“I contacted them and warned them. I hope they will take me seriously. At the very least Finn will show up here if for nothing more than to retrieve you. I told him we would wait at Sovann’s. I’m not sure the Academy is safe right now,” Neph replied and nodded in the direction of Sovann’s warehouse.
She gave another quick glance toward the inner city and moved to follow Neph. “Let luck bring them safely to us Fortune,” she whispered.
Neph gave a slight nod in agreement. Of all of her friends he was the only one that showed any signs of religion. “Let Fortune watch over us as well. There is nothing saying Kellis won’t send men in here after you. He has once before, after all,” Neph muttered and quickened his pace, glancing back to make sure she was keeping up.
“I didn’t fight last time. I would this time around,” Jala told him and the words brought the earlier thought back to her mind. This is your calling, to fight, to kill. It had seemed like her thought at the time, but now she wasn’t so sure, the idea of killing had never been appealing to her. Though if it wasn’t her thought, she wasn’t sure where it would have come from. Now wasn’t the time to worry over such things, though. The Barrier and the safety of her friends was more than enough to be concerned over.
*
The sound of low voices from the inner rooms greeted them as Neph quietly pushed open the door to the warehouse. It had changed drastically since the last time Jala had been here and she looked around the entry hall in amazement. The dingy wooden walls had been freshly painted a crisp white and the air smelled clean and pleasant. She followed Neph as he made his way into the main room, her eyes roving curiously over the new additions as they walked. It was evident Wisp had a hand in the improvements as curtains now covered the windows and occasional paintings dotted the once bare walls.
The voices died abruptly as she stepped into the room and she looked up sharply to find her friends staring at her in dismay. Wisp’s eyes were nearly the size of saucers as she crossed the room quickly to Jala’s side.
“What happened?” The little Fae demanded as she tugged the charred remains of Jala’s dress back into a more modest covering. Jala glanced down at herself and gave a snort of amusement wondering how many people had seen the charred remains of Lady Merrodin stumbling through the streets. That was likely to be interesting gossip tomorrow.
“Her shields dropped during our duel,” Neph explained and seemed intent on explaining further but Sovann cut him off sharply.
“You set my sister-in-law on fire?” Sovann demanded, rising from the chair he had been lounging in.
“Are you OK, Jala?” Joseph asked from the far corner of the room.
Jala nodded slightly and smiled warmly at him. She hadn’t had a chance to see much of him since she had saved him from Finn at the Pits, but from what Sovann said, he was doing well here. One of these days she would have a chance to sit and talk with him, she promised herself. Though by the pile of ledgers stacked on the table before him it was clear that he was just as busy as she was. Isador sat at the table as well, with a paper held loosely in her hand. The Fionaveir’s full attention was focused on her right now, though, with an expression of concern.
“It was a spell duel, Sovann, but never mind that right now we have bigger troubles,” Neph replied sounding irritated at being interrupted.
“I think setting Jala on fire is a rather big issue,” Sovann pressed. He had crossed the room now and was closely examining her alongside Wisp.
“Really, I’m fine,” Jala assured them as she tried to back away from the combined prodding.
“Finn is going to see it as a rather big issue,” Wisp said to Neph, the look of disapproval written clearly on her normally smiling face.
“It was not intentional, but we have bigger issues,” Neph continued still trying to inform them of the Barrier.
“I can’t believe you were so careless Neph,” Sovann cut in again and Neph responded with a growl. Grabbing Sovann roughly Neph drug him to the window and tore the curtain down. Sovann struggled briefly against the bigger mage’s grip but subsided as Neph grabbed him under the chin and forced him to look up at the crimson sky.
Wisp ceased her prodding examination as Sovann stared blankly out the window, his body limp in Neph’s grasp. “What is it?” Wisp asked as she released Jala and made her way to the window.
“Our bigger problem,” Neph said, pointing up to the clouds.
Jala watched Isador and Joseph cross the room as well and waited patiently for the realization to settle on her friends. Joseph simply seemed confused as she had been, but the other three were as pale as milk.
“How did they get majority?” Isador whispered. She above all, had reason to be terrified. If the Justicars found her in the city they would kill her without question, simply for the tattoos she bore, and now she had no hope of escape.
“I have no idea,” Neph admitted and moved back to stand by Jala. With a slight frown he looked her over and motioned toward the back room. “It might spare me a fight with your husband if you would consider changing clothes,” he suggested quietly.
Jala nodded her agreement and smiled at Sovann. “I’m going to borrow your bath again Sovann,” she informed him and crossed the room wondering if she would be able to hear the conversation despite the walls. She didn’t really want to miss this discussion, but Neph was right, she did need to change before Finn arrived.
“What are we going to do?” Wisp asked, her voice faint with shock.
“Stay here for now, I don’t know if the school is safe,” Neph answered, his voice strong and steady. He had apparently recovered quickly from his own shock.
“Agreed. I don’t think any of us should be in the inner city until we know more about what is going on,” Sovann said.
She closed the door to the bathroom and looked down at Marrow who was pacing along the wall. The Bendazzi kept turning his direction toward the inner city as if he could sense the Blight from this distance.