Chapter 66
They all looked at each other before they looked at me while Griffith and Rayana walked over to us. Everyone stayed silent, waiting for me to start the meeting, and I could tell that they were getting impatient with me.
I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet, folding my arms across my chest and setting my jaw. "So, first off, I think it would be best to talk about the man that we saw in front of the house," I said and looked at all of them, growing serious. "That man is the Witch-Master. He is Silan."
My brothers and sisters looked at each other and frowned before they looked at me. They looked confused, and I knew that they had no idea if I was telling the truth or not, especially since he didn't look like the Silan that I told them about.
"I thought that Silan was taller and stronger looking than that weak old man," Rayana said and cocked her head while she raised an eyebrow in question. "I mean, how do you know that this man is him?"
I sighed and stood taller, placing my hands behind my back and clasping my hands together. "Because he and I have a connection with each other. The one that I have told you about in the past is not him."
"But why does he look like that, now?" Yeely asked and cocked her head while she studied me. She frowned and furrowed her brows tighter while she bit the inside of her lip. "I mean, he looks sick and old."
I bit back a small snort and held back an eye roll while I pressed my lips into a thin line.
"I know," I said. "However, Silan is old even without looking like that.
" I gestured toward the area where I knew that Silan would be waiting for my mother to come home before he "disappeared" and did whatever it was he wanted to do without staying near the area I wanted him to stay at.
"Then, are we allowed to call him Silan?" Yeely asked and furrowed her brows, and I shook my head no. She bit back a small frown and cocked her head further to the side while she studied me. "Why not? What's going on?"
"Because he is being controlled by someone," I said and tucked my head closer to my chest, "and we aren't supposed to know that he is the actual Silan. We are supposed to believe that the fake Silan, the one that looks like our actual Silan, is the real one and not him."
"Did he tell you that he was the real one?" Rayana asked with a small frown on her face. "Or did you just assume that he was the real one?"
"Well, they are bonded together, Rayana," Yeely said sarcastically, and my sister looked at her with a small scowl on her face and narrowed eyes.
My younger sister rolled her eyes and scowled, not caring about the look that Rayana had sent her way.
"She just said that she had a connection with him, so of course, she would know if he was the real one or not. "
I bit back a small chuckle and slowly nodded.
"Yeely is right, Rayana," I said before I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet, and my young sister looked at me with a small scowl on her face.
"I did say that I had a connection with him.
I knew who the real Silan was and then who was not the real one. "
"I caught the mark on his arm, so is that how you knew who was the real one and then who was not?
" Yeely asked and cocked her head to the side while she studied me.
She touched her left arm as if that was where his mark had laid with furrowed brows and a small frown on her face.
"It was a swirl, going in a circle, and it was brown. "
I nodded in confirmation and bit the inside of my lip. "Yes," I confirmed. "That is the mark of the Witch-Master, and it is one of the reasons why I knew it was him. However, it is supposed to be a pale whitish color instead of being brown."
"Does the... not real Witch-Master have it, too?" Rayana asked, and I nodded in confirmation. She frowned and pressed her lips into a thin line while she stared at me, trying to figure out how to respond. "Then how do you know that this pale elderly man is the real Witch-Master?"
"Because of his mark," I said before I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet.
"Whenever Ilas, that is who you all can refer to him as, and I meet, I will sometimes ask him for his arm.
He'll hand it to me, and I will trace it with my eyes and try to burn it into my memory.
He will say something to me, telling me to trace it for real, and I will.
Whenever I do that, the mark turns gold and glows this dim goldish color, strengthening our bond. "
They looked at each other before they looked at me, and I could tell that they were confused and didn't know what to think or how to respond.
"And is that how you knew it was him?" Rayana asked, and I nodded in confirmation. She frowned and narrowed her eyes. "And the mark is the same as it is on the one that is not the real Silan, right?"
"Correct," I said and nodded in confirmation. "The mark looks the same as it does on Ilas's wrist."
"Have you traced it?" Rayana asked and studied me with something in her eyes that I did not know if I liked or not.
I nodded in confirmation while I stayed silent.
"And it didn't glow gold."
"And it didn't glow gold," I confirmed with a shake of my head, "which didn't create our bond to strengthen, even though we do not have one anyway."
Rayana slowly nodded and pressed her lips into a thinner line. "Does anyone else know about Silan not being the real Silan and then Ilas is supposed to be the real Silan?" she asked, and I nodded in confirmation. "Who?" She raised an eyebrow in question while she studied me.
"Jonah, Charles, and then the Old Man know about both of them and know that the real Silan does not look the way he is supposed to look like in the first place," I replied and shrugged with a small grimace on my face.
"There is someone else that knows about him, and you are allowed to talk to him as well. "
"What is his name?" Griffith asked, talking for the first time.
"His name is Arden," I said and looked at Griffith. "He is also called S?lan N?ran, and that means High King in Elvish tongue."
"Will he try to contact us?" Griffith asked, and I shrugged and grimaced, pressing my lips into a thin line because I had no idea if he would or not.
My brother frowned and cocked his head while he studied me. "Why do you not know?" he asked. "Shouldn't you know?"
"Because I don't know if he will or not, and I do not know because it is not something told to me," I said and shook my head. "I mean, he has to keep himself hidden, especially since he is an Elf and the High King, and our kingdom doesn't... take kindly to those who are different."
"But we do, right?" Yeely asked and furrowed her brows with a small frown on her face. "We accept those that are of different species, right?"
I bit back a small laugh and nodded in confirmation. "Yes, we do accept those that are different species," I said. "We are also different in one way or another, especially with us being of the Hargen Tribe."
"But all of us are not part of the Hargen Tribe," Griffith said and shook his head. He looked at Yeely and then looked at me with dark brown eyes filled with annoyance, and I knew that he hated how she was learning about this when she wasn't of our blood.
"Family isn't always about blood, Griffith," I said and shook my head. "They are still a part of our tribe," I said coldly. "They have lived with us long enough that the Great has blessed them to be a part of our tribe, and they will feel the pull of the Tribe Moon like we have and do."
"So the Tribe will accept them as if they are one of their own if we ever meet them?" Griffith asked, and I nodded in confirmation. "And what will happen if they don't?"
"They will," I said and shook my head, not wanting to think about it if it didn't happen.
"As I have stated, the Great has blessed them, and they have been accepted into the Tribe even if they are not of Tribe blood.
They have an easier time adapting with the training that you all will have that comes with being part of our Tribe. "
"If Mama allows us to complete it," Rayana said and gave me a pointed look. "There is a chance that she won't."
I bit back a small chuckle and shook my head.
"She might not like it, but she doesn't have a say in the matter," I said.
I bit back a tired sigh and moved a hand through my hair and across my face while I shook my head.
"As much as I hate to admit this, but Ilas is right, it is time for you all to know everything about the clans and then everything that I know as a whole. "
And with that, I started to explain everything to them, or at least what I could in the time that we had left, for I knew that I had to leave soon and go visit my dragon as well as a certain prince, who seemed to have taken a liking to me no matter how much I didn't want to notice.
Oh for the love of the Great...