The Blessed Curse (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #4)(59)

Zoelyn swallowed heavily, her eyes tracing up the spires of the palace to the massive dark forms that circled like vultures above it. She had never seen a dragon before, and just a glimpse of the creatures ahead of her made her realize she didn’t want to see one any closer. “I don’t want to go there,” she whispered.

“I say the same thing every time I come home,” Seth said wistfully as he continued down the street at the same ground-eating pace.





*





“Seriously, Seth? Really? You didn’t have enough to do tonight so you decided to throw in kidnapping and murder for extra entertainment?” The man’s voice cracked through the throne room with enough anger that Zoelyn cringed back against the wall. He was dressed in black armor and a long hooded cloak, but she could still make out enough of his features to realize he looked like a twin of Sovaesh. The only true difference she could see was that this man’s face was free of the brand marks that Jala’s friend bore on each cheek.

Seth shrugged as he dropped Vaze’s body onto the floor before the throne and he smirked. “Does the Lord of Death require me to point out that Vaze is not actually dead?” he asked with sarcasm lacing his words.

“Wait, what?” The man froze in place and examined the body on the ground before him critically before looking back up at the Assassin. "OK, so he isn’t dead, the kidnapping accusation is still valid, though,” he amended as he approached Vaze’s still form and prodded him gently with the toe of his boot. “What did you do to him?” he asked with more curiosity than anger in his voice.

“I drugged him, Finn. Well, I also stabbed him of course, but it was a non-lethal wound and I have no regrets about it. He earned it when he annoyed me,” Seth explained calmly. “I brought the girl for you Finn,” he added as he glanced back at Zoelyn.

“You know I was joking when I said the temples needed to start the virgin sacrifices again, right?” Finn asked cautiously, his gaze flicking between her and Seth. “She is kind of young, too, Seth. I mean it’s been a while and all, but I’m not into child molesting. Sorry.”

Seth sighed heavily and rubbed his face. Moving past Finn he carefully placed Legacy on the throne and shook his head. “Your son could sleep through anything. There has been yelling and screaming and jostling and he is still snoring.” Seth shook his head and straightened once more as he walked over to stand at Finn’s side and draped an arm loosely across his shoulders. His attention returned to Zoelyn and he pointed a finger at her. “I didn’t bring her here for you to f*ck, Finn. Look at her closely with the eyes of a god rather than the eyes of a lecherous mortal.”

“I preferred life as a lecherous mortal,” Finn grumbled.

“So did I, but we must let go of our past and serve the present,” Seth replied in a consoling voice.

“Why can’t I see her soul? I don’t sense any of my power attached to her at all, and from the looks of her, I really should. She looks ready to die at any moment in her current condition.” Finn sounded puzzled and Zoeln tried to shrink back farther against the wall to escape his stare.

“She is Undrae Finn,” Seth explained as he dropped his arm from Finn’s shoulder and stood straight once more. “She looks starved and terrified, but she doesn’t look like a monster to me,” Finn observed with a glance to Seth.

Seth sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. “Monster is not the true definition of the word Undrae. Originally the word meant her kind,” Seth informed him as he pointed casually toward Zoelyn once more. “In the beginning, the proper word was Uindraely named in honor of the mage that created her kind. They are also called Broken ones or leeches.” Seth paused and watched Finn closely for any sign of comprehension.

“Still lost, keep going,” Finn prompted and waved his hand for Seth to continue.

Seth nodded with a smirk. “There is a spell among the forbidden magic that can raise the dead. With a sacrifice of equal value you can return life to the fallen. Uindraely Merrodin discovered long before the Barrier that if you intentionally use a sacrifice that is not equal, you can create a Broken one,” Seth paused and motioned toward Zoelyn. “The creature that returns from the grave is not whole or truly alive. She exists on the borders of both, Finn. An Undrae does not remember its former life as she would if the spell worked properly. They are not the person they were before the grave. They siphon life as well as magic in a desperate attempt to make themselves whole. Uindraely Merrodin grew infamous in her practice of raising them in armies. Uindraely has been dead for hundreds of years, however, and yet here is one of her creations.” Seth paused again looking at Finn meaningfully.

“I’m trying to picture her as a threat, Seth, I really am, but the way she is cuddling the wall is killing my imagination for that,” Finn said dryly as he continued to watch Zoelyn.

“They are as they are taught Finn. This Undrae was formed of a young girl on both sides of that spell. The sacrifice as well as the fallen would have been innocent of nature. Imagine another raised in this method, though. Imagine one that was created with a darker purpose. This one is harmless, I will agree with you on that, but someone is creating them and it is stealing from you when they do. It’s possible that this girl was a test, a practice if you will. The next one raised could be much more dangerous,” Seth explained calmly.