From the Ashes (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #3)(59)

“And I have at least four nations that will want Merro to fall. I need an army, Valor. Try to look at what they could be instead of what they were. This is a new start for all of us. Give them a chance,” Jala pressed. She brushed a strand of curls back from her face and forced him to meet her eyes. “If you listened to the talk in Sanctuary, I’m no more than a peasant whore. Yet you gave me a chance to prove myself otherwise.”

“She got you by the balls there,” Neph said with a smirk. The Delvay settled back against the wall and crossed his arms over his broad chest watching Valor with amusement on his features. Of all of her friends, Neph appeared to be the best rested and least troubled. His blue eyes were bright and his clothing was fresh. The others in the room didn’t look in nearly that good of condition. Even Wisp had the dark circles under her eyes and pale skin that spoke of too little rest.

“Where we have thieves we could train rangers. The whores could be spies. The gutter rats, well I don’t know anything with survival skills like a gutter rat. I swear those children could survive in any terrain or circumstance,” Sovann offered with a shrug.

“You did just say you would be there any time she asked for help,” Wisp pointed out in a calm practical voice.

“I said to help, not grant bloody miracles,” Valor grumbled, but his expression was growing more thoughtful and less frantic. He turned and looked out the window once more and rubbed his chin. “There are a few that I might be able to do something with. My knights I can handle. I simply haven’t had the will to attempt it yet. My mind was more focused on the fact that you appeared to be dying,” he mused.

“I wasn’t dying. I was simply taking a vacation from good health,” Jala said with a slight shrug. “I wouldn’t ask you for a miracle if I didn’t think you could grant it, Valor.”

“You are quite possibly the only one that has that kind of faith in me anymore, Jala.” Valor’s eyes locked onto hers once more and he shook his head slowly in amazement.

“I know you better than they do, Valor. I’ve seen what you are capable of,” Jala replied, her voice holding a note of respect that was audible to all in the room. Valor watched her for a moment in silence and then moved to stand at the window, his back to them all. Slowly, Jala looked around the room once more and frowned as she noticed the missing faces. “Where are Jail, Madren, and Emily?” she asked.

“Jail is babysitting the other two for the time being. We didn’t want to let Madren in here until you were strong enough to smack him and we were afraid Emily would suffer Marrow’s fate,” Neph explained, his eyes flicking to the Bendazzi’s limp form beside her.

Jala frowned and ran a hand down Marrow’s back nodding slightly. “I wish I hadn’t had to drain him so much, but I was too weak to do what needed to be done alone.” Her spells of healing were already at work on the Bendazzi and he was sleeping peacefully now. He had earned the rest with his diligence of guarding her, but to the others he must appear to be on the verge of dying.

“You will explain what exactly it was that you did won’t you?” Sovann asked with a curious light in his eyes.

“I will, but later. For right now there are a few things I would like to cover and then if it’s not too much to ask I’d like to have private words with Valor and then rest,” Jala said, her gaze once again traveling over their faces. Jala had been half afraid her words would offend them, but there was no indication to show that they had. She felt a pang of regret that she had to send them away. She knew they wouldn’t accept what she had to do, though, so she had no choice.

“Well then, what do you want to cover? Best to get it out of the way. You likely do need your rest,” Sovann said quickly. Of all of them he looked the most exhausted and she could see grief written clearly in his features. He was doing a very good job of keeping it from his voice though. She wondered briefly how much he blamed her for Finn’s loss, but quickly pushed the thought away. She could focus on that pain later when she was alone. For now it was best to try not to think of Finn and her failure. There were so many things that she needed to do. Her grief would have to wait for now.

“Where do we stand, population wise? Do we have enough food? How is morale in the city?” Jala asked.

“About nine thousand, not including the bitches in plate mail. We have enough food if we continue to ration it but it’s mostly grains and it’s a poor diet. Morale is rather low. Most want to go back to Sanctuary. It’s all they have ever known and there is security in what is familiar. That, and with the condition you arrived in, most of them think you are dead or dying. Not much point in living in Merro without a Merrodin leading, eh?” Neph answered, his words as usual were blunt and clear spoken.

“The problem with the food is fairly easy to explain. I’ve restored most of the surrounding land, but that’s soil and plants. I can’t do anything about the wildlife that should be here. If we had the animals we could hunt to supplement, but I can’t create them as I do trees and grass. So we are left with buying our goods from the Greenwild and they don’t have much to spare,” Wisp said with a sigh. The Fae dropped down lightly on the edge of Jala’s bed and frowned. “We bought most of grains from Brannaford, but the merchant we purchased it from mixed sawdust in with some of the bags to make it stretch farther. Then Neph went to visit him and now he won’t talk to us again. So we are on rations until we find another source.”