Tir Alainn - The House Of Gaian - Tir Alainn - The House of Gaian Part 14
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Tir Alainn - The House of Gaian Part 14

"Should I tell my father?" the youth asked.

Liam hesitated a moment, then shook his head. "Ride to the Old Place. Warn them. If we're attacked here, they'll be next."

"Yes, sir." The youth applied his heels, and his horse galloped off in the

direction of the bridge that crossed Willow's Brook.

Liam turned to Sloane. "Have the bucket of wood brought out. And send one of the footmen to find the gamekeeper and tell him he's needed at the house-and tell him to come armed."

"Yes, Baron."

As Sloane hurried into the house to relay orders, Liam saw Flint, his stable master, striding toward him, the man's face flushed with anger.

"Saddle as many horses as you can," Liam said as soon as Flint got close

enough to hear him. "Get the horses hitched to the farm wagon as well.

Make sure one of the grooms stays with the wagon to drive it."

If his servants had to run, they had a better chance to escape on horseback and reach the Old Place than they would on foot. Most of his footmen could sit a horse, even if none of them rode well. Each one could take a maid up behind him. The older servants and the young ones could go in the wagon.

Flint didn't stop and return to the stable to follow orders. Instead, he kept

coming toward Liam, finally stopping when there was a man's length between them. His hands were clenched, and the look on his face was close to hatred.

"This is your doing," Flint said harshly. "The baron wouldn't have put us in danger this way."

"I am the baron.""You've got the title, but you're not half the man your father was. You never will be. You're nothing but a witch's brat that she tricked the baron into believing was his."

Liam stared at Flint, who had been, and always would be, his father's man.

The urge to strike Flint for the slurs against his mother was strong, but the heat beneath his skin was getting more intense, warning him that he'd unthinkingly drawn too much power from the branch of fire and he couldn't be sure, if he raised his hand now, that he could control what he'd summoned.

"Get off my land," Liam said quietly, fiercely. "I don't want you near my

family. I don't want you near my people. Get out."

"And go where now that you've brought the enemy down on us?" Flint demanded, fear now coating his anger.

"You can obey my orders and stay until it's safe to leave, or you can leave now."

"Bastard!"

Liam nodded. "Which should prove to you that I truly am my father's son."

Flint looked stunned for a moment.

Liam saw the first riders turn off the main road onto the long drive that led to the manor house. "Make your choice, Flint. They're coming."

Flint's breathing became harsh as he watched more riders turning onto the

drive. Then he ran back to the stables.

A footman came out of the house, grunting a little as he placed the large brass bucket next to Liam. Normally, the bucket sat on the drawing room hearth, filled with kindling. Now it was filled with chunks of wood and thick sticks long enough to be used as torches.

"Get back in the house," Liam said, watching the riders approach.

The footman didn't have to be told a second time.

Horses feared fire. If he threw burning pieces of wood at them, they might

bolt, might even throw their riders, might buy him enough time for the servants to get away before one of the men put an arrow into him-or, he added honestly, before he set himself on fire.

Four guards rode in front of five men who wore gentry clothing. The rest of the guards rode to the side and behind the two coaches. The road dust kicked up by the horses' hooves made it difficult to identify the men until the front guards swung their horses to the side, and Liam found himself facing Baron Donovan. The baron was an acquaintance, someone whose company he had occasionally enjoyed when they'd attended the same parties or dined together at the club.

What made Liam's heart sink was that Donovan had been the only other baron besides Padrick who had given him any acknowledgment after his impassioned speech at the barons' council in Durham-the speech that set the Inquisitors against him.

Why was the other baron here?

Donovan dismounted. So did the other four gentry men and half the guards.

Liam recognized the four men as barons he'd seen in the council chambers, but he couldn't remember their names or what counties they ruled.

"Baron Liam," Donovan said, his voice courteous yet wary.

"Baron Donovan," Liam replied. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this

visit?"

"You left Durham in a hurry." Donovan watched Liam intently.

"I had reasons." None he was willing to share until he knew why Donovan

was here.

The door of the first coach opened. Liam saw one of the guards hastily extend a hand as a hooded figure stepped down.

A flicker of-fear?-swept over Donovan's face as the hooded figure came

forward. Then his face became hard, his expression determined.

"Answer one question so I'll know if we're wasting our time," Donovan said. "Where witches are concerned, where do you stand?"

The heat under his skin was intolerable. He wanted a few minutes to quietly

focus in order to try to bank the power he had raised. Since he wasn't going to get those few minutes ...

He raised his hand, releasing the power as he pointed at the wood.

Flames roared out of the bucket, shooting up to twice his height before settling back down to something closer to a normal fire.

While the men fought to get the horses under control, the hooded figure seemed to stare at him. Liam was trying to think of something to say when Breanna galloped around the corner of the house and reined in. Her eyes took in the men and nervous horses, then settled on the hooded figure for a moment before she flung herself out of the saddle and strode forward, her eyes now focused on the barons.

When she stopped, she pointed a finger at Donovan. "If you raise so much as a finger here to do harm, I will summon a wind that will knock you all into the sea!"

Strong female hands suddenly flung the hood back, revealing an attractive woman who glared at Breanna. "If you knock us into the sea, then I'llsummon the sea and send a wave back here that will turn this place into a lake!"

Tension buzzed around the women for several seconds-seconds when no one, not even the horses, dared move. Then they grinned at each other.

"Where are you from?" Breanna asked.

"The midlands, on the northwest side of the Mother's Hills," the woman replied.

"Do you have kin in the hills?"

"I do. And you?"

"I do."

"I'm water."

"I'm air. And he's"- Breanna glanced at Liam before looking at the bucket

of burning wood-"learning."

The woman's lips twitched. "So I see."