“Finn,” Jala began, her eyes lifting once more to meet his own. “They said it was enchantment that bonded us. They said your love for me wasn’t real…” Her words failed her and she tilted her head back, swallowing heavily, the actions of life still echoing in her spirit. “It wasn’t that for me Finn. I loved you more than anything else I had ever known,” she finished softly, her voice pleading for him to confess the same.
Finn sat in silence a long moment preparing to speak. “I care for you, Jala, as I would a friend. I fear there is nothing more to it though. What I felt before…” His voice trailed off as he nearly choked on the lie, but from the expression on, Jala’s face he didn’t need to say more. “May I never see you in my halls again, Jala. I wish you a long life,” Finn said quietly as he summoned his magic and sent her soul back to the sunlit world. He let out a long breath, fighting back the tears he felt stinging his eyes. Bowing his head he waved Seth forward.
“How may I serve?” Seth asked quietly as he bent to one knee before the throne.
“Take this to Jala and make sure she survives long enough to heal herself fully,” Finn said as he dropped the stone containing Marrow’s soul into Seth’s hand. “And Seth,” Finn added as the Assassin rose to his feet.
“Yes, Milord?” Seth asked, his dark eyes fixed on Finn.
“Bring me the traitor that killed her. Keep him alive, Seth. Apparently he has a fondness for the dead and I have a few to introduce him to,” Finn said, his tone low and dangerous.
Seth bowed his head and stepped back from the throne before taking to his Raven form once more. Finn sat in silence as the Assassin left, his gaze locked on the floor where Jala had stood moments before. He could have kept her beside him forever, and he had sent her back. The temptation had been so strong. It wasn’t Hemlock’s words that had swayed him in his final decision. It was the memory of Jala in Sanctuary and how upset she had been to see so many orphans in the streets of her district. No matter how much Finn wanted her beside him, their son needed her more.
“You lied to her,” Fiona said softly, her tone almost gentle.
“And it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Finn said slowly, the memory of Jala’s expression of pain burned into his memories. “I knew from the moment I traveled to Merro with her that she was the perfect woman for me,” he said with a heavy sigh and raised a hand to rub his face. Somehow he was still managing to keep his calm despite the agony twisting in his chest. “I never once stopped to ask myself if I was the perfect man for her.” He let his hand drop to his lap once more and leaned heavily back in his throne. “I’ve always said Valor was a better man than me. I wish them both happiness,” he finished, though the words were barely audible through the tightness in his throat.
Chapter 30
Avanti
Lightning flashed, illuminating Wesley’s form as his lips traced a path down her side. Jala fought back the shudder of revulsion and called on her magic to cleanse her body of the poisons the man had fed her. The crash of thunder hid her gasp as another flash of lightning shattered the darkness and she caught the briefest glimpse of the shadowed form standing in the tent behind Wesley.
“Hello, Jala,” Seth whispered. The sound of his voice brought Wesley’s head up sharply. The healer staggered to his feet, a look of guilt covering his face as Seth closed the distance between them. The glint of bare steel flashed once in the Assassin’s hand as lightning lit the sky again. Seth drove forward hard against the healer and Wesley’s scream was lost in the thunder outside. “He said I had to bring you alive. He didn’t say how alive though,” Seth hissed, his dagger buried to the hilt in the man’s stomach. Wesley stumbled to his knees, his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach, and a sobbing whine bursting from his throat.
Jala stared down at the man with no trace of mercy in her heart as her magic healed the countless wounds her body held. “Traitor,” she hissed as she staggered to her feet. Her eyes fell to Marrow’s still form with the next flash of light and the pain from seeing Finn turned to fury. “I want him dead,” she whispered to Seth, her balance still too unsteady to take action herself.
“He will be soon, I promise. He must suffer first, though,” Seth said calmly, seizing the man by his hair. “You have matters to attend to outside, Jala,” Seth said as he tossed the soulgem down on the bed before her. “You might want your Bendazzi with you to face it, though,” he added with a faint smile as he dragged Wesley to his feet by his hair.
“No, no, please. Jexon forced me. I didn’t want to betray her. I had no choice,” Wesley whined his voice rising with every word.
“I’m not the one you should be begging for mercy. I’m taking you to him now,” Seth said coldly, his gaze rising to Jala once more. “The runes on a Soulreavers back are what keep the spirit from passing to the Darklands, Jala. If you destroy the tattoos they end up in the Darklands like everyone else,” Seth said as he backed toward the shadows dragging the sobbing healer with him.
“Tell Finn that Jexon will be there shortly,” Jala promised softly as she picked the soul stone up from the bed. Moving as quickly as she could she knelt beside Marrow and healed his body of the poison and wounds Wesley had given him. Carefully she broke open the stone and urged his soul back into his body, wishing Ash was there to help her. She didn’t know at all what she was doing. Marrow stirred under her hand, his yellow eyes opening slowly.
I cannot even begin to describe how much I want to kill that little bastard. Marrow’s voice was weak in her mind, but she could sense his rising fury.