“Such as?” she asked, still confused.
“I’m by no means an expert on magic but I’ll give you the explanation Sovann gave me as a warning to you. He used a common enough wish that is echoed daily in the streets of Sanctuary for it, only he used me as the example. See, this discussion came shortly after I left home and was not doing so well for myself.” He frowned as he spoke and his steps slowed again. “I was about to go against Merrodin, or that’s what I believed at the time. I was questioning him about their talents and I was quite concerned about their strength at the time. He shook his head at me and told me it was a double edged sword and the Merrodin wouldn’t use it on impulse. For example, say you wish to be rich. The next day your parents die and you inherit a fortune from them. You are rich, but you are also an orphan. Was the wish the best path to the fortune? I suppose if you hated your parents it would be, but despite our differences I love my parents dearly. So Sovann’s example worked well for me,” he finished and gave her a smile.
“So there is a trick to using it carefully then?” she asked.
“They used it to create the Veir plague, Jala. Have no doubt they phrased that spell very carefully. To a point, it worked flawlessly, Veir was destroyed. The double-edge caught them in the end though. Merrodin was destroyed as well. A couple of the Veirasha survived, of course.” He glanced at her and winked. “But then so did a Merrodin,” he added with a smile.
“Well, I don’t think we have to worry about it in any event. I wished over and over throughout my childhood to have my parents back and I’m still an orphan. If it’s a birthright, I didn’t inherit apparently,” she said with a shrug.
He stopped walking and she stopped beside him, puzzled. “Are you sure it didn’t work?” he asked. “As far as I know, magic doesn’t have a time limit and you do have the chance to get your parents back now.”
“But that’s through bargaining with Death,” Jala objected, pausing in her own steps and turning to face him.
“It’s Luck magic Jala. It alters fate. As far as I understand from Sovann, it creates opportunity for something, not instantly delivering what you wish for. You know, most orphans don’t get a chance at all of bringing their families back.” He paused and reached a hand inside her coat, drawing a thick gold coin from the inner pocket. “And it could explain this. If your magic did work, this is the double-edge,” he added, holding up the coin Anthe had given her.
She felt all color drain from her face as she stared at the coin. “I didn’t know you knew about that. I didn’t really believe what she said about it,” she said, her voice thick.
Finn raised an eyebrow at her and cocked his head, a trace of a smile playing across his mouth. “Truly? Well, no secrets between us right? You told me the night you were drinking after Shade visited. Jala, if you didn’t believe Anthe, why are you so pale now?” His voice was gentle as was his expression.
“You believe I have gambled you,” she explained, watching his expression closely. “Finn, I wouldn’t gamble with your life. It’s a glimpse of the future that’s all it is. Sovann says Time magic is unreliable because the future is always changing. I would never risk losing you. I will change the glimpse Anthe told me about.”
Finn let out a snort of laughter and grinned widely at her. “Jala, I’m not upset. If my life is the price of your dreams, I accept it. I will by no means be laying my head on a chopping block willingly, and I will fight to my last breath, but if that’s the price, so be it. It’s kind of poetic justice, actually. Considering how many lives I’ve taken, it seems like a balance to know my death might return so many to life.”
Jala stared at him in bewilderment and shook her head slowly, her jaw dropping open slightly. “No, no, no,” she said, her voice choked. She shook her head again more violently. “There is no so be it here, Finn Sovaesh, and that is not justice that I want any part of. There is nothing at all in this entire wretched world worth that price. Nothing!” she said, her eyes locked on his and a trace of hysteria in her voice.
“Not even the restoration of two countries, Jala? Are you saying one life is worth more than all of those people?” he asked, his voice still calm and rational.
“I would burn two countries to keep you, Finn!” she snapped, her voice rising again.
“Rivana and Avanti?” he asked in amusement.
Stepping forward, she smacked him lightly on the chest, her violet eyes flashing. “Not funny, Finn. This is not funny at all to me. Rivana and Avanti or Morcath or any of the rest. You are worth more to me than any of it,” she pressed and let out a long unsteady breath.
He smiled at her and shook his head slowly, his expression filled with affection. “Jala, a single life isn’t worth that, no matter whose it is,” he said and wrapped his arms around her drawing her close. She buried her face in his shoulder as he rested his chin gently on the top of her head. “It’s OK, Jala. I knew about the coin and I know about your other guilty secret, and while I’m not happy about it, I appreciate the thought.”
She stiffened in his arms. shocked into total silence for a long moment. “You know about what, exactly?” she asked carefully.
He chuckled. “How many secrets do you have, exactly? For someone who isn’t supposed to be keeping any, you seem nervous. How about you confess your sins and we will see if you have one I don’t know about?” he offered, a trace of teasing in his voice.