Phelan held my gaze for a long moment before he tore his eyes away, focusing on his cousin. “Well,” he said slowly. “Get on with it, then. Finish it.”
He sank down beside me, sitting cross-legged and frowning. Neve’s eyes fluttered shut and she took a pair of breaths before she resumed the tale.
“Ciar went with the other druids while the hunters rode off in another direction. It wasn’t until long after that we knew the full truth of what had happened, but Brighíd knew something was amiss almost immediately. She was the one that convinced the rest to return to camp prematurely—and they returned to find Ciar had vanished. She knew something was wrong, and there were signs of a struggle, and with her brother gone…well. It didn’t take much for her to piece it all together. She convinced Teague to truth-read the treacherous druids and through that, she and Phelan and my brothers learned the depths of their perfidy.”
“Finn was there, too,” Phelan murmured. “Finn actually was the one who figured out that it was the druids. Brighíd knew something was wrong, but Finn knew it was the druids that were responsible.”
I reached for Phelan’s hand, squeezing it tight. He squeezed back, so hard his knuckles went briefly white.
Neve chewed her lip and glanced toward Leinth and Carolyn. Carolyn leaned forward, her eyes huge in her delicate face.
“Then what happened?”
Neve sighed. “The druids were dragged before my father and made to confess what they’d done. To this day, I know my father made a mistake in not ordering their immediate deaths. For once in his life, he showed mercy, and not to anyone who deserved it. I don’t know why—I’m not even sure I want to know why. Knowing why would likely make me think ill of him, and I think poorly enough of my father.”
“He freed them?” Surprise was heavy in Leinth’s voice and she looked askance at Neve. “What kind of fool was he?”
“Brighíd asked the same thing,” Phelan said. “In front of everyone, she told him he was a fool, that those men deserved death for what they’d done. Then she left. She was going to find CIar, and nothing was going to stop her from doing it—no matter who tried, she wouldn’t be stopped. She vowed then and there that she’d save her brother and eventually, she did.”
