The Elder Blood Chronicles – Book Three(102)

“Their numbers are mainly slaves, Jail, and equipment doesn’t mean everything,” Jala returned softly as the ship landed fully and the door began to open.

“It means a lot,” Jail pressed, his expression concerned.

“But it doesn’t mean everything,” Valor broke in as he pushed his way through the door and moved to stand beside Jala on the opposite side of Jail. As usual, Valor was dressed perfectly in fine clothing and a long dark purple coat that nearly matched her dress in coloring.

Jala smiled and glanced up at the knight with gratitude clear on her face. “You cut your hair. Now I won’t be able to tell you apart from Honor at all when your back is turned to me,” she observed quietly.

“Look for the one wearing your colors and it’s a safe bet it is me,” Valor said with a smile and glanced toward the Spell Hawk as the first of its passengers started to disembark. “Wisp is on the roof with her bow in case we need her and Sovann is with Legacy,” he informed her softly as he turned back to look at her once more.

“You have an earring now too,” Jala said, her eyes locked on the shiny black hoop in Valor’s right ear rather than the approaching delegation from Avanti.

“Avanti here, remember?” Jail reminded her softly. The big mage shifted slightly beside her and nudged her a bit sharply with his elbow.

“Mm. Hmm. I remember. They are simply farther down my priority list,” Jala said as she studied the earring closer. It was shining black metal on both sides of the hoop closest to the ear with silver near the center and a decent sized violet gem at the exact center. “What warranted the change, Valor?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Can we discuss this later perhaps? You might not be concerned, but there is an approaching High Lord as well as his two sons,” Valor said with a faint smile.

Jala raised her eyebrow and turned back to look toward their visitors, raising one hand to shield the sun from her eyes as she did so. “Ahh. Truce and Nathan as well as their daddy. This must be important,” she murmured softly.

“Did you get horribly lost, Avanti?” Neph snapped as he walked toward the porch from the opposite direction as the visitors and stepped up to stand just below Jala.

“Now, Neph that is no way to address our visitors. There is a High Lord present,” Jala said calmly and placed a hand on Neph’s shoulder as she smiled at the High Lord. Carefully she raised one hand and pointed north as she gave him an overly sweet smile. “Avanti is actually farther north, Lord Avanti. You just missed it by a smidgen of several hundred miles,” Jala offered in helpful tone.

“How cute,” Lord Avanti said as he paused several feet away and adjusted his coat carefully so that the deep red velvet fell perfectly straight to his waist. “I am, in fact, here to speak with you, Lady Merrodin. And while that must seem as ridiculous to you as it does to me, I’m afraid my son has insisted on it.”

His sons took positions behind him and Jala was quick to note that while Nathan looked pleased, Truce had an expression that suggested he would rather be anywhere else. By the expression on his face it was clear that Truce wasn’t the son that had insisted on the visit, and she could only imagine what Nathan must want.

Another figure moved behind them and caught her eye. Jala felt a twinge in her gut as she recognized the dark green eyes. While the man was covered from head to toe in a dark cloak and his lower face was shrouded with a mask, the eyes were enough to tell her who he was. Sovaesh, Finn’s father who served as Avanti’s personal Assassin. Sovaesh caught her eye for just a moment and nodded so faintly it was barely perceptible.

Sighing heavily, Jala ignored the gesture from Sovaesh to keep from drawing attention to him and shifted her gaze between the two sons once more before looking back to the High Lord. She didn’t bother to acknowledge the ten armed guards that surrounded the Avanti in a semi-circle, but she could tell by the way Valor and Jail stiffened that they were both intent on them.

“It seems you have yourself in a difficult place, Lady Merrodin, and my son has a soft heart. He feels that we should give you a second chance,” Lord Avanti continued, his eyes locking fully on her. “Earlier this year, you chose to side yourself with the rebels and now… Well now, you are all alone out here, little girl.”

Jala cocked her head slightly to one side and watched him, an expression of amusement flicking across her face. “You are surrounded by crowds of my citizens and I am standing with half my court beside me and you think I’m alone?”