From the Ashes (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #3)(92)

“Consider it done. I will work on that and nothing else until we leave for Goswin,” Madren assured her with a firm nod. He had been sitting with a thoughtful expression on his face for most of the meeting, but now his eyes held a gleam to them. She wasn’t sure if it was determination she was seeing, or hope. Either would do, though. They were both things that would be desperately needed in days to come.

“Well then, that is it until after the curse is lifted. Everyone knows where we stand and what to do. We face the Avanti in the spring and we must be prepared. It is up to everyone in this room to see that everything we can possibly do to protect ourselves is done,” Jala said with a nod around the table. “You may all return to what you were doing before I called you here,” Jala finished and watched everyone stand. “Neph, stay a moment if you would. I’d like to talk to you about something,” she added.

“As you like,” Neph agreed and dropped back into his chair once more.

Silently, Jala watched the room empty and nodded to Wisp as the Fae motioned toward herself and Legacy and then upstairs. Quietly, Wisp closed the door behind her and Jala turned her attention back to the room.

“If any of them are traitors I could find no trace of it in their minds,” Emily said quietly as she dropped her camouflage and took a seat at the table. She wore the clothing that Jala had painstakingly selected for her over the past few days. Though it wasn’t a fashion trend that any others would likely follow, the Blight seemed comfortable in the assortment of clothing stolen from various cultures. The short cut pants she wore originated from Morcath and were primarily used by the women tending the orchards to wear under their skirts for decency. The vest was borrowed from Firym style and the heavy clawed gauntlets derived from Delvay as did the spiked pauldron that covered one of the girl’s slender shoulders. “I scanned Joseph’s mind the deepest and unless he is far more clever than I think, he is genuine,” Emily said.

“Well isn’t this interesting,” Neph began slowly looking from the Blight to Jala. “I wondered about the presence of a few at that meeting.”

“I had to be certain,” Jala said calmly with no trace of remorse in her voice at all. “I started a war today. I have to know that my allies are truly allies.”

“We started a war,” Neph corrected with a smile and looked back to Emily. “The short hair looks nice,” he said with a nod causing both women to stare at him in shock. A compliment from Neph was as rare as a snowflake in summer. “The outfit looks as though you were dressed by a blind beggar but the hair is good.”

“You had to add to it didn’t you,” Emily sighed with a shake of her head. It had nearly taken having Marrow lay on Emily to hold her down for Jala to accomplish cutting the Blight’s hair. It had seemed the most practical thing to do, given how much Emily detested taking care of long hair.

Jala smiled faintly and glanced to the other side of the room. “Did you sense any guilt or remorse on any of them, Ash?” she asked quietly and had to fight back the urge to smile as Neph spun around in his chair to stare in the direction she was looking.

“Valor had remorse when he looked at his fellow knight, but there was no guilt in the room beyond your own, Milady,” Ash replied in a whisper as he slowly materialized from the shadows at the back of the room.

“Do you have anyone else hidden in here?” Neph demanded, turning in his chair once more to face her.

“Did you know Soulreavers can read emotions as well as Empaths can? It’s truly amazing what they can do with their spirit magic. Taking the form of a spirit, for example. I had no idea they could do that either. As silent as a ghost in a literal sense,” Jala said as she watched Ash cross the room to take a seat at the table beside her. “They are also utterly immune to the powers of Empaths as well as Enchantments,” she added, her eyes locking with Neph’s. “I need you to do something for me, Neph, and I need it to be done silently.”

Neph frowned, his expression growing serious as he looked around the table and then slowly back to her. “What?” he asked cautiously.

“I need you to arrange a marriage for me. I cannot do it myself because of the laws of the land. I’ve tried marriage for love. Now I have to accept marriage for politics. I need an army, Neph, and I need one by spring. I know Valor is building one but they won’t be seasoned and they will be affected by the Avanti enchantments,” Jala said softly, her throat growing tight as she spoke. She had discussed her plan with Ash already and it was a solid idea, but the thought of another marriage made her almost physically ill. She couldn’t imagine lying next to someone else while her heart still screamed for Finn.

“With Seravae?” Neph said, his eyes moving from Jala to Ash and then back.

Jala nodded slowly and let out her breath. It was a force of will to keep her eyes from growing glassy as she spoke. “I’ve talked it over with Ash and I believe it is my best option. Every other nation is either already fighting or my enemy. Seravae is the only neutral country left aside from Nerathane and I fully expect Nerathane to side with Rivana very soon,” she explained.

“Lord Jexon is married to a girl from Rivana at the present. Therefore any marriage arrangements will fall to the next worthy man in line. Any who qualify as a Warlord in my land would be an option, though some are more fitting than others for this. The rings of mastery they possess determine how many they are fit to lead. So the more trained they are, the more soldiers they have available,” Ash said softly.