Bricrui (The Forgotten: Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

the Council members a visit.”
    Layna nodded and they regretfully left
Phoenix with Amelia, telling their aides that they would be leaving
the palace. In short order the royal carriage was prepared, and
they were on their way. Layna supposed that this particular
convenience was worth the inconvenience of always having someone
around; when they needed something done, it was done instantly.
    Though she tried her best to be polite and
courteous to all the staff, it was sometimes difficult to both
ignore their presence for the semblance of privacy for her sanity,
while also treating them accordingly respectful when she needed
something. She was half-tempted to magic her way into the servant
quarters some night to see what they said about her behind her
back, but seeing as how that would be a horrible invasion of their
privacy, she resisted the urge. Barely .
    The carriage ride to the first manor was a
short one, as the lord had already lived in the city when they had
asked him to become one of the Council members. When they arrived,
the staff looked harried, and they quickly ushered them into the
sitting room. It wasn’t often that the King and Queen made house
calls - at least it hadn’t been before Layna and Gryffon had become
monarchs - and the servants were beside themselves deciding how to
react. Layna tried to calm them the best she could, assuring them
that all they needed was to speak with the lord of the house.
    After a few minutes, it was the lady that
arrived, greeting them nervously. “Your Majesties, what an
unexpected surprise!”
    “Yes,” Gryffon said dryly, “We got a message
that Lord Walcott could not make it to the palace, so we came to
him.”
    “That’s very thoughtful of you,” Lady Walcott
replied, but her darting eyes revealed that her true emotions were
nowhere near what these words conveyed. “But I’m afraid my husband
is not well and cannot be receiving visitors.”
    “We really must insist,” Layna persisted.
    The lady looked ready to argue further until
Gryffon put on his Kingly tone and added, “He will see his
King and Queen.”
    She deflated and stood from the chair she had
been sitting on the edge of across from them. Bowing deeply, she
straightened and led the way out of the room. “I must warn you,
Majesties, that he hasn’t quite been himself lately…”
    She stepped lightly through the manor
hallways before coming to a stop in front of what must be the
lord’s bedchamber. Two guards stood stationed outside, and both
regarded the lady with a look of worry at their appearance. The
lady shook her head at them almost imperceptibly, as though in
defeat, and they moved aside.
    As the door opened, the reason for their
reluctance became clear. Lord Walcott, once a proud and well-kept
man, was sitting beside the window muttering to himself. His facial
hair was grown in to an uneven stubble with bits of food still
attached to it. His clothing was rumpled and dirty, as though it
had been unchanged for days, and his hair clung to his head with
filth.
    Layna raised an eyebrow. “How long has he
been like this?” she asked softly, moving slowly towards the man.
Her guards closed in protectively.
    Lord Walcott glanced up at her approach and
he shouted something nonsensical at her, waving his arms wildly
around.
    “It came on slowly,” Lady Walcott reported,
seeming to be relieved at finally being able to share the burden
with someone, “maybe a few weeks, it’s hard to say. It started out
that he would start to say something and then cut himself off to
spout some nonsense about a new plan Telvani had come up with.
Normally he’d naysay many of them immediately, but for some reason
he was agreeing with the vile man, so I became worried. I tried
talking to him about it, but he just kept telling me that he’d
realized that Telvani actually did have some good ideas. Then,
after you got better and Telvani escaped, he started to become
forgetful and very unlike himself. It eventually