Slowly, the High lord rose from his chair and moved around the table to stare down at her. His every movement reminded her of a predator and it took all of her will to keep from stepping away from him. Had she moved, though, it would have put her even closer to the doomed prisoner and she knew Blackwolf himself wouldn’t get close enough to touch her. The desperate man might, however.
“I don’t know if he will or not, but I don’t want to risk it. I don’t like hurting people or animals or plants for that matter, Lord Blackwolf. I don’t want this test of yours,” Zoelyn cried, her voice rising as she searched the tent for anyone willing to help her escape his torment.
Blackwolf nodded slowly at her and lifted his hand. A pulse of magic filled the air and the earth bucked under her feet propelling her toward the prisoner. Stumbling, she tried desperately to avoid the man, but he was quicker and had balance on his side. Even with the manacles on his wrists he still managed to break her fall. The world seemed to slow as Zoelyn looked from his filthy hands grasping her upper arms tightly to his wide blue eyes filled with pain and utter confusion. She could feel her curse draining him and watched in breathless panic as his eyes glazed and his skin darkened. By the time she regained her balance the man was dead and she knew it had taken only seconds.
“Now, imagine a Blight with those powers, Elijah, because if they find out she exists, they will breed with her. We know they seek out the most powerful for their mates and after witnessing that can you truly tell me she is not powerful? She is Undrae. She is a servant of death. Her kind are a curse upon us and must be extinguished,” Lord Blackwolf said calmly as he returned to his seat at the table.
“I agree with you about the Blights,” Elijah Arovan began slowly, his gaze moving from the dead man to Zoelyn. His expression was much calmer than she had expected and still there was no loathing on his face despite what he had seen. “I do not agree with you on her death, however,” he continued after a long pause. All eyes in the tent moved to him as he let out a long sigh and offered her a faint smile. “You are terrifying, girl, but I saw how you tried to avoid that man even knowing he was a traitor. Given what I have seen, I have a question for you, Dominic.”
“Yes, Milord?” Dominic’s voice sounded faint and his eyes were locked on the shriveled husk on the ground before him. Both Dominic and she had always wondered how powerful was her power to siphon life. Now they had their answer.
Bile rose in her throat and Zoelyn stared down at her own boots in shame. It was bad enough knowing she had killed someone, but the feeling of energy and warmth flowing through her was even worse. She almost agreed with Nicoli on his reasoning for killing her. The Blights were creatures of impulse and if one had powers such as hers it would kill as quickly as it could simply to achieve the sense of wellbeing she had now. They were all right. She was Undrae in every sense of the word.
“If you were trying so hard to keep her from being noticed why did you bring her with you here? This is a very crowded camp. Surely you knew she would be noticed here?” Elijah asked with a thoughtful expression on his face. His gaze had returned to her once more and he seemed to be studying her hair and eyes with interest.
Zoelyn didn’t need to look in a mirror to know what he was seeing. It had been the same with the kitten as it was with the fish so she knew how she looked now. Her skin would be pale rather than grey and her hair and eyes would be gold. All magic seemed to have its own signature on her body and life essence always showed as gold.
“I knew the battle was a very large one and that I would likely be gone for some time. I didn’t want to leave her alone in the village, Milord,” Dominic answered quietly.
“Were you afraid she would damage something or injure someone?” Elijah asked, though by his tone she could tell he already knew the answer to his own question.
“I was afraid of what would happen to her without my protection, Milord,” Dominic answered and shrugged. “The villagers don’t understand her at all, Milord. They fear her, but they respect me so they leave her be when I am there,” he added after a short sigh.
“As I suspected,” Elijah said with a slight nod and leaned back in his chair once more. Still watching her, he steepled his fingers in front of his mouth and frowned. His gaze dropped to the corpse lying before his table once more and then he nodded again more firmly. “Because of the bruise on her face as well as your answer and my respect for Lord Blackwolf’s concerns, I will be taking your Ward, Dominic. She isn’t safe where she is, though it’s by no fault of yours. I am sure you have done what you could for her while she has been in your care,” Elijah said at last.
“Taking her, Milord?” Dominic stammered as if he didn’t quite understand what he was hearing.
“She will return with me to my home and live under my protection, Dominic, until further notice. I will not kill her for simply existing. From what I can see, she has committed no sins. Were she aggressive as the Blights are, I would not hesitate to deal with her accordingly, but from what I have seen she is simply a scared child that seems to carry a very large curse on her shoulders. Perhaps, given time, a method of helping her will be found, but until then she is mine to look after.” Lord Arovan stood as he spoke and looked down at her. “I leave for the capital tomorrow, Zoey. Please be prepared to ride as well.” His gaze moved to each of the others in the tent and he nodded faintly. “We are done here. Troyelle, please do something with that body and be discreet about it. I don’t want questions rising about what killed him.”