The Crow King's Wife(47)

“Why would Kali want Morcaillo blood? I haven’t seen anything too impressive from Shade yet. He is a fairly good Spell Hawk pilot, but I know quite a few that can claim that.” Neph objected after a long moment. He had turned the information over in his mind and failed to find the least bit of interest in it, but Fortune seemed to think it was quite important.

Fortune stared at him for several breaths and then smiled widely. “By the Aspects I think you are quite possibly the last person to learn this. It used to be a very well-kept secret, but Shade has let the information blurt out several times. Neph, the Morcaillo are Changelings.”

Neph stared at him with a slack jaw as the ramifications of what he had just heard sank home fully. Kali was deadly enough with her creations, but when you added in the potential of her creations being able to turn into anything or mimic anyone, it became an entirely different level of deadly.

“The next bit I think you have already gotten a hint of. There is more to it than what you have seen however.” Fortune paused and summoned and illusion of the map table with the focal point on Oblivion. He waved a hand toward the image and smiled at Neph. “You noticed that the living have returned to Oblivion. The part you were unable to see is that every last person that Zachary and Jala have returned from the grave is a trained soldier. They didn’t bring back a single soul that couldn’t fight. Oblivion is preparing for an attack on someone and I’m not sure who yet. I would be willing to concede that they might be there for defense if Oblivion had anything left to defend.” Fortune’s voice rose a bit as he spoke, and his eyes were locked on the illusion he had summoned. This last bit of information seemed to hold his interest more than anything else he had spoken of so far.

“Zachary might have brought them back to support Arovan.” Neph suggested with a weak shrug.

Fortune nodded slowly but didn’t look convinced in the slightest. “Jala might do something of that nature, but I don’t think Zachary Dark would.” He objected.

“It’s possible that he would for the Firym or Faydwer though. Those two lands were staunch allies of Veir before the fall.” Cora offered quietly.

Fortune sighed and dismissed the illusion with a frown. “This would have been Tyber’s call not Zachary, but no one has seen Tyber since the fall of Veir. I couldn’t even guess what the High Lord of Oblivion is about. There is simply no way of knowing with the information we have so far. We will simply have to wait for them to show a card. For now it is good to know, but not something we can do much with.”

“It’s a waiting game as Fortune says.” Cora agreed then smiled faintly and looked at her son with a meaningful expression. “We are almost to the end of our talk for now, but the next few things are going to make you want to act rashly. You cannot Neph, you are desperately needed here and you have to consider that fully before anything else.” She paused and waited for him to nod his agreement though he wasn’t sure he actually wanted to agree. “Rivasa is holding captives in several of their cities. Most are children, and some are Delvay. They likely intend to use them as slaves or breeders if their blood is strong enough.”

Neph’s expression darkened with her words and despite his agreement to not act rashly his mind was already flooding with possible ways to retrieve his people. Most were slim hopes, but a few of the fragmented plans had potential. He could feel both of their eyes upon him and decided it was best to remain silent for the time being. It wouldn’t do for either of them to believe he was going to blatantly ignore their advice and Cora was right, now was the time for rational thought. Knowing that his people were in the hands of the Rivasans wasn’t making it easy to think rationally however. The entire world knew stories and rumors about the Rivasan slave farms, and none of them were pleasant.

“Which brings us to the last bit of information I’m going to tell you today and it is the reason I want you to hold off on your plan of attack. You have visitors coming to Delvay Neph, and one of them happens to be the Black Bastard. He has declared Kevala’drin against Rivasa and it seems to me that it would be easier for you to kill two birds with one stone in this case. He wants them dead and so do you, so help him kill them and keep your hands clean in the process.” Fortune kept his voice low as if there was a possibility that they might be over heard despite the fact that the entire house was empty.

“So use Caleb as a tool then?” Neph asked without much enthusiasm. There were few people he liked or respected and while Caleb wasn’t a friend, he had earned Neph’s respect.