Eyes in the Water by Monica Lee Kennedy Page B

Deniel?” He paused to drive a rough foot swiftly into Deniel’s
side. The young man did not flinch, but Brenol did.
    Brenol padded carefully over to Deniel. He
hesitated, but then with a determined nod gently lit his hand upon
the man’s back. There was no reaction. While he had not entirely
expected one, Brenol still exhaled in relief. The memory remained
but a memory, even if he was permitted to walk in its folds.
    He glanced at Colette. A fire sparked awake
in him. He hated seeing her like this, and he was powerless to
change her circumstances yet again.
    The scene unraveled just as it had when he
had lived it as Brenol and then, later, as Deniel. Of all the
memories I have to relive so many times , he thought ruefully. He
scanned the space, but it was the nightmare it had always
been.
    Nothing. Nothing here.
    He rose from the memory, the experience akin
to awakening from a dream. Brenol opened his eyes to find the
juile’s obsidian eyes intensely upon him.
    “Anything?”
    Brenol shook his head. “But the method was
effective.” He blinked, hoping to subdue the reeling sensation.
Memories of memories within memories. His stomach flopped.
    “A different one, perhaps?”
    Brenol inhaled slowly. “I suppose. But I
don’t know which. I have dozens and dozens…and I don’t think I’ll
be able to do this to each one.” He glanced around, scooped up a
cool stone from the ground, and held it to his forehead. It was
relieving, even if it could not fully calm his spinning
insides.
    “Any with other people?”
    “No. Just Colette.”
    Arman paused, rubbing his fingers together in
consideration. “Maybe she is the most important. The missing
piece.” His voice was an absent rumble: a roaming mind made
audible.
    Brenol’s body grew taut, as a dog coming to
point. “What did you say?”
    “Maybe Colette is the missing aspect.”
    “Before that. Why did you say she was the
most important?” Brenol’s heart thundered in his ears.
    “Perhaps she is the most important.” Arman’s
quick mind clicked. “So you’ve heard that phrase associated with
her before? Where?”
    “Maybe?” Brenol closed his eyes, delving. It
took him several moments before he was able to place it. “Veronia
said it long ago. Back when I was a nurest. Before I’d met her. I
said something about Veronia not even caring about her, and it said
she was the most important. Wouldn’t say much to me after that… I
couldn’t figure out what those words meant, so I eventually let it
go. Forgot them, even. I guess I concluded that the land felt that
way because of the connection.”
    “But yet, you don’t believe that.”
    “Not really. Veronia is not one to speak
without intention.”
    Arman released his long legs from their tight
crouch and extended them, as though their freedom might enable
inspiration. “What did Deniel think—about Colette?”
    Brenol shrugged. “He thought her pretty
significant. He was her cartontz. Plus she was basically a sister
to him. I think it all combined to a near obsession when it came to
protecting her.”
    “Yes. And the abandoning of his own terrisdan
to serve another nurest is puzzling itself. Mastering the desire
for the connection’s power is battle enough without adding service
to another nurest onto it.”
    “Mmm,” Brenol mumbled in assent. “There was
another thing…” The queenship…the tree…the feather…
    “Yes?”
    The young man laughed, realizing his love for
Colette’s tree was more than likely clouding his ability to see the
truth. She had been but a child when she had thought she would be
queen over the whole world. And Deniel had not actually seen or
heard anything himself. No, it could not be a reality. “Nothing. My
mind is not making sense to me right now.”
    Arman raised a transparent eyebrow but did
not pursue it further. “And Jerem?”
    The hair on Brenol’s arms prickled. “What do
you mean?”
    “Was his obsession with her only because of
her