The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #4)(40)

“We are ready, Shade. Thank you for your patience,” Jala announced the moment the door was sealed. “Thank me after I get you to Merro,” Shade replied, still sounding rather grumpy.

“Is he upset that I took so long?” Valor asked with puzzlement clear in his voice.

“No, I don’t think that is it at all,” Jala assured him as she took a seat and motioned for her son to join her.

Valor watched her silently and one eyebrow slowly rose. His head cocked to one side and he smiled down at the little boy. “Mommy is plotting isn’t she?” he asked in a pleasant voice.

“Mommy is not plotting. That sounds so devious, Valor,” Jala replied with a heavy sigh. “Mommy is most definitely plotting,” Shade called from the cockpit and Valor’s smile widened.

“What are you planning that I won’t like?” Valor asked, his voice still cheerful and to Zoelyn’s surprise he seemed amused rather than angry.

Jala sighed heavily once more and leaned back in her seat to stare up at the ceiling.

“It isn’t plotting, Valor. It is something that must be done,” she replied after a long moment of silence.

“Oh, one of those,” Valor said with a knowing nod and then shook his head slightly rolling his eyes. “How bad is it, Shade, on a level of one to ten?” Valor called as he picked the wooden box up and carried it closer to the seats. Carefully he sat it down beside Zoelyn’s seat and dropped heavily into the chair across from her.

“Forty-seven and a half,” Shade replied loudly.

Valor paused in the process of opening the crate, his eyebrow rising once more as he glanced over his shoulder toward the pilot’s seat and then looked to Jala.

“He is insane, remember. At worst it is a six,” Jala muttered as she glared in Shade’s direction. “Fifty,” the child announced cheerfully and Valor snorted back laughter.

“Treason, Legacy, that is treason,” Jala sighed, shaking her head at Valor. “Seven perhaps,” she amended.

“Before I get started on dealing with Jala, could you tell me if I grabbed the correct horse Zoelyn?” Valor said quietly as he finally pulled the lid of the crate up to reveal the tiny bay mare that was prancing inside, looking less than pleased with her situation.

Zoelyn stared down at the animal, her eyes widening as she spotted the white scars. “What did you do to her?” she gasped before she could stop herself. There was no doubt it was her horse, but she was so small and looked so terrified.

“I had her shrunk for transport. Don’t worry, it is a common spell and Jala can reverse it when we arrive in Merro,” Valor explained as he carefully replaced the lid of the box. “The stable master was impressed with her. Said she was a fine mare of good stock and even tempered. It’s hard to get praise from that man on any horse. You should be proud,” Valor added as he stood up from his seat once more and paced slowly to stand by the doorway to the cockpit.

“Valor, before you begin your conversation with Shade, can we handle something else? It shouldn’t take long. I simply had to wait until we were off the ground to address it,” Jala cut in before Valor could even open his mouth to speak.

“Address what?” Valor asked in confusion.

“Address who, rather,” Jala corrected and rose from her seat. “Zoelyn has a Blight with her. I wanted to wait until we were off the ground so he had no place to go if he was spooked,” she explained with a smile.

“Uhh. What if he doesn’t get spooked and gets angry instead?” Shade asked quickly.

“He doesn’t get angry!” Zoelyn spoke up quickly, her eyes flashing between the three of them as she half rose from her chair.

“Well, that saves me from asking if she knew about him,” Jala said in amusement. Her eyes moved past where Zoelyn stood and fixated on the air behind her. “Will you speak for yourself or shall I speak to Zoelyn on your behalf?” Jala asked quietly with no trace of the hostility Zoelyn had expected to find at the mention of a Blight.

“Old one or young one?” Valor asked. He seemed relaxed as well, but his hand was on his sword hilt.

“Young, but cleaner than Emily was,” Jala answered, her expression unreadable as she studied the Blight. “And a bit more familiar than I would have expected in appearance, Val,” she added softly.

“Familiar how?” Valor asked his hand easing back from his sword hilt.

“He is most definitely of Arovan blood,” Jala explained, her eyes meeting Valor’s for a long moment and then returning to the Blight.

“He doesn’t bother anything. Please, he just helps me with small things and keeps me company. He isn’t dangerous and he has never killed anything or hurt anyone,” Zoelyn said quickly as she took a step in what she hoped was the correct direction to put herself between the High Lady and her only friend.

“Zoelyn, I have no intention of killing him for being a Blight. You don’t need to be so worried I promise you. As long as he is peaceful, so are we. As I said, I don’t believe in Undrae by birth,” Jala’s voice was soothing as she spoke and Zoelyn felt herself relaxing once more, simply from the sound of the High Lady’s voice.

“Seems to have better manners than Emily, too. She would have already told us to f*ck off,” Valor observed with a smirk.

Jala nodded and smiled, her gaze flicking to the back of the ship. Eyes twinkling, she looked back to Valor and smiled wider. “Emily says exactly that in response,” she informed him and turned her gaze back toward Zoelyn. “So he doesn’t talk?” she asked.