The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #4)(47)

“Hence, why I say you need servants.”

“Bugger it all,” Jala growled and looked from the oven to Neph then back again before turning to Zoelyn. “Please, Zoey. I know you are unsure of Neph, but please just stay in here a few minutes to get the tarts from the oven. I can’t greet them like this.”

Zoelyn nodded and stepped hesitantly into the room, barely clearing the doorway before Jala was through it. She moved slowly toward the sink and leaned against the cabinets watching him.

“So, I scare you then?” Neph said with a smirk and leaned back in his chair propping his feet out before him.

“No, dislike does not mean fear,” Zoelyn answered simply.

“Dislike, then? You don’t know me at all, girl. Wait a few days before you pass judgment on me and you can skip the dislike part and go right to hatred,” Neph replied in a voice that typically silenced further conversation from anyone.

“If you are a close friend of Jala’s, I fail to see how it would benefit me to try to hate you,” she replied without the slightest quaver in her voice to suggest his tone had disturbed her.

“Bloody hell. You are using logic. You won’t fit in here at all, kid.” Neph chuckled and rose from his chair. She was smaller than Jala and more petite. At his full height he towered over her like a child, but still she simply stood and watched him. “You didn’t seem this confident in Arovan. You reminded me of a cornered mouse when Valor called you out,” he observed.

“In Arovan, I was a cornered mouse. Here, I’m simply a bored girl listening to an ass bray,” Zoelyn replied with a shrug. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her fingers idly against one sleeve of the heavy leather coat.

Neph blinked once in surprise and for a long moment he was at a complete loss for words until it slowly dawned on him what was going on. A smile broke across his face and he chuckled. “Emily you bitch! Where are you?” he demanded.

The kitchen door parted once more and the black Bendazzi strolled in with a feline grin showing clearly on her face. She paced across the room and sat down heavily between Neph and Zoelyn and he could see the girl visibly relax, though she hadn’t seemed tense moments before.

“So you told her to talk tough to me and I’d leave her alone. Is that it?” Neph asked.

I told her you were a complete * and if you got too far out of line I would have Delvay for dinner. Emily’s voice echoed through his mind and despite the words he could hear the joy in her voice.

“Glad to see you too, *,” Neph replied with a smirk that earned a savage growl in response.

I never thought I would admit it, but I’m glad you’re back, Neph. Valor won’t rein her in. Sovann can’t talk her down. And Jail is in the city governing our quarter in Sanctuary. Jala needs a voice of reason. She is getting pretty obsessive about certain things, Emily said with a shake of her head.

“Marrow isn’t doing his job of keeping her in line then?” Neph asked with a sigh as he sat back down at the table once more. Things were not sounding good. Emily was probably the most brutally honest person in Merro other than him, and she was a staunch supporter of Jala. If she was talking this way, he needed to figure out quickly what Jala was planning.

Marrow is as fanatic as she is now. He tries to keep her from pushing herself too hard, but he is as obsessed as she is about bringing peace to the world whether they like it or not. When she first came back, she was content with just Merro. Then after reports from the other nations started coming in and she realized there was still fighting going on, she started her plotting, Emily explained.

“And the girl? Where does she fit into all of this?” Neph asked, his eyes moving to Zoelyn once more. She had fallen utterly silent and was simply watching him.

Jala’s crusade to save everyone, I suppose. Her opinion of the Blights has completely reversed, Neph. She keeps saying that we need them as allies not enemies. Emily’s frustration poured into her voice and Neph nodded.

“Has anyone bothered to remind her that they are allies with our enemy? Did she totally forget that they only attacked the nations we consider friends?” Neph asked. Glancing back to Zoelyn once more he waved a hand in the direction of the massive oven. “Tarts, girl, remember?”

“I can’t,” Zoelyn replied with a slight shake of her head. “What?” Neph snapped in response.

“The oven is magical. I can’t touch it without my gloves on, and I’m not stupid enough to reach into a hot oven with metal covering my fingers,” Zoelyn explained.

“Then why in the bloody hell did you nod to Jala?” Neph demanded as he rose from his chair and grabbed a towel from the rack by the sink.

“Because she was in too much of a hurry to listen to why I couldn’t,” Zoelyn replied calmly.

Rolling his eyes, Neph pulled the oven door open and carefully grabbed the pan with the towel. Moving quickly he closed the door and dropped the pan onto the countertop, glaring at Zoelyn. “Next time, attempt to explain to her. Never agree to do something you aren’t capable of doing. It’s a bad habit to get into.”

“I was capable of doing it. I simply had to use your hands rather than my own. Had you not mentioned the tarts I would have reminded you and the task would have been accomplished either way,” Zoelyn said as she relaxed against the counter once more.