Bricrui (The Forgotten: Book 2) (26 page)

“I would not be able to guarantee that it
would not be damaged in some way,” Layna warned her, “It would be a
trial of sorts, and I don’t want to risk making you lose it. I am
already forever in your debt for saving my life many times and for
not delivering the stone to the Myaamia. How can I ask you to give
up the Bloodstone?” She understood the significance it must hold
for the woman. The strength of the emotions that the collar’s
removal combined with the mark’s attraction had wreaked havoc on
the girl’s heart.

Katya put on a stern face. “I do seem to have
to rescue you a lot you know, Layna. I’m seeing a pattern starting
to form…”

“I know,” she sighed, “and I can’t thank you
enough. Now I know why you’ve been avoiding me all this time.” She
said it in jest, but saw a flicker of guilt pass over Katya’s face.
Had the woman actually been avoiding her?

“It’s not really the Bloodstone anymore
anyway,” she changed the direction of the conversation, “I’ve
renamed it the Dragonstone, and using it to do some good in the
world would be most appropriate I think.”

Layna nodded her thanks. “That would solve
that problem for us then,” she said, greatly relieved. Containing
the curse would buy them precious time. And time was all they
needed. Eventually, Layna was sure of finding a way to break the
curse and until then it would cause no immediate harm to the
people. They wouldn’t even necessarily have to know about it. They
could have mages scan people for it at the city gates and detain
any who had it under the pretense of simply an illness they didn’t
want spreading. There was no need to alarm the people without
cause.

They worked out the details and cut
communication. Katya would transport the stone here so that she and
Gryffon could perform the spell on it. That settled, Layna hugged
Gryffon happily and the two of them made their way to the Council
chambers. Not only had Katya allayed her fears that the curse would
be permanent, but she had also given them the means to buy them
enough time to figure out how to stop it.

All the Council members had recovered from
their ordeals and were back to their normal activities, including,
much to Layna’s relief, the bulk of the paperwork. Layna and
Gryffon had already filled them in on most of the situations,
including the proposed merger, and they had each gone home to
contemplate the country’s next moves. Layna had been happy to let
someone else weigh out the pros and cons for a change.

Today’s meeting would concentrate on what
they had come up with, as well as Layna now being able to relate
the happy news from Hunter and Katya. She felt much of her stress
melting away. Having the Council back to share the responsibility
was a huge relief, and knowing that they could protect the majority
of people from the curse and that they would be able to find a way
to break it made her happy beyond words. They
would
find a
way to break it!

The efficiency with which the Council cleared
up all of the regular matters which she and Gryffon had been unable
to resolve impressed Layna and further boosted her mood. The
proposal to unite with Treymayne was now not something they would
feel pressured to do, but could take their time and ease into. The
Council was tentatively in favor, but requested more time to
contemplate. As for the more immediate concern of the curse, they
were all relieved to hear that Katya had not sealed their doom and
all shared Layna’s optimism that a way to break the curse could be
found.

Understandably, given that all six Council
members had personally been affected by it, the situation with the
Telvani’s Faithful and the projects he was working on was a source
of some contention. Between the six of them, they had been able to
scour the reports on his dealings and come up with their best guess
as to where Lord Farthen and the last of the Faithful and remains
of Telvani’s project would have holed up. Natalya and Alina both
had decided to ride with the Knights on, hopefully, their final
mission. Layna didn’t especially like the idea of the two little
girls riding into a fight, but she couldn’t find the heart to deny
them the finality of seeing the last stronghold captured. She had
demanded a promise out of both of them that they would stay out of
the fight, and they both had grudgingly agreed. Layna and Gryffon
personally inspected all of the party’s members to ensure that even
if they had already contracted the curse, that it had not yet taken
hold in order for them to spread it outside the city.

The Council all agreed that containing the
curse should be a top priority, and all liked the idea of using a
stone to create a barrier around the city. They made the
arrangements quickly and the same day they were ready to perform
the spell.

Layna held Gryffon’s hand, connecting their
powers, and started the spell they had created with the help of the
royal mages. It was on a much greater scale than the original spell
they had read about and they could only pray that it would work.
They had incorporated several aspects of the barrier spell that had
once separated Gelendan from Treymayne. No one would be able to
pass by the barrier except if one of the appointed mages who had
the ‘key’ allowed them through.

As they chanted the incantation, a filmy
substance rose out around them. It shimmered and floated on the
breeze, spilling out into a shape surrounding the two of them. As
they worked, it got bigger and bigger. It slowly expanded, its
surface getting smoother as it did so, passing straight through
people and walls.

Soon, the edges could no longer be seen, but
she and Gryffon could feel them, stretching thinner and thinner as
it spread outwards into and beyond the city. They pushed it as far
as they could, finally reaching their limits miles from the outside
of the city walls. They broke contact with the power, taking the
time to solidify the spell; searching for weaknesses and patching
these and creating a loop of power for it to continue to feed
itself even when they broke contact.

When they had done all that they could, they
severed the connection with the spell and felt it settle into place
within the stone. Layna had been skeptical about working with the
Bloodstone – rather, the Dragonstone, as Katya now called it – but
once she had touched it, her fears had evaporated. The Dena’ina
must indeed be masters of stone magic.

She breathed a sigh of relief. The spell had
worked, and the curse was contained. Even if they could not find a
way to break the spell, the bulk of the people would be safe.

CHAPTER 15

Natalya glanced over at Alina worriedly. She
was showing no signs of turning into one of the Bricrui and every
sign of recovery from her trauma. Natalya was hopeful that having
broken the spell that had caused Telvani to transform, it would
prevent Alina from following a similar path. Just in case, Queen
Layna had the Knights who were stationed in the forest venture out
to the plains to gather more of the chokeroot. Natalya had luckily
known what this ‘medicine’ that Alina was being given was because
of her travels with Hunter on the Plains and they were able to send
back a large supply of it.

Regardless, Natalya was still worried about
her coming along for this trip. When the Council had recovered
enough to resume their normal duties, one of the first items on all
of their lists was finding out where Lord Farthen had gone to when
the Bricrui took over his castle. They were all rather motivated on
the subject given that he was in charge of Telvani’s project, and
they soon had come up with the most logical place.

Natalya had requested that she be able to
accompany the Knights, despite having already found Alina, and had
been surprised that Alina had wanted to come with her. After being
cleared by the royal mages that they showed no signs of the curse,
the two of them had set out with the Knights. She wasn’t entirely
convinced, however, that Alina facing her captor would be entirely
healthy.

They were almost to the stronghold, and the
Knights closed in protectively around the two of them. It was not a
castle like the place he had fled, but rather a lavish estate.
There were no stone walls to blow through, only a maze of gardens
to traverse.

The Knights surrounded the manor house so
that no one could escape before the bulk of their group marched up
to the front door. Sir Ruawn lifted his gauntleted fist and knocked
heavily on the door. He waited a few moments before waving two
burly men to ram it down.

The door opened as they readied themselves to
run at it, and they stopped their motion.

“Lord Farthen will see you in the study,” the
servant who had answered their knock told them calmly.

Sir Ruawn exchanged glances with several of
his men. Natalya knew from experience that he was giving them
silent orders to be on the watch for a trap. Then he turned back to
the servant and nodded their consent. All of the Knights filtered
in through the door, their eyes raking the surroundings. But no
attack came.

The servant led them down the hallway and
into the study. Lord Farthen sat at a desk there, and he stood at
their approach. The sound of many swords being drawn halted his
motion and he held his hands out so they could see he was only
rising for their entrance.

“Welcome, gentlemen,” he greeted them all,
“and ladies,” he added, spotting her and Alina. At sight of her
sister, he did a double-take and raised his eyebrow in
curiosity.

Natalya stepped in front of Alina
protectively.

Sir Ruawn spoke up. “Lord Farthen, you are
under arrest for the use of blood-magic and with it attempting to
subvert the Council, kidnapping and abusing those with talent for
your own purposes, and escaping your previous incarceration for
being part of the Order.”

“The list goes on and on, doesn’t it,” Lord
Farthen commented dryly.

“You don’t seem overly concerned by it,” Sir
Ruawn stated, glancing around the room. “I’m surprised since I
heard you weren’t spoken highly of even among your peers in the
jails. I don’t imagine you are entirely pleased to be heading back
there.”

The man smiled, making him look much like a
weasel. “It is my hope that I might change your mind about sending
me back there.”

All the Knights tensed, ready for the attack
that seemed imminent. But Lord Farthen waved a hand carelessly,
“Please calm yourselves; I mean by offering information. I may be
able to offer the Queen knowledge she will find worth my safety.”
His tone when speaking of the Queen did not hold any affection, in
fact, quite the opposite. But he seemed resigned to his situation.
“Let’s get this over with,” he said. He held his hands out in front
of him. “Did you want to put shackles on me for safe-keeping? Or
might you trust that I’m not going to run?” He stepped out from
behind the desk and approached Sir Ruawn slowly.

Sir Ruawn eyed him. “How about giving us some
information to show us that you’re sincere. Do you know where Lord
Morven is?”

“Why would I tell you that? You cannot pardon
me as the Queen can.”

“No,” Sir Ruawn agreed, “but I can promise
that if you do go back to prison, it will be a much more pleasant
experience. I have heard what happened to you there, and while I
can’t honestly say that I don’t think you deserved it, it is
unbecoming of our justice system. I would personally see to it that
you are treated fairly.”

Lord Farthen stared at him a moment, no doubt
trying to judge his sincerity. Finally he shrugged. “I have no
great love for the man anyway; he’s in the guest house, third
floor, second room on the right.”

Sir Ruawn gestured to the Knights, and
immediately they were out of the room to follow these directions.
Natalya stayed just long enough to see Farthen put in chains before
following the other group out.

Alina’s face was set into a hardened mask,
and Natalya could only imagine what was going on in her head. She
had spoken with her sister about the time she’d spent while
kidnapped. While she was with Farthen, she had been drugged and
forced to burn herself to perform the spell they wanted. But with
Morven…in the short amount of time she’d spent with the man, he’d
scarred her deeply. Natalya moved in closer to her sister, wanting
to shield her from the man’s wicked presence.

The Knights burst through the door of the
suite, and found Morven cowering in the corner. As they approached,
he tried to regain some of his dignity, shouting obscenities at
them while demanding that they listen to him, telling them that he
was an important person. Finally, when his shouting was met by
nothing but stern stares, he slumped his shoulders in defeat, and
simply held out his hands.

Natalya watched Alina out of the corner of
her eye, and saw that her sister was staring quite intently at the
man. She could only guess what kinds of emotions were roiling
within her. Suddenly, her sister dashed forward, grabbing a knife
out of a sheath at a nearby Knight’s waist and she launched herself
at Morven. She connected with him roughly, and for a moment nobody
moved. Natalya couldn’t tell where the knife had gone, and Morven
simply dropped his head, wearing a surprised expression, to look at
Alina.

Sir Ruawn rushed forward and pried her off
the man, and Natalya took hold of her from him. As she moved away
from in front of Lord Morven, it was clear that the knife was now
firmly imbedded in his stomach. He started wheezing and dropped to
his knees, holding his hands on either side of the blade’s handle,
but not touching it.

He lifted his eyes to meet the sisters’, and
though Natalya’s initial reaction was to shield her sister from his
hatred, she was surprised when he just smiled. Sir Ruawn was
whispering enchantments over the wound, and he pulled the knife
cleanly out, immediately applying pressure while it bled profusely
out from beneath his fingers. For several long minutes he tried to
save the awful man and everyone watched in rapt attention.