The Crow King's Wife (The Elder Blood Chronicles #5)

“You wanted to know my plans for Zoelyn.” Seth reminded him. “He is about to tell you.”


The spirit visibly flinched at his words, but cleared his throat once more and squared his shoulders. “In the southern hills near the river lands just past the Bramblewood a village once stood. It was a dwelling of people so closely knit that neighbors were as brothers and every pain or joy felt by one was felt by all. Amongst these folks was a girl by the name of Karalea. She was the pride of her village for more than just her beauty. It was her gentle nature and kindness that folk spoke of when they described her. She was a hunter’s daughter and so she knew the land as no other did. She was not the sort to laze about while others worked and often she was out gathering and foraging the wilds to help maintain not just her family, but her village as well. She would be out from dawn until dusk on her wanderings and so it was that one day as she was foraging she came across a crow that was wounded. To her eyes it was a poor creature that was suffering and so by her gentle nature she sought to ease its pain. Any other who encountered this creature might have believed the simplest mercy would be death for the bird was gravely wounded with a cut that scored from its breast to far past its wing. Death was not the answer for one as kind as Karalea though and so she carried the creature back home with her and cleansed the wound with clean water before binding it with strips of cloth from one of the few dresses she owned.” The bard paused and his gaze flicked to Seth once more. There was a faint glint of accusation there and for a moment Seth wondered if the storyteller actually believed the tale he was spinning.

“Continue.” Finn prompted. The book he had picked up was lying forgotten in his lap and he was watching the bard with interest. He glanced at Seth and raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never heard this tale. I had no idea you spent your spare time luring peasant girls into pampering you.”

Seth snorted with amusement and waved a hand at the bard. “You heard your master. Continue.” He ordered quietly.

The bard took another deep breath and bowed his head slightly to Finn before his rich voice rose once more. “For days she cared for the creature and often carried it with her on her wanderings never realizing what she truly held. To her the crow was a creature of the forest, an innocent animal that had been wounded cruelly, but in truth it was far more than a crow. It was in fact the Crow King himself that Karalea devoted so much kindness to and had she simply killed the creature when it was weakened the world would have been a brighter place, and perhaps that small village would still stand today. That was not her nature however and over time the creature healed until it once again had the strength for flight. Her heart lifted to see it survive such a grievous wound and with a loving hand she released it back into the wild. For days all was peaceful and her life returned to normal. Then in the still of night the first dream came to her and in her sleep she saw truly what she had saved. The Crow King himself spoke to her and tried to lure her to him with sweet words, but Karalea refused his charm. She was no fool and she knew the danger of the Crow King. He was a creature of hell with the blackest of souls and no matter how sweetly he spoke she knew it was lies. For many nights he plagued her dreams with temptations until the folk of the village began to see the haunted look in her eyes. They begged her to tell them her troubles, but she was not the sort to burden others with her pain and so she kept her silence until the tempting dreams turned to nightmares. As his sweet words shifted to threats she went first to her mother and told her all. In ignorance her mother bade her be silent and hold strong. She didn’t want her daughter to suffer, but she was foolish enough to believe the Crow King could only haunt dreams and that he had no strength over the pure of heart.”

Finn held up a hand to still the bard and the spirit fell silent at once. Turning in his seat he regarded Seth for a moment. “Didn’t you dreamwalk to Zoey a few days ago?” he asked cautiously.

Seth smiled at the memory and nodded his head. “I did and it was sweeter than I could have hoped. She was already dreaming about me when I stepped into her thoughts and while it wasn’t exactly an accurate image of me it was still a flattering one.”