The Crow King's Wife (The Elder Blood Chronicles #5)(66)
The bard took another deep breath and bowed his head slightly to Finn before his rich voice rose once more. “For days she cared for the creature and often carried it with her on her wanderings never realizing what she truly held. To her the crow was a creature of the forest, an innocent animal that had been wounded cruelly, but in truth it was far more than a crow. It was in fact the Crow King himself that Karalea devoted so much kindness to and had she simply killed the creature when it was weakened the world would have been a brighter place, and perhaps that small village would still stand today. That was not her nature however and over time the creature healed until it once again had the strength for flight. Her heart lifted to see it survive such a grievous wound and with a loving hand she released it back into the wild. For days all was peaceful and her life returned to normal. Then in the still of night the first dream came to her and in her sleep she saw truly what she had saved. The Crow King himself spoke to her and tried to lure her to him with sweet words, but Karalea refused his charm. She was no fool and she knew the danger of the Crow King. He was a creature of hell with the blackest of souls and no matter how sweetly he spoke she knew it was lies. For many nights he plagued her dreams with temptations until the folk of the village began to see the haunted look in her eyes. They begged her to tell them her troubles, but she was not the sort to burden others with her pain and so she kept her silence until the tempting dreams turned to nightmares. As his sweet words shifted to threats she went first to her mother and told her all. In ignorance her mother bade her be silent and hold strong. She didn’t want her daughter to suffer, but she was foolish enough to believe the Crow King could only haunt dreams and that he had no strength over the pure of heart.”
Finn held up a hand to still the bard and the spirit fell silent at once. Turning in his seat he regarded Seth for a moment. “Didn’t you dreamwalk to Zoey a few days ago?” he asked cautiously.
Seth smiled at the memory and nodded his head. “I did and it was sweeter than I could have hoped. She was already dreaming about me when I stepped into her thoughts and while it wasn’t exactly an accurate image of me it was still a flattering one.”
Nodding slowly Finn watched him with a dubious look on his face and then nodded to the bard once more. “Continue, and do exactly as Seth told you. Tell it in the Glis fashion and as honestly as you can remember. I have a feeling there is more to this story than I am going to want to hear.”
The bard’s expression never shifted as he bowed his head to Finn, but Seth didn’t miss the dark glance the spirit gave him before continuing. “With the nightmares and threats came the crows in flocks such as the folk had never before seen. They gathered about the village devouring every bit of food they could find from the gardens and surrounding forests. The air was constantly alive with their calls even in the dead of night. For days they lingered and tormented the peaceful village with their noise and thieving nature. Karalea felt pangs at seeing her friends and family suffer the nuisance, but kept her silence as her mother had bid her and worked all the harder at her gathering to provide the village with what the birds had stolen. Her silence and refusal infuriated the Crow King and he realized that his minions were not enough to frighten her. Karalea was strong of heart and spirit and he knew by watching her endure his minor torments so stoically that it would take more to break her will, and so the nightmares faded away and the flocks of crows left. For a time she believed he had given up, and for the first time in weeks she slept in peace. It wasn’t until the next night that she knew the truth. In the dark hours of early morning there was a noise outside her door. Thinking it was her mother or father she rose to see what had brought them from their beds so early. The air beyond her room was chill and it was not one of her beloved parents waiting for her. The creature was hideous with the marks of the grave still upon it. Once perhaps it had been human, but no trace of humanity remained in the glowing eyes it set upon her. In terror she stumbled back into her room and braced herself against the door as the nightmare beyond slammed its strength into the rough wooden planks. For what seemed like hours it clawed at the door snarling and growling as it hissed threats in a low guttural voice. Only with the Crow King would she be safe it warned her, but through her sobs and cries of terror she held it back and refused the newest threat. It fled with the first light of dawn and Karalea sagged in exhaustion. Only by sheer force of will did she manage to drag herself to her parent’s door. She expected to find them dead, for the had not responded to the noise of the night, but to her vast relief they lay sleeping and with only a gentle nudge she roused them. Through tears she told her father everything and watched as his face darkened with anger and then paled in fear as her story unfolded. His reaction was as different from her mother’s as night is from day and within but an hour of hearing her troubles he had gathered the entire village to his home. He told them all of the Crow King’s torments toward his daughter. Another place might have turned Karalea away and banished her from their village, but that was not the sort of place she dwelled. Instead the folk rose in righteous outrage and vowed to protect her and see her safe until help could be summoned even if they must petition the High Lord himself.”
“Seth I don’t like where this is going.” Finn warned in a low voice. He had shifted in his chair and the book was once more on the table. Apparently the Lord of Death had lost all interest in his research for the time being.