“This one does,” Hollyleaf hissed, shaking him off. She spotted Jayfeather among the other medicine cats, his expression utterly horrified, but she ignored him.
“You think you—” she began.
“Hollyleaf!” Firestar’s voice rang out from the branch where he stood looking down at her; his eyes smoldered with green fire. “If you have anything important to say here, it should have been discussed with me first. Be silent now, and whatever’s troubling you, I’ll talk to you about it tomorrow.”
Moons spent following the warrior code almost forced Hollyleaf to clamp her jaws shut and sit down. I have to obey my Clan leader! Then she braced herself. The warrior code is dead! There’s no point in trying to follow it anymore.
“No!” she meowed, ignoring the gasps of shock from the cats around her. “I will speak now!”
“Yes, let her speak.” Leopardstar stepped forward again, looking down curiously at Hollyleaf. “I’d like to hear what she has to say.”
“So would I,” Onestar growled.
“Or has ThunderClan got secrets that they’re too scared to reveal?” Blackstar taunted, flicking his tail contemptuously at Firestar.
Yowling broke out all around the clearing as the cats from the other three Clans challenged ThunderClan. Hollyleaf stood in the middle of the uproar, feeling strangely calm; she knew she needed to wait only a few heartbeats more.
At last Firestar raised his tail for silence. “Very well, Hollyleaf,” he mewed when the noise had died down. “Say what you have to. And StarClan grant you don’t regret it.”
Now the clearing was so quiet that Hollyleaf could hear a mouse scuttering among the dead leaves under the Great Oak. “You think you know me,” she began again. “And my brothers, Lionblaze and Jayfeather of ThunderClan. You think you know us, but everything you have been told about us is a lie! We are not the kits of Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight.”
“What?” Brambleclaw shot to his paws from where he sat with the other deputies among the roots of the Great Oak. His amber eyes flamed. “Squirrelflight, why is she talking such nonsense?”
Squirrelflight stood up. The flare of panic in her eyes faded and was replaced with—what? Regret? Guilt? Or the sorrow of a mother who was about to lose her kits forever…?
“I’m sorry, Brambleclaw, but it’s true. I’m not their mother, and you are not their father.”
The Clan deputy stared at her. “Then who is?”
Squirrelflight turned her sad green gaze on the cat she had always claimed as her daughter. “Tell them, Hollyleaf. I kept the secret for seasons; I’m not going to reveal it now.”
“Coward!” Hollyleaf flashed at her. Her gaze swept around the clearing, seeing the eyes of every single cat trained on her. “I’m not afraid of the truth! Leafpool is our mother, and Crowfeather—yes, Crowfeather of WindClan—is our father.”
Yowls of shock greeted her words, but Hollyleaf shouted over them. “These cats were so ashamed of us that they gave us away and lied to every single one of you to hide the fact that they had broken the warrior code. It’s all her fault.” She whipped her tail around to point at Leafpool. “How can the Clans survive when there are cowards and liars at the very heart of them?”
The screeches and gasps of horror grew so loud that Hollyleaf couldn’t make herself heard anymore. But there was no need. She had said what she had come to say. Her legs trembled as if she had run all the way across the territory, and she had to sit down. Inside she felt a curious peace, as if she had lanced a festering sore and was watching the poison drain away.
Crowfeather’s voice rose above the rest in a furious yowl. “It’s not true!” He had sprung to his paws, his dark gray fur bristling. Beside him, Nightcloud and Breezepelt looked bewildered and angry. “She’s the one who’s lying!”
Then Leafpool stood up. The crowd of cats fell silent, their eyes turned toward her.
“It’s true, Crowfeather,” she meowed. “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but there was never a right time.”
Her amber eyes were seared with grief. Pity stirred in Hollyleaf, but she choked it down. I hate her! She lied and betrayed us all!
“You mean nothing to me, Leafpool.” Crowfeather’s voice was cold. “That moon has passed. My loyalty is only to WindClan, and I have no kits other than Breezepelt.” He glanced to where Nightcloud and Breezepelt stood beside him; the black she-cat had her ears flattened to her head, while Breezepelt’s teeth were bared in a snarl.
Leafpool dipped her head as if she wasn’t going to argue; then she looked up at Firestar, who was crouched on his branch, as still as a cat made out of stone. “I know that I cannot be ThunderClan’s medicine cat any longer,” she meowed. “I’m so very sorry to you, Firestar, and to all my Clanmates. Please know that I tried my best, and regretted what I had done with every single breath.” Her voice cracked on the last word, and she paused, swallowing, before she continued. “But I couldn’t regret having my kits. They are fine cats, and I will always be proud of them.”
She gave Crowfeather one last glance, then padded across the clearing with her head bowed. Cats scrambled out of her way as she made for the bushes and pushed her way through, out of sight. Every cat stared after her, still shocked into silence.
Brambleclaw was the first to move, padding forward until he stood face to face with Squirrelflight. “Why?” he meowed.
Squirrelflight’s voice was desperate. “I had to! She’s my sister!”
“And you couldn’t trust me?” Brambleclaw’s voice was shaking, and Hollyleaf saw a deep shudder pass through his body. For a heartbeat, she was sorry for what she had done. This was a noble cat, and he had not been responsible for any of the lies. I was so proud when I thought he was my father.
Squirrelflight did not reply, just held his gaze without flinching.
“You couldn’t trust me,” he repeated. “Don’t you think I would have helped you, if you’d told me the truth? But it’s too late now.”
He turned away, shouldering a path through the crowd.
“Brambleclaw—” Squirrelflight took a pace after him, then halted, her head hanging and her tail drooping in despair.
Hollyleaf turned her back. Let her suffer. She deserves it!
A cat nudged her from behind. It was Cinderheart. “What have you done?” she cried.
Hollyleaf blinked in surprise. “I did the right thing.”
The gray she-cat shook her head. “There is no right thing. Everything to do with this leads to more pain.” The wisdom in her voice seemed to come from a much older and more experienced cat. Hollyleaf waited for her to say something else, something to show how sorry she felt for Hollyleaf and her littermates. But Cinderheart just turned and padded away.
Hollyleaf stared after her. Why didn’t she understand? Surely any cat could see that they couldn’t have carried on living a lie? Besides, StarClan hadn’t sent clouds to cover the moon. Her warrior ancestors must be pleased that the secrets were out and the deceit was at an end.
But none of the cats here seemed pleased. Not even her own Clanmates. Sandstorm was staring at her, bewilderment and sorrow in her green gaze. Graystripe’s amber eyes were blank with disbelief. Poppyfrost and Berrynose had their heads close together, talking urgently and shooting hostile glances at her.
Suddenly Hollyleaf couldn’t bear to be stared at for another heartbeat. Blundering through the crowd, she thrust through the bushes, ignoring the thorns that tore her pelt, and fled across the strip of pebbles and over the tree-bridge. Racing past the horseplace, she began to climb the ridge, skirting the WindClan border until she reached the very top and could look out over the lake.
A silver path of moonlight stretched across the surface of the water. The reflections of countless warriors of StarClan glittered around it.