Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
The woman smiled. “I am, Wynn, and I very much want my great-granddaughter kept safe.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Council Hall
Where the Past Reaches Forward
No one spoke, Bria simply stared.
Great-granddaughter.
The word echoed through her mind. Impossible, and yet the moment she looked into the woman’s eyes, she felt something stir deep inside her. Something familiar, something she could not explain.
The woman smiled gently and held her arms out.
Bria did not think nor question. She crossed the room and stepped into her embrace.
Strong arms wrapped around her and held her close. Warmth spread through her instantly. Not the warmth of a hearth. Not the comfort she offered others through her gift.
This was different. It settled deep inside her and eased an ache she had never fully acknowledged existed.
Love.
Pure and unconditional, just as her parents loved her.
Tears burned unexpectedly in her eyes. She had never met this woman, yet somehow, she felt as though she had known her all her life.
The embrace tightened, and that was when Bria felt it. Something beneath the love… urgency. As though time itself was slipping away.
The sensation startled her.
Wynn’s lips brushed her ear. “There is so little time.”
The whispered words sent a chill through Bria. She drew back enough to look at her. The warmth remained in Wynn’s eyes. The love remained. But now Bria saw something else there… worry.
Behind her, Kaelan stepped closer, not enough to intrude, but more than enough to protect.
His hand settled against the small of her back, a simple touch. A reminder that she was not facing this alone.
“My great-grandmother,” she whispered, still struggling to believe it.
Wynn smiled. “Aye, child.”
The simple answer brought fresh tears to Bria’s eyes. She had spent her life believing that her parents were the only family she had. Never once had she imagined someone waited for her here
Wynn brushed a loose strand of hair away from Bria’s face. The familiarity of it startled Bria. It was something her mum had often done when she was young and her hair forever messy.
“You have your mother’s eyes,” Wynn said softly.
Bria’s breath caught. Few people spoke of her mother anymore. The words stirred memories she had not thought of in years.
“My mother never spoke of Driochmor.”
“She couldn’t.” The sadness in Wynn’s voice was impossible to miss. “Your parents gave up much to protect what mattered most.”
Bria frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Wynn’s hand remained wrapped around hers. “All of it will make sense soon enough.”
Bria found herself impatient. She wanted answers now, wanted to know why her parents had never spoken of this place, and wanted to know why she felt as though the pieces of her life had suddenly shifted.
Yet for the moment, she found herself content simply holding Wynn’s hand.
The council remained respectfully silent.
Even Fiora had stopped talking, which might have been the most surprising thing of all.
Only Kaelan remained restless.
Bria felt it in the hand still resting against her back. His concern and the need to understand what danger threatened her. And how he might stop it.
Lord Oaken was the first to break the silence. “Your great-grandmother is not the only one who waited.”
Bria looked around the hall. “What do you mean?”
“It was never enough to preserve Driochmor,” Seren said. “We had to preserve knowledge as well.”
“The old gifts,” Rowan added quietly.
“The bloodlines,” Tavian said.
Marek folded his arms across his chest. “The future.”
Bria frowned. “I still do not understand.”
Wynn gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “When King Halric turned against magic, many believed he would eventually demand more than banishment.”
“He would never have been satisfied with Driochmor alone,” Seren said.
“He feared what he could not control,” Tavian added.
“And fear rarely remains contained,” Lord Oaken said.
“The council saw what was coming,” Marek said. “Not the details. Not the exact path. But enough.”
Bria listened carefully. “What did you do?”
“We prepared,” Wynn said.
“How?” Kaelan asked, intrigued but guarded.
Lord Oaken leaned back slightly. “We sent families into Scotara.”
Silence followed as that revelation settled in.
“Not exiles,” Seren corrected immediately.
“Volunteers,” Tavian said.
“Guardians,” Rowan offered.
Marek nodded. “Those willing to sacrifice their own desires for the future.”
Bria’s thoughts immediately turned to her parents. “My parents volunteered?”
“Aye, they did. They knew exactly what they were doing.” The pride in Wynn’s voice was unmistakable. “They left family behind. Friends. Their home. Everything familiar.”
“But why?” Bria asked.
“Because one day Scotara would need them.”
The certainty in Lord Oaken’s voice left little room for doubt.
“Need them for what?” Kaelan asked.
The room grew quiet.
Bria glanced at him and his arm went around her waist.
Lord Oaken met his gaze. “For what comes.”
Kaelan’s expression darkened. “War.”
“Aye,” Marek said. “The signs have been building for months now.”
“Drogath,” Rowan said.
“And unrest within Driochmor itself,” Tavian added.
“The people sent into Scotara carried more than bloodlines,” Wynn said. “They carried hope that when the time came, those touched by magic would stand beside Scotara rather than apart from it.”
Kaelan remained silent. But his thoughts churned. If what they said was true, then Bria’s parents had not hidden her. They had placed her exactly where the council wanted her. And if the king ever learned that families throughout Scotara had secretly preserved the old bloodlines…