The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4)(100)

“A foal was born and I thought you might wish to see it,” Noble replied innocently as he shifted the crate in his arms. His long hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and his uniform was immaculate. He was perfection and the smug smile he wore showed how well he knew it.

“It’s amazing how things always seem to require my attention while I am working with Zoelyn,” Jala continued. She rolled her eyes and glanced over at Zoelyn who simply smiled in return.

In truth, Zoelyn liked Noble. He was always kind and even in Arovan he had tried to help her, despite hearing her called Undrae. The fact that he was handsome didn’t hurt either. He always had a smile for her, and it seemed like his eyes were on her more than Jala. The attention was nice, even if she didn’t really know how to react to it. So his visits never bothered her as much as they seemed to irritate Jala.

“So what is it today, Noble?” Jala asked with an exaggerated sigh, her gaze flicking to the crate in the knight’s arms.

“The first shipment from Firym arrived. I thought you might want to see what they sent, so I brought a sample of everything,” Noble informed her as he opened the crate and held it out for her to look inside.

“Ahh. Of course that couldn’t wait,” Jala agreed with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

“Milady, I think you may be spending too much time with Lord Delvay,” Noble returned with a grin.

Zoelyn ducked her head to hide her smile as Jala glared at the young knight and dug around in the crate he held. With a faint smile forming on her lips Jala lifted an orange and a banana from the crate.

“Fruit,” Jala pronounced raising an eyebrow at Noble. “Fruit was important enough to interrupt lessons?” she asked as she waved a hand toward Zoelyn beckoning her forward. “Here hold this,” Jala ordered shoving the banana toward her as she moved closer.

“Jala, I can’t,” Zoelyn objected as the High Lady smacked the banana down in her hand. The last breath of life held in the fruit vanished the moment it touched her bare skin and Zoelyn stared down in disgust at the lump of black rotted pulp in her hand. “I can’t touch it without my gloves,” she finished softly, but Jala’s gaze was locked on Noble with a savage smile on her beautiful face.

“Do you see why these lessons are so important, Noble?” Jala asked as she reclaimed the rotted banana and held it up for the knight’s inspection. The withered fruit slumped in her hand, bending nearly double as the peel split open dropping the disgusting mess of fruit inside to the grass between her and the knight. “We don’t want our bananas rotted, now do we Noble?” she asked firmly.

Noble’s gaze was locked on the rotted mess in the grass between them, and Zoelyn watched him swallow heavily at the sight. “Uh, no, Milady, we like our fruit healthy,” he stammered quietly.

“Exactly. So I suggest you keep your fruit where it belongs and out of my garden until I have had time to help Zoelyn control her talent,”

Jala snapped as she dropped the orange back into the crate.

“Yes, Milady,” Noble agreed softly. His face had grown pale and he was still staring at the remains of the banana.

“Noble,” Jala grumbled. He looked up at her quickly and she motioned toward the garden gate. “Go back to your duties. If you honestly feel someone should inspect the Firym goods than take them to Joseph. He is my steward for a reason; let him do his job.”

The knight nodded quickly and turned on his heels without so much as a wave good bye. Zoelyn watched him disappear through the gate and sighed heavily. “I wish you hadn’t done that,” she said quietly.

“It was a lesson for him. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m simply sick of him sniffing after you like a dog in heat. I understand you are beautiful, but he has to understand that you are deadly as well, for now. That was the only way to get through his thick skull, apparently. I have tried to be gentle with him,” Jala replied apologetically.

“I love how you say for now,” Zoelyn sighed as she crossed to a stone bench and dropped down heavily on it.

“I never give up on what I believe in,” Jala repeated with another smile.

“Jala!” Valor’s voice rose from behind them and the High Lady turned at once. “We may have an issue here. Can you take a look at this, please?”

“Of course,” Jala replied easily. She glanced at Zoelyn with another smile and waved toward the house. “I have to see to this. Rest for a while and try to find some faith in yourself please. You can do this. You are just frustrated right now.”