Beyond the Pale: A Thin Veil Novella (The Thin Veil Book 3) (5 page)

“The sidhe
aren’t
all closed. What if he finds the one you use to visit your lover?”

Brogan looked taken aback at this. His mouth opened, and he seemed to be searching for the right words. So her suspicions had merit. But right now, it didn’t matter.

“Oh, Brogan, I don’t care about that—not really, though I wish you’d be honest with me. Lorcan said he’s not alone in wanting to get revenge on the humans; what if one of them finds this sidh and uses it? This is why the Elders closed the sidhe in the first place—to keep Ériu safe from people like Lorcan.”

Brogan looked at the floor. “I am sorry if I have caused you…discomfort. I know you and Lorcan were close. Does he…still care for you?”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s changed. I don’t know if it’s because of us, or if he’s always been this way and I just didn’t see it. But I believe he is more ambitious—and more powerful—than you give him credit for. I don’t think he’ll let anything stand in his way.”

“I can see that he has frightened you, Kier, but he is only one man. I will close the remaining sidh to earth. Then there is nothing he can do.”

“There is plenty he can do. Brogan…are you aware of what his ability is?”

“I was under the impression he didn’t have one…or at least not one of any note.”

“He absorbs the abilities of others after they’re dead.”

Brogan’s dark eyebrows shot up. “Are you certain? That ability hasn’t been seen in centuries, not since…”

“His great-great aunt,” Kier finished. “He told me about it himself. It’s no wonder he’s kept it a secret. But it’s true. And I think he will try to kill you to take your sidhe-gift. Then he won’t need your permission to open the sidhe.” It sounded extreme, but she was certain it was true. The only way Lorcan could put his plan into action would be to go through a sidh—and the only person who could open them was Brogan. Sooner or later, the two of them would face off.

Brogan scoffed. “Lorcan, kill me? I am ten times the warrior he is—if he dared even attempt such a thing.”

Kier let out a loud breath of exasperation. “You’re not listening. He said a war is coming—I think we need to prepare. Make sure all our warriors are on
our
side, not his. You’ve yourself said there are more anti-human sentiments out there than ever. If others are joining with him, you may have a rebellion on your hands. Doesn’t that concern you? Will you do nothing?”

Brogan gave her a stern look. “I already said I will close the sidh. But I’m not going to whip our people into a panic because of one rogue who cannot get past something that happened thousands of years ago. He is no threat to us, Kier, and you should not make him into one. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to.”

Kier watched him go, knowing his “business” was just an excuse to end the conversation. The old feeling of being helpless started to creep over her. She raised a circle of fire around her, reveling in the release of power, but then quickly extinguished it before she set the whole room ablaze.

She would let Brogan calm down, and then she’d try to talk to him again. If Lorcan was starting to collect the abilities of others, whether by accident or murder, he would soon be more powerful than the king. And she knew that her former lover was nothing if not determined. When he set his mind on a path, there was no dissuading him. Look at the way he had managed to win her heart in the beginning… Though Brogan might not recognize the danger, she did. She placed the silver tiara back on her head. She was the queen, and it was up to her to protect her people, and, if she could, the people of Ériu.

* * *

It turned out she didn’t need to convince Brogan—Lorcan did it for him. Two months later, her husband could no longer deny that the upstart was a risk—politically, if not physically. Tensions were rising rapidly throughout the kingdom, as those who shared Lorcan’s desire for revenge on Ériu were becoming emboldened. The story of their defeat at the hands of the Milesians was repeated again and again, with renewed vows to right the ancient wrong and reclaim the land that had once been theirs. Quarrels about Ériu were beginning to break out among friends and neighbors, even within families. Brogan spent much of his time in heated Council debates combatting Lorcan’s lies and half-truths. Lorcan, for his part, had been clever. Neither he nor any of his followers ever spoke against the king directly enough for it to be construed as treason. And yet Kier could feel the anti-human sentiment rising. If they, the king and queen of Tír na nÓg, continued to side with the humans, how long would it be before they lost the support of their own people, and a full-scale civil war broke out? As much as it dismayed him, Brogan insisted that the people were entitled to their opinions. Even so, he would never authorize any action against Ériu. He promised Kier he would keep the sidhe closed as a precaution.

With Kier’s encouragement, they had started to ready themselves for the worst. As Brogan tried to persuade influential families and other Danann to stay the course of peace and harmony, Kier gathered together a small group of those they trusted most—Ruadhan and Riona, her brother Brion, the healer Toirdhealbhach MacDail re Deachai, and others who shared their position. Brion had promised to keep a close watch on his warriors for any signs of dissent. Ruadhan was surreptitiously using the goblet of Manannan mac Lir, which could separate truth from lies, to determine if any plans were being formed against the king. The others kept their ears to the ground and tried to convince their fellow Danann that the way forward was not through war. At first, Kier thought Lorcan must be persuading others by means of magic, but there was only one among them who had the gift of persuasion, and Fionnghuala had sworn to her that she did not wish to take over Ériu. Of course, Lorcan had also said he would never use his ability, and Kier couldn’t help but feel slightly uneasy around the feisty redhead. But Ruadhan and Riona vouched for her, so Kier decided she could be trusted.

It was in the middle of all this chaos when Kier saw the dead tree. It stood alone in the middle of a field, where she had played as a child many, many years ago. She remembered how its leaves used to be so thick it would completely shield out the summer sun, and how it had been a wonderfully cool place of refuge when she first discovered her gift of fire, before she could control the level of heat in her body.

Now that same tree was a skeleton.

Kier and Riona noticed its transformation as they walked back to the Hall one day. The guards who had been walking with them stopped when they did, standing a respectful distance behind them.

“What do you think it means?” she asked Riona as they both stood and stared at it.

“I wish I knew,” Riona said, walking toward the tree. “It’s not the first I’ve seen in recent days. There’s a bush near our house that’s all dried up, as though it were winter on Ériu.” In Tír na nÓg plants flourished year-round, growing new blossoms and fruit as soon as the old ones had been gathered or had fallen to the ground. But there were no signs of new life on this tree. Riona touched the trunk with her fingertips. “We’d do well to get someone to come look at it—perhaps Connor; he can speak with all living things.”

Kier nodded, and they continued on. They bade each other goodbye at the entrance to the royal chambers within the Hall. When Kier walked in, she found her husband and brother in a heated conversation. The two men fell silent as soon as she entered the room. Then Brion bowed to Brogan and said, “I will let you know if I find anything.” Brogan nodded stonily, and Brion marched past his sister and out of the room.

“What was that about?” Kier asked.

“Nothing.”

“I heard there was another death. Was…?”

“I heard about it as well. But once we arrived, there was only the body. We have no way of knowing if Lorcan was there, or if he was even involved.”

“But you think he was.”

Brogan said nothing.

“We need to find him,” she insisted. “The longer he is free, the more powerful he becomes. Soon we might not be able to stop him at all.”

“I cannot have him arrested without proof of any wrongdoing,” Brogan said.

“You’re the king; you can do whatever you want,” she said hotly.

Brogan looked at her sternly. “I have many faults, Kier. But I never wish it to be said that I ruled unjustly.”

Kier let out a loud breath. “You’re right, of course. But I have the feeling that there is more we should be doing. Can’t you at least bring him in for questioning? I could talk to him. Perhaps I might still be able to persuade him to stop this recklessness.”

“If he is half as dangerous as you insist, I would be a fool to let him near you.”

“He loves me. He would never hurt me,” she said. But in the back of her mind she could hear Lorcan’s words to her.
A war is coming, and I cannot guarantee your protection if you choose the wrong side
.

“Does a heart so full of hate really have room for love?” Brogan asked quietly. Then he looked away. “I wasn’t going to tell you this, because I didn’t want to make you afraid. I
would
bring him in for questioning, but…we don’t know where he is.”

“What?”

“He has slipped from our grasp. Brion had some of his warriors monitoring Lorcan’s movements. But he seems to have disappeared.”

“How is that possible?”

“I don’t know for certain. But…there was a child who drowned about a week ago. It seemed to be an accident…”

Kier felt a wave of nausea sweep through her. “I…I heard about that. Eithne’s daughter. She had…” She felt too sick to say anything more.

“…the gift of invisibility,” Brogan finished for her. “She only manifested her ability a few moons ago.”

“That’s…it cannot be,” Kier protested weakly. “He would never kill a child.”

“He is not the man you thought he was,” Brogan said gently.

Kier didn’t answer. She knew it was true. But had Lorcan really become such a monster? And was she to blame? Had she driven him this far into madness? She thought of the nights she had spent with him, and her skin crawled. Suddenly, the room felt too crowded even though she and Brogan were the only ones in it. She felt dizzy and weak, but instead of sitting down, she ran from the room and out of the Hall, into the fresh air. She kept running, not knowing where she was going, letting fire stream behind her like a comet burning across the night sky. She knew her guards would follow her, but she hoped for their sakes they’d have enough sense to keep their distance.

She stopped running when she reached the dead tree she had passed with Riona earlier that day. The flames around her extinguished as she sank between two large roots that had broken free of the ground and were extended from the trunk like grasping hands. Resting her head against the bark, she looked up into the sky, as though it might hold answers for her. Several minutes later, there were still only questions.

“My lady?”

One of her guards had approached, and was watching her nervously.

“What is it?”

“Connor is here; he said he was asked to look at this tree.”

“Oh, of course,” Kier said, getting to her feet. “Let him.” She would be grateful to think of something else for a while, even something as foreboding as this.

“Greetings, Connor,” she said, trying to appear as though she had been waiting for him.

“My queen,” he said with a slight bow. Connor was a slim man, with fine silver hair that fell to his shoulders and matching silver eyes. She had never spoken to him much; he was incredibly shy, and preferred the company of plants and animals to that of people.

“Did Riona tell you of our concern?” she asked.

“Yes,” he answered in his soft, hesitant voice. “And I, too, have observed many of these unnatural deaths. There is something…” he waved a hand helplessly in the air “…afflicting the land. I can feel its life force ebbing away.”

“Can you tell what it is?” she asked. “A disease of some sort?”

“I shall ask,” he said, placing a hand on the trunk of the tree and closing his eyes.

She waited for him to speak, but he was silent for a long time, and she wondered how his strange ability worked. After a while, he started humming a haunting, lyrical tune that sent shivers up her spine. She had never heard him sing before. Then he stopped suddenly, a frown creasing his face.

“What is it?” she asked, unable to keep silent any longer.

“Wait,” he said. Then he crossed the field to one of the living trees that bordered the clearing. He repeated the same things with several of them, his humming carrying across the field to where Kier stood waiting. Then he strode back toward her, his expression grim.

“I don’t…I don’t understand it,” he said. “The trees say there is a poison leaching into them, but they cannot identify the source. They say it seems to be everywhere—in the ground, in the air, in the water. But that doesn’t make sense. How could that be?”

“When did it start?” she asked.

“They say it has been growing for the past two moons. They have been trying to fight it, to use their own power to counteract its effects, but…”

“What?”

“They’re losing. Soon the land will be dead.”

Kier sat dozing among stacks of heavy, leather-bound books. She was in the large, circular room that served as a library, filled from floor to ceiling with books and manuscripts of all sizes, many of them thousands of years old.

“My lady? Are you quite well?” Eolas, the librarian, floated down to her from where he had been hovering among the top stacks. He was a thin man, with bulbous eyes and skin so pale it was almost translucent.

She lifted her head from her arms and wiped a wet patch at the corner of her mouth. “Mmm? Oh, yes, thank you, Eolas. I’ve just been feeling…tired, lately.” This was the third day she had spent in the library, searching for answers. Perhaps it was the stress, but she felt weak and more tired than usual. She wondered if whatever was afflicting the plants could be affecting her as well. Connor had not offered any further ideas about what the problem might be, but he’d promised to keep an ear to the ground. Their chief healer had also taken samples from the dead tree and several other plants that had been affected, but so far they had no answers.