The Elder Blood Chronicles – Book Three(71)

“You will explain what exactly it was that you did won’t you?” Sovann asked with a curious light in his eyes.

“I will, but later. For right now there are a few things I would like to cover and then if it’s not too much to ask I’d like to have private words with Valor and then rest,” Jala said, her gaze once again traveling over their faces. Jala had been half afraid her words would offend them, but there was no indication to show that they had. She felt a pang of regret that she had to send them away. She knew they wouldn’t accept what she had to do, though, so she had no choice.

“Well then, what do you want to cover? Best to get it out of the way. You likely do need your rest,” Sovann said quickly. Of all of them he looked the most exhausted and she could see grief written clearly in his features. He was doing a very good job of keeping it from his voice though. She wondered briefly how much he blamed her for Finn’s loss, but quickly pushed the thought away. She could focus on that pain later when she was alone. For now it was best to try not to think of Finn and her failure. There were so many things that she needed to do. Her grief would have to wait for now.

“Where do we stand, population wise? Do we have enough food? How is morale in the city?” Jala asked.

“About nine thousand, not including the bitches in plate mail. We have enough food if we continue to ration it but it’s mostly grains and it’s a poor diet. Morale is rather low. Most want to go back to Sanctuary. It’s all they have ever known and there is security in what is familiar. That, and with the condition you arrived in, most of them think you are dead or dying. Not much point in living in Merro without a Merrodin leading, eh?” Neph answered, his words as usual were blunt and clear spoken.

“The problem with the food is fairly easy to explain. I’ve restored most of the surrounding land, but that’s soil and plants. I can’t do anything about the wildlife that should be here. If we had the animals we could hunt to supplement, but I can’t create them as I do trees and grass. So we are left with buying our goods from the Greenwild and they don’t have much to spare,” Wisp said with a sigh. The Fae dropped down lightly on the edge of Jala’s bed and frowned. “We bought most of grains from Brannaford, but the merchant we purchased it from mixed sawdust in with some of the bags to make it stretch farther. Then Neph went to visit him and now he won’t talk to us again. So we are on rations until we find another source.”

“Imagine that, a visit from Neph and he will no longer talk to us,” Valor said sarcastically and earned a rude gesture from Neph.

“You try keeping this place in order for a while, Valor. I’ll lay a heavy wager that in one week with you in control we would have utter chaos, no food, and you would be too drunk to notice,” Neph snapped.

“Give me time to think on this. In two days we will have another discussion on the matter. That should give me plenty of time to regain my strength,” Jala said with a nod, her eyes flicking back and forth between Neph and Valor. The knight had turned back to the window once more and Neph was watching her again. So she let the comments slide without any words of her own on the matter. In truth, she wasn’t really sure what to think about it at any rate. In the Darklands, Valor had been the picture of quiet competence and had barely drunk any wine. Here in the sunlit world things were apparently different, however.

“Fair enough,” Sovann agreed and nodded toward the door. “Let’s allow her to speak with Valor and rest. There is plenty of time to discuss everything later.”

Wisp nodded and gave Jala one last hug before rising from the bed. With a smile she moved to Sovann’s side and they quietly left the room. Jala watched them go and tried to ignore the twinge inside her chest. Sovann looked so much like his brother it was difficult to see him without thinking of Finn.

“Don’t keep her awake long, Valor,” Neph warned and nodded farewell to Jala as he moved to the door and quietly closed it behind him.

Jala watched the door for a long moment and then turned to look back at Valor. The knight was leaning against the window frame watching her with a cautious expression. “Why do you look nervous?” she asked as she threw the blankets back from her legs and swung them over the side of the bed. Frowning, she looked down at the short linen shift she wore and searched the room for any sign of her clothing.

“I was curious as to what you wished to speak with me alone about and now I’m simply wondering what in the hell you think you are doing,” Valor said, his voice incredulous.