Page 7 of Why Broken Wings Fray

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“You have brought me here just to threaten my friend?” I let out my own deranged cackle.

“No, Olivia –” Rory jumped down from his stool, aiming to move towards me if not for being interrupted by a lifted hand from Brian.

“I am not threatening you or your friends. I am telling you what will be done.”

My hand, still deep in my pocket, clutched that blade tighter.

“Easy,” Rory muttered, stepping between Brian and I, just as I realized my jaw was close to popping. “Let us explain.”

He shot a furious look to Brian, then softened his features for me.

“What makes you think I want to stand here and listen to this, Rory?” I cried out, caring little for how loud my voice carried with the noise of the pub upstairs drowning it all out. “I’ve been brought here under the pretence that the one place I truly loved is going to be destroyed, and that the person I… That my friend is going to be killed for it?” I began shaking my head, my feet dragging me from left-to-right in the room as pacing slowed my beating heart.

“I know,” he followed me left-and-right, his hands outstretched as if to calm me. “Let me start back at the beginning. Then I will let you come to the conclusion that you wish.”

Chewing on the inside of my mouth, I finally slammed to a stop. A hand brushed against the bend of my elbow and I glared down at it in preparation to shout at Rory for touching me – but it wasn’t Rory. It was just the ghostly hand of Raegan once again.

I nodded at Rory.

“Raegan took Choilltean and Cluaineach, this much you know. Some of the Rachainn see this as a good thing, they think it's a step towards a Saoghal where the borders will no longer define our ways, that our culture might start to shift. Others, they see it for what it truly was – a misjudged step on behalf of a young prince–” he lifted his hand to stop me from objecting, a defence for Raegan primed on the tip of my tongue. “Raegan did what he believed would be right. I truly believe that. I am a part of a third group of onlookers. I think that Raegan took a bad situation and did what he could. Whether he had taken Choilltean or Cluaineach, war would have been waged between the two kingdoms. Raegan tried to stop that.”

Rory was being sincere. I was pretty sure of it. There was a softness to his eyes and a shimmer that suggested the emotion he dripped into his words.

“But not everyone sees it as I see it. The vast majority – not just the Rachainn, but Saoghal as a whole – saw it as step one in a larger plan of Raegan’s.”

“That’s absurd,” I barked. I knew Raegan – he hardly wanted one throne, certainly not two, definitely not anymore than that.

“I know,” Rory grumbled. “I know that. But those of Uisge? Of Speur? They do not see it that way. They believe… They believe Raegan intends to claim their kingdoms, too.”

“Who’s to say he doesn’t?” Brian said, earning him two threatening glares from both Rory and I.

“Uisge and Speur have cut all contact with Raegan – with Choilltean and Cluaineach. They do not respond to his missives, they refuse him access across their kingdoms. They have cut all trade. And last I heard, they prepare for war.”

I was shaking my head, over and over again. “This is insane. Truly, insane.”

“It gets… worse.” Rory placed his palm to his forehead, working the flesh against his skull. “Raegan has Uisge and Speur to worry about – yes. But the Rachainn… We grow concerned, too. The disturbance of Saoghal at his hand – it will be great. There are very few options as to how anyone proceeds.”

“I don’t understand.”

Rory gave me a pitiful smile. “Raegan must be removed from power. It is the only thing that will settle the four kingdoms once more. The Rachainn might want a change within Saoghal, but they still want to protect Saoghal above all else.”

“He can’t be removed from power. He’s the last of the two royal bloodlines. I was told that another cannot just be anointed.”

“Correct,” Brian added, “for the most part. But there was another time, one not so dissimilar to this, where the gods made an exception for Saoghal.”

My eyes flicked between the two of them. “You believe you can appeal to the gods? To, what? Not only remove Raegan from power, but somehow bring forth another heir? I don’t… I don’t understand.”

Rory’s face twisted into a sorrowful smile. “We juggle two options. Raegan steps down, willingly, and we ask the gods for forgiveness. We pray for a new line to be directed towards the remaining throne.”

“Or,” Brian mumbled, “We remove Raegan from his throne by force and leave two kingdoms without leaders. We, again, ask the gods for forgiveness and pray for two new lines to be directed towards the throne.”

“By force?” I croaked.

“We go to the gods without his permission,” Rory said.

“Or we kill him,” Brian sighed.