The Crow King's Wife (The Elder Blood Chronicles #5)(93)
“She killed Mother and Ryven.” Syrah’s words barely reached his ears as Shade tried desperately to determine why his mother was with the Rivasans. As far as he had known she was still safely back in Morcath draining her bottles of wine for entertainment. Yet here she stood looking every bit as cold and cruel as Caleb had as he cut down Kellaria Rivasa.
“Yes, yes, though it hardly matters you little brat. Your daddy is about to die as well. Life as an orphan shouldn’t be too bad though.” Derrick taunted in a voice that held more annoyance than amusement.
Shade barely managed to peel his gaze from his mother as Syrah turned back to her father and placed a tiny hand on his cheek. His mind was reeling and he wanted nothing more than to charge out of the store and demand his mother explain herself. That was a foolish whim however and he knew it was the last possible thing he should consider doing. He needed to keep his eyes on Syrah so he knew when she was heading his way. He would hide her, and then he would figure out what Grace was doing here. Her appearance most definitely qualified as the unexpected in his eyes, and while he didn’t think his mother was trained in combat he doubted Caleb realized how dangerous even an untrained Changeling could be. Very few people did.
“Momma says the pain we have faced would destroy most. Some it would make stronger, but you it will make strong enough to destroy.” Syrah said and for the first time since she had started speaking Shade detected a tremor in her voice. “Kill them all.” She added in a louder voice that was filled with more anger and hurt than a child her age should have been able to muster.
Caleb leaned forward and pressed his lips gently to her forehead. His grey eyes met hers as he drew back from her. “Though my heart doth bleed with a suffering such as I have never known I will not falter, for only in the blood of the wicked will I find peace.” He intoned the words as if speaking a prayer and his daughter’s back straightened in response.
Syrah’s chin tilted upwards once more and a faint smile creased her lips as her father fell silent. “And so I will cleanse their filth from this world. In my righteous fury I will teach their children a fear so true that they will never again stray from the path of light.” She finished the verse with the same formality as her father.
“Live in peace Syrah and know that you were always loved more than life itself by both of your parents. I promise you love I will teach them fear and I will make them pay dearly for their sins.” Caleb’s voice was so soft Shade doubted most of the Rivasans could even hear what he was saying. If not for the heightened senses of the Blight form he wore he doubted he would have heard it. Caleb’s hand moved to rest on his daughter’s shoulder and her form shimmered under his touch. To everyone watching it looked as though Caleb had cast a teleportation spell upon the child, but Shade knew he had done nothing more than grant her a temporary invisibility to get her safely into the store. He wasn’t sure when Caleb had informed Syrah of what she was supposed to do, but guessed it was a mental link between the two of them.
A soft scuff sounded on the wooden floor beside him and Shade glanced down as Syrah’s form began to slowly fade back into view. Without hesitation he reached down and took the child’s hand so that his Blight camouflage would conceal her as well.
“Did your father tell you I would be waiting for you?” He asked as softly as he could. Voices were raised in the street once more, but Shade didn’t bother paying attention to the words. By the tone of it Derrick was blustering again and he doubted the man had anything to say that was worth hearing.
“You are Shade. You are supposed to kill Derrick and then we flee.” Syrah returned in a soft voice that was barely audible.
“A bit of a change of plans, but we will discuss it once we are in a safer place.” Shade corrected as he pulled her gently along behind him toward the back of the store. With luck there would be a back door, without luck he would make a back door. He wasn’t about to risk taking Syrah out onto the street where fighting might erupt at any moment.
Fortune was smiling on them. The store had a back door as he had hoped and it wasn’t locked or guarded. With a quick push Shade shoved it open and hurriedly boosted Syrah to the roof ledge. With a quick hop he latched onto the edge of the gutter and scrambled his own way up in less time than it took most to mount a horse. Silently he took Syrah’s hand once more and carefully guided her up to the arch of the roof just in time to watch Derrick Rivasa sending his son off with a small escort of guards. Caleb still crouched in the street watching Derrick with a grim expression on his face. His grey eyes were locked on the Lord of Prendington with the patience of a predator. He was waiting for the right moment to pounce and Derrick didn’t even seem to realize it.
“Was that a prayer to the Divine of Fear that you and your father intoned?” Shade asked softly. If it was a prayer and Caleb truly was an anointed priest perhaps his god would listen to him, because with the odds Caleb faced the man could dearly use a bit of Divine intervention. Caleb obviously wasn’t scared, of course a Priest of fear wouldn’t be, but Shade was certain that he was feeling enough fear for the both of them. His stomach was tied in so many knots that he doubted he would be able to eat properly for at least a month.
“That was Kevala’s Drin. The last oath she gave to her people before she marched on the Dark Brotherhood during the thousand year war.” Syrah explained quietly. “It was one of the first things Daddy made me learn when my schooling started.” She added in a voice that was thick with pain.