and think she had the upper hand.
“You didn’t summon me anywhere, Myth. You asked and I answered. I do not get summoned,” she replied in a tone as firm as his own. “Business. Mmm. It’s been a long while since you’ve been up to any serious business; about ten years I think. I’m sorry that plague thing in Veir didn’t work out for you, by the way. You did such a wonderful job leading Merrodin through the whole mess without even getting your hands the least bit dirty. Who could have ever expected House Veirasha to react that way? Oh, it is House Dark now, isn’t it? But still, while you didn’t get all of Veirasha you certainly got all of Merro. Bravo, sir.” She smiled at him overly sweet as she spoke.
“I’m sure I have no idea what you mean, Kali. I was not involved in that disaster. If you will but speak to the council you will understand I made several trips to both Veirasha and Merro to try to stop that tragedy from occurring,” he said. He wasn’t sure where she got her information, but it was clear someone needed to die.
“Oh, of course you did, because everyone knows you are a paragon of virtue, Mythandar Morcaillo, and that’s why you asked me here to speak of what we may do to improve this wonderful prison we share.” Kali’s voice dripped with contempt. “Cut the shit, Myth. I know you for what you are, and you know me. You may be used to lying to them, but it does no good to lie to me.”
He cleared his throat and gave a disgusted sigh. “I need a common threat to bind them together. I need something truly terrible that you can create, and I need it soon. The Fionaveir are up to something and I’m not sure what it is. They have been speaking with the mercenaries and keeping a very low profile. I need the High Houses united before then, and you can make that possible,” he said quietly. Kali was perhaps the best geneticist in existence, inside the barrier or otherwise. Her creations bordered on ge
nius, mad genius to be sure, but he didn’t need sanity for this plan. All he needed was for her to agree.
She tapped a finger against her delicate chin before answering, as if in deep thought. “So, let me get this straight. You want to bind the High Houses together so they can face the Fionaveir united. Under one leader, I’m guessing, and you want to be that leader. So you need me to create something to spook them into being good little lackeys. Is that what you are saying?” She tilted her head in question.
He refrained from grinding his teeth. “More or less,” he answered, wishing she would stop all of the extra conversation and simply agree. He was not used to being talked to in this manner and found it more irritating than he cared to admit.
She gave a delicate shake of her head. “I don’t buy it. Let’s be a bit more truthful, Changeling.”
He visibly winced at the use of the word and had to fight to keep from glaring at her. “Does it matter? I had thought you enjoyed this sort of thing,” he growled.
She gave a slight nod. “Oh I do, I do, but it’s just that I like to have things nice and clear when I make a business arrangement. So as far as I see it, and I will try to be clear, you are a Changeling, and as far as everyone else knows Changelings are extinct. They all went through very drastic lengths to try to make that so. If they knew what you were, they would be howling for your blood. So you are killing them off one by one, and want me to create something nasty to help. Is that a little closer to the mark?” The purr was back in her voice and he desperately wanted to throttle her.
“That would be very close to the mark,” he admitted. May you die with them, he added silently. “Is there a problem with this?” he asked after a lengthy silence.
“Oh, no, not really, I’ve been trying to kill you bastards off since they put up the barrier. I created the Serpents, my demons of the sea, the Genji, my delightful little goblins, and the Bendazzi, the real reason you Immortals stay out of the woods at night. All in hopes that one of them would kill you all off.” She gave a sigh. “So far the Bendazzi are doing the best job at it. Not many of them left, though, because you all cheat and gang up on my poor little kitties.” She sniffed as if the idea of killing the monstrous things was wholly undignified. “It’s not the idea of the game that gives me pause, Myth. I’m well used to the game of making nasty little surprises to kill you off. I’m just not used to someone asking me to play my games. Naturally, I’m suspicious.” She picked up Christian’s half full glass of wine and took a dainty sip. “There is of course the matter of payment. I think you all tell enough spooky bed time stories about me to know what that is,” she said as she set the glass back down.
He gave a slight nod and relaxed back in his seat, his temper cooling with the fact that she would do as he wished. “Morcaillo will have to suffer its losses of course. If we survived this without loss, it would look questionable. I will not be giving you my own blood of course, but if you want the Changeling genetic as badly as I think you do, I’m sure some blood can be gathered from our losses,” he said quietly.
“Your sweet son then? Aww. That’s a shame, and he tries so hard to make you happy. You really are a bastard, aren’t you, Myth?” Kali asked.
“Perhaps my wife, I’m not sure at this point, but both would suit your purpose,” he answered. It really would be a shame to part with Christian. The boy was naïve and always eager to please. Sarah, however, had her uses as well by producing more sons. He would have to put thought into the matter, and he had time for that due to the months it would take Kali to finish their little project. He would decide by then.
“Ahh, that’s right. I had forgotten your house only has one branch on the family tree now. Does your sweet little boy know he could also call his mommy, Sis? Such a twisted man you are.” She kept her tone light despite her words.
“I took what measures I had to, in order to ensure the Changeling Bloodline remained strong. As far as what he knows, it is none of your business,” he snapped. Once again, she had proven to know far too much about him, and he mentally noted to find her informant quickly. “I do hate to be rude, Kali, but Christian has thrown my schedule off for the day, and I have a man due to arrive at any moment. It would be awkward if you were still here, so if there is nothing further that we need to cover on this matter…” He kept his tone polite and hoped she would just accept the dismissal easily. He wasn’t sure how he would explain to the High Commander of the Justicars why Kali was here. The man had been bought, but every arrangement had its limits, and Kali was hated by just about everyone. With good reason, of course. Her creations tended to make life difficult for all.
“Ah, yes of course, Myth. You need to tell your pet Justicar to frame the Fionaveir. The Spring Games should be much livelier with daily executions,” Kali said with another dainty smile and stood stretching like a cat. “Are you going to use real Fionaveir or just tattoo some thugs?” she asked lightly.
“I don’t see how that is any of your concern,” he snapped back. As a matter of fact, he had planned for tattooed thugs, but there should be no possible way she should know about that. With an inward growl, he decided to ignore it for now. It wasn’t as if Kali would be talking to anyone that might actually listen, anyway. If she was too well informed, oh well, his reputation was carefully honed and sterling. No one would ever take her word over his.
She gave a slight humph and shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’d go with the thugs myself. Fionaveir do have very long memories and hold grudges like no other. Ta Ta,” she said. She cast a quick transport spell and vanished. Myth watched her go with a raised eyebrow. Not many would dare use a transport spell, there were too many ways it could go wrong. For her to do so right in front of him, was as much a slap in the face. She was saying without words that he couldn’t possibly interrupt her magic. He pondered that as he waited for the Justicar to arrive. Either he had lost a lot of his intimidation value, or he had seriously underestimated Kali’s power, he mused.
Chapter 10
Sanctuary
They were seated high above the arena floor in the Morcaillo family seats. Jala waited until the servant had gone with the trays of empty plates before looking to Christian. “Why do they call you Shade? Is it because of your ship?” She kept her voice low and leaned a bit toward him to hear his answer, and in truth to lean a bit closer to him.
He gave her a smile and leaned over slightly in his own chair to where they were only inches apart. “Actually, the ship is named that because they started calling me Shade. It goes back to a debate in my ethics class my first year here. The professor was trying to illustrate right and wrong and good and evil, using black and white to emphasize his point. I objected saying the world simply isn’t that way. That there is no black and white.” He gave her a glance and a smile. “I’m glad you asked me when the others weren’t around, actually. They would club you for bringing this topic up again,” he teased.
She felt her eyes widen a bit. “Umm, why?” she asked.
“I believe the world is shades of grey. There is no such thing as black and white as far as right or wrong go. I used the Fionaveir as an example in my debate. Yes, they break the law. In a black and white world that would be black, it would be evil. However, they break the law for good reasons, which makes it grey. No single person is completely good or evil, and the same can be said for actions. It all lies in between, thus grey. I preached this theory for weeks after the debate and gradually my closest friends stopped calling me Christian and started calling me Shade. If the topic was brought up again, they would either cry or fight, I’m not sure which.” He gave her a smirk.
She frowned at him. His theory had merit, but she could see holes in it. Some acts were purely and simply evil. “What about the destruction of Merro? How could that possibly be considered grey?” she asked.
“Do you know the full story?” She shook her head in answer, and he nodded. “House Dark was called House Veirasha before that happened. It was one of the original houses and was ren
owned for its strength, in both power and character. They had very rigid beliefs, and when someone threatened those beliefs, they defended them. That’s part of what got them locked in the prison.” He paused and took a sip of his wine before he continued. “Anyway, House Merrodin and House Veirasha were always at odds with each other. Merrodin was a bit of a tyrant, and Veirasha was known for making their life difficult. In a play, finally to be rid of a thorn in their side, Merrodin released a plague in Veirasha lands. It was unstoppable and started with the livestock and worked its way through the people. No matter what type of magic was used to attempt a cure, it had very little effect. Veirasha was in ruins and weaker than they had ever been. Damon and his two sons Tyber and Zach were forced to man the borders themselves with the reinforcements they had recalled from Sanctuary. Their standing armies had been decimated. Even the High House itself had not been spared, for Damon’s own wife and daughter died from the plague before he could return to the capital. All the while, Merrodin’s armies were preparing to assault him and finish off his house while he was weak. So, in an act of desperation, he did the unthinkable. He destroyed what was left of his own land and people. He seized the Mantle of Destruction and turned that power on the one that had forced his hand. The only ones spared were his two sons. His land is as barren as Merro.” He watched her expression and shrugged. “In Damon’s eyes, if his house wasn’t there to block Merrodin’s evil, no one else would. So when he saw all hope was lost for his land he made sure to take his enemy with him. In a manner of speaking, it was a shade of grey. Merrodin was a monster. If you have ever heard some of the stories of the slave plantations in that land you would understand better,” he added quietly.
The Elder Blood Chronicles Bk 1 In Shades of Grey Page 16