“Sinjin!” Jolie play-swatted me while hiding her giggle behind her closed hand. Varick glared at me, and the prophetess cleared her throat. Apparently, any attempt at humor was disallowed in such melancholic and tedious times.
“Jolie?” Randall said, urging her to begin the meeting.
“My sister came to Mathilda and me recently,” Jolie began, and the Lady Bryn shifted uncomfortably. She obviously did not enjoy the attention that everyone suddenly placed on her. “To discuss an unsettling dream she had,” Jolie continued. “And she has some more information regarding this dream that has necessitated our meeting tonight.”
“A dream?” Trent repeated, his expression falling.
“I fail to realize how a silly dream should alarm any of us,” Varick immediately responded.
“Not all dreams are simply that,” Mathilda countered in her singsong voice.
“Dreams are the simplest form for visions to take,” Mercedes added.
“Aye, an’ ’tis nae our place tae be questionin’ the decisions oove our queen,” Odran piped up. With a quick glance at Jolie, he nodded in what I imagine was his feeble attempt to gain the queen’s favor.
Bloody, apish fairy.
“As Mathilda said, dreams can be visions and, in this instance, I believe Bryn’s dream was exactly that—a vision,” Jolie announced.
“Go on,” Trent said, sounding mildly interested.
Jolie nodded and continued. “This dream panicked my sister greatly because it involves all of us.”
“And why should any of us actually believe that the dream was a vision?” Trent demanded. “I get that dreams can be visions, but how do we know this one wasn’t just a nightmare?” he finished, eyeing the queen narrowly. There had been a time, many years ago, when Jolie and Trent were involved romantically. How she could ever have found herself attracted to the canine, I must admit, I do not know. But, alas, we who err so infrequently must allow others their moments of poor judgment …
“Because the dream provided information she wasn’t otherwise privy to,” Jolie answered, tightlipped.
“Information?” Trent continued. “What does that mean?”
“I learned that Sinjin had attacked Luce, and in doing so, he tore Luce’s arm off,” the Lady Bryn responded. Glaring at Trent, she seemed to be challenging him to argue with her. “And when I approached Sinjin about what I’d seen, he validated it for me.”
“You did what to Luce?” Trent asked in disbelief, suddenly facing me. As did the rest of the room.
“Ah didnae know whit business ye were oan whilst ye were gone, boot this isnae welcomed information,” Odran began while shaking his head. Trent took a step forward, his eyes suddenly angry.
“My queen,” the prophetess started as she glanced from me to Jolie, her eyes were wide and angry. I presumed it was because she too had not been informed. “You sanctioned this?”
I raised my hands in the air to quiet them. “My errand did not concern any of you. It merely involved myself and our queen, which is why I did not bother to inform any of you about my whereabouts.”
“Bullshit!” Trent railed at me. “If you attacked Luce, it concerns all of us!”
“Aye!” Odran responded as Mathilda attempted to calm him by putting her hand on his arm and whispering something indecipherable, even to my ears.
“Perhaps if Sinjin had not been allowed his freedom, this would not have happened,” Varick suggested, apparently still ill-at-ease that the queen granted me my solidarity and I no longer answered to him. Everyone ignored him, including me.
“There is no point in arguing about what Sinjin did,” the Lady Bryn started in a loud voice as she addressed the room. “What’s done is done.”
“That doesn’t make it okay,” Trent rebutted.
“At this point, we need to focus our efforts on what happens next, not on the things we can’t change,” Randall announced. Judging by his stiff countenance, I had to assume he agreed with Trent and Odran. Not that I cared.
“Yes,” Jolie agreed. Then she faced her sister with an encouraging smile. “Bryn, I think it’s important that you explain to everyone what you saw in your vision.”
Bryn’s face fell and the color in her cheeks washed away. She simply nodded at her sister and took a deep breath before she faced the room.
“I witnessed the assault on Kinloch Kirk,” she began as her eyes fell to the floor. Her voice sounded haunted, even afraid. “Our kingdom was under attack.”
“Attack by whom?” the prophetess demanded.
Bryn faced her. “It was under attack by Luce …”
“In retaliation for Sinjin’s actions?” Varick asked.
“I suppose so,” Bryn answered. “Or maybe as punishment for my escaping.”
“The reasons are unimportant,” Randall said.
“Go on, Bryn,” Jolie encouraged her sister.
Bryn nodded and that haunted expression returned to her eyes. “Everyone was dead,” she announced as she glanced down at the ground. She began clenching her eyes shut as she remembered the particulars. “And Kinloch Kirk was destroyed.”
“I fail to see how any of this has anything to do with Sinjin wounding Luce,” Varick persisted.
Bryn opened her eyes and looked up at him. “I saw Luce in my mind, and he was missing his arm,” she answered, spearing the vampire with a heated glance. “And when I asked Sinjin about it, he verified that what I saw was true.”
“And how could Bryn have known that if this were not a true vision she received?” Mathilda asked.
Everyone was quiet, but a hum of murmurs and nodding heads filled the room.
“Then we must prepare for an attack?” Trent asked as he faced Jolie. “Even though we don’t know when it will come?” He looked at Bryn. “Or were you able to get that information?”
Bryn shook her head. “I don’t know when Luce will attack.”
“So we’re basically sitting ducks,” Trent concluded with anger.
“The very fact that we have this information is beyond valuable,” Jolie argued with him. “At least now we can prepare for whatever is coming.” She inhaled deeply and nodded. “Because time is of the essence, I believe we must begin our preparations now.”
EIGHT
Bryn
“I agree,” Trent said with a firm nod. “But something needs to be done with regard to Sinjin’s decisions which are threatening all of us.”
“My decisions?” Sinjin asked with a chuckle as he faced the idiot. I couldn’t say I cared much for Trent. Well, if the truth be told, I didn’t really care much for anyone inside the room, aside from my sister, Mathilda, Rand, and maybe Sinjin … That all depended on his behavior.
“Yes,” Trent insisted. “We are all members of the queen’s counsel,” he started as he glanced around the room, addressing each person before his attention centered on Sinjin alone. “And, therefore, we should all be able to weigh in on any decisions. It’s better than you getting a wild hair up your ass and going on a mission that endangers all of us.”
“My mission was a private one,” Sinjin responded, and anger began to taint his voice. “And it had nothing to do with any of you.”
“It had everything to do with all of us! We’re in this spot now because of you,” Trent argued as he glared at Sinjin, his voice growing louder.
“What’s done is done,” Jolie tried to interrupt, but her voice was drowned out by Varick’s.
“I agree with the wolf,” the uptight vampire announced.
Jolie didn’t even spare him a glance. “This is all beside the point, because Sinjin had my permission to fulfill his mission.”
“And that is enough for all of you to button your lips,” Mercedes announced as she glared at everyone in turn. “Our queen gave her permission, which ends the conversation right there.”
“Aye,” Odran said with a brief nod. Seeing the expression on Trent’s face, he wasn’t finished yet.
“I understand,” he said when he face
d Jolie. “But I still have a question for Sinjin.” He addressed the vampire who didn’t look the worse for wear. “What prompted you to go to one of Luce’s compounds by yourself in the first place?”
“None of your business,” Sinjin responded icily as he tapped his fingers against his thigh impatiently.
“That’s not good enough,” Trent said, turning to Jolie. “If you expect us to feel like we are all equals on this panel, you can’t let Sinjin make critical decisions that affect us. We should all be informed of any insane plans he happens to be making. Then, if you still approve and give your permission, so be it. But we should all have the opportunity to discuss it first.”
“And you shouldn’t address your queen with such disrespect,” Rand spat back at Trent.
“Sinjin’s business was entirely his own,” Jolie spoke up, narrowing her eyes as she looked at everyone in turn. “And I gave him my blessing. That’s all any of you need to know.”
“Then you were aware that Sinjin was planning to attack Luce?” Varick inquired.
“Well, no, not exactly,” Jolie answered as she shifted uncomfortably.
“Well, then? What the bloody hell did you think he was going there for?” Trent nearly yelled at her.
“Trent!” Mercedes roared at him.
He nodded at her and spoke to Jolie again, this time lowering his voice. “And how could you sanction something if you didn’t know what was involved?”
“Again, if you can’t address our queen with the proper respect and protocol she’s due, I’ll have to escort you out,” Rand cautioned Trent. “Consider this your last warning.”
“My reasons for going do not concern any of you,” Sinjin responded stonily. “But if they had, I would have gladly informed you of my plans.”
I was grateful for his response. He was clearly guarding his reasons for going to the camp—those being to avenge me. As far as I knew, only Jolie, Rand, Mathilda, and Sinjin knew what happened to me at Luce’s camp. And that was just as well. I didn’t want that information splattered across the evening news.
“Your plans had everything to do with your own fame and glory,” Trent spat back at him.
“That isn’t true!” I started, suddenly prompted to jump to Sinjin’s defense. These assholes didn’t know the whole story, so it wasn’t fair for them to accuse him of something they knew nothing about. As everyone’s eyes settled on me, I felt like the room was suddenly closing in. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath.
“But unfortunately for you, you weren’t strong enough to defeat Luce on your own,” Trent continued, ignoring me and narrowing his eyes at Sinjin.
“Fame and glory had nothing to do with it,” Sinjin started before I interrupted him. I knew this conversation would just continue to go round and round in circles until I stopped it.
“Sinjin went to Luce’s camp to avenge me!” I railed back at Trent. Now I only wanted him to shut the hell up.
Trent immediately frowned at me and bit his lip, which was more than I could have asked for. I sighed as I glared at him.
“Explain,” Varick said.
“You do not have to explain anything, pet,” Sinjin whispered from where he stood beside me. “This is exclusively your business, and it should remain that way.”
“No,” I said, holding my hand up to quiet Sinjin. I’d already decided the only way everyone in this room would shut up was if they didn’t view Sinjin as the enemy. And the only way that could happen was if they knew the reason why he went after Luce in the first place.
“What then?” Trent demanded, staring at me impatiently.
“Sinjin intended to avenge me,” I started as I inhaled deeply. I prayed my words wouldn’t falter.
“Avenge ye? From whit?” Odran asked.
I dropped my gaze to Mathilda who stood beside him, and her sweet, placid expression somehow gave me the strength I was woefully lacking. She nodded slightly and I nodded back at her.
“From everything that happened to me at the hands of Luce and his minions,” I finished.
Bryn? Jolie’s voice sounded in my head as I turned to face her. There was visible concern in her eyes. You don’t have to do this.
I know, I answered, but I shook my head anyway because I did have to do this. If I don’t tell them what happened, they won’t understand. They’ll just continue to paint Sinjin and you as the bad guys. And that’s not what we need right now.
I’m the queen, Bryn, I can end this conversation now.
I know, but I don’t like seeing anyone doubting you. And if they don’t know the full situation, they will continue to doubt all of your decisions. That’s the last thing you need, especially now, in the wake of whatever retaliation Luce is planning.
I faced Trent again. “When I was a prisoner at the camp, Luce forced me to become a Breeder,” I started.
“What is that?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest and regarding me coolly.
I swallowed hard as soon as I realized I’d have to explain all of this, and it still made me cringe.
“Breeders are women who are relegated to doing just that—breeding,” Sinjin answered for me. I turned to face him with a grateful smile to which he just nodded before turning back to Trent, and his jaw tightened.
“You mean,” Trent started, but he quickly swallowed his words as if they were so despicable, he couldn’t even repeat them.
“Yes, that’s what Sinjin means,” I answered him, none too gently. “I was repeatedly raped by nearly all of the men at the compound in their futile attempts to make me pregnant by one of them.”
I watched my sister’s face fall as she glanced down at the ground. There was heaviness in her eyes that wasn’t there before. Clearly, this information was not easy for her to hear. It was even harder for me to tell; but somehow, I managed to separate myself from the reality and what happened to me. Somehow, the words fell off my tongue without me feeling much of anything.
“Ay’m sorry,” Odran said, his voice lowering. He couldn’t meet my eyes.
“So Sinjin avenged me,” I continued. I didn’t want his or anyone else’s pity. I despised pity. It couldn’t do anything for me; it was a useless emotion. “He searched for all the men who tortured and used me and he killed them.”
“Well, that is not entirely accurate,” Sinjin interjected. “Unfortunately, I failed to dispose of all of them,” he continued. “I failed to achieve my mission.”
“That doesn’t matter,” I said before turning to the others again. “So when Sinjin said it wasn’t a matter that concerned any of you, that’s why. He was protecting me because it was and is my business and mine alone.”
“I do not believe Sinjin’s reasoning was sound,” Mercedes suddenly interjected, and I burned her with my heated gaze. Her dislike for me could not have been more obvious. She seemed to be the only one there who couldn’t forgive me for my past. “But, again, all of us must remember that we are not here to challenge the queen’s decisions.”
“Very good,” Jolie answered with a swift nod and a smile. I couldn’t help noticing that she was the only one who would look at me.
Well, she was the only one except for Sinjin …
His gaze felt hot against my skin. The way he scanned my body and rested his eyes on my lips made me squirm, if not on the outside, then definitely on the inside. And now, the entire room was staring at us, waiting for someone to say something—I had to address the huge elephant I just deposited on their doorsteps.
But I was done telling my story. I was done talking period.
Jolie turned to the group and put up her hand. “Now that you know the truth, I want to move on. But not before making something very clear. This is not Sinjin’s fault, and whatever happens, he cannot be to blame.”
Rand immediately faced his wife, and surprise and maybe a bit of jealousy clouded his eyes, but they softened the moment he saw the concern on her face. It wasn’t a secret that Rand didn’t approve of Jolie’s affection for Sinjin.
“Furthermore,” she continued, “in his quest to avenge my sister, Sinjin managed to do the impossible. He wounded Luce in such a way that Luce’s magic will forever be impaired. Sinjin did us all a favor,” she finished. She looked at Sinjin with a mixture of admiration and gratitude. “And we also have the gift of foresight through my sister, which will enable us to protect ourselves against any threat to the kingdom.”
Odran stepped forward and raised his hand. “If Ah may, yer majesty?” Jolie nodded, and he continued. “Shall we extract everyone from the kingdom? Since we dinnae know when that wretched man might strike oos agin?”
“And should we make an announcement to all of our people that we need more recruits?” Trent asked. “We should probably start assembling an army?”
“I don’t believe it would behoove us to alarm everyone right now,” Mercedes said as she faced Jolie, who nodded. “This information is still very much in its infancy.”
“Let’s not make any fast moves just yet,” Jolie responded. “Doing so would just raise a panic that we don’t need right now. I don’t want word of this getting out until we can devise a plan on how to deal with it.”
“We should increase security around the clock,” Rand said, and Jolie nodded.
Odran bowed once as Jolie continued. “Sinjin and Klaasje, you will increase the security surrounding Kinloch.”
“Yes, of course, my queen,” Sinjin answered as Klaasje nodded.
Jolie turned her attention to Mathilda. “Can you test the strength of the wards around Kinloch to make sure the perimeter can’t be breached?”
“Of course.”
Klaasje nodded, and my attention returned to my sister. She faced Rand and ran her fingers down his arm. “We will meet again and discuss how to break this news to our people.”
Rand leaned forward and kissed her cheek. The way he supported his wife always amazed me. The love they had was so rare, and they could always count on each other, which was even rarer. Whenever I watched them, I was struck by their relationship, which I adored and secretly envied. While it pained me at times, I long ago accepted that I wasn’t like my sister. Love and lasting relationships weren’t included in my future. And while there was a part of me that bemoaned that sad fact, another part of me was okay with it. I was aloof, and numb even. And that was what I needed to focus on if I intended to reinforce and eventually defeat the emotional, useless side of me.
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