Blood, Honor and Dreams (The Elder Blood Chronicles, #2)

“She has been arrested for impersonating a high lady,” Valor explained. Cursing, Jala almost lost the scry as she slammed a hand into the wall in frustration. With a deep breath she regained her composure and glanced at the nearby lords. Zachary was regarding her with interest but Neph and Arjuna were still deep in conversation.

“He will be fine Jala,” Jail assured her, though his tone didn’t hold as much confidence as she would have liked.

Nodding slightly, she remained silent and returned to the scry of her husband.

“Is someone with her?” Finn was asking, his expression a bit sickened. “I can’t go there right now, Val. I have to fight him.”

“Jail and Neph are with her right now. Is your honor really more important than your wife Finn?” Valor demanded, irritation bleeding through into his voice.

“I can’t explain, Val. Not right now,” Finn muttered and swallowed heavily. “Here, take this, in the event that all of the Aspects are against me today, open it. If I live don’t bother,” Finn said quietly handing a sealed letter over to Valor.

“You said you always win. What do you mean if you live?” Jala hissed at the scry wishing she could reach through and slap him.

Valor looked down at the letter and then back up to Finn slowly. “Finn, you said this was guaranteed. You promised me you could beat him,” he said, his voice taking on an edge of anger.

“Get him Val, drag him out of there. He told me the same damn thing,” Jala urged quietly.

Smirking, Finn shrugged at him. “Is anything in life really guaranteed, Val?” he asked sweetly.

“It’s guaranteed that if you win, I’m going to kick your ass for this,” Valor growled back angrily.

“What, no celebrating my victory?” Finn asked sarcastically and tossed his cigarette butt to the side. “And it’s show time,” he said pushing off the wall slowly as Kithkanon made his way into the Arena. Grinning at Valor, Finn removed his vest and tossed it to him lightly.

“I really wish you would wear armor,” Valor protested.

“Can’t disappoint the crowds now can I? They all expect me to fight unprotected as usual,” Finn replied with a wink, motioning to the packed stands above. Already the roar of the crowd was rising in volume with just the appearance of one of the duelists.

“Bloodthirsty bastards,” Jala said quietly and shifted her scry for a better look at Kithkanon. He stood taller than Finn by a couple of inches and was of slight build with dark hair that was pulled back. “He looks quick,” she muttered with disgust. Speed was one of Finn’s strong points. If Kithkanon was his equal, this would be much more difficult for her husband. Her eyes roved over Kithkanon’s polished chain armor and gleaming swords. “Why do you have to be such a stubborn ass, Finn. Listen to Valor. Put on some armor,” she whispered.

“He is wearing armor,” Valor pointed out motioning to Kithkanon.

“He is a bitch, then,” Finn replied and grinned at Valor. “See ya after the show,” he said with a wink and popped something in his mouth. Frowning, Jala watched him for some sign of what he had just taken but saw none. With his usual grace Finn crossed the Arena floor and drew his swords holding them up for the crowds as he mockingly bowed. The volume of the roar increased again. Turning back to Kithkanon, Finn nodded his head so slightly the move was barely perceptible.

“Ready to live up to your name, Sovaesh?” Kithkanon asked coldly.

Finn shrugged in response but remained silent, his attention turned to the Arena judge as he approached, and he listened to the traditional words with a smirk.

“Jail, what does Sovaesh mean?” Jala called quietly not taking her eyes from the scry.

“As with most Firym words it has several meanings. Death, exile, ending, really it isn’t a very positive word at all,” Jail replied.

“Wonderful, and I’m just learning this now because …,” she said dryly letting the words trail off. All thoughts of conversation dwindled as the Arena judge stepped back from the two duelists and motioned for the fight to begin. Her breath caught in her throat as Kithkanon moved in for the first strike with unbelievable speed. Finn twisted back away from the blow at the last second, dodging most of the strike, but a thin trail of blood showed where he had been grazed.

Breaking back away from the man, Finn began circling. His eyes flicked to the cut on his side momentarily and then back to Kithkanon. “Tevrae on the sword eh?” he asked with a smirk. “Are you afraid you can’t kill me without bleeding me first?” he added his tone mocking.

“No, I know I can kill you. I just want to give the crowd a good show first,” Kithkanon shot back his expression icy.

“Jail, what is Tevrae?” Jala called over her shoulder as she watched Finn move in for an attack. “Kill him baby, kill him quick,” she whispered, not really believing she was wanting someone dead as badly as she did.

“Tevrae is an herb that slows regeneration in Immortals. Kithkanon is known for coating his swords with it,” Jail replied moving over closer to the bars. “How bad is it?” he asked quietly.

“It’s just started but Finn already has a wound,” she replied, stepping closer to Jail so he could see the fight as well.

Her breath caught again as Kithkanon parried each of Finn’s blows easily and shoved him roughly backwards, drawing another line of blood across his stomach. Stumbling, Finn barely managed to keep his feet and clumsily dodged another attack from Kithkanon.

“Two wounds,” Jala corrected, her hopes sinking as she watched Finn struggle to hold Kithkanon off of him. He was breathing heavily again as he had last night in the pits, as if he was already winded from the fight. “Finn has better stamina than that, Jail, what’s wrong with him? Are the blades poisoned?”

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