Blood, Honor and Dreams (The Elder Blood Chronicles – Book T(8)

Num, num, dead bitch, full Bendazzi, there is no down side here, Marrow said as he moved forward to stand between Jala and Cassia’s far too attentive brother.

“I think you will find me much harder to subdue than Madren. He doesn’t fight back,” Jala warned. She felt Marrow tense beside her and knew if this went violent someone would die, the Bendazzi would see to that.

“Oh, and she is feisty too,” the blond man said with a grin and started to move toward her again, though he was keeping a respectful eye on Marrow as he did so.

“One more step, Nate, and I’ll send you back to daddy in pieces,” Finn’s voice came from behind her and he quickly stepped up beside Marrow who was now crouching, waiting the moment to pounce.

“And I’ll cover up the mess nicely so the Justicars never hear of it,” Valor said, cheerfully stepping up to stand on her other side. Jala contained her sigh of relief and smiled pleasantly at Cassia. “Please release Madren. He doesn’t know what you want him to tell you,” she tried again, keeping her voice calm.

“Finn dear, I really don’t think you want to be involved in this. Try to retain some of your reputation, please. When I offered you money to befriend the little whore I really didn’t think you would take it this far. I just wanted her away from Shade,” Cassia said, her voice dripping with contempt. A few whispers and muffled laughter filtered through the crowd and Cassia smiled with satisfaction.

“My wife is not a whore and I take great offense in you calling her that.” He paused as a louder ripple of chatter ran through the crowd at his words. “If you really want to talk about whores though, we can, Cassia,” he said, once the noise died down again.

Cassia smiled at him and shook a delicate finger at him as if scolding a child. “Be careful, Finn,” she warned, and then broke into merry laughter. “Oh, I’m sorry, I just can’t believe you married the peasant. How quaint, an exile and a peasant. Your children will be true gutter rats,” she said, her voice still choked with giggles.

“Better a peasant than a High born slut,” Valor said, bringing the laughter to an abrupt end and silence to the crowd.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with you Valor,” Cassia snarled coldly.

“No, it doesn’t Val. I’ll have to agree with her there. This has to do with Cassia and her unhealthy obsession with my wife,” Finn said with a sigh. Turning his attention to Valor he smiled wistfully. “In for a copper, in for a gold eh,” he said and drew a cigarette from the pocket of his coat.

“Oh shit,” Valor mumbled as Finn lit the cigarette and turned back to Cassia.

“What?” Jala asked, watching Finn and glancing at Valor.

“Does she still take new customers even though you married her Finn? She really isn’t a bad looking piece of ass and if she is a peasant whore it’s bound to be worth the money,” Nate cut in with a smirk. More laughter ran through the crowds.

Finn gave a dramatic sigh and nodded, watching Nate. “My wife isn’t a whore and if you are looking for the bargain discount I’d suggest your sister. She hasn’t quite figured out she can charge for it yet so you might want to take advantage of that.” Tapping his finger lightly on his chin he glanced at Cassia and then back to Nate. “Although, I feel obliged to warn you that after I slept with her it took three weeks and two visits to the priest before it stopped burning when I pissed.”

“You lying bastard, the only reason I slept with you was because I was drunk. If you hadn’t gotten me drunk first I never would have slummed it with the likes of you,” Cassia snarled, moving quickly to stand by her brother.

“Oh bloody, bloody hell,” Valor mumbled again.

“Oh Fortune, what is he doing?” Jala whispered, her jaw dropped slightly.

“Really? It was the stable boy that told me you were easy. Well, and the kitchen boy and two guards, but it was the stable boy first,” Finn said, a note of disbelief in his voice. “I really never considered myself lower than a stable boy, but oh, well,” he added with a shrug and took a long drag from his cigarette.

“You are lying!” Cassia screeched. The crowd had fallen silent around them, intent on the newest gossip.

Chuckling, Finn shook his head at Cassia. “No, I’m not, and everyone here knows how brutally honest I am. Sorry Cassia, but when it comes to honesty my reputation is secure,” he said with another shrug.

“The stable boy?” Nate said in disbelief, looking back at his sister. “Which one, the twelve-year-old or the older one with the limp?” he asked, his expression filled with disgust.