Silence lingered between us before I couldn\u2019t take it anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeve?\u201d<\/p>\n
She glanced up from the plate of food she was still picking at and toward me.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust\u2026a question.\u201d\u00a0 I chewed the inside of my lip.\u00a0 \u201cWhat happens if the Taliesin dies without naming an heir and passing down what he knows?\u201d\u00a0 It was a morbid question and just shy of admitting that it was actually possible that Phelan would die tonight or the next day, but it had been bothering me since the day he\u2019d left\u2014what happened when there wasn\u2019t a Taliesin anymore?\u00a0 Had that ever happened?<\/p>\n
Neve flinched and pressed against Cameron, who grunted and put both arms around her.\u00a0 \u201cWe lose a lot,\u201d she said after another momentary silence.\u00a0 \u201cThe Taliesin is a repository for legends and histories and prophecies that everyone else has forgotten along with the interpretation of all of them.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know exactly how the knowledge transference takes place when one Taliesin is gone and another takes over, but I know that if we somehow lose my cousin now, there\u2019s a lot of information that we\u2019re never going to be able to retrieve.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if Seamus is alive?\u201d Cameron asked quietly.\u00a0 I saw Neve stiffen and look up at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother\u2019s dead,\u201d she said, her voice heavy with conviction.\u00a0 \u201cWe know he\u2019s dead, Cam.\u00a0 Even though everyone keeps dangling that carrot over our heads, we know the truth.\u00a0 He\u2019s gone.\u00a0 We\u2019ll never see him again.\u201d\u00a0 She looked toward me.\u00a0 \u201cAnd even if he was still alive, he\u2019s not the Taliesin anymore and hasn\u2019t been for thousands of years.\u00a0 He gave that mantle up to Phelan and while he would still know a lot, he wouldn\u2019t know what Phelan\u2019s learned in the time since taking on the mantle.\u00a0 That\u2019s just how it works\u2014as much as I understand about how it works, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sounds complicated,\u201d I murmured.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s mystical and really<\/i> complicated,\u201d Neve agreed, rubbing at her eyes with a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cI never had to understand it all as well as maybe I should have.\u00a0 Hell, I didn\u2019t even really know that Seamus was the Taliesin until Phelan confirmed it\u2014and then told me that he\u2019d taken on the mantle.\u00a0 I just found that<\/i> out a few weeks ago, after we made it here.\u201d\u00a0 She looked down at her knees.\u00a0 \u201cI wish he\u2019d told me sooner.\u00a0 No one should shoulder that burden alone.\u00a0 He said that Teague knew, but Gods love him, my brother\u2019s got his own problems and I\u2019m thinking he probably wasn\u2019t able to give Phelan the support he needed or deserved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe seems like he\u2019s dealt with all of it okay,\u201d Cameron said quietly, resting his chin against Neve\u2019s hair.\u00a0 She laughed a quiet, bitter little laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s because you don\u2019t know him as well as I do.\u00a0 Phelan wears his heart on his sleeve, but he buries the hurt and the stress deep.\u00a0 You don\u2019t usually see it until he\u2019s about to explode.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve noticed that,\u201d I said quietly, electing not to mention that I seemed to be able to pick up on his pain and his stress before most of the others seemed to\u2014possibly because of his past relationship with Brighid.\u00a0 \u201cBut that seems like it\u2019s in part because he doesn\u2019t want to burden anyone else with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neve winced.\u00a0 \u201cThat was my father\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shot her a questioning look and she just shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cMy father–\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s awake,\u201d J.T.\u2019s voice interrupted from my left and her right.\u00a0 \u201cAnd he wants to talk to you two.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron glanced up toward J.T., who looked like a dead man walking himself.\u00a0 \u201cWhich two?\u201d he asked quietly.<\/p>\n
J.T. didn\u2019t look at him, staring at Neve and I instead.\u00a0 \u201cThe pregnant ones.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to bed.\u00a0 Wake me if something starts to go sideways.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened my mouth to ask a question, but he walked away without looking back.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on,\u201d Neve said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019d better not keep Phelan waiting.\u00a0 This could be important.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sounds like he\u2019s going to live,\u201d I murmured.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can only hope,\u201d Neve said as she got her crutches under her.<\/p>\n
I winced at her words, made sure Thom was comfortable, then hurried in her wake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Silence lingered between us before I couldn\u2019t take it anymore. \u201cNeve?\u201d She glanced up from the plate of food she was still picking at and toward me.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d \u201cJust\u2026a question.\u201d\u00a0 I chewed the inside of my lip.\u00a0 \u201cWhat happens … Continue reading