Of course Mianna would have noticed. Her twin was closer to her than anyone else. And she was right. She was letting Lyall get away with far too much just because, deep down under it all, she trusted him.
And why? Just because they'd had a magical few weeks two years ago? Obviously he'd changed since then, changed enough to be invading villages in his spare time. She ignored the tiny voice in the back of her head that tried to point out that he had a good reason, one Mianna wasn't privy to. He could have tried asking them to help before he did his scary magic tricks. But he hadn't.
She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Mia. You're right, I haven't been myself. I don't know what's gotten into me."
Her sister reached out and gave her a hug. "You're human, just like the rest of us."
Her acceptance caused tears to start in the back of Brianna's eyes. She blinked them away. "I need to be focusing on protecting you, and Lylis and Kylis. Not on what that stupid mage wants," she said fiercely.
"And he wants that stone." Mianna looked down at the stone, still warm in Brianna's hand. "Why, if all it does is let you see the pictures on the tomb?"
Brianna hesitated. She wanted to tell her twin all about the shield, and the magic, but to explain them, she'd have to explain all that had happened with Lyall. Her sister had been upset at the thought that Brianna might have a crush on him. What would she say if she knew Brianna loved him and wanted to stay with him forever?
Unwillingly, the images from the panels came to her mind. That twin hadn't been able to accept that her sister might love another man. They'd killed each other rather than accept it.
She shook her head. What was she thinking of? She and Mianna weren't like that. They understood and cared for each other. If she told Mianna the truth, she'd understand, even if she didn't like it.
And she wouldn't like it. Mianna had always been influenced by what others thought of her, even as a child. And if Brianna told her she loved Lyall …
That thought stopped her train of thought completely.
She loved Lyall.
She still loved Lyall, even after he'd invaded her village and been so pigheaded. She bit back a sigh. No, Mianna wouldn't like that at all.
And what good would it do anyway? She'd already accepted that they couldn't be together. She needed to focus on her family, and how she could protect them most effectively.
Could she use the stone, if it came down to it? She'd managed to bring the boat back here to the mainland within hours and make the rest of the distance to her village on foot in another one. She could do magic when she needed too. She needed to trust that she could do it again if the need arose.
And she had Terion and Mianna. Lyall had said that she was already bonded to Mianna, increasing her magic, and Mianna was bonded to Terion. And she was bonded to Lyall. How did all that work? And would she be more powerful if she was bonded to Terion as well?
The thought repulsed her. She saw Terion like a brother, she couldn't imagine …
She shook her head, trying to clear the thought. "We need to put this somewhere safe," she said. "Where he won't be able to find it. Because he will come looking for it."
She had no doubts about that.
*****
Lyall paced back and forth in his tent. He needed to get his hands on that stone. How could Brianna have taken it, when she knew what it meant? Why was she so determined to not let her sister know about them? Determined enough to risk her whole village. If those trolls came back, then he could do nothing to stop them.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. He had an army of eighty men who all knew how to use a sword. But how many of them would have to die to protect Brianna's stubbornness?
It wasn't right.
Why had he just stood there and let her and her twin walk away with the gem? It certainly wouldn't help his reputation of taking what he wanted.
He was tired of that. He'd held up that act for two years, until it started to almost feel part of him. This was his last village, and Brianna was his partner. Was it wrong of him to want her to come to him and to offer the gem? They should be working together so that he didn't have to bully anyone anymore.
But she wouldn't. She was so determined not to let her twin know about their relationship that she was putting her entire village and his men at risk. Well, he wasn't going to stand for it. Not anymore.
He strode to the front of the tent and threw the flap aside. Urster stood there, opening his mouth to say something. Lyall cut him off. "I need ten men, at once. Catch up to me, I'm heading to the village."
He didn't wait for Urster to reply, but he was pleased to hear the man's scurrying behind him to obey his command. Urster knew not to argue with him. At least someone did.
He scowled. Brianna hadn't even said a word when her twin had marched her off with the gem. In fact, she'd been smiling. Maybe her reports of the trolls had been far exaggerated, if she wasn't afraid of being defenceless when they returned.
But no matter how tough they'd been before, it was nothing compared to how powerful they'd be if they had one of those gems in their hands. He shivered. He didn't want to see Brianna's village destroyed again, as it had been all those years ago.
Urster caught up to him, breathing heavily, just as he approached the gates to the village. Lyall could hear no sounds of the ten soldiers he'd ordered, and he turned to reprimand Urster. But the man spoke before he could. "The magical barrier has moved."
"What?"
"It's moved. About fifty feet to the right. The guards on the left of the wall can now access their magic."
Lyall stared at him, his brain working feverishly. Brianna's house was to the right of the graveyard. Probably about fifty feet to the right. The stones did more than allow someone to access their magic through the field.
They created it.
If he could move them, he could use everyone's magic to protect the village.
His elation at the thought was short lived. If all his mages could use their magic the trolls could also use theirs freely. He knew what that led to. Another magical battle to tear the continent apart wasn't his aim.
Though he did need more soldiers, just in case. "Send a message to Isla de Magi, we need more troops. At least a hundred more."
His father wouldn't be happy that it would leave the island unprotected, but he had no idea how many trolls there were, and if they lost the village, then no one on Isla de Magi stood a chance. They had to stop them here, before they made it to the island.
And the key to all of it rested in that gem.
"Yes, sir. At once." Urster inclined his body, even at the pace he was walking at, and curved away to head back to the tent. Ten mages replaced him, their expressions serious, and Lyall turned back towards Brianna's house.
He left most of the mages on the doorstep, no point in crowding the house. But movement at one of the curtains assured him that everyone inside would know they were there. "You, come with me." He picked one man at random.
"Yes, sir."
Then he opened the door and stepped inside.
Brianna met him in the doorway, hands on her hips, eyes flashing fire. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners? You can't even knock on a door before you push your way into someone's house?"
Damn, she was beautiful.
And he couldn't allow himself to be distracted. Not by her curves and not by her deliberate attempts to anger him. "Where's the gem, Brianna? I'm not leaving without it."
She folded her arms and stared at him. "Then you might as well get comfortable. Do you want me to make up some beds on the floor for your men?" Her voice was sugary sweet, but he wasn't fooled.
"Just what do you think you're going to do if those trolls pour over the ridge with that other gem?" he demanded.
Brianna's chin jutted out. "As Mianna said, we've fought them before, and we'll fight them again. It's nothing new."
"This time they will have magic. You know nothing about using magic, you'll all be slaughtered within a few minutes. You saw those panels, Brianna. Do you really want that to happen here in your village again?"
A shadow passed across her eyes and she wavered. He pushed home his advantage. "Give me the gem, I can protect you from them."
"I think it's you we need protecting from," Mianna stepped into the room and stood next to her twin, glaring at him. She was equally beautiful, but somehow, it failed to stir Lyall to anything but anger. And her words didn't help. "You seem to think that these gems are far more powerful than they are. So the trolls will be able to see the pictures on the crypt? So what? Maybe it will distract them while we stick a sword in them."
"Do you really think they would have stolen them if that was all they could do?" Lyall demanded. "Stop being naive."
"Then how about you tell us what they really do?" Mianna countered. "Obviously you know, or you wouldn't be so desperate to get your hands on them."