Voice Of The Demon (Book 2) by Kate Jacoby Page A

gave Finnlay a nudge. After collecting his thoughts, he took hold of the conversation, dominating the room in much the same manner as his brother always did. But where Robert was so at ease with this kind of thing, Finnlay was less so. He lacked the same natural confidence and, as a result, often sounded abrupt and disorganized.
    He began with a question for Jenn. ‘How did you get away from Elita?’
    ‘I . . . suggested to my father that in order to keep up the pretence of my taking the veil, I should go on a retreat to an abbey.’
    ‘And you won’t be missed?’
    ‘He’s expecting me to be gone for a month or so.’
    ‘And did you have any trouble after Robert and I left you at Elita?’
    ‘Not really.’ Jenn frowned, her eyes going to each of them in turn, looking for answers. Yes, she had changed too. This was not the homeless waif who’d come to the caves almost a year ago, new in her sorcery and ignorant of the powers arrayed against her. Jenn had grown up. It was obvious in every gesture, every word. But there was also something else there. Something in the way she glanced at Finnlay – in the way he looked back at her. Even Fiona noticed it.
    ‘Is something going on? Something I don’t know about?’
    In the sudden silence, Martha looked to Finnlay to respond. He nodded, accepting her prodding and folded his hands before him.
    ‘All right, I suppose if anyone has to do it, it’s up to me. Fiona, your mother has gone to Marsay. And Robert has been banished from the Enclave.’
    ‘What?’ Both girls spoke at once.
    Finnlay went on, ‘When Robert and I came back here, there was a council meeting to discuss that presence you sensed at court last year, Jenn. They believed it was an unknown sorcerer of substantial power and therefore worthy of an effort to bring him into the fold. You know how everyone here believes that if we found someone strong enough to wield the Key properly, it would tell us where theCalyx is – which would in turn give us a way to live openly and in freedom outside this Enclave. Well, Robert tried to dissuade Ayn from going to Marsay, offering to do something himself, but neither Wilf nor Henry were willing to trust him.’
    ‘Why not?’ Fiona asked before Jenn could.
    ‘They thought he was hiding something – from twenty years ago when the Key spoke to him as a boy. He’s never spoken about it and so they don’t trust him. Anyway, Robert was so concerned about Ayn going to Marsay, he agreed to go before the Key and let it make the decision.’
    ‘Heaven and earth!’ Jenn whispered.
    Finnlay swallowed. ‘With the council and half the Enclave as witness, the Key spoke to Robert again – but this time, we could all hear. It told us how he can mindspeak with you, Jenn, and gave us part of a prophecy it had given to Robert all those years before. I have the exact text written here. Then,’ Finnlay paused, looking down at his hands, ‘the Key shattered Robert’s
ayarn
and told him not to return to the Enclave unless Jenn was with him. Wilf was so angry that Robert had lied about the mindspeech and knowing the prophecy that he banished Robert. He left telling me that the Key is not to be trusted. He won’t come back here.’
    Martha couldn’t take her eyes from Jenn’s face. It was amazing how skilled Jenn was at hiding her thoughts, even from those who knew her. She sat opposite Finnlay, her eyes glued to his face as though hoping he’d made it all up. Fiona, too, watched Finnlay, her customary frown marring her otherwise handsome face. Jenn rose from her seat and put a hand on Finn’s arm in comfort, but it was Fiona who fired the first question.
    ‘And my mother has gone to Marsay? In search of this presence Jenn felt? A presence she said was wholly evil? By the gods, what was Mother thinking?’
    ‘Well, this is a nice little scene.’
    Martha looked up to find Wilf standing in the doorway, his eyes bleary and puffed from sleep.
    ‘I might have known you’d try