The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 4)(89)

So he had waited, and opportunity had eventually presented itself in the form of Sovaesh. The young Firym had wanted Davahni, and Seth had wanted her to be safe. The easiest way to attain both of their goals was to train the boy. It made Sovaesh useful to Avanti while giving Davahni a shield. The fact that Seth had arranged for Sovaesh to meet Davahni and used a bit of charm magic to ensure the Firym was interested in her was entirely irrelevant. The Changeling blood had been too useful to ignore, and it made Sovaesh the perfect protector. A Changeling could escape from the Avanti slave chains. No one else could.

“Davahni is better than she has ever been I think. Merro agrees with her and the fact that Donrey is dead has relieved much of her stress. Despite everything I did to keep her away from him, he still terrified her. I suppose I never noticed how much he scared her until after I killed him. It wasn’t until he was dead that I finally got to see her truly happy,” Sovaesh answered after a long moment. By the crease of his eyes above the mask Seth could tell he was frowning.

“She held that fear from before the time she met you, Sovaesh. Donrey never laid a finger on her while she was in your care. Of that I’m certain,” Seth said quietly.

“I should have killed him sooner,” Sovaesh sighed. “But at least it’s done now. I’m sure you didn’t come all the way to Firym to discuss this, though. You look as though you are in a hurry, too. So what is it that you need?”

Seth smiled again. He hadn’t shown any signs of impatience that he was aware of, but Sovaesh noticed every detail. “I didn’t, and I am. As always, you are correct. I need to know what you know of Zoelyn, Jala’s ward. Where did she come from? How long has she been with Jala?”

Sovaesh’s frown deepened for a moment and he shook his head slowly. “I’ve only met her once, so I don’t know much of her. She has been with Jala for two weeks or so that I know of. Jala brought her back from Arovan, though I think the girl might have actually been from Glis. From what I understand, Elijah was keeping her as a ward in his keep and Jala thought she would have better luck helping the girl in Merro. When Zoelyn spoke to me she seemed to have a Glis accent to her voice so at the very least she is from one of the border villages.”

“But you don’t know where she is originally from?” Seth pressed. He had known she was from Glis by her reaction to him. Glis and Arovan were the only two countries where the locals still spread hearth stories about him. That was thanks to Death. The Divine had ordered him to work in both of those countries far more often than the others.

“Originally?” Sovaesh repeated thoughtfully. He tapped his chin for a moment as he seemed to consider the question. “It’s difficult to say, going off of her looks. She is so sickly that her features are obscured by her condition. I wouldn’t hesitate to say she is full Elder Blood if she were healthy, but the sickness suggests she is weaker so perhaps half-blood. She is obviously not a Shifter and with her pale hair she could be of Arovan blood,” he paused and gazed back at Seth. “What makes you so sure she isn’t actually from Arovan?”

Seth frowned as he watched Sovaesh and shrugged a shoulder in answer. He had thought Sovaesh would have known what an Undrae was, but apparently he didn’t. The creatures had been extinct for some time, he supposed, but Sovaesh’s mother had been the High Mage of Firym. She should have trained her son better.

“I suppose if she is from another land it could be anywhere. I can check into it if you like,” Sovaesh replied hesitantly.

Seth shook his head quickly with a faint smile. “The job Jala gave you is more important. Better that you finish hunting down the Changelings and free the Blights from their control. I will look into it more myself,” Seth glanced down at the Changelings body and nudged it lightly with the toe of his boot. “I do have another favor of you, though, and it’s one I’m not sure you will agree to.”

“Ask,” Sovaesh said without hesitation or sign of suspicion.

“I’d like your dagger. I will trade you my own for it.” Seth smiled and motioned toward the large blade that was still sheathed at Sovaesh’s side. It was an unusual request to be sure and Sovaesh’s eyes widened in shock at his words, but it was necessary. Sovaesh’s dagger was a Drinker, or in better terms, enchanted to absorb life energy. With as many people as he had killed recently the blade would have more than enough energy to revitalize Zoelyn.

“Not at all what I expected, but of course.” Sovaesh was already unbuckling the blade from his belt as he spoke.