Page 80 of Oath of the Wolf
“Is it possible that the First of Fathers was a sorcerer?”Brynn asked.
“I suppose.”Cenric saw no reason why not.Eponine’s power passed along the mother’s line, so even if Havnar had been an Istovari, it wouldn’t have mattered to future generations unless his wives had been Istovari as well.Cenric had never heard anything about the First of Fathers being a sorcerer, but there weren’t many stories about Havnar before he had settled Valdar.
“A master cast those spells, whoever they were.Or perhaps several masters working together.”Brynn sighed.“But with the death of the tree, I suspect their spells won’t last much longer.”
Cenric cursed under his breath.This was getting better and better.“Could you recast the spells?”
Brynn considered it for a moment, then seemed to dismiss it.“Anything I did would be temporary.Without the yew tree to provide a continuous source ofka,the monsters would still break free.”
“Do you think Ovrek killed the Grandfather Yew?”Cenric wasn’t sure why, but he needed to hear her answer.
“Not intentionally,” Brynn answered without much thought.“The burned child said she’d had to free herself and the Wulfwir.I think Ovrek just weakened it to the point the monsters were able to kill it.”
That made things a little better, Cenric supposed, but only a little.“The monsters…you were able to kill one?”
Brynn closed her eyes for a moment.“I had to strike a killing blow.They heal from everything else.”
Cenric ran a hand through his hair.Having an enemy that wouldn’t bleed out sounded like a nearly impossible task.It was hard enough to behead fowl with only a single blow of a hatchet.Striking off a head with one attempt took skill, the right angle, and the right blade.Brynn’s power was one of the few ways Cenric had seen it done to anything bigger than a goose.
“Does Ovrek still think I did it?”Brynn didn’t have to elaborate on what she meant.
Cenric watched the fire.“Ovrek will likely offer me a boon for saving his life, but I don’t know if it will be enough.”
“To save me, you mean?”Brynn stroked one hand along Guin’s fur.
Cenric kicked at the dirt.
“I know who did it,” Brynn admitted.“I just can’t prove it.”
Cenric shot her a glance.“Who?”
Brynn’s shoulders slumped as if in defeat.“Sifma.I don’t think she meant to do it.I think she panicked after I healed Gistrid.Maybe Gistrid lied and said I’d been able to save the baby.I don’t know.But my guess is that Sifma poisoned her again immediately after.”
“She was trying to cause a miscarriage in the concubine?”Cenric considered it barely a heartbeat.“That makes no sense.Even if it had been a son, Tolvir is older and Sifma’s position is secure.”
Brynn’s brow pinched.“I don’t think it was jealousy.”She stroked Guin’s fur.
“Then why?”
Brynn met his eyes then and bit her lip.“Tolvir…” she glanced to where the warriors waited, making sure they were out of hearing distance.“Tolvir cannot keep a secret.His mother must know it.”
“What are you saying?”
Brynn leaned over and whispered in Cenric’s ear, her voice soft, barely audible.And it was a good thing, too.“Gistrid slept with Tolvir.”
Cenric straightened, shaking his head.“Why would you say such a thing?”
“He cannot keep a secret.”Brynn’s eyes turned sad.“He gave too much away when he attacked me.”
Cenric struggled to believe it.Ovrek had been cuckholded by his own son?
“It was probably when the two of them were betrothed, before she entered an arrangement with his father.”
That excused Tolvir somewhat, but it was still going to be an outrage if it came out.Cenric swore, hands clenching into fists.As much as he didn’t want to believe it, this made perfect sense.
Brynn was a convenient outlet for Sifma’s blame.She was a foreigner, from a country that the Valdari would be invading soon.Who better to take the fall to cover up the secret?Sifma must be desperate to keep this hidden, not only for the sake of her son, but her husband as well.This would destroy them both.It would be the death of Tolvir and the destruction of everything Ovrek had ever hoped to achieve in life.
Sifma’s guilt was less important than what Ovrek would believe.He hated to be wrong and for him to be wrong not only about Brynn, but also about his own queen might be more than his pride could bear.Cenric had recently saved Ovrek’s life, so that might earn him credibility, but perhaps not enough for that.
