Free Summon by Penelope Fletcher Page B

never meeting Daphne. Of Rae being
delivered to me as my bride. “It is pointless.”
    “Would you not be happier with Rae by your side as
tradition dictates? Happier you and she are united, and as one, felled Cael,
and put an end to his perverse witchery?”
    My gaze flashed from the forest canopy to Conall’s
wretched expression. I softened in sympathy. “Cael is your brother.”
    “No,” Conall snapped. “He is a depraved fiend,
nothing more.”
    He held such anger. Few glimpsed the depth of the
emotion Conall hid so well. I suspected his hatred ran hot because he carried
guilt at what his youngest sibling suffered as a youngling, and loved him
deeply despite his atrocities.
    I’ll ease
his pain as best I can, starting with his misconceptions about Rae and little
brother.
    Propping my back on the tree, I slid to the floor
to sit. “I am going to tell you something you must not repeat.” Conall joined
me on the ground, and I looked at him gravely. “Ana told Brenadan of his likely
future. That he met my future mate and loved her.”
    “He should have resisted, and come to you, and told
you–”
    “He did.”
    Conall stilled. “He did?”
    “My brother is principled and disciplined. I trust
him with my life, and I did. Aside from you, there is no other I trusted with
keeping Rae safe when she left Temple, unaware of who and what she was.”
    “He betrayed you more than I realised.”
    Conall was determined to lay blame. Why can he not see there is no single
transgressor? All had played a part in bringing about the future fate had
chosen for us.
    I frowned in consternation. “I was unconcerned by
Ana’s prediction. Tradition dictated Rae would be mine, and so why would she
not be? I decided they may have some small feeling for each other that would
pass when Breandan found another, and she and I grew close.”
    “Breandan thought the same?”
    “He was reluctant, but did what he was born to do
as Wyld Guardian, protect his Tribe.” I rested my elbows on my knees and
dropped my head into my hands. “One morning, he patrolled our borders and ran
into a frightened girl in the throes of losing her glamour. He touched my bride
to protect her. In an act of innocent kindness, he changed the course of all
our futures.”
    “He should have distanced himself. He took
advantage of her confusion.”
    Stifling laughter, I gripped the back of his neck
and shook him. “My brother is more like prey than predator. Yes, he should have
held her at arm’s length, but what happened between Breandan and Rae was beyond
us all.” I rolled my shoulders, accepting the truth behind the words myself.
“They fell in love.”
    Conall stretched his legs. He looked mystified.
“You’re not angry.”
    “I was never angry at him.” I paused. “Or her. My
frustration stemmed from our complicated situation. The people waited for the
Priestess I promised, and there she was. But she wasn’t mine.” I laced my
fingers together. “I owed them. They shunned tradition by leaving Devlin’s
court, and then I was to tell them their High Lord would rule, unmated, whilst
the woman that by rights was mine cavorted with my younger brother?”
    Conall made a noise of frustration. “Rae should
have done what was right when she discovered the truth.”
    Thinking back to how I acted when I first met Rae,
I snorted. I behaved unforgivably. She was stubborn, and though I’d never say
it aloud there were times I thanked the gods she wasn’t destined to be mine.
    Our very natures clashed. It would’ve ended badly.
    “She acted on instinct,” I said. “Can we fault her
for that? I do not blame her.”
    “I do.”
    “That is because you love her and want what is
best.”
    “My family put themselves first in all things, and
it is not right. Selfish. They give into their own needs.” He spoke of more
than Rae – of his mother and youngest sibling.
    I squeezed his shoulder. “You do not.”
    “I am Eldest.” A rare bitterness soured his