The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4)(30)

“If you were trying so hard to keep her from being noticed why did you bring her with you here? This is a very crowded camp. Surely you knew she would be noticed here?” Elijah asked with a thoughtful expression on his face. His gaze had returned to her once more and he seemed to be studying her hair and eyes with interest.

Zoelyn didn’t need to look in a mirror to know what he was seeing. It had been the same with the kitten as it was with the fish so she knew how she looked now. Her skin would be pale rather than grey and her hair and eyes would be gold. All magic seemed to have its own signature on her body and life essence always showed as gold.

“I knew the battle was a very large one and that I would likely be gone for some time. I didn’t want to leave her alone in the village, Milord,” Dominic answered quietly.

“Were you afraid she would damage something or injure someone?” Elijah asked, though by his tone she could tell he already knew the answer to his own question.

“I was afraid of what would happen to her without my protection, Milord,” Dominic answered and shrugged. “The villagers don’t understand her at all, Milord. They fear her, but they respect me so they leave her be when I am there,” he added after a short sigh.

“As I suspected,” Elijah said with a slight nod and leaned back in his chair once more. Still watching her, he steepled his fingers in front of his mouth and frowned. His gaze dropped to the corpse lying before his table once more and then he nodded again more firmly. “Because of the bruise on her face as well as your answer and my respect for Lord Blackwolf’s concerns, I will be taking your Ward, Dominic. She isn’t safe where she is, though it’s by no fault of yours. I am sure you have done what you could for her while she has been in your care,” Elijah said at last.

“Taking her, Milord?” Dominic stammered as if he didn’t quite understand what he was hearing.

“She will return with me to my home and live under my protection, Dominic, until further notice. I will not kill her for simply existing. From what I can see, she has committed no sins. Were she aggressive as the Blights are, I would not hesitate to deal with her accordingly, but from what I have seen she is simply a scared child that seems to carry a very large curse on her shoulders. Perhaps, given time, a method of helping her will be found, but until then she is mine to look after.” Lord Arovan stood as he spoke and looked down at her. “I leave for the capital tomorrow, Zoey. Please be prepared to ride as well.” His gaze moved to each of the others in the tent and he nodded faintly. “We are done here. Troyelle, please do something with that body and be discreet about it. I don’t want questions rising about what killed him.”

Zoelyn watched them all with a detached shock, her eyes slowly moving to Dominic who seemed to be taking the news as poorly as she was. It was better than death, she supposed, but not by much. The capital was brimming with people and not only would she be in the capital she would be in the palace itself. She had imagined a hundred ways that this meeting could end, none of them had been good, and yet none of them had been this one either. Elijah had caught her completely flat footed with his choice.

“Come on, Zoey,” Dominic urged, and she nodded faintly as she followed him silently from the tent. It was hard to believe this was the last night she would spend in his company. For seven years he had been the only person in her life. Now everything was changing and she couldn’t think of a single way to stop it. Even if she ran from the camp, she lost Dominic. Swallowing heavily, she fought back tears and tried to stop her mind from thinking about what was waiting for her tomorrow.





Chapter 3





Southern Goswin





Neph closed the door behind him and it took a force of will to keep from slamming it so hard the boards rattled. For the past two weeks it had been a constant struggle to keep order among his people, and it was wearing on his nerves. Most of his remaining people were too old or too young to fight, but the ones that were of fighting age seemed to have nothing on their minds but pissing him off. It was barely two days into the week and he had already had to kill a man for challenging his right to lead. That brought the total number of Delvay warriors he had killed to six since he had arrived in Goswin. At the current rate he was progressing he wouldn’t have enough of a fighting force left over to even contemplate retaking his land.

Closing his eyes he tilted his head back and slowed his breathing. After several moments his fists unclenched and the desire to rip off someone’s face began to fade. Life had never been this difficult at the Academy. Sure, Valor and Finn could be obnoxious at times, but he had never truly wanted to kill them. The desire to punch them in the face a few dozen times had been there, but that was only natural considering how they behaved. Every time he had a conversation with his own people he had the overwhelming desire to light someone’s face on fire and attempt to put out the flames with a knife. They simply didn’t listen and they were as thick as stones when it came to strategy. Honestly he believed Kadan had killed off everyone with the slightest bit of common sense and left him with a herd of halfwits to command. He had no doubt whatsoever that Kadan was sitting in the afterlife laughing his ass off at his little brother’s difficulties.