The Crow King's Wife (The Elder Blood Chronicles #5)(37)
Neph stared at the image and then back to Fortune with narrowed eyes. The Aspect had the same coloring as the illusion of the man, with pale blond hair and blue eyes, but that was where the similarities ended. Fortune was wiry and slender where as the man in the book was tall and heavily muscled across the chest and shoulders.
“Kadren Zengael.” Fortune said as he waved a hand toward the image. His brow furrowed and he chewed his lip for a moment before he continued. “Who I used to be, but I can see the disbelief written clearly on your face so allow me to elaborate. I was nearly the only one in my family to follow the Guardians path. My younger sister did as well, but I often wonder if she didn’t simply do it to follow in my footsteps. My brother and my mother were staunch Extremists, were my father still alive when the division came I have no doubts he would have been Extremist as well. I might have been too, but the woman I loved was pure Guardian. I believed in peace, but she was a fanatic about ending all fighting no matter the cost. In the end she was the one that devised the plan to stasis the heroes.” Fortune paused once more and glanced up at Neph.
“I honestly fail to see how this is in anyway helpful, unless of course you happen to know the spell to release them from stasis.” Neph said in annoyance.
Fortune smiled faintly and shrugged one shoulder. “My twin brother Tyvosh as well as my mother were caught in that stasis spell.” He continued as if Neph hadn’t voiced any complaint at all. “Originally the plan was to lock them into stasis and destroy them while they were defenseless. My beloved volunteered to act as a conduit to cast the stasis spell, and they would have used her to destroy those caught by it as well, but she had a fatal case of my sword through her chest before they had a chance. I was supposedly there to protect her while she was defenseless during the spellcasting, but my family was trapped by that spell. It was her or them, and I had already tried to talk her out of it. So I made my choice. With that action I became betrayer in the eyes of Delvay as well as the Guardians, and thus had to make a few changes to myself in order to hide.” He waved a hand at himself and smiled bitterly at Neph.
Neph’s frown deepened and he folded his arms over his chest as he considered what he was being told. Essentially his true father not only snuck into the beds of married woman, but he was a two time traitor as well. The information did not bode well for a good relationship between the two of them. There was only so much respect one was due for simply being an Aspect, and Fortune was rapidly losing what he had acquired on that merit.
“This little tidbit of my life may have you confused, but it explains why Ren kept you alive. He tested you time and time again to try to determine who your true father was, but he kept getting the same thing. His life magic always showed that you were of Delvay blood and nearly identical to him in life patterns. It never once occurred to him that you actually were related to him, because he didn’t know the bit of history I just told you. My little sister who sympathized with the Guardians never actually left Delvay. Her husband was the leader of the country, she couldn’t leave. She had no choice but to hide her affiliation and remain behind. When news of the Barrier arose she helped gather the heroes and did everything she could to help the Guardians trick the Delvay into retreating peacefully. Once the Barrier came up she settled in for what she hoped would eventually be a peaceful life, and finally allowed herself to become a mother. KayDelvayon and RenDelvayon were the names she chose for her children.”
“My Grandmother?” Neph demanded doubtfully.
“Technically your Aunt actually.” Fortune corrected mildly before continuing. “Even if I had wished to remain outside beyond the Barrier I had little choice in the matter. The Guardians were hunting feverishly for me, and my entire family was here. So I willingly stepped into the trap. I wandered aimlessly about the lands for a while, before I realized without a house or a nation to call my own there was only one way I could still try to help end the fighting or at least ease some of the pain. So I Ascended and chose Fortune as my Aspect. It was pure luck that had kept me alive or from being caught up until that point, so it seemed fitting. That and there was very little chance that anyone from Delvay would ever pay much attention to an Aspect such as myself. Things were wonderful aside from the constant wars and the unfailing attempts to tear down the Barrier by nearly every house. So I set about trying to find a way to bring peace to Sanctuary in a more civilized manner than the Guardians had chosen.”
“Neph please quit glaring at him that way. Aside from me, you are the only person he has ever trusted this knowledge to, and I promise if you just hear him out it will all click into place and make sense.” His mother spoke in a tone of pleading and Neph did his best to wipe the scowl from his face.
Neph wasn’t sure why he was humoring her, and it wasn’t something he wanted to question. It wasn’t his nature to forgive and forget easily, but with her it seemed as though he had already forgiven. He no longer felt anger toward her, and he knew if he put much thought into he would. There were so many choices she had made that could make him hate her if he allowed himself to dwell on it, but the simple truth was, he had lived most of his life without a mother, and the thought of losing her again was gut-wrenching. She wasn’t alive, and she wasn’t truly dead, but he was desperate enough to take what he could get. At least this way he might possibly have a chance to know her.
Fortune glanced at him once more and pushed Neph’s beer toward him. “I wish it were a short explanation, but for you to fully understand I can’t spare the earliest details.” He sighed and shifted in his chair before he seemed to abandon all hope of getting comfortable and simply leaned forward to rest his arms on the table. “My first attempt was Dashara. I thought that ending slavery would be a wonderful way to alleviate some suffering. Seth buggered that project from all angles. Fiona Veirasha was my second attempt, and once again an outside force buggered it to all hell. Then a priestess of mine among the Fionaveir sent a prayer to me asking for help for a woman who was abused at the hands of the Merrodin.” Fortune paused and another faint smile lit his face for a moment. “That was the first knowledge I had of Jala Merrodin; A prayer for her before she was even born from one of my most devout servants. So I joined the Fionaveir in their crusade for a revolution. Originally it was planned that certain houses would have to find new leadership if peace was ever to come to Sanctuary. To my delight RenDelvayon’s name was on that short list. House Merrodin was to have a new leader as well, a tiny little girl that had just been born while the plan was being made. Myth tried to bugger that plan as well but I clung to it with tenacity as I never had before. When Merro was destroyed I sent more power to that child than I had used in centuries to keep her alive, then ensured that she would be found by those that would keep her safe. Over the years I shielded her as best I could, but my true power over the situation was limited. I couldn’t interfere directly because I’m an Aspect, and there was a Divine involved that is much more powerful than I am. So when she arrived in Sanctuary I did my best to ensure she would stay safe, by sending her directly to Finn at the first opportunity and thus into the hall my son lived in. I wasn’t sure about Finn Sovaesh, but I knew once you had given her a chance to prove herself to you that you would protect her.”