Cold, cold eyes.
Selena shivered.
Just a dream. She was no longer a child. Neither was Rhyann.
She had to get away from this Clan house. Had to meet the land. That was
for herself. But she also wanted to understand why Tir Alainn felt so ...
strange.
By the time she had dressed and they reached one of the outer doors of the Clan house, Gwynith's four escorts were waiting with the horses. Of course.
She should have realized the men would be coming, too.
As she approached Mistrunner, the stallion snorted to let her know he didn't
approve of having his reins held by a strange man.
The escort, giving the horse a wary glance, touched two fingers to his temple in greeting, and said, "Blessings of the day to you, Lady."
Surprised by the greeting, Selena looked at the man more carefully. He seemed tense, uncertain. "Blessings of the day," she replied-and saw him visibly relax. "Did you check Mistrunner's tack?" She regretted asking. The tension in the man returned, and his mouth was a grim line.
"I did," he said. Would you have checked it if it was Dianna going out for a ride? Selena wondered as she mounted Mistrunner. She didn't think he would have, not because Dianna would have been in no danger from other Fae but because he wouldn't have cared what happened to the former Lady of the Moon.
Which made her wonder why these western Fae were so determined to look after her. With effort, she pushed all thoughts aside and focused on the feel of Mistrunner beneath her-and the feel of the land as he lifted into his easy canter. As they left the Clan house behind, his little snorts, tail flicks, and head tosses told her plainly that he didn't like it here, didn't like the feel of this ground beneath his hooves, didn't like grass that looked healthy and green but wasn't good to eat.
Why was she so certain the grass wasn't good to eat? Was it because her own belly had still rumbled with hunger even after she'd eaten a large meal at the Clan house?
She reined in and dismounted, walked a few steps away from her companions, then crouched to put her hands on the ground. A few moments later, Gwynith crouched beside her.
"Lady Selena?" Gwynith said.
Mother's mercy. Were they all so blind that they couldn't see what was in front of them? "Is all of Tir Alainn like this?"
"Like this?" Gwynith looked around. "The Clan territories all look a little different, depending on what part of Sylvalan they're anchored to."
"How does this place look to you?" Selena asked impatiently.
Gwynith frowned. She considered the question for several seconds before she said, "It feels ... pale. That's not the right way to say it, but..."
"It's a good way to say it. How does it compare to your Clan's territory?""It's ... pale." Gwynith shrugged. "I don't spend much time in our piece of Tir Alainn, but I don't remember feeling hungry all the time when I wasthere. The food here has little taste. At home, you can't tell the difference between what was grown in Tir Alainn and what was grown in the fields we tend in our Old Place. Well"-she smiled-"you won't find a worm in an apple that came from Tir Alainn."Selena didn't smile back. She stood and brushed off her hands.Gwynith studied her. "If I may ask, what is it you see here?""A beautiful land ruined by ignorance and blind arrogance," Selena said sharply. "Let's get back to the Clan house. There are things to be done before I leave."
"But... where are you going?"Home. She wasn't sure anymore. "You said Lady Ashk was on her way to Willowsbrook?"
"Yes."
"Then that's where I'll be going." Selena hesitated. "Do you know where it is?"
"It's on the other side of the Mother's Hills. I think." Gwynith looked at the
escorts. "We could find out for you."
"I would be grateful." She returned to Mistrunner and mounted, then waited for Gwynith to mount and move up beside her.
"It would be a long journey from here, no matter which direction you went,"
Gwynith said.
"Direction?"
"There aren't any long bridges between the midland Clans and the Clans on the eastern side of the hills. You'd have to go north or south to swing round the hills."
"There is one other possibility," Selena said, smiling. "I can simply ride straight through the hills.""But you can't," Gwynith protested."Whyever not?""Because the Fae ... Because we don't...""Maybe the Fae don't, but as one of the Mother's Daughters, I certainly do."
"I forgot," Gwynith said faintly. "I forgot that's where you come from."
Because she truly liked this woman, Selena leaned in the saddle and lightly touched Gwynith's arm. "Moon sister, that is something you should never forget about me."
Tonight, I'll be back in the real world, guesting with Ella's family. Mother's mercy, a meal of soup and day-old bread will be a feast compared to what I've eaten here. Would Gwynith be willing to come with me ? There's so much I need to understand about the Fae. So much they need to understand about themselves.
Selena let the words of the Clan's matriarchs drift over her. She'd requested the presence of the Ladies of the Moon who hadn't already left for their home Clans, as well as the bards and storytellers who had come to this Clan's territory to bear witness to the ascendance of the next Huntress. Since she hadn't said other Fae couldn't join them, the matriarchs had made themselves comfortable around the large round table in one of the outer courtyards that overlooked some of the gardens and the rolling land beyond. She'd tried to listen to the older women out of respect, as she would have listened to the Crones. Unlike the Crones, these women weren't willing to listen to her, and used brittle courtesy and sly remarks to say what they wouldn't say directly to her face: she wasn't welcome, she wasn't accepted. She would never be welcome or accepted.
Cold, cold eyes.
They would be capable of watching a child die simply because the child wasn't like them. "Dianna left this morning," one of the old women said, sniffing. "She didn't want to remain any longer, despite the pain traveling will cause her."
"I expect she's anxious to return to her Clan, since they need her," Selena replied politely.
"That's not why she left," the woman snapped.
"Now, now," one of the other matriarch's said, patting her friend's hand while giving Selena a sly look. "Perhaps the new Lady of the Moon can use her power to help the Brightwood Clan."
"How so?" For a moment, Selena thought it was the sun on her skin that made her feel overheated. Then she realized it was temper bubbling underthe skin that made her feel too warm. She gritted her teeth as she made the effort to bank the branch of fire.
"Since your loyalty is to the Fae now, and since you know how to deal with witches ... Well, we'd heard there are more witches than we need in the Old Place here. You could command one of them to go to Brightwood and assume her rightful duties."
"And what duties might those be?"
'To anchor the magic that keeps Brightwood's shining road open, of course.
It's the least you could do after cheating Dianna out of-"
"I cheated Dianna out of nothing," Selena said sharply, feeling the heat rise
inside her. "I ascended because I could meet the gift on its own terms, because I was what it needed. The witches who live in the Old Place that anchors your Clan's territory are a family. I would have thought even the Fae could understand that bond. They have no desire to leave their home or their land, and if any of them did, she would go to a place of her own choosing. The Fae have no right to dictate what one of the Mother's Daughters does or doesn't do. You have no say except among your own people. And you obviously have no understanding of why the Huntress came into being."
The old woman's face reddened with anger. "And you're going to tell us?""The Huntress is the Queen of the Witches because she is their protector. So if you think I'll use my power to force a witch to live someplace against her will for your convenience, you'd better think again. And if you try to force a witch against her will, I won't be going after her. I'll be hunting you."Gwynith, who was sitting beside her, gasped.The matriarchs muttered angrily under their breath. The one who faced Selena looked ready to explode. "It is because of creatures like you that we leave half-breed spawn in the human world."
Selena burst out laughing. "You must have missed a few."
Hearing Gwynith's stifled moan, she tried to rein in her amusement, mostly because she could feel sharp bitterness and anger under the laughter. The
dream came back, swelling her temper. She stood up abruptly, needing to get away from these people before she lashed out at them.
As she stepped away from the table, a man strode into the courtyard.
Combined with his black hair and gray eyes, he had a face and body that would make a woman's pulse jump under other circumstances. Now she just looked at him and wondered how many women he had seduced and how many half-breed spawns he had abandoned in the human world.
"Mother's mercy," Gwynith whispered.
One of the matriarch's looked over and said with a note of triumph in her voice, "Lucian! Come meet the new Lady of the Moon."
He strode over until he faced her, with barely an arm's length between them.
"What sort of witch tricks did you use to steal my sister's rightful place?" he
demanded.
Her temper spiked, barely held in check now. "Be very careful, Fae Lord,"
she said softly.
"Careful? A wiccanfae bitch usurps the power of one of the Fae, and you're
telling me to be careful? Do you know who I am?"
"I don't really care as long as you get out of my way-and stay out of my way."
"I am the Lord of the Sun, the Lord of Fire. I am the Lightbringer. And I
lead the Fae."
"Then I fail to see why my presence is such a terrible insult," Selena snapped.
"The wiccanfae have no place among us-and they have no place in Tir