“What do you need of me that is more important than Jala Merrodin?” Vaze asked, his voice level, but holding a hint of warning in it. His posture had changed too, Shade noted silently. The warrior no longer lounged. Instead, he stood rigid with every muscle coiled as though he expected a fight.
“I expect you to secure the city. There are Blights running loose within the bounds of Sanctuary. I expect you to kill them. I’d give the task to another, but they would die,” Lutheron replied with faint smirk. He knew he had won the argument with those few words.
Letting out a long sigh, Vaze nodded slowly and relaxed against the wall once more. “As you say, Lutheron. Do we have a location for them?”
“No, which brings me to another matter. Charm, I had planned to send you to help the Merrodin girl. That was before I realized what a fool she was. Now I will keep you close to help someone that is more worthy of your skills. You and Shade will both be assigned to guard and help Symphony when she arrives. Shade, I understand you have more practice with the Blight form. Is it true they can sense their kind when they draw near?” Lutheron spoke with a calm authority and it seemed the matter of helping Jala would be forgotten.
“You know, I could go in Vaze’s place. I’m not irreplaceable to the Fionaveir and Jala is a friend of mine,” Shade offered. He knew he was treading on dangerous ground by ignoring Lutheron’s question completely, but he wasn’t willing to let the topic of Jala simply slide away so easily.
“No, you are needed here. Now can you sense the Blights?” Lutheron said with a bit of irritation.
“No, I can’t. I’ve heard they can sense each other but I haven’t figured out how they use that particular skill. I can camouflage and that’s about it,” Shade answered bluntly allowing a bit of his own irritation to seep into his voice. He understood leadership well enough, but Lutheron wasn’t so much a leader as he was a tyrant. The man simply refused to listen to any logic other than his own.
“Then you will accompany Vaze on his first hunt to see if you can master it,” Lutheron said with a nod and then looked back to Charm as if in dismissal. “You will stay by Symphony as much as she will allow it. Watch everyone that speaks with her and take notes of what they speak about. There is a question of trust in the Fionaveir right now and I don’t want Symphony being fed lies. If you see anything questionable, make note of it and inform me at your first opportunity. When she dismisses you, ensure that Shade is there to take your place. In the Blight form, of course, and unseen.”
“Wait! You want me to watch her without her knowing I’m there?” Shade objected, stepping closer to the table as he spoke.
Lutheron looked back toward him with annoyance gleaming in his dark eyes. “For her protection, Shade. She won’t allow a guard on her night and day, as she should. I do what I must to keep her safe. Without Symphony, there isn’t much point in this rebellion now is there?”
“I won’t do it,” Shade said firmly. “I’ll guard her if she knows I’m there, but I won’t skulk in the shadows with her oblivious to my presence.”
Lutheron gave an exaggerated sigh and looked back to Charm. “I will leave it to you to explain it to him. See that you are prepared for her arrival. Until then I have no further orders.”
“When should we expect her to arrive, Sir?” Charm asked politely as he stood from his chair and cast a withering look in Shade’s direction.
Shade glared back at him and shook his head in silent refusal. The simple idea of spying on Symphony was appalling to him. He didn’t want to invade her life in that way. To put himself in her place and know that someone was watching him twenty-four hours a day, was horrifying.
Lutheron pursed his lips and glanced out the window toward the wreckage of the city, then let out a long breath. “Three days, I would guess. I want most of this mess cleaned up before she arrives,” he answered and then motioned toward the door. “You may go. I have a few things I need to discuss with Vaze and then I’ll send him to Shade to arrange a hunting time.”
“Yes Sir, good day Sir,” Charm said crisply and headed to the door with Victory and Shade in tow.
“I thought he didn’t like the sir treatment,” Shade mumbled as they left the room.
“When he is in that sort of mood, it is best to be proper. By the way, never object openly like that. If it’s something you truly cannot stomach, than give it time and speak with another of the councilors. Remedy would have listened to you and likely agreed,” Charm said in a voice that seemed exhausted.
“When he is in that sort of mood it’s best not to speak at all, let alone object,” Victory sighed and smiled weakly at Charm. “My apologies for leaving him in such dark spirits before you arrived. Had I known you had an appointment with him I would have delayed my arrival.”
Charm shrugged. “Lutheron has a mean bark, but very rarely ever bites. You have to be a complete moron to provoke him into physical violence.”
“Why did you look at me when you said that?” Shade asked, noting that the rogue’s eyes were still on him, even as he spoke.
“The answer to that should be obvious. You need to learn to read the tides better, Shade. There are days when you can press your luck, and then, as Victory says, days you should just shut the hell up.”
“I’m not scared of him,” Shade pointed out as he motioned behind him with a sweep of his hand. “I’ve seen scarier,” he added and then frowned as he noticed everyone in the room staring at him. “I’m going back to my ship. If you want to convince me you can do it there.”
“Did you do an inventory of the ships there as Remedy asked for earlier?” Charm asked before he could leave.
Shade paused by the door and nodded. “Four Eagles, three hawks, eight doves and a sparrow though I have no idea who had a sparrow. They stopped making that class years ago.”