“Can you remember what you said that finally made him stop? It may be your answer.”
Lunara’s tender questioning surprised Brand. Rather discerning for a simple healer.
“Maybe. It was something about the war council, or the trap they’d made. I think?” He lifted his head and speared them with a stark look. Raw. “I’ve told it so many times, in so many ways, that I don’t know the truth anymore. I tried to lie, but I-I might’ve told him everything.”
“Ah, cousin. Even the truth we think we know probably isn’t real. Don’t worry yourself.”
Baldrir sneered against his welling tears. “I tried—fuck.” He blew out a breath, blinking them back. “I tried to get away, to hold out. Anything. Itried. But he was strong. So fucking strong. And the haze of everything… Fuck, I just wanted him to stop.”
“You did well, Bal,” Lyriat said, gently extracting Baldrir’s hand from Lunara’s and holding it tight. “I’m sure you did the Montrealm and our forebears proud. We’re just glad to have you back.”
Brand didn’t want to interrupt, but he had no choice. “Hedda said that you have a message for us.”
Hopefully it would point them in the right direction, since none of the rest of it made any damned sense.
“Yes,” Bal rasped.“ThatI fucking remember, like he’s planted it inside of me.”
“And?”
“And it’s not for everyone. It’s for you, Brand. Specifically.”
Brand stopped breathing altogether, a buzzing thrum ringing in his ears. “Me?”
Baldrir nodded. “First, he said to tell you‘I’m close. So, so close. And you’re all so very far away from knowing it.’”
“The rest?” Brand whispered.
“A riddle of some kind.‘Glynmor thinks she’s safe and well, tucked tight in her field of green. But what do you and her flesh have in common? I know what I hope it will be.’”
So much for the message helping.
He would’ve sworn Lunara loosed an odd sound, but he was too busy trying to stay upright to question it. “I have no idea what that could possibly mean. Who is Glynmor?”
“I’ve heard the name,” Lyriat said. “Somewhere. It’s just there, on the edge of my mind.”
Brand ran a hand absentmindedly over one horn, pacing. “The others might know. I could send another letter to my father and Uncle, my brothers—one of them is bound to know it.”
“Fuck. Where is Nyriadne?” Bal gripped Lyriat harder, pulling him closer with a trembling desperation. “Where is my sister?”
“She’s here, in the castle. She’s well.” There was a question both in Lyriat’s voice and on his face. “You’ve already seen her this morning.”
The assurance didn’t placate Baldrir in the least. “H-he threatened my family.”
Lyriat’s horns curled ever so slightly, his markings flashing. “His exact words.”
“‘You’re going to deliver a message for me. If you don’t, I will find every person you care about and I will ruin themin ways you can’t even imagine.’”Bal started hyperventilating. “You and the twins, you must guard yourselves. Even you, Brand. And Nyri is to go nowhere alone. Do you understand me?”
A knock sounded on the door, and Hedda pushed her way in. “We’ve just received word from Thodelebor. Caius is on his way.”
Lyriat threw him a sardonic look, laced with a righteous sort of fury. “Convenient.”
“Yes, well…” Hedda hesitated, and her gaze fixed on Baldrir.
“Speak, Second,” Brand commanded.
She flinched, then faced him. “He’s demanding that Bal be seized and presented for questioning.”
“Why the fuck is that?” Lyriat growled.
