Bricrui (The Forgotten: Book 2) (14 page)

“So it seems that the Bricrui was an
unintended side-effect of whatever other experimentation was taking
place,” Layna pondered this revelation, “but I’m not sure if that
makes me feel better, or even more worried.”

“I think it’s a pretty safe bet at this point
to assume that the actual experiment was something to do with the
Council. Given the state they are all in and the logical reasoning
behind Telvani wanting to be able to control them. We still may not
know exactly what it entailed, but we can be fairly certain that it
involved using this blood-magic experiment to somehow exert this
control. The Bricrui were just mistakes. We shouldn’t have to worry
about him having an army of them somewhere at his command.”

Layna looked back down at the journal, her
thoughts turning dark. “Mistakes that were once people,” she
whispered, “Including Natalya’s sister. She obviously was involved
in whatever the experiment was, and Lord Farthen expected her to
turn into one of those things.”

“But he did mention something about a
‘medicine’ being given to her,” Gryffon reminded her.

Layna nodded, brightening, “That’s true. How
long will this chokeroot stave off the transformation, I wonder?
Will it be enough time to find a way to save Alina? I do not want
to have to watch Natalya lose her sister, too.”

“We have many other things to deal with at
the moment,” Gryffon said softly, “and there is no guarantee that
we’ll be able to commit enough resources to that problem to find a
cure in time. Now that we know it is not a threat, we cannot give
it priority.”

“How can we not?” Layna asked, her voice
breaking. “After everything the girl has lost already.”

Gryffon gave her a sad stare. “We may not be
able to stop a lot of bad things from happening. We have no
Council, there is the constant threat of the tribe’s next attempt,
and there are still remaining snakes in our midst from Telvani’s
betrayal. Not to mention a back-log of regular problems to deal
with.”

Layna sighed, falling back into her chair
heavily. “Can we afford not to enlist Treymayne’s help?” she asked,
falling back into their previous debate.

“Ever since we took down the barrier, people
on both sides are beginning to realize that those who were
previously cut off are actual people. They are remembering the
histories of being one big country and how powerful we were. With
strong management, I think the people are ready to believe that we
could be that way again. Gelendan may be comforted by the people of
Treymayne diluting your power,” he quickly added as her brows rose,
“not because they do not believe in you, but because of what has
been done in the past when power was too tightly consolidated
between too few people. And Treymayne will no doubt feel stronger
being united with our much larger country, especially as the threat
of our invading them will become a moot point.” Though Gryffon now
spoke of Gelendan as his home, being from Treymayne, Layna knew
that his assessment of the people’s thoughts were likely to be
extremely accurate.

“I hope you are right,” she said, “that all
the people will embrace this. We can only hope that they will
concentrate on the positives, and not on the faults of one side or
the other.”

“Now that the barrier has been removed
between our two countries, neither side can hide behind that
curtain of protection and simply allow the faceless country on the
other side to deal with their own problems anymore. These are now
the entire world’s problems and we must unite to deal with
them.”

“So many decisions,” Layna lamented, “Why
didn’t you warn me being a Queen would be so much work?”

CHAPTER 7

Lorcan hopped down from his usual hiding
spot, and immediately felt a hand clamp around his arm. He swung
around in alarm and came face to face with Slade.

“What do you think you’re doing?” his brother
demanded.

Lorcan hesitated for a moment, then stuck out
his chin stubbornly. “I think that what the Elders are doing is
wrong.”

“Excuse me?” Slade asked in disbelief. “Why
do you even know what they’re doing at all? It’s none of your
business.”

“How can you say that?” Lorcan asked in
dismay, “It’s all of our business! They kidnapped a baby for the
purpose of putting a curse on it and now they are sending Katya to
the Dena’ina tribe to steal something from them! To steal from
another tribe!”

“You’d better not go around spreading lies
like that if you know what’s good for you,” Slade warned. “The
Elders cured the baby from a grave illness. And the Dena’ina are
nothing like us,” he growled, surprising Lorcan with the fierceness
of his tone.

“What do you mean? Are you talking about the
incident?” Lorcan tried to wrack his brain for what he knew about
the incident, but it wasn’t much; he had only just been made aware
of its existence a short time ago. “What exactly happened?”

Slade clamped his mouth shut, but Lorcan
didn’t relent. If his brother was going to make some sort of
comment like that, he better well explain himself.

“What happened, Slade?” he persisted.

Slade took a deep breath and exhaled it
quickly. “The Dena’ina are no longer considered part of the tribes
by most of the Elders, because they did something against us all.
That is why I did not trust Katya from the beginning.”

“What do you mean, you didn’t trust her from
the beginning? You practically threw yourself at her.”

Slade clenched his teeth. “At the Elders’
request. They asked me to get close to her to watch her. Anyone
even loosely connected with the Dena’ina can’t be trusted.”

Lorcan was appalled. The Elders had used his
brother to gather information from Katya. “How could you do that to
her?”

Slade gave him a pointed look. “Are you even
listening to yourself? She lied about who she was! She stole the
Bloodstone! And the Dena’ina deserve anything bad that happens to
them.” The venomous way he spat out the Dena’ina’s name further
sparked Lorcan’s curiosity.

“What
exactly
was the incident?”

Slade’s anger loosened his tongue. “The
Dena’ina tribe’s defenses killed a group of one of our parties that
was sent to keep relations between the tribes alive. The Elders
gave them the benefit of the doubt and sent another party, but
these were brutally killed as well.” He paused and gave Lorcan an
appraising stare. “Our parents were part of the second party.”

“What?” Lorcan exclaimed in horrified
surprise. “Why?”

“They were familiar with the terrain and the
Elders did not realize the seriousness of the situation. Kali told
me the truth only a few years ago. You are old enough now that you
should know too.”

“That can’t be right,” Lorcan denied. His
parents had been killed by other tribesmen? He had been told that
they had died of an accident while they were on a hunting trip. His
heart constricted painfully. Either way, they were dead, so why did
it matter? A tiny voice in the back of his mind spoke up.
It
matters because now there’s someone to be angry at
…

“Why would they do that?” he demanded,
disbelieving. His first instinct was to assume that it was yet
another lie spread by the Elders. Except that the lie was in not
telling them…

“There was no reason. Kali told me that the
attack was completely unwarranted. They just didn’t want the
Myaamia in their territory so they killed them.”

Lorcan wiped a tear off his face and glared
at Slade. Not knowing what else to say, and hurt that his brother
would have kept this from him for so long, he stomped off.

He spent a long time wandering the winding
pathways of the village, with no direction in mind. Finally, he set
his feet on a determined path, aiming for Raina’s house. It was
time to tell someone else what was going on. He needed to speak
with someone other than the man in the cell.

He rapped on her widow quietly. It was still
early enough that she wasn’t likely to already be in bed, but he
didn’t think her parents would appreciate his calling on her so
late. A moment later, it opened.

“Lorcan?” Raina mouthed, “What are you doing
here?”

“Can we talk?” he whispered in a hoarse
voice.

She glanced around her room hurriedly and
held up a finger for him to wait. She shoved several pillows under
her covers to make it look as though she was sleeping and
extinguished her light. She then climbed lithely out the
window.

“Where to?” she asked softly.

He grabbed her hand and together they jogged
down into the Third Circle which had many fewer housing chambers
and crawled to the top of one that was currently empty.

“What did you want to talk about?” she said
in a more normal voice, her face looking slightly flushed.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately,”
he started and she leaned forward towards him.

“Yes?” she asked expectantly.

“And I think that it’s time that more people
know what’s really going on with the Elders.”

“What?” Raina asked, deflating.

Lorcan fidgeted. “Well, I’ve sort of been
watching their meetings…”

“You’ve been spying on the Elders?” Raina
interjected, and Lorcan immediately jumped to defend his actions,
but at her next words found there was no need. “How did you do it?
That’s so brave.”

“Uh, yeah,” he said instead, “I broke through
their enchantments and made a tiny peep-hole. But I found that
they’ve been lying to us. About a lot of things.”

“Like what?” Raina asked, her curious
enthusiasm drawing him out of his apprehensive state.

“Like that my parents died in an accident for
one thing, although I technically found that out from Slade,”
Lorcan stated flatly and Raina gasped. “Apparently they were
actually murdered by the Dena’ina tribe.”

“Oh no!” Raina exclaimed and gave him a quick
hug. She pulled away quickly, and Lorcan felt the heat rising in
his face. “Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Lorcan, and felt old
pain coming back. “They also lied about the Arrival,” he said
quickly. “The baby wasn’t sick; they cursed it so that it will
spread some enchantment throughout the Lost Lands to completely
wipe out any trace of the Dark King.”

“Well, that would be a good thing, wouldn’t
it?” Raina shrugged. He understood her initial reaction, having had
the same ideals drilled into his head, but knew if she thought
about it, she’d see why it was wrong.

“But how do you suppose it will do that?”
Lorcan asked pointedly. “Do you actually believe that everyone that
carries his blood carries his morals?”

Raina looked thoughtful. “No, I never really
gave it much thought before, but it does seem rather extreme to
hate anyone who descended from him.”

“Doesn’t it? I mean, how long has it been
since the Dark King forced us out of the Lost Lands? Since Sheila
Greyclaw and the other founders declared our people The Forgotten
and our tribes went their separate ways? Isn’t it time we forgave
them and let it go?”

“Yeah,” Raina said with conviction,
bolstering Lorcan’s ego. He had been having these doubts and
frustration roiling around in his head for some time now, and it
was good to get them out in the open. And better yet, to have them
reflected in another.

“Do you know anything about what the Elders
have been telling people about their current project?” he
asked.

She shook her head. “My parents might though;
maybe we should start doing a little investigating!”

Lorcan felt the urge to tell her that this
wasn’t a game, but did not want to lose her support by doing so. So
instead he nodded vigorously, “Maybe some of the other parents have
heard things too. Although everyone is so darn secretive. Can you
start asking your friends questions and see what you can find
out?”

“Sure!” Raina agreed happily.

He walked her back to her window, where the
light in her room was still off, her pillow decoy unmoved. She
turned to climb back in the window after he said goodnight to her,
but she suddenly turned back to him.

So quickly that he hardly knew what had
happened, she pressed her lips against his for a fraction of a
second before darting into the room and closing the blinds behind
her. Lorcan stood there dumbfounded for several minutes, staring at
the darkened window.

Then he smiled and sauntered off, his plans
for reconnaissance momentarily forestalled as he relished the
feeling of his very first kiss.

*

Katya knelt on the branch and observed the
scene before her. She had watched the everyday activities of the
Dena’ina tribe for some time now and had determined that the path
that led to the west must be where they kept this sacred object. No
one running everyday errands took this path, yet it was well-used
and she had seen several troupes of armed men and women going back
and forth – as though relieving the ones on duty before them.

The path itself was guarded as well. She had
cautiously approached it the night before last and discovered that
the vegetation everywhere off the path was dangerous. Most of it
was the plant she had termed burnweed, as its very touch caused
severe burns and prolonged contact could actually make something
burst into flame. She had held a piece of cloth on the end of a
long stick onto one of the bushes to experiment and it had
completely turned to ash in a matter of minutes.

She wouldn’t be able to walk through a forest
of that. She was sure that the tribe had used magic to grow it
there – in the wild she had only seen it in small patches, with
areas of burnt foliage around it making it easy to avoid. But here,
they seemed to grow into one another, with no room in between. Even
in sections without this particular plant, there were others that
Katya was sure were equally dangerous, though she had not had the
pleasure of coming across them as of yet.