From the Ashes (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #3)(160)

There was another snort of laughter from the back of the room and Sovaesh walked toward the door, holding one hand up in apology. “Forgive me, Lord. Just a moment to gain my composure once more,” Sovaesh said in a voice choked with continued mirth.

The High Lord watched Sovaesh leave with a frown on his handsome face and then looked back to Margundrak. “If you can manage to kill them all, Avanti would be grateful. I will of course compensate you for your trouble,” he said and then smiled down at Cassia.

Truce watched them silently, his mood darkening with every word. There was so much he would love to say. It was almost unbearable at times to be in the same room with them and know if he spoke his mind, he would die. His sister had died for speaking her mind and acting against what she saw as wrong. He had never actually met Dashara. She had died long before he was born, but his mother told him stories about her. The stories had been warnings. Every story was a warning to him of the price of honesty in House Avanti. With another silent sigh, Truce sank into his chair once more and kept his mouth firmly closed. Dashara had paid the cost for honesty, but he couldn’t afford to. He had a wife and son waiting at home that depended on him too much for him to throw it all away by speaking his mind.

“I will deal with the traitor. If there is opportunity, I will deal with the rabble as well,” Margundrak said, his voice still sounding bored. With one quick nod the man left the parlor.

“Will just he be enough, Daddy? They killed the lovely dragon that was with us, remember? Maybe you should send more than one,” Cassia said in her irritating whine.

“Lord Margundrak is High Lady Willameir’s executioner honey. He is well versed in killing dragons and the dragon that fell in the first battle was young and apparently unskilled in war. I’m sure there will be no problems,” Donrey assured his daughter with another smile. Looking back up his eyes fell on the two soldiers seated before his desk doing their best to remain unnoticed. “Sovaesh.” The High Lord’s voice rose like a whip as he spoke the name and the Assassin stepped back into the room at once. “Take these two and kill them. I will not suffer cowards and failures in my ranks.”

“Shall I take the girl too, Milord? She was captured as well,” Sovaesh said, his tone flat with no trace of humor. Sovaesh looked directly at Cassia and Truce had to fight back a snort of laughter. Only Sovaesh would dare such a comment. The man was too useful for his father to simply throw away, but comments toward Cassia would be pushing even his luck.

“You impertinent bastard!” Cassia fairly screeched, leaping from her chair to point at Sovaesh. “Daddy, he threatened me!”

“I will forget you said that in light of the fact that you returned Cassia safely to me. Do not test my patience again, Sovaesh,” Donrey warned in a low voice.

“Of course, Milord,” Sovaesh said with a quick nod, but Truce could see the creases at the corners of the man’s eyes. The Assassin was smiling despite the warning. “Would you walk or shall I drag you out?” Sovaesh asked the two men who sat in stunned disbelief at their pending deaths.

“I’ll walk. I am no coward and there was no avoiding failure in that situation,” the elite growled as he rose proudly to his feet. The man dared a look of defiance at the High Lord before turning stiffly for the door.

“And you?” Sovaesh asked the young man who still sat staring at the desk with wide eyes. The Assassin waited for a long moment before shrugging and grabbing the man by the back of his coat. With a quick tug he dragged the man from his seat and started toward the door. “Shall I spike the heads or simply dispose of the bodies, Milord?” he asked as he reached the door.

“Display the bodies to warn the others,” the High Lord said as he watched them leave.

“Desertion in the ranks will be up by morning,” Sovaesh said quietly as he disappeared into the hall.

“Daddy, why do you put up with him? He is so rude,” Cassia asked at the same time Truce was wishing he was more like the Assassin. It would be nice to be too valuable to be killed for speaking up. Unlike Sovaesh, however, Truce knew he held very little value in his father’s eyes.





“I thought Avanti was all farmland,” Jala said as they stopped at the top of a gentle rise and stared down at the beginning of what looked to be a rather large sized forest.

“The Lord’s forest,” Sovann said from just behind her. Pushing his horse forward he gazed down at the trees for a long moment then looked over to her. “If not for the trees you could see the walls of the city, Jala. We are less than a day out now.” His voice was quiet and his gaze returned to the forest the moment he had finished speaking.

“Are you all right, Sovann?” Wisp asked, her voice filled with concern. It was no secret that the Fae had grown very close with Sovann and Jala was amazed the two weren’t already sharing a tent with the way they acted.

“My mother and sisters are in the city,” Sovann said softly.

“Will they fight us?” Valor asked from Jala’s other side. The knight had been riding beside her all morning and though there hadn’t been much conversation between them, his company alone had been enough to keep Jala’s spirits up.

“My mother and sisters?” Sovann asked in shock, and then quickly shook his head. “No, they don’t fight. My little sister is only ten, and my older sister has never fought a day in her life,” Sovann explained quickly.