The Elder Blood Chronicles Book 2 Blood Honor and Dreams (19 page)

“Ahh, it’s the sun then,” he said sagely and
shook his fist slowly toward the sky. “Damn you and your
brightness,” he said in a dramatic pitch.

“How about, I’ve lost contact with twenty
agents in the past week. The Blights are over-running three
countries now and half of the nations look like they are on the
brink of war,” she said in exasperation and kicked her foot
lightly, sending a spray of water across the stream.

“Other than the Blights, what’s new?” he
asked, his voice gentle.

“I want a bloodless revolution Remmy,” she
said, her voice sounding more like a whine than she cared to
admit.

“I want a lot of things Sym. We don’t always
get what we want and we have to make do with what we have,” Remedy
replied, plucking the mint from his mouth and tossing it into the
stream with distaste. With a heavy sigh, he reached into his pocket
and produced a small pack of tobacco and began rolling a cigarette.
“Before the Blights, it was the Bendazzi. Remember all of that
chaos. It was a mess. And then, of course, there was the serpent
outbreak, ughh.” He shook his head and lifted the newly rolled
smoke to his lips. “It may come to war Sym. There may not be a damn
thing you can do about it, either,”

“Why does it have to? Why do they have to
fight all of the damn time? Aren’t the Blights enough to worry
about? I spoke with Kadandelvayan to seek peace, not to get him to
call his men. I wanted his vote, not his damn swords,” she snapped
and dropped back on the bank to lay flat on her back, her feet
still dangling in the water.

“Are we having a temper tantrum?” Remedy
asked, looking down at her with a raised eyebrow.

“No, I would kick more and scream if I were,”
she mumbled, her eyes rising to study his face. “I want to do more
but I don’t know what to do, Remmy. I want to stop this disaster
before it happens. I don’t want people to die for my power,”

“Don’t let Faramir hear you like this. You
will get her started on a rant that lasts for days,” Remedy warned,
taking a long drag from the cigarette and exhaling slowly.

“She is trying to help Oma right now. I’m not
supposed to meet with them until later this afternoon,” Symphony
explained with another sigh. “So I’m venting to you first,” she
added, kicking another spray of water into the air. She watched it
idly as it fell back to the stream, and looked back up to his
face.

“Vent away, just don’t expect it to change
anything,” he said, calmly tilting his head back to blow smoke
rings.

“What if I set Jala up to die? Maybe I should
have just left her in Bliss,” Symphony said softly and closed her
eyes.

“The temple in Bliss is gone. Not sure who
did it, but everyone there is dead,” Remedy replied and Symphony’s
eyes flashed open once more. Seeing her expression, he shrugged. “I
heard about it yesterday. I thought you knew. I think everyone
believes it was Avanti’s work but no one knows for sure,” he
added.

“They could have found out who she really is.
Has she been warned?” Symphony shook her head in frustration and
sat up, turning to look at him. “She isn’t ready yet, Remmy, she
doesn’t have a chance.”

“She has surrounded herself with some rather
formidable people Sym. I’m sure she will be fine. Personally, I’m
more worried about the Blight infestation than I am about the
welfare of the Merrodin girl,” he said with a shrug.

“That’s because the Merrodin girl’s life
hasn’t been drastically altered for your own purposes. Lutheron has
maneuvered her like a puppet for me, Remmy. Anything that happens
to her is my fault,” she said, her voice strained.

“We have maneuvered quite a few people for
you Sym. If this is going to work, we have to. Not all of them will
survive to the end. I hope the girl does, but face it, if it comes
to war she likely won’t. We are banking on her vote at the council,
not her fighting skills,” he replied, trying to soften the words
with his tone.

“How are we any better than them?” Symphony
asked, her voice filled with disgust.

“Because we are out for the welfare of the
whole and they are out for their own self interests,” he replied.
“Because we try to help people and they help themselves. Because we
seek to find peace and they breed war and intrigue. Do I need to go
on?”

“No, it just feels like I’m acting like one
of them,” Symphony sighed and lowered her head.

“You aren’t. They wouldn’t be worried in the
slightest about the impending disaster. Go ahead scry on any one of
them. I promise you they aren’t concerned at all,” he said.
motioning with one hand toward Morcath and Avanti.

“If it comes to war. will we win?” she asked
softly. her eyes slowly rising to meet his.

“You are the one that has been trained for
war. You tell me,” he replied softly.

“Before the Blights, it would have been
close. With the Blights tying up Glis and Arovan, I don’t think we
will,” she answered quietly.

“Well, there you have it then,” he replied,
taking another long drag from the cigarette and holding her gaze.
“That doesn’t change anything, though. We have come too far to back
down now. This is the only chance we will get, so let’s pray to a
few Aspects that you are wrong.”

“I do just about every day,” she whispered
and turned her gaze back to the water once more. A faint reflection
of herself caught her gaze for a moment and she studied the dark
circles under her eyes and the disarray of her hair. “I look like
my mother did before the fall of Merrodin. I remember her praying
nightly and losing sleep.”

“Your mother was a priestess. She was
supposed to pray nightly,” Remedy replied quietly.

“I remember her telling me that everything
would get better and that all I had to do was pray and Fortune
would provide,” she whispered softly.

“And he did. Because of him the Merrodin girl
survived and we have a slim chance of getting this done through
votes. You have to learn to find the silver lining, Sym. It’s the
little miracles we have to treasure,” Remedy said softly.

“The little miracles,” she repeated quietly
and nodded. “Do you think I will make a good leader, Remmy?” she
asked after a long moment.

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be supporting you
Sym. You have been raised for this and you are just having a down
moment right now. I know you better. You will bounce back and when
it counts you will be there as strong as ever. You don’t have to be
strong at this particular moment, so vent and release the
frustration,” he answered with a smile.

Turning back she smiled at him and shook her
head softly. “When I’m Empress or Queen or whatever title they
stick on me I’m keeping you at my side as an Advisor”

“And here, I thought we were friends,” Remedy
replied with a sigh, allowing his shoulders to slump dramatically.
With a smile he winked at her and nodded slightly. “You need me
Sym, I’ll be there,” he promised.

* * *

Silently, Symphony closed the door behind her
and made her way to the sand table. She glanced around the room as
she walked, amazed that Faramir was not already here, waiting. Her
gaze lingered on the dark shadows on the wall and she wondered if
she dared a mage light. Magic was forbidden in Fionahold for the
most part, but exceptions were made. Chiding herself mentally, she
pushed back the urge and rested her arms on the edge of the sand
table, staring down at the multi colored grains of sand below.
Kiernan’s warning had made her too edgy. She was starting to twitch
at shadows now like a half grown child.

With a wave of her hand, she altered the sand
below to mimic the rolling farmland of Arovan along the thickly
forested Glis border. Her gut told her the worst of the fighting
would be in this region. With a practiced eye she studied the
terrain that she already knew by heart and tried to find some
further advantage for her allies. Truthfully, though, terrain was
little help when you couldn’t see your foes. That was the biggest
issue right now, the Blights. She didn’t like to admit how truthful
she was with Remedy. If it came to war right now, they would lose.
There was no question about it. The Blights simply altered the
field too much and they didn’t seem to be affecting the other side,
which meant someone, perhaps Myth, was controlling them.

The sound of the door opening drew her
attention and she looked up to see Faramir enter, followed closely
by Oma. The girl looked even more pale than usual and kept her gaze
on the floor as she walked. “Good afternoon, Faramir. Hello Oma,”
Symphony said with a forced smile and pushed back off the
table.

“Symphony, sorry I’m late,” Faramir said in
greeting ,and frowned as Oma remained silent. With a slight shrug
to Symphony she moved to take the opposite side of the table and
looked down at the sand below. “You have come to the same
conclusion as me, then,” Faramir said, looking up to Symphony with
an approving nod.

“The worst of it will be there,” Symphony
replied motioning toward the sand.

“Yes it will be. I wish we had the proper
techniques for the Blights so we could run a few mock battles, but
I’m afraid we don’t know enough about their tactics,” Faramir said
with a sigh. “So let’s switch to another terrain and foes we know
more about.”

With a flick of her hand the older woman
altered the terrain to the Delvay Mountains and raised her eyes to
Symphony. “Do you want Delvay or Rivana?” she asked quietly.

“I want Nerathane,” Symphony replied quietly
and waved her hand over her side of the table. Small draconic forms
began to take shape from the sand as she watched and she glanced up
to find Faramir watching her closely.

“You think Nerathane will attack?” Faramir
asked quietly.

“Nerathane and Seravae both refuse to speak
with us, so I must assume they are on the other side. I don’t know
if they will attack Delvay, but I want to have a rough idea of how
it will go if they do,” Symphony explained.

“I don’t think either Nerathane or Seravae
will get involved in this. They typically don’t,” Faramir said, but
nodded toward the dragons. “Still, it’s better to be prepared,” she
said with a sigh and formed her own army in the image of the Delvay
forces. “So let’s see how this will play out with known tactics.”
With a wave of the hand, she made her first move on the field and
watched Symphony as she studied the attack. With a nod Symphony
countered her attack with a known dragon tactic and focused her
attention fully on the board, allowing the sand to steal her
thoughts from every other concern.

With each move she made, it was becoming more
and more obvious that Delvay would not fare well if Nerathane chose
to move. By the frown on Faramir’s face, she could see her mentor
was coming to the same conclusion. Round after round, through three
games, the Delvay forces were crushed by the dragons. Looking up at
Faramir once more, she shook her head slowly. “I think we should
both pray Nerathane doesn’t move,” she said softly.

“It would seem so,” Faramir agreed and
dismissed her sand army with a flick of a finger. “They hold up
well against Rivana but their tactics are not suited to an aerial
opponent. Of course, I’m sure Lord Delvayon is more inventive with
his strategies than I am.”

Symphony raised an eyebrow doubtfully at her
and shook her head slightly. “Stubborn, fierce, and enduring are
all descriptions I have heard of the Delvay. Never once have I ever
heard them described as inventive,” she said dryly and sighed. “I
have sword practice soon with Vaze. I’m going to have to go,
Faramir.”

Nodding, Faramir smiled. “Beat him bloody and
don’t worry about leaving here early. It isn’t often Vaze is in
residence and you should take advantage of the time that he is.
Besides, I have a lot to work on with Oma,” she said, her voice
encouraging.

“Thank you for understanding,” Symphony said
and gave Faramir a hug. The woman was the closest thing she had to
a mother since her own mother had died in Merrodin. “Good luck,
Oma, I hope your lessons go well,” Symphony said with a smile and
turned to leave.

“I’ll see you at dinner tonight, Symphony. We
can discuss other ways to get Nerathane to talk. You have a very
valid point about what would happen if they joined the fight, and
if we are going to win we have to keep them on our side,” Faramir
called as she opened the door.

“Sounds good,” Symphony agreed with a smile
and stepped out into the hall, eager to be on the field. Matches
against Vaze were always good ones.

* * *

“Do you really think you can keep Nerathane
out of the fight?” Oma asked quietly as she moved to stand beside
Faramir.

Faramir looked up from the sand table and
shrugged, giving the girl a slight smile. It wasn’t often that Oma
instigated conversations and she wanted to encourage her. “I’m not
sure, the dragons can be prickly but we will certainly try,”

“I don’t think you can,” Oma said coldly as
sharp pain spread through Faramir’s back. Dimly she became aware of
the girl’s upraised hand and the bloody knife it held. “That was a
lung shot,” the girl said calmly and plunged the knife in once more
as Faramir staggered back. “That was not,” Oma said pulling the
knife from her chest and looking down at Faramir with a smile. “And
now I’m positive you can’t keep them out of it,” she whispered
happily, her form already shifting to match that of Faramir’s.
“Surprise, Faramir. You know where I am now,” the Changeling
whispered to the dying woman and chuckled softly. “Don’t worry, I
will give Symphony the best of advice,” she promised as she watched
the last light fade from Faramir’s eyes and carefully stored the
body in a storage stone. Dropping the stone into her pocket she
glanced at the sand table and smiled. The magics they had used on
the mock battles should cover any trace of the magic she used. With
a wave of her hand Myth cleaned the blood from herself and the
floor and moved over to the table. Staring down at the sand she
waved a hand and created another mock battlefield. Though she had
watched Symphony and Faramir do this daily for weeks, she herself
had not used a sand table in ages. It would be best if she knew
every maneuver before the practice session tomorrow. Clearing her
throat, she smiled down at the table. “Do you want Delvay or
Rivana?” she said quietly and repeated the phrase over and over
until the pitch and tone was a perfect imitation of Faramir.
Assured that the voice would not give her away she created army
after army on the table to ensure she could do it on a whim and
practiced changing the table’s terrain. Fortunately for her, she
knew more about strategy than even Faramir herself had. You had to
know such things in order to provoke wars. In order to manipulate,
you had to know reactions, and she knew the reactions of every race
on Sanctuary by heart.