From the Ashes (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #3)(176)
Jala nodded slowly and sorted her thoughts. Every time she had needed help, Vaze had appeared and had never asked a thing of her in return. It was true that he had sent Finn back to the Darklands, but perhaps he was trying to help her then, too. Her Uncle seemed to know everything. Perhaps he had known the truth of Finn’s feelings and had been trying to spare her the pain. “You are welcome here, Vaze,” Jala said at last as she carefully sat the staff back down on the bed and crossed the room to stand before him. “I don’t always understand what you do or why you are doing it, but you have never moved against me. In every action you have taken you have tried to protect me, though I didn’t always understand it at the time. Thank you,” she said as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him lightly.
Vaze stiffened for a moment then hesitantly returned the hug. “You are my kin, Jala. You are the only family I have left in this world aside from my father. I will always try to protect you,” he said softly as he pulled back from the embrace. “The others are waiting downstairs. I will let them know you will be down shortly,” Vaze said as he stepped back toward the door.
“Thank you for that as well, Vaze. You have no idea how much it meant to Valor to see his brother alive,” Jala called after him, a faint smile tracing her lips as she remembered the look on Valor’s face. She turned back from the bed as the door closed behind Vaze and began to dress quickly. Things were looking up rapidly. Between the dream of Legacy and then the morning’s events, she shared Valor’s opinion. She couldn’t see how anything could steal her smile today.
Music filled the hall and Jala leaned back in her chair with a smile on her face. Blue’s clear voice was filled with joy and the mood around the table reflected it. Her eyes moved slowly across the faces of her people as they traded stories with Lord Micah’s men.
“You will have to explain to me sometime why your people are so protective over the Seravae. There have been four fights in the camps outside for the use of the word Spook,” Micah said quietly from her left and Jala smiled as she glanced at him.
“If not for Ash, Jala and I both would have died in Avanti. Our people know that and they have learned that our Soulreavers are different from the raiders they are familiar with,” Valor explained from her other side.
“I wasn’t awake during the rescue, but from what I hear, Ash held our spirits in our bodies until they were able to get us to a healer,” Jala added with a nod toward Ash who sat in animated conversation with Nigel.
“And how did you happen to get dragons to help you?” Micah asked quietly, his attention moving to follow her gaze.
“Nigel and his comrades arrived after the second battle with Avanti. When Valor brought down an entire army with just his company,” Jala replied and felt Valor shift beside her.
“That is a story I would dearly love to hear, but I fear the night is already growing long and we have much to discuss,” Micah said with a sigh, his gaze moving to her once more. “I can’t believe that you are here and I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for it. We didn’t expect anyone to help Arovan.”
“I don’t leave friends to rot, Micah. We came as soon as we were able. I only brought two thousand with me, but I don’t think it will take that many to face the Blights,” Jala said with another smile. A month ago the act of smiling had seemed impossible and now she couldn’t seem to keep the expression from her face.
“I have another favor to ask of you instead,” Micah began hesitantly and fidgeted with his glass of wine.
“Then ask,” Jala urged him.
“We were sent south to forcefully evacuate those too stubborn to leave their land. We have refugees camped among our soldiers now, to escort north. I still have to reach the Elemental towers of Amdany, but the refugees are slowing our progress so much that it may be too late by the time I reach there. Seravae is raiding in numbers that they have never shown before and I worry that the mages there will not be able to hold against them,” Micah explained, his gaze rising to meet her eyes once more.
“You want me to continue north with your people,” Jala surmised and nodded slowly.
“I cannot believe the mages are still in Amdany,” Valor began with a shake of his head. Leaning forward he looked at Jala and she could see the worry on his face. “Honor’s wife and daughters live in that tower. He must be frantic to reach them. Why hasn’t she evacuated before now?”
Micah smiled, his eyes flicking toward Honor who was engaged in a heated debate with Neph farther down the table. “He is frantic and the pace we are moving at is like torture to him. He has asked permission to ride ahead four times now and so far I have refused him.” Sighing, Micah twirled the wine in his glass once more and shrugged at Valor. “You know how Chalice is. She is as strong willed and independent as her husband or their marriage never would have lasted so long with his extended absence from her side. Her life revolves around the Amdany towers and she will not abandon her post.”
“We will help you,” Jala promised, glancing back to Valor with a smile. “I’m sure Valor will be able to guide us to your holdings in the north,” she added and Valor nodded in answer.
“Our plan is to get everyone to safety at the Dawnspire Fortress and then strike back in force to clear the enemies from Arovan. Glis stands with us and with the help of Merro it shouldn’t take long to win back our country. Then we can focus on Glis though that may take much longer than any of us care to think about,” Micah explained.