Deadlands Druid: A Druidverse Urban Fantasy Novel (The Sylvan Cycle Series Book 1) by M.D. Massey

Author:M.D. Massey [Massey, M.D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Modern Digital Publishing
Published: 2023-09-14T16:00:00+00:00

Anna had been friendly with me before Dauphine killed her little brother. Now, she blamed his death on me. So did I, but that didn’t mean it didn’t sting to be the focus of all her anger and grief.

I entered the house from the terrace, following the sobbing sounds to the kitchen. There I found Anna, Thomas, and Pip sitting at the breakfast bar, Anna with her arm around the young boy, and Thomas sitting catercorner to them. Pip was obviously at the end of his crying jag, suffering from the occasional involuntary sob spasm as he whimpered softly.

Thomas kept his head down, keeping his steely gray eyes fixed on his interlocked hands. The lanky red-haired boy twiddled his thumbs, not out of impatience, it seemed, but frustration. When I entered, I caught his gaze momentarily, but he simply shook his head and continued glaring at his hands. I took up a position across from them, leaning my backside against the stove.

“Is everything okay?” I asked in a flat, calm voice.

At the sound of my voice, Anna drew her mouth into a hard line. “It’s under control. Page Pip here seems to think he heard something last night, something that frightened him. Yet, Chancellor Merlin and I heard no such thing, so I’ve been explaining to Pip that it was just his imagination.”

“Chancellor Merlin?” I asked.

When Anna ignored me, I glanced at Thomas. The boy looked up, mouthing “Mickey” silently. So, all the adults had nicknames. It seemed Anna was playing the medieval knights thing to the hilt.

“Pip, tell me what you heard, please,” I said.

The pale, mouse-faced boy wiped his nose on his sleeve before speaking. “We were all in the cellar, where Mr. Guerra—”

“Master at Arms Guerra,” Anna corrected as she tucked a strand of his stringy brown hair behind his ear to keep it out of his eyes.

Hmph. At least he got to keep his name.

“Master at Arms Guerra,” Pip said, continuing. “Anyway, we were down there hiding with the doors locked, and I started hearing whispering at the door.”

“What sort of whispering?” I asked.

“I dunno, kinda soft at first.” Pip’s shoulders shook as he inhaled, as if his lungs were threatening to send him into another crying fit. Then he exhaled, only shuddering slightly before continuing. “Then it got louder, but not like I could hear it in my ears.”

“What do you mean?”

Thomas answered my question before Pip could do so. “It was inside our heads. The voice, I mean. Richard was talking to us with his mind.”

“Like a mind flayer!” Pip blurted out. “Matthew ran a campaign once where we went into the Deeps, and that’s how they start. I don’t want to get my brains eaten by no mind flayer, Dame Sweetlove.”

Obviously, this was about to go south, and rather quickly, if someone didn’t redirect the conversation. If my hearing served me, the rest of the boys were down the hall in the dining room, eating breakfast quietly under Mickey’s supervision.

Chances were, the other

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