The Crow King's Wife (The Elder Blood Chronicles #5)(5)
Chapter 1
The Darklands
The life tether fluctuated again and Finn frowned in response. He had grown used to sensing death amongst the sunlit world, but he knew this soul, and he didn’t want it in his domain. Shade Morcaillo had been enough of a pain in his ass when Finn was alive and the last thing he wanted to do was try to judge the man fairly in death. Aside from his own personal feelings on the matter though, Shade was Jala’s ally, and because of that Finn couldn’t allow him to die. His eyes narrowed as he focused on the tether once more and tried to force it back away from his domain.
It didn’t make sense for Shade to be so near death. The man was a Changeling and by his birthright alone he should have been able to evade nearly every danger life offered. Yet he was closer to dying than Finn cared to think about. Tentatively Finn searched for Jala’s tether and reassured himself that she was well. The urge to scry on both of them was growing in him, but he couldn’t waste the power to do it just yet. He needed to hold everything he had to face what was coming and even the small trickle of power he was sending to help Shade would be considered wasteful by Fiona.
“Are you even listening to me?” Fiona demanded and Finn slowly turned to face her with a look of annoyance.
“I am now.” Finn announced with very little enthusiasm as Fiona went back to adjusting his cloak and every other detail she could think to check. She had been unbearable since he had received the summons from the Divine, and she was only getting worse now that the time had arrived to face them.
“Did you hear any of what I said? This is important Finn.” Fiona sighed and moved around to stand in front of him forcing him to meet her eyes. Her white armor had been polished to a shine and her dark hair was pulled back in a tight pony tail. If it weren’t for the blood stained cloak she wore, Fiona would have looked positively respectable.
“I heard are you listening to me. The rest well...” Finn shrugged one shoulder and smiled at her with as much charm as he could force into the expression.
“They will all be there Finn. All of the Aspects as well as the Divine and you must and I do mean must be respectful. You will be outnumbered and your only prayer is to charm them if you are still refusing to simply give them Seth. I don’t know why you are protecting Seth anyway. He doesn’t deserve your protection.” Fiona said in the tone of voice that was typically reserved for disobedient children.
“We’ve discussed this topic well past the point of my patience. I cannot seem to get my reasons through your thick skull so let’s just leave it at I am protecting him. So please drop it. As far as being respectful and outnumbered…fine, I’ll be respectful.” Fiona stared at him in disbelief as he fell silent and Finn raised an eyebrow at her in question. “What?” he asked after a long moment.
“Did you really just agree to do the logical thing so easily?” she asked quietly her eyes still wide with wonder.
“Don’t say it like that Fiona. Damn you make me sound like an idiot.” Finn snapped and narrowed his eyes at her as Fiona continued to stare at him with an expression that suggested he was just that.
“I’ve served you for nearly five years in the Darklands Finn. Respectful is not a word I would use to describe you, idiot however…” Fiona’s voice trailed off as she stepped back from him and nodded her approval at his polished armor and thick black cloak. “You are a handsome idiot though and you look more Divine than I’ve ever seen you. Did you gather the power like I told you to?”
“Yes Fiona. If I was holding any more power I would likely explode. I am full capacity just like you said I should be. Now let’s get this over with as quickly and painlessly as possible. I have things here that require my attention and I can’t afford to waste much time with this trial of theirs.” Finn sighed and looked around his hall one last time. It seemed far too empty to his eyes. He had gotten used to Legacy being around as well as Zoelyn, but they were in the sunlit world once more. Even Seth had been absent from the throne room for days, though after their last talk Finn couldn’t blame the man. Perhaps one day everything would return to normal, well as normal as life in hell could be.
*
Finn had never been a religious man in life and the sheer number of people in the room astounded him. He had never realized there were so many Aspects before. The council room was bowl shaped with benches lining all sides surrounding a pit of sand at the bottom. Everywhere he looked someone was watching him. The only place vacant was the sand pit. Every other corner of the room was occupied. He let his gaze slowly wander through the crowd and his eyes lingered on a red-haired woman that lounged on a bench. She was dressed in tight leather clothes that barely concealed any of her body and the expression on her face was predatory. Her hand trailed down to the floor to brush against the fur of a massive black wolf that lay near her feet. Several more of the animals were curled around where she sat, but they were so tangled together that he couldn’t get an accurate count of them. “The Aspect of nature?” Finn whispered to Fiona hesitantly. The woman certainly wasn’t what he had imagined the Aspect of Nature looking like, but he approved regardless.
“Hardly. That is Olivia the Aspect of the Wild, and she would rip you in half gleefully so quit staring like a love struck child. She represents the savage side of nature and is not known for a sunny personality.” Fiona rolled her eyes as she spoke and gestured silently with one hand further into the crowd. “That is the Aspect of Nature and I don’t think she likes you much either. You are Firym and they tend to burn things and you are death which while it is natural is still not a favorite of the Aspects that are inclined to goodness.”