Nirrin (Forestfolk, Book 3)

Chapter 20b

As much as I wanted to delay sharing horrible news with Meresh, I knew what I had to do. Niralessa could arrive today with her killing crew.

I found him in a heated discussion with Pimo. The young warrior gestured wildly. Meresh had the outward appearance of calm, but the tense line of his jaw said otherwise.

"The sooner they leave, the better," Pimo was saying.

I didn't want to hear any more, so I stepped closer. "You sure know how to make a girl feel welcome."

"You can stay," Pimo offered. "Those other ones you came with should go."

"That's enough," Meresh said with a scowl. "This is not how we treat guests."

I crossed my arms as if to say, "Yeah, what he said."

Pimo exhaled through his nose, considering me with hard eyes.

"They haven't done anything to us, Pimo," Meresh said, voice calm.

Pimo looked away from me and scratched his arm, thinking.

That he was even thinking about it gave me hope. I kept my mouth shut, in case I said the wrong thing.

"This is true," he said grudgingly. His eyes returned to me. "But if any of you step out of line . . ." His tone no longer held the vehemence it had earlier, but the warning was still there.

A few choice retorts came to mind, but I managed to nod in acknowledgement instead.

Satisfied, Pimo gave a curt nod to Meresh and wandered away.

"Something tells me that was a big step for him," I said quietly.

"It was," he replied, watching him leave. "We've always butted heads, but he does care about the tribe."

The tribe. Which was in danger. I briefly closed my eyes to gather the courage to tell him. No one wanted to hear that their people might be wiped out.

I took in a deep breath and opened my eyes. "There's a very good chance that my mother might be on her way here with a group of fierce warriors. She may or may not want to, um, kill this entire tribe."

He blinked at me. "What?"

"She's looking for revenge. For the death of her mate." I wrung my hands. "She's really, really upset. She may have gone crazy."

"Your mother?" He seemed stuck on this concept.

"Um, yeah. Long story short, I recently discovered my parents are Gifted. They led a group of outcasts." I cleared my throat. "Very resentful outcasts."

He stared at me, trying to digest this information. "And they want to attack us."

"Bolden or one of his men killed my father." My heart lurched a little. I couldn't believe he was dead.

"I'm sorry, truly. But shouldn't you have told me this earlier?"

I winced. "I know. I'm sorry. I guess I was more excited about reuniting Kibi with her parents. No one wants to be the bearer of bad news."

The chief rubbed his forehead. "This is bad, indeed. Very bad. Bolden and his warriors were the best we had." He looked at me with strained eyes. "And they didn't survive?"

I couldn't hold his gaze anymore. None of this was my fault, but somehow, I felt guilty anyway. "I don't think so. I'm so sorry. What are we going to do?"

His hand shifted to rubbing his tense neck. "My father loved war. Thought it was the only way to prove strength and protect his people." He shook his head. "There has to be another way."

Something other than war. I thought for a moment. There had to be something.

Then it struck me. "I have an idea. But I don't think anyone's going to like it."

Uh-oh. It's kinda scary when Nirrin has ideas, but let's vote for her anyway.