\u201cWhile the riders gathered for the hunt, Ciar was approached by one of his brother druids, who told him that they were going to be holding a ceremony at an old ritual site not far from where the hunt was encamped. Being young as he was, Ciar jumped at the chance to play a role\u2014any role\u2014in the ceremony they\u2019d planned.\u201d Neve\u2019s eyes fluttered shut. \u201cHe was so trusting back then, before it happened. He never quite…he lost that wonderful innocence afterward. Nothing was the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course it wasn\u2019t,\u201d I whispered. \u201cThey tricked him, betrayed him, all because he was na\u00efve and innocent enough to trust them. I\u2014she\u2014his sister hated<\/em> those druids for what they did, not just for the role they played in his possession, but for stripping that away from him. He never looked at the world the same way after that. It was so<\/em> hard for him to trust again, even to trust the people who loved him the most.\u201d My voice caught, throat tightening. It was as if Brigh\u00edd\u2019s emotions were flooding into me with the words, words that bubbled up from some deep chasm of my soul, the soul I shared with a long-dead chieftain of the Imbolg.<\/p>\n Neve reached over and grasped my hand, squeezing tight. I looked away, swallowing hard.<\/p>\n \u201cIt hurt them all so much, Neve,\u201d I said, my voice strangled. \u201cYou know that, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI do,\u201d she said softly. \u201cI do, Marin. That part I saw\u2014that part I watched. I tried to help, but…\u201d Her voice trailed away and the distance returned to her eyes. \u201cHe never really let me, no matter how much I wanted to, how much I reassured him.<\/p>\n \u201cHe wouldn\u2019t let me help him as much as I could have, and that hurt most of all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cWhile the riders gathered for the hunt, Ciar was approached by one of his brother druids, who told him that they were going to be holding a ceremony at an old ritual site not far from where the hunt was … Continue reading