Bricrui (The Forgotten: Book 2) (8 page)

“No,
we
will not. I’ve been riding
with these Knights for weeks now and do not want to see anyone hurt
playing hero.” She paused a moment in thought. “Are you going to
tell them what we may be up against?”

Sir Ruawn sighed again, sounding genuinely
distressed, and answered. “I believe they all already know. Rumors
spread very quickly in the palace. And beyond.”

Natalya caught a hint of something unsaid in
his words, but didn’t press the matter. The important thing to her
at this moment was breaking a hole through the wall that could be
keeping her from her sister. She could not think of her sister
being one of those things, but imagining her stuck in a castle with
them was even worse.

Sir Ruawn took forever, by Natalya’s
calculations, to determine where best to blow a hole through the
wall. To Natalya it was all the same, one way or another they were
blasting their way in, who cared if it was ten feet this way or
that? But she respected Sir Ruawn and his judgment, so she kept her
complaints to herself.

When he had selected the perfect spot, he
withdrew a powdery substance from his pack. He mixed this with
another, stirring the concoction together in a wooden bowl until
the resulting mixture was a gooey consistency. He smeared this
along the wall seemingly haphazardly, contrary to his previous
precision, and stood back to admire his handiwork.

He ordered Natalya and the Knights to take
cover behind something, and he backed away himself. When everyone
reported that they were clear, he readied a spell and sent it
shooting from his palm towards the smeared stones.

Natalya readied herself for the blast,
mindful, like all the Knights were, of the possibility of the horde
of monsters that might come streaming through the opening once
their way was clear.

The spell connected with the
powder-turned-goo and Natalya was immediately deafened by the
resulting explosion. She threw herself to the ground and covered
her head with her arms. Rocks and debris sprayed out around them,
clattering to the ground. With the booming sound still echoing in
her head, she stood and helped the Knight next to her to his
feet.

Natalya glanced around quickly to make sure
everyone was alright before turning her attention back to the wall.
All eyes were glued to the spot where the explosion had no doubt
blown a hole straight through as Sir Ruawn had promised, though one
was not yet visible through the dust and smoke.

The sounds of swords being drawn and battle
stances taken – the clanking of metal on metal – met her ears as
they regained their hearing.

Natalya followed suit, drawing her
weapons.

They all watched tensely as the smoke cleared
from the hole in the wall…

CHAPTER 4

Layna opened her mind to the power and
scanned the palace. Something caught her mind’s eye and she zoned
in on it. Someone was spying on them! She quickly threw a detaining
spell around the probe and redirected her attention at the area. It
was a focus point for scrying, making it easier for the person to
find the spot. And it was focused in…

Phoenix’s nursery!

Layna hurried to her daughter’s room and
scooped the child into her arms. Amelia looked at her
worriedly.

“Is everything all right?” she stood quickly
and scurried over to Layna’s side.

“I just found evidence of someone scrying in
here,” she told her, her eyes inspecting the room.

“What?” Amelia exclaimed in alarm, her gaze
flying to the air around her.

Layna closed her eyes to give her full
attention over to the power, watching the flowing magic swirl
around the room. It seemed to be drawn to a particular area, where
a concentration of magic was spiraling around. There was something
magical there.

She opened her eyes and moved to the spot.
Rummaging around in the box of toys, she brought out the object.
She held it up for Amelia to see.

“Where did this come from?” she demanded.

Amelia scrunched up her face in thought, then
comprehension dawned on her. Her expression turned to one of guilt.
“Phoenix had it around her neck when she was rescued by Natalya and
Hunter. I just assumed that one of them had given her a trinket. I
didn’t even think…” she hung her head and Layna’s anger
evaporated.

“It’s not your fault,” she assured the woman,
taking the offending object and examining it carefully. Between the
baby returning, her and Gryffon waking, and Telvani’s escape, she
could hardly blame anyone for not thinking to search the child.
Whoever had been spying had withdrawn, so it was impossible for
Layna to confirm that this was the object they had been using to
find the focus of their scrying, but it definitely was magical. And
it definitely hadn’t come from anyone here, the ‘taste’ of the
spell was unlike any she knew.

She re-warded Phoenix with another layer of
shielding and handed her to Amelia. “Keep an extra close eye on her
while I sort this out, would you please?”

Amelia nodded and clung to the baby. Layna
swept out of the room with the necklace, already strengthening the
hold she had over its magic now that she knew where it was coming
from, and blocking anyone from using it to spy on what she was up
to.

She carried it to the room which had been
cleared out for magic use, shielded from the outside so that spells
gone awry would not damage the neighboring rooms. She entertained
the thought of sending for Gryffon, but he was in the middle of a
meeting with Aria, discussing details of a possible merger, and
interrupting them would only bring up questions as to what was so
urgent.

Instead, she set the necklace on the table
and sat down heavily in front of it. She stared at it and willed it
to reveal its secrets to her. How it had escaped their notice for
this long was appalling, given all they had gone through and the
precautions which had been taken to prevent such things from
occurring.

As she unwound the intricacies of the spell,
she felt a little better. It was one of the most complicated
enchantments she had ever seen and it took her hours to unravel it
all. It was unlike any scrying tool she had ever seen. It seemed to
be dampening magic, not amplifying it. No matter, however, she was
going to undo it regardless. She was covered in sweat and breathing
hard by the time she got it completely undone, but she was still no
closer to figuring out who had sent it. Not that she needed magic
to guess that it was either one of Telvani’s people, or – the more
likely choice given the unfamiliar magic that was used – the
tribe.

So the tribe wasn’t done with them yet. They
had suspected as much, though Layna had fervently wished that they
would have given up. Their attempts to find the tribe to confront
them had all fallen short, even with her and Gryffon’s impressive
combined power. There seemed to be some sort of enchantment on
their forest grove that prevented people from finding it. Likely it
was one that recognized only those who had been there before or
those who were led in. So far, they hadn’t come up with any way to
get past such an enchantment. She had wanted Natalya to go back
with a group of Knights in hopes that her having been there before
could find it for them, but she could not ask her to do that until
her sister was found. Since things had seemed quiet, she and
Gryffon had decided to wait until Hunter returned and beg his
assistance instead. But his communications had suddenly stopped. It
was frustrating.

Layna had to admire the tribe’s creativity,
however, and though she was angry at their actions, she could not
help but feel sorry for them. Knowing that they were the mages who
had been driven out by the Dark King’s horror, it was easy to see
how they may have become bitter.

She jumped as someone touched her arm, and
was surprised to see Gryffon standing above her when she looked
up.

“Gryffon,” she murmured, “What time is
it?”

“Time for you to stop whatever it is you’re
doing in here and come to bed with me.”

She sighed. “I have some more bad news I’m
afraid.”

“Bad news right before bed?” Gryffon moaned,
“Do we have to do this now?”

“I can’t sleep unless we talk about it,” she
persisted.

“And I can’t sleep if we do,” he
complained.

She pouted at him.

He sighed. “All right, all right,” he gave
in, throwing up his arms in surrender, “you win. I have some news
for you as well. Out with it.”

“I felt someone scrying in the nursery
today,” she informed him. “And when I went to investigate, I found
a necklace that had some sort of elaborate spell on it in Phoenix’s
toy-box.”

“What?!” he glared around at no one in
particular. “Is Phoenix okay?” He started moving towards the door,
as if to check on her.

“She’s fine,” Layna put a restraining hand on
his arm. “I’m sure Amelia has her asleep already.” She paused
guiltily. “I had meant to stop early enough to tuck her in, but got
caught up with the necklace.”

“Were you able to break the enchantment on
it?”

“I was,” Layna confirmed, “but there was
something odd about it. Not like anything I’ve ever encountered as
an object of scrying.”

“Maybe it was nothing then,” Gryffon
suggested.

“No,” she disagreed, “Someone was definitely
scrying, I just didn’t understand it. This whole thing with the
tribe is so frustrating! I feel as though we cannot fight them when
we have no idea what we are up against or even a face to put with
who we are up against. And with all the distrust in the palace,
trying to weed out Telvani’s supporters…” She was on a roll now.
“And the Council not being able to help with the daily maintenance,
I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to do this,
Gryffon!”

Gryffon positioned himself behind her and
massaged her shoulders. “Did you add wards to Phoenix to account
for the scrying person’s aura?”

“Of course. And I had more mages assigned to
watch her around the clock.”

“Then you have done all we can about that
matter and must not let worrying about it distract us from other
matters that need to be addressed.”

His hands were working magic on her muscles,
kneading away her stress and fatigue, and she leaned back into
them. Warmth seemed to spread out from his fingertips wherever he
touched, melting her body behind them.

“And what bad news did you have for me?” she
asked, turning to face him.

His hands ran down the length of her,
lighting fires in their path. “My news,” he whispered in her ear
seductively, “Can wait until tomorrow.”

His hands were all over her now, distracting
her over-worked mind from focusing on the problems she should be
thinking about. She tried to squirm out of his embrace, to get back
to the serious discussion they needed to have, but it was too late,
she was already caught up in his seduction. He opened himself to
the power and she met him body and soul, feeling the intense rush
of confidence and power that their combined talent inspired. She
let herself be swept up in the moment, allowing herself to enjoy
the bliss that only Gryffon could awaken within her.

All the problems would still be there
tomorrow…

*

The smoke cleared around the large hole that
had been blasted in the castle’s otherwise formidable wall, and
Natalya waited anxiously with the Knights for something to emerge.
When nothing did for several long moments, Sir Ruawn approached the
opening carefully. Looking around, he gestured for the awaiting
Knights to advance.

Natalya and the Knights entered the
courtyard, strangely unmolested, and Sir Ruawn waved his men to
spread out. They flanked them on both sides, inching their way
along the side walls, alert for danger. Still nothing popped out at
them, there was no alarmed shouting at their entrance, and no one
made an appearance.

Natalya’s nervousness increased. Sir Ruawn
had prepared her for an attack, but the ghostly quiet was
unnerving. Three Knights closed in around her, holding their
shields up in a protective triangle, and Natalya’s eyes roamed the
towers for signs of movement.

They entered the main hall and she sucked in
her breath. The long table was completely overturned, a feat that
must have taken some doing, and debris littered the ground. Several
tapestries had been ripped from the walls and were now sprawled out
across the ground.

Natalya and the Knights spread out and
searched the room. Natalya edged her way along the far right-hand
wall. She held two dirks out in front of her that Sir Ruawn had
insisted she train with. Jeremy had volunteered for the job and the
two of them had been working tirelessly to prepare her to defend
herself should the need arise. In the beginning, Sir Ruawn had
tried to convince her to stay behind and let the Knights do the
dangerous job of actually searching, but Natalya was not about to
stand around waiting for someone else to find her sister. He had
quickly learned that she could not be dissuaded, so had changed his
tactics to keep her protected the best he could instead in
compromise.

She thought she saw a flash of motion flit by
the doorway, reflected in the blade, but when she looked, there was
nothing there. She stepped carefully around a shattered bowl, the
pottery left strewn over the floor, its contents dried and
unrecognizable, covered in flies. Her eyes darted back up to her
surroundings.

The castle itself was huge, though the
decoration was strangely disturbing. Lord Farthen had a reputation
for being very under-handed and rather peculiar. He had controlled
a monopoly on certain trade goods which was suspected to have been
obtained, and maintained, through illegal and violent methods. He
also had been arrested for being extremely involved in blood-magic,
having been a part of the Order and in charge of their bloodbeast
experiments.