“Truly, and I promise you she is safe. I don’t know how much longer I can promise that though. My country is weak and I have many enemies. Until you are settled, though, I will do everything in my power to keep her protected,” Jala said quietly.
“You give me my life and then my daughter and ask nothing in return?” Sebastian asked cautiously his eyes searching her for any sign of deceit.
“As I told Micah, I ask for nothing more than a kind smile the next time we meet. I came here to help not to buy favor,” Jala explained as she carefully untwined her hand from his. “Really though, I must be going now. I did not explain to my friends that I was leaving and I know they will be frantic for my return.”
Micah rose from his place beside the bed and gave a quick nod to Sebastian. “I’ll see Lady Merrodin back to her escort and then I will return,” he promised as he moved to open the door for her.
Jala nodded gratefully and stepped out onto the stairs on shaky legs. Placing a hand firmly on the railing she made her way slowly down the stairs wishing with every step that healing didn’t drain her so thoroughly.
“I don’t care what you say about not wanting favor. If ever you are in need of anything you need only ask and if it’s in my power I will grant it,” Micah said as they reached the bottom stair. “I don’t even know how you knew he was ill, but there is no doubt in my mind that he wasn’t long for the world and now…” His voice trailed off as he looked back up the stairs in wonder. “I’ve never seen such healing, Jala. Not even from Rose in Sanctuary. He looks as he did in spring. Full of life without a single hint that he has been ill.”
“Death wove magic upon him. I saw the strands leading to him when I fought her. I came so suddenly and without warning because I wanted to save him before she recovered from the wounds I gave her,” Jala explained.
“You what?” Micah gasped his eyes widening at her words. “You truly went to the Darklands then? I thought they meant you were dead by that tale, but they didn’t, did they? You literally went to the Darklands?”
Jala nodded and let out a breath slowly. “In hopes of returning with Finn,” she said sadly.
“I hadn’t heard of your loss, Jala. I’m so sorry. As I said, we had heard that you and Valor were in the Darklands. We assumed you had both died in the battle for Sanctuary, but we hadn’t heard of Finn’s fall,” Micah explained. “I didn’t know Finn well, but you clearly loved him dearly if you went to such lengths to save him.”
Blinking back tears, Jala nodded and looked away. Swallowing heavily, she nodded once more and wiped at her eyes with her good hand. “I did and I do. He is gone but my love for him is not,” she replied in a hushed voice and crossed to the door that led to the main room of the house. “Good luck to you, Micah. I look forward to our next meeting and hope we may call each other friends,” she said with a slight bow of her head.
“Trust that we can, Jala. For what you have given me tonight, I will always consider you friend and ally,” Micah replied and bowed his head in return.
The room beyond was empty aside from Blue who sat cross-legged by the fireplace. She looked up quickly as Jala entered the room a questioning look on her face.
“He is as well as I can make him and is awake and talking if you would like to see him,” Jala said, her gaze sweeping the room for any sign of Valor.
Blue rose to her feet quickly, hope dancing in her dark eyes and then seemed to notice Jala’s loss. Pausing she motioned back to the door. “He is outside with Honor near the eastern gate. Follow the road out front straight that way,” the bard offered, pointing toward the far wall of the house as she spoke. “I hope you understand why I don’t offer to guide you.”
“I do and I don’t blame you. Thank you for the directions. I’m sure I can find him,” Jala said with a nod. She watched the woman hurry past her then wrapped her coat tightly around herself and stepped out into the frigid winter night. Her breath fogged before her as she made her way quickly down the stairs and down the street in the direction Blue had indicated. The town was silent and still aside from a few sentries on the wall.
She found the two brothers standing just beyond the gate with their backs to her as she approached. Both men stood of the same height and held the same powerful frame. If not for the difference of Honor’s shorter hair and earrings she would have been hard pressed to tell them apart from this view. She cleared her throat as she grew closer and they both turned to regard her in surprise.
“He is awake and talking now and should recover without issue,” Jala informed Honor as she moved to stand at Valor’s side.
Honor blinked once and looked from her and then back in the direction she had come. “Truly?” he asked in disbelief.
“I told you she worked miracles,” Valor said softly and turned slowly back to gaze once more at the snow covered meadow beyond the town.
“Valor, I hope you understand, but I have to see for myself,” Honor said, shaking his head the expression of disbelief still on his face. “If it is true, you have my eternal thanks, Lady Merrodin,” he added before moving past her toward the small house.
“I do and good bye,” Valor called softly his gaze never leaving the meadow.
Jala moved forward to stand beside him and followed his gaze trying to determine what held him so captivated. A soft brush against her side brought her attention downward for a brief moment and she smiled faintly at Marrow. The Bendazzi stretched and rubbed his head against her side before curling himself around her legs.
He has been staring at the snow for hours I think he might be weak in the head, the Bendazzi informed her as he leaned his head around her leg to regard Valor skeptically.
“This is the closest I’ve been to home in years,” Valor said softly and motioned with a gloved hand toward the snow covered fields. “That is my father’s land as far as you can see beyond the river,” he explained.
Jala blinked and looked past the forest, her eyes searching for a river. Glancing back up at Valor she shook her head faintly. “What river?” she asked stupidly.
Valor grinned and let out a slight chuckle. “Honor has been dumping snow on this area for over a month. As it turns out Blights do not hunt in heavy snowfall as they can be detected by the patterns in the snow.” He paused and motioned to an area beyond them with his hand. “The river is just beyond the trees and covered with over four feet of snow but it is there. It’s beautiful in the spring. The water is so clear you can see every stone in it and sweet enough to get drunk on. It’s called the Dawnfall in Arovan. In Glis I’m fairly certain they simply call it the border river.”
Jala nodded in understanding and then looked up at the longing expression on Valor’s face. “Why didn’t you ever go home, Valor?” she asked gently.
Valor’s expression clouded and he let out a sigh. “I suppose, given the circumstances at Merro, that it would be best if I explained everything to you,” he said and let out a breath as he leaned back against a tree and met her gaze. His eyes dropped to his cloak and he began to unravel a loose thread from its seams as he started to speak again. “You know about my early knighthood and of my Arovanni so I’ll begin just past that. In those days, I was the golden child of Arovan. I had already attended the required years at the Academy and I was well on my way to proving myself in battle. I had a reputation that shone brighter than anything. Naturally, when I was forced to take a squire there were several candidates and in the end I didn’t get to make the choice. The one they assigned me was from a very powerful house in Arovan and had an ego to rival my own, despite his age. At that time I was sixteen and he was twelve. I was young for a knight and he was old for a squire.” Valor paused in his words but continued to work at the loose threads, keeping his eyes focused on his cloak rather than looking at her.
Jala didn’t press him to continue and turned her gaze instead to the pristine snow of the forest. She knew he would continue when he had found the right words and it was clear that the topic was not a pleasant one for him.
“As I said, I had my Arovanni then, but such a mount isn’t suitable for everyday use. They are sacred and thus they are reserved for quests or war. So I had acquired Vanguard. He was young then, barely past three, and filled with spirit. We were making our way back south from getting him and had stopped in a small village for the night. I turned the horses over to my squire and went into the inn to secure rooms for the two of us. I was barely inside long enough to hail the innkeeper when the stable yard erupted into chaos. Thinking the boy was under attack, I rushed out to find Vanguard running hard for the open fields and my squire sitting square on his ass in the middle of the stable yard. There was a girl standing behind him, so thin it looked as though a strong wind could carry her off and she was clutching a chunk of firewood in both hands,” Valor shook his head and rubbed his face.
“She walloped your squire?” Jala asked with a raised eyebrow, the words forming a perfect picture in her mind of the scene.
“With a vengeance. It took me close to ten minutes to get the story from her. She was terrified of me and my squire was too addled to speak. When I finally managed it however I was furious. As it turns out Vanguard had been skittish about entering the dark stables and my squire had taken to him with a whip. That in itself is bad enough but the fool had been lashing him in the face when the girl saw what was happening.” Valor shook his head once more and glanced up at Jala. “There is barely a thing worse than striking a horse in the face. It ruins them. When the girl tried to stop him, my squire turned on her with the whip and she showed me the lash marks on her arm to support her story. By this time my squire was on his feet and hotly denying the girl’s words, but I could see the lie on his face. In my anger I dismissed him from my service and informed him quite clearly that the scrawny girl he had struck was more deserving of the armor he wore. I saw him loaded onto a coach that night before I went in search of my runaway horse. It was later that night that the girl found me once more as I took my evening meal, and asked me if I had meant what I said. At first I was shocked, but after seeing the look of desperation on her face, I simply nodded.” Valor pulled several more strings from his cloak and then stood upright stretching his back. Reaching into his cloak he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
“So you took the girl as your squire,” Jala surmised, still not understanding why any of this would disgrace him in his homeland.
“She was young and common born and had no skill with a blade but was a natural hand with horses. I suffered a blow to my reputation by dismissing such a well-born son of a powerful house in favor of the scrawny little common girl, but I thought nothing of it. For the next year she traveled with me and began to learn the trade with a speed that amazed me. It wasn’t until we traveled to Glis with my family and I began to show an unreasonable amount of interest in Blue that things began to spiral downward. My father decided that day that I needed a betrothal to keep my mind and certain other parts of me from wandering and so he set about it at once. I ignored his efforts, of course, and continued my travels and met Finn that summer.” He paused again and gave her a look of regret. “I hated him with every breath of my body from the moment the first words left his mouth. He was as arrogant as I was proud, and he spat upon everything that I held dear. More to the point, he had acquired certain friends during his time in Arovan that had more than enough reason to dislike me. My former squire was in his company along with another knight that I knew by reputation alone. His name isn’t important to the story and I won’t sully his reputation should you ever meet him, but he had a reputation almost as dark as Finn’s. I spent several weeks in constant clashes with the three of them before I received word from my father that a betrothal had been arranged. There were certain matters on that account that I had to attend to, so I was forced to leave the city. In my absence, Finn left for Sanctuary. Several weeks passed before I saw the other two and unfortunately it was at my betrothal dinner. I didn’t drink much at that point of my life, but I was nervous that night and was drinking more than I should have.” His words trailed off once more and he stared out over the snowy landscape in silence as he gathered his words once more.
Jala watched him and pulled her coat tighter around herself wondering if she shouldn’t have simply left the matter alone. It was in the past, after all. It had been that look of longing that had prompted her to ask. From everything she had seen so far from Valor she couldn’t imagine him doing something so terrible that he couldn’t even set foot in his country again.
“It was about an hour into the dinner that I began to feel the effects of my excess. Thinking myself simply drunk, I politely excused myself from the company and went in search of air outside. Nesra powder takes a while to work on the system but by the time I made it to the courtyard it was coursing through my blood.” Valor gave her a meaningful look. “That’s part of why I hate Madren as much as I do. I know full-well what he put in the chocolates he gave you. I didn’t realize I had been drugged at the time, any more than I realized that the wine I had been drinking had been far stronger than the normal variety. All I knew at that time was that I was at my betrothal dinner with raging lust and if I didn’t get out of sight I would shame my entire family. I chose the stable as my refuge until I could sort through my issues and set to pacing an empty stall trying desperately to clear my head,” He sighed heavily and rubbed his face then cleared his throat. “The bastards sent my squire out to check on me. She had been scrawny when I found her but good food and travel suited her and in my care she had blossomed into a beauty. She found me pacing the stall and I tried to send her away but she refused. Being raised roughly in the lower quarters of town, it didn’t take her long to see my difficulty and all it took was a kiss. I knew she admired me and I knew she cared for me but by all the gods I wish she would have listened to me and simply left me alone.” His voice broke and he let out a ragged breath, his eyes staring off over the fields of Arovan once more. “They found us shortly after and I was arrested for rape,” he said quietly.
“But she kissed you first didn’t she?” Jala broke in.
“She was willing. It wasn’t rape. I was deep in my cups and filled with enough Nesra powder to lift a eunuch’s flag, however, so it wasn’t gentle. She was considered a child by Arovan laws as well, given that she was fifteen at the time. I fought during the arrest but all thoughts of self-defense fled as I sobered. I hated myself for what I had done and when they named it rape on the charges I didn’t deny it. I had dishonored her as well as my family with my lack of will and I was more than ready to face my punishment,” Valor said with disgust.
“What is the punishment in Arovan for that?” Jala asked softly, wondering exactly what he had been about to face so willingly.
“Castration for rape, and drawing and quartering for the violation of a child,” Valor explained calmly.
Jala blanched and stared at Valor with wide eyes. “You were willing to face that when it wasn’t truly rape?” she gasped.
“I dishonored her and my family,” Valor repeated. “I had no intent to marry her when I took her and I was not compassionate in the act. You don’t understand, Jala, she barely had enough Elder Blood to cast the magic required to become a knight. Had I gotten her with child it would have killed her. I am pure Elder Blood without a drop of common blood in my veins. Simply the power of a child of my blood would have drained her. I risked her life and took her virtue all because I was fool enough to drink too much and didn’t have the fucking willpower to tell her no, twice. I should have shown more wisdom than to drink that much around enemies.” He let out a long sigh and glanced back toward the town. “Had it not been for Sebastian and Micah I would have died for those crimes. It was Sebastian stepping forward that halted the trial and Micah’s insistence of a full investigation that saved me. That and Bridgette’s full confession on the stand and her admitting to a room filled with people that she instigated the act with a kiss and refused to leave my side when I directly ordered her to.”
“Bri
dgette?” Jala broken in. “As in the knight in Merro, Bridgette?” she pressed her eyes widening once more.
“The very same. Now I’m sure you understand my shock at her appearance. I hadn’t seen her since the trial. At any rate after her confession and Micah’s investigation the charges of rape were dropped. There was still the matter of her being under age but Sebastian cleared that by pointing out that she was very near the correct age and no one could sincerely prove her actual date of birth so she might have very well been sixteen on that day. So I was spared death and dismemberment, but my reputation was shattered, as was my career. My father intervened on that account and rather than allow me to be stripped of all rank and honors he insisted I be placed on probation. It was decided between him and Lord Elijah that my probation would be spent in Sanctuary at the Academy so that I would be out of sight of everyone in Arovan. The condition was that my actions in Sanctuary would speak for me in Arovan. If I comported myself with honor and integrity while in the city, I would retain my rank in Arovan. Technically I had already passed the required study at the Academy before all of this started, but given the situation it was deemed that higher learning was in order.” He sighed and glanced at her. “And well, you saw how I comported myself in Sanctuary. So if I return home I lose everything including the name Hai’dia. I won’t shame my family by holding the name after I have been stripped of everything else,” Valor finished with another heavy sigh and kept his gaze on the distant fields refusing to look back at her.
“I barely remember the man in Sanctuary. My memories are clouded by the knight who braved hell to help me retrieve my husband, by images of a man that doesn’t flinch from anything, no matter how terrifying, by the multiple times you have risked your life to save mine, and by the fact that you gave me everything you had when I most needed it so that I could save my child and live,” Jala said softly and tugged on his cloak until he turned to face her. “I don’t care about your past, Valor, and I won’t judge you by it. The only thing that matters to me is what you have shown me, and that is compassion, loyalty, and trust. To hell with Arovan if they don’t want you, Merro does, and you will always have a place of honor at my table.”
The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 3 From the Ashes Page 22