The Elder Blood Chronicles – Book Three(109)

“Put your hand where it doesn’t belong and you pay for it,” Neph replied with another smirk.

“May I ask how you intend to break the curse?” Sovann asked quietly, his voice just loud enough to carry across the table.

“The same way I ended Death’s magic. I intend to find the threads that are causing the problem and either sever them or repair them, whichever is needed,” Jala explained calmly, still examining the teeth marks in her hand.

“You can see threads now?” Sovann asked in shock.

His tone of voice drew her attention upwards and she nodded calmly to him. “I can. It was a talent that I discovered while I was lounging in bed,” she replied.

“So she is a Sorceress, a Channeler, and a Weaver,” Neph concluded with a raised eyebrow.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing. I was amazed when she showed a talent for Channeling,” Sovann said and shook his head slightly as he stared at Jala with a bewildered expression.

“I’ve put some thought into that actually,” Jala said with a bitter smile.

“And…” Neph pressed.

“And I remember quite clearly saying I wish I could just master magic when I was having so many difficulties learning a simple Light spell in Sanctuary. It appears my family magic does work quite well. The edge of that sword was what I had to go through to master it. Sovann made the Sorcery part simple. I mastered the Channeling the day Finn was nearly killed in Rivana, the Weaving came from nearly dying myself,” Jala explained.

“So essentially, what she is saying is, if we truly traumatize her she might show us another form of magic that we don’t even know of,” Neph said with a grin.

“There are days when it is so tempting to smack you, Neph,” Jala said with a sigh. “Can you handle the mana stones all right, Madren? I will need as many as you can make. I have no idea how much energy it is going to require to lift the curse but I’m going to bet it is far more than I possess on my own.”

“Consider it done. I will work on that and nothing else until we leave for Goswin,” Madren assured her with a firm nod. He had been sitting with a thoughtful expression on his face for most of the meeting, but now his eyes held a gleam to them. She wasn’t sure if it was determination she was seeing, or hope. Either would do, though. They were both things that would be desperately needed in days to come.

“Well then, that is it until after the curse is lifted. Everyone knows where we stand and what to do. We face the Avanti in the spring and we must be prepared. It is up to everyone in this room to see that everything we can possibly do to protect ourselves is done,” Jala said with a nod around the table. “You may all return to what you were doing before I called you here,” Jala finished and watched everyone stand. “Neph, stay a moment if you would. I’d like to talk to you about something,” she added.

“As you like,” Neph agreed and dropped back into his chair once more.

Silently, Jala watched the room empty and nodded to Wisp as the Fae motioned toward herself and Legacy and then upstairs. Quietly, Wisp closed the door behind her and Jala turned her attention back to the room.

“If any of them are traitors I could find no trace of it in their minds,” Emily said quietly as she dropped her camouflage and took a seat at the table. She wore the clothing that Jala had painstakingly selected for her over the past few days. Though it wasn’t a fashion trend that any others would likely follow, the Blight seemed comfortable in the assortment of clothing stolen from various cultures. The short cut pants she wore originated from Morcath and were primarily used by the women tending the orchards to wear under their skirts for decency. The vest was borrowed from Firym style and the heavy clawed gauntlets derived from Delvay as did the spiked pauldron that covered one of the girl’s slender shoulders. “I scanned Joseph’s mind the deepest and unless he is far more clever than I think, he is genuine,” Emily said.

“Well isn’t this interesting,” Neph began slowly looking from the Blight to Jala. “I wondered about the presence of a few at that meeting.”

“I had to be certain,” Jala said calmly with no trace of remorse in her voice at all. “I started a war today. I have to know that my allies are truly allies.”

“We started a war,” Neph corrected with a smile and looked back to Emily. “The short hair looks nice,” he said with a nod causing both women to stare at him in shock. A compliment from Neph was as rare as a snowflake in summer. “The outfit looks as though you were dressed by a blind beggar but the hair is good.”