“I’ll try there first, then. Thank you for the advice,” Shade said quietly and bowed his head in farewell. “And the sooner I get there, the sooner we can get this all over with and you and your ladies can return home,” he added as he turned toward the forest once more. From what he had seen, Nigel didn’t have the information he was seeking. He doubted the dragon had even bothered to try to gather information. By his reaction and words, Shade guessed Nigel had fully expected to be able to talk him out of the mission entirely.
“Wait, where is he going?” Emerald’s voice rang out softly behind him.
“You mean he is actually going to try to talk to those things?” Ruby demanded, her voice filled with disgust and disbelief. “Oh, bloody hell. I wanted to go home,” Sapphire whined.
“You were right, Jala. I am the perfect envoy for this since I seem to be the only other person that thinks this might actually work,” Shade said quietly as he quickened his step. Ruby didn’t seem to have the best temperament. He didn’t want to give her the chance to decide that her quickest way home was to eat the envoy.
Chapter 12
Merro
Neph paused in the doorway of the kitchen. He had expected the room to be empty at this time of the morning, but Valor was seated at table. The knight had his back to the door but Neph could tell by his posture that his mood was not a good one. Valor’s elbow was propped on the table with his chin resting in his palm. His attention was fully focused on something in front of him and he didn’t even stir at the sound of the door. That in itself was unusual for him. Valor was typically alert to everything around him, even when drunk.
Stepping the rest of the way through the doorway, Neph moved to the cabinet, glancing at Valor he walked by. He had guessed there would be a bottle of wine or glass of whiskey in front of him, but the only thing on the table was a large gold coin. Had to be when I decided to eat. Neph sighed with disgust as he pulled a loaf of bread from the cabinet and a wedge of cheese from the shelf. Turning, he walked back to the table and dropped both items loudly onto the table before dropping into a chair himself. Valor didn’t stir or bother looking up even with the clatter from the dishes.
“Why don’t you just explain and spare me the trouble of pretending like I care,” Neph suggested dryly as he cut a thick slice of bread, his gaze flicking to the gold coin once more.
Valor glanced up at him and back down at the coin. His hand pushed at it lightly moving it in slow circles in front of him. The motion held Neph’s eyes for a moment, but his attention was pulled past the coin to Valor’s hand, or rather to the rings he wore. Frowning, Neph paused what he was doing and examined the rings more carefully. One was his signet for House Hai’dia. That, Neph understood. The other, however, was the signet of House Arovan which made no sense at all. It should have been a ring of House Merrodin.
“All right, how about explaining why you are wearing the Arovan Signet if you don’t want to explain why gold depresses you. Most people like gold, you know,” Neph prodded as he returned to slicing pieces of cheese and bread for his breakfast.
“I am currently the heir of Arovan. I thought you realized that. It’s the single reason Jala and I haven’t formally married yet,” Valor replied quietly.
Neph paused once more and looked up sharply at Valor. “That is the stupidest thing I’ve heard come out of your mouth. Why in the bloody hell would you agree to be Elijah’s heir? If anything happens to Elijah you go back to Arovan, which, as I recall, the people of Arovan kind of hate you, not to mention the fact that Jala loves you. Your place is in Merro.”
“Well, Neph, with the fact that Micah is dead, as are my two siblings, the list of suitable candidates is pretty slim. It basically comes down to me and my mother for those with royal blood and my mother said no,” Valor snapped. His hand smacked down over the top of the coin and he slid it off the table and into his pocket. “Is there any part of me that looks happy about the arrangement or makes you believe it might have actually been my idea? What was I supposed to do, tell my Uncle to bugger off when he asked me?”
“Yes,” Neph answered bluntly. He had been in Merro for over three weeks now and this was the first he had heard of this matter. It had to have been something that was decided before Jala disrupted the council meeting in Arovan. He seriously doubted Elijah would have contacted Valor after that particular meeting.
“If not for him and my father, I wouldn’t have been given probation in Sanctuary, and I would most likely be dead now. I couldn’t tell him no,” Valor grumbled as he glared at Neph across the table. “And now, I have fresh reports in and none of it is good news. Morcaillo is still attacking the Firym border. The Blights are still attacking in Faydwer. Han’shy has sealed their border completely and is offering help to no one. Avanti is wreaking havoc near the Greenwild. My men have already arrested six slavers this week. By far, the most disturbing is Nerathane, however. They have moved eight dragons to Seravae, and from what I understand, the Seravae isles are still in Civil war. I don’t know if the dragons are there to support one side of the war in Seravae or it’s a staging ground to attack Arovan. Either way, it’s bad and Jala can’t spare the strength to support Arovan again,” The words poured out of Valor in a flood of misery. The knight leaned back heavily in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. “And I don’t want to tell her any of this,” he added softly.