From the Ashes (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #3)(179)
Jala nodded her head slowly, her own throat tightening at the thought. “At least we face it together,” she whispered, and to her surprise there was comfort in the thought.
“We are not going to surrender,” Jala began as her eyes traveled across the faces of everyone in the tent. They were all here. Neph and Valor, the dragons, the officers of the Arovan knights and archers, Ash, Vaze, Sovaesh, and not a single one of them showed surprise on their face at her words. “We will make our stand here unless anyone has a better suggestion,” Jala said, her eyes scanning their faces once more.
“There are dragons among the Rivasans as well. I cannot see them, but I can smell them,” Nigel said quietly. One of the women to his right nodded her agreement and Jala sighed.
“I suppose they don’t want us to get any illusions about a possible victory,” Jala said with a rueful smile. “They must have heard word of us from Avanti,” she added and slowly shook her head. “I will not force anyone to stand with me. I plan to inform the soldiers of that when I leave this tent.”
“I don’t think that is wise, Milady. With such obvious defeat looming, I don’t think you should give them the opportunity to run. We will lose many from our numbers that we desperately need,” Bridgette objected softly, her gaze flicking to the others at the table for support.
“I will offer it, nonetheless. I will not command those that have stood by me and fought for me, to die against their will,” Jala insisted, her expression making it clear that she wouldn’t change her mind. “If you all would please gather them outside my tent now. What I have to say should be heard by everyone.” She watched them all start to rise with her words and held up a hand before they could leave. “Valor, Vaze, Sovaesh, and Neph, please wait, I need to speak with all of you privately,” Jala said.
With a deep breath she watched them sit back down and waited until the others had gone before speaking. She felt tears beginning in her eyes and forced them back. She didn’t have time for that now. Clearing her throat she pulled a scroll from her cloak and sat it down silently on the table. “This document names Sovann Sovaesh as the regent of Merro until my son is of age to rule,” Jala explained as she pressed her hand to the worn paper. “I wrote it not long after I married Jexon, though until this morning I never truly thought that I would need it. Vaze, Neph, I would ask that you both sign it as witness.”
“I fail to see what good that will do, Jala. If we are both about to fight to the death beside you,” Neph grumbled his eyes narrowing as he watched her.
“You won’t be, Neph,” Jala said softly, her throat tightening with the words. Raising her hand she brushed away the tears that refused to remain hidden with the back of her hand and smiled at him sadly. “Some of Delvay survived, Neph, and you are going back to them. I won’t let you throw your life away here when you could return to your people. My son will need allies like Delvay in the future, Neph, and I depend on you to stand by him when he needs you as you always have for me.”
“And how, exactly, are you planning on my getting to them, Jala? I said I would stand by you to the last breath.” Neph’s voice grew hoarse as he rose from his chair, his hands planted firmly on the table top as he glared at her in defiance.
Swallowing heavily, Jala lifted her chin and shook her head at him. “You can’t, Neph. I won’t allow it. You are the Lord of Delvay and despite your sharp tongue you are one of the best people I know. Please do this for me, Neph. It will be easier if I know I’m not leaving my son to face the world alone,” Jala pleaded and let out a ragged breath as she turned to face Vaze. “You will take him to his people. Given that you are the one that informed me of their survival, I assume you know where to find them.”
“I would rather stay and fight,” Vaze objected quietly.
A sob almost broke past Jala’s lips but she forced it back. “And I would rather know that you live to appear from the shadows to save my son as you have so many times for me. I would spare everyone here if I could, Vaze, but I can’t. It has not been easy to choose to send either of you away, but I must. The two of you have a place beyond Merro and I trust you both. Please don’t make this more difficult.”
At her words, Neph sank back into his chair with tears filling his pale blue eyes. “Damn you, Jala. You are the only one in this world that I can say I truly love and you expect me to just walk away and let you die?” His voice was thick and filled with more emotion that she had ever seen in him.
“No, Neph. I expect you to walk away knowing that I fought until the last breath to change this wretched world we live in. I expect you to stand by my son against the atrocities and finish building what we started. Finish my dream for me, Neph. Make this world a place where our children can live in peace,” Jala said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Turning to Sovaesh, she wiped her eyes once more. “My orders for you are simple to say, but will be quite difficult to accomplish, I fear. I want you to free Blue from the Rivasan encampment. I know how good you are at rescuing prisoners, Sovaesh. Use your talents tonight on someone more worthy than Cassia and save Blue. Get her as far from here as you can and return to Merro. I charge you after that to protect your Grandson at all costs. I cannot tell you exactly where Sovann has hidden him, but from Merro you should be able to locate him.”