The Crow King's Wife(76)

“I have just spent the past three hours dealing with his problems to secure his power.” Seth interrupted in a snarl before she could finish the threat. “Where is he?” he demanded before she could even begin to rant again.

“In what used to be his throne room. It looks more like a parlor now.” Fiona growled and looked ready to say more, but Seth stalked past her before she could even draw breath to begin.

He took the stairs two at a time noting how even this aspect of the palace had changed for the worse. The old staircase had been narrow and steep giving barely enough room for two men to walk abreast to the doors. Now there was room for a full infantry squad and a battering ram. Not that they would need one. The doors at the top were made of mahogany and carved with intricate designs. They were beautiful, and fragile. A stout kick from a booted foot would shatter the frame.

The room beyond was open and bright with tapestries hanging on the walls and a sweeping staircase that dominated the center of the hall. Seth let out a harsh breath and fought back the urge to curse. He couldn’t see a single fixture that represented defense. If the demons rose against Finn in numbers they would pillage this place in minutes.

He halted before turning for the throne room and forced his emotions back down. Closing his eyes he willed his breathing to slow and rubbed at his temples. He couldn’t fathom why Finn would leave himself so open for attack. It seemed too much idiocy for Finn. He knew the boy wasn’t a fool, but everything about his changes screamed otherwise.

With calm Seth didn’t feel he moved toward the throne room once more and considered the music echoing faintly on the air. It was relaxing and sweet. Something about the notes tugged at him, and Seth finally recognized it as he pushed the doors inward. It was an old song, older than the barrier itself. He hadn’t heard it played since before the fall of Tevonale.

He paused once more at the door way to survey the room before him. The bard was seated on the dais where Finn’s throne had once been. She wasn’t one of the spirits Seth recognized, but then that wasn’t unusual. The Darklands were filled with thousands upon thousands of souls, and the only ones he paid attention to were the ones he considered threats. Finn was across the room from her leaning over a table that was so thickly cluttered with books and scrolls that it looked ready to collapse to the floor. Chairs were pushed back in a circle around him with more books stacked haphazardly on their seats. A young man leaned against the wall beside the Lord of Death and seemed to be speaking quietly, but if Finn was paying attention to him it didn’t show. Other spirits milled in the room and Seth could feel their unease growing as he closed the doors behind him and began to stalk toward Finn. He didn’t know the spirits, but apparently they knew him and just his presence had stolen the peace from the setting.

He stopped at the edge of the table and his eyes swept across the books as he waited for Finn to notice him. Most were history books, and he could see a few maps amongst them as well. The closest to him was of Tevonale. Most of the books had yellowing pages and looked far older than anything he would have expected Finn to find interest in.

“Twenty-two.” Finn said quietly as he flipped through the pages of a book. His gaze never left the pages before him and his brow was furrowed in thought.

“Twenty-two mistakes you made when crafting your palace this way?” Seth offered with sarcasm dripping from his words. He had counted at least a hundred just on his way up the stone path.

Finn frowned and looked up at him. The lines deepened on his forehead as he shook his head slowly. “You killed twenty-two demons.” He corrected calmly.

“I didn’t keep count.” Seth admitted and his eyes scanned the books once more. “What is this Finn? What are you doing?” he asked and tried to keep the frustration from his voice. Behind them the young man was still speaking, and in the silence that followed his words Seth realized with a start he was telling a story, and a very old story at that. The land he was describing was from beyond the barrier.

Finn lifted a stack of books from one of the chairs and dropped lightly into it. His green eyes roved over the table before turning his attention back to Seth and he smiled faintly. “Taking your suggestion.” He answered with a faint shrug. “I am making this place my own, and as I changed the palace it occurred to me that people aren’t the only things that die. Places die too, and all of these books describe them. If I am Death than I will have everything that is dead. I will have fallen cities instead of barren rock plains. I will have forests and oceans and…” His voice had been gaining volume, but dwindled off at the end and his smile grew wider. His eyes locked on Seth’s and he let out a long sigh. “I will have what everyone above wants so damn badly. I’m building what they destroyed outside the Barrier.”