The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #4)(103)

“As it happens, I do have someone that can look into those matters,” Dresharn began slowly and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “We don’t get much in the way of rumors in the streets anymore, and what we do hear is generally regarding the new laws or who was arrested recently. I have an assistant, however, who is rather adept at details and noticing things that others might overlook. I will have her look into it.”

“An assistant?” Neph asked with an amused smile.

Dresharn returned the smile and nodded. “Typically, she handles trivial matters for me such as filing paperwork or researching laws at the Magistrates office. On occasion, she will handle matters such as delivering documents to the palace. We are required to report our revenues directly to the Palace, of course, for purposes of taxes. She has an amazing eye for details and I have never found her skills lacking,” Dresharn replied with a wink.

Neph grinned in response and nodded with approval at Dresharn’s subtle admission that they were spying on the Empress. It was nice to know that Jala had this kind of support behind her. She had enough to worry about already without losing more sleep over the laws in Sanctuary.

Dresharn glanced up as the carriage slowed and turned a tight corner then looked back to Neph. “We have two more turns before we reach the Merro house. Please humor me and tell me a good story about some devastating crop failure that demands immediate attention in Merro. Make it as boring as you possibly can. Some sort of fungus or something. The more mundane, the better. I can make a few quick arrangements once you have laid it all out for me and you can return with the shipments to Merro while your true purpose here remains obscure.”


“Well we are having a wretched problem with pests and the wheat fields are suffering. I believe Wisp said it was some kind of beetle,”

Neph lied. It was difficult to keep the smile from his face. He now understood fully why Jala had placed Jail and Dresharn in control of Sanctuary. Between the two of them he had no doubt that the people of Merro were well protected in Sanctuary.





Chapter 17





The Darklands





Seth paused on the hillside and stared down at the milling souls in the valley below him. There were thousands mingling on the narrow road leading to judgment before the Lord of Death, and all of them were the recent dead. Between the Blights and the wars raging in the sunlit world above, the Darklands were well over their typical number of dead. Finding the soul he was looking for was going to be about as easy as locating a needle in a haystack. There was no help for it, though. He had already investigated the area where Zoelyn had first been found and the village had been one of the first that was destroyed by the Blights. So that meant he had to locate the dead in order to learn where she had been found, and how.

He hadn’t been able to approach Dominic directly. There was too much of a chance that his son would recognize him, even after all this time. He had wanted to approach the boy, but Rose had warned him against it. In her words, Dominic blamed him for everything that had happened that night, and given how young Dominic was at the time Seth couldn’t blame him. The child had believed his father was invincible. Seth had failed him.

Maybe it would have been better if he had seen me die, Seth mused as he studied the souls below. Then he would have known that I tried, at least, and maybe he wouldn’t hate me so much now. That hadn’t been a possibility, of course. Hemlock would have killed Dominic if Seth hadn’t sent him away, but surely the boy had heard rumors of the corpses at the Avanti gates. He had to have known that both of his parents died that night. Donrey Avanti had made it a point to display his body in a crow cage until his bones were bleached white from the sun.

With a sigh, he shook his head and banished the thoughts of his son from his mind. He had managed to learn enough information from Dominic’s neighbors to lead him here. As it turned out, Zoelyn hadn’t actually been found by Dominic, but had been brought there by one of the local hunters. Everyone had thought she was the survivor of a plague at the time, and had been loath to go near her. Seth smiled at the thought. It was likely the only reason his son as well as the rest of the village were still breathing. Had they been stupid enough to get too close to Zoelyn or touch her, they would have died.

His eyes narrowed as he scanned the countless souls below him. It was of course too much to ask for the hunter to still be alive. That would have been too simple. Shaking his head, he drew on his magic. He hadn’t wanted to use his power to do this, but without it he would be searching for days, and that wasn’t possible. He only had Zoelyn with him in the Darklands for another week, and he should be spending every moment he had training her. If she left the Darklands with mastery of her powers, then maybe it would draw her creator out. That would save him the trouble of trying to rebuild the puzzle piece by piece, but he wouldn’t rely on just that. He wanted both options available. This was too important to rest entirely on hopes.

Lifting both of his hands above him, as he finished the spell and watched in silence as a flock of spectral crows took form in the shadows above him. “Find Dustin Winters the hunter from Denway village in Glis,” he commanded and the birds dispersed in all directions. Settling back on his heels he watched them wing toward the river of souls and glanced toward the city. It was possible that Finn would take notice of the magic he just used, but with so many souls demanding his attention he likely wouldn’t. Finn was still struggling with his role as a Divine, and for the most part he remained oblivious to the subtle actions of his minions.