Brother Remembered - Black Dagger Brotherhood FanFic - Sumter Colony 2

Chapter 7

Tarra walked toward her dwelling, cradling Night's book, having returned from meeting Night and Ace. Lassiter had dismissed her, and now it was time for bed, but she wasn't sure she'd get a wink of sleep. Her stomach was an ever-tightening-knot of excitement she was working to quell, with little success. I finally met him! She barely contained her desire to skip the entire way home like a young anticipating the gift of a new toy. Oh, but he's so much more than a toy.

She placed the book on her bedside table with care before she sat and began to take down her hair, readying herself for bed. She was going through her gazillionth review of the day when a tap-tap-tap on the door interrupted her. She all but floated to the door, still high from the experience of a lifetime.

Jardine rushed into the room. "What did Lassiter want? You've been gone for hours!"

Tarra was caught off guard. It took her a few "Dearest Scribe Virgin" moments to snap out of it and smile from the realization she didn't have to hide anymore.

She beamed. "Oh, Jardine, there's so much to tell!"

She flopped on her bed, then rolled over to make room for her closest friend, who immediately occupied the space she had created. She grabbed Night's book and handed it to Jardine. "I have a secret that I can finally share with you!"

"What's this? It looks like a Brother's volume, but I don't recognize the name." Jardine studied it, and by how she reacted, or rather didn't, Tarra knew that she didn't remember her role in Rhet's transition and relocation because she didn't remember Night.

"You wouldn't. Night is a Forgotten Brother."

Jardine gasped and dropped the book on the bedspread. "Tarra! How did you get that book? It is forbidden!"

Tarra picked up the leather-bound volume, caressing it. "I got the book because I wrote the book. This is one volume among many."

Jardine glanced from her to the book and back. "I don't understand. A Forgotten Brother isn't watched like the others."

"They're not," she said, settling back into the pillows, "unless a Chosen is selected by the Scribe Virgin herself to record." Tarra felt a little thrill at seeing her fellow Chosen's eyes go wide. It felt so good to finally tell someone. "I've been recording Night, in secret." She scrambled off the bed. "Let me show you!"

She threw open her closet door, bursting with excitement. Finally, she could share Night with the Chosen. She moved her clothes out of the way to get at the access panel in the back.

Jardine stepped behind her. "What are you doing?"

"I have his books back here!"

Her friend was as excited as she was. "What? Where?"

She slid open the pocket door, gaining access to the bookshelf that housed the books for the last several decades. When she saw the volumes, she knew it was time to bring them out and get a proper bookshelf. She started handing them out to Jardine.

"These are only the most recent ones. The others are held in a locked room in the Treasury. To my knowledge, only I have the key. I don't think that even the Directrix has one!"

"Oh, Tarra!" her friend sympathized, taking the book. "Keeping a secret like this? That must have been so difficult!"

Jardine had stacked the books neatly by the trunk at the foot of her bed. She picked out the volume containing Rhet's transition and Jardine's involvement.

Tarra nodded. "Yes, of course it was." She held the book to Jardine. "But, now? He's going to be remembered! That's what Lassiter wanted help with. I am one of the few who remember Night! Lassiter himself didn't even know of him! The Scribe Virgin left him a note to contact me about it."