Bricrui (The Forgotten: Book 2) by Laura R Cole Page A

be
possible.”
    “And what of the current councils?”
    “They would be combined, and the two of you
and the Triumvirate of the Ieldran would be equals in status.”
    “That leaves five people with a final say.
What if we can’t agree? Treymayne would have the deciding vote,
though representing a much smaller percentage of the
population.”
    “There will be one vote from Gelendan and one
from Treymayne. The vote of the Council will be the deciding
factor, and there will be equal representations from every corner
of the country.”
    “What would the new country be called?”
    “We have not yet come to a conclusion on
that, but wanted to present you with the idea first. I had been
hoping to present it to your Council as well, but I am told they
are not currently in session.”
    “That is a most interesting proposal, Lady
Aria,” Gryffon admitted, avoiding her questioning gaze regarding
their Council. “We will have to discuss it privately before sharing
any thoughts with you.”
    She nodded graciously and stood, bowing to
each of them before exiting.
    Gryffon turned to Layna, “Well, that was
unexpected. What do you think?”
    She paused in contemplation before offering
an opinion. “I think it could be a very good thing. Other than
keeping to themselves behind the barrier, the Treymaynian ideals
are in line with Gelendan’s.” She gave him an impish grin,
momentarily ignoring the seriousness of the subject. “They did
produce the most wonderful man in the world, after all.”
    He smiled back at her obligingly.
    Her expression turned thoughtful once more.
“Added stability to our country would be a very positive thing.
Especially in light of this Council business. There is simply too
much to do it all ourselves.” Layna bit her lip, a habit Amelia was
trying to break. “I do have to wonder at their motives a bit…but I
suppose that merging with us would prevent them from being invaded
again. And it would allow them to at least partially control our
much greater resources and power, which, I’m sure, would give them
a greater sense of security. It would be nice to be able to share
some of our responsibilities…”
    “I agree,” Gryffon nodded, “but we have
pressing matters to contend with at the moment before we can give
it proper thought. We don’t want to rush into something so drastic
just because we are feeling overwhelmed.”
    “We need to find where Lord Telvani was
conducting his project and contact Natalya and the Knights.”
    They stood and left the council chamber,
falling silent.
    There was much on both their minds…
     
    *
    The stone in Natalya’s pocket warmed and she
held up a hand to halt the procession. She fished out a mirror from
her bags and the surface of it shimmered. Her reflection
disappeared and was replaced by the countenance of the Queen.
    “Hello, Natalya,” the monarch greeted her. No
matter how many times she spoke with her, Natalya still couldn’t
get over the fact that she was conversing with Her Royal
Highness.
    “Your Majesty,” she replied, nodding her head
as it was the next best thing to a curtsey while riding a horse.
She waited.
    “We have come across information about a
stronghold of the Faithful we did not previously know about,” the
Queen said.
    Natalya’s heart skipped a beat, could it
be? After searching for so long for her sister, it was easy to
start believing she would never find her. “Where?” she asked,
trying not to sound too excited, and calming her racing mind.
    “New documents were uncovered which spoke of
a project on a grand scale being performed somewhere just outside
the capitol. By following a lead as to what family may have
controlled the manor they were using, we determined that the most
likely overseer of this project is one Lord Farthen. He was
arrested after the war for use of blood-magic, but escaped during
one of Lord Telvani’s ‘accidental’ losses of records.”
    “Where is his manor?”
    “It is to the northwest,