Tir Alainn - The House Of Gaian - Tir Alainn - The House of Gaian Part 46
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Tir Alainn - The House of Gaian Part 46

smiled grimly. "I doubt there's a Clan in Sylvalan that wants Lady Selena looking in their direction-even more so when they find out what happened here today." The smile faded. He shifted uneasily. "Besides ... we're to blame for the Black Coats."

Liam straightened up and stared at Varden.

"What are you talking about?" Donovan snapped.

"The Black Coat almost escaped. He was wounded but he got away and got

caught by Squire Thurston and the men the squire had gathered to come here

to help you."

"How could a wounded man get away from a group of armed men?" Liam asked, wondering why Varden looked so sick.

"He'd almost persuaded them to let him go when some of my men rode up.

The Inquisitor's Gift of persuasion works well on humans, but it doesn't work on the Fae. We've the same gift, you see."

Donovan sank into the chair in front of the desk. "Inquisitor's Gift of persuasion? They can persuade someone to believe what they want them to believe?"

"They can. But since the gift comes from the Fae, we're better at it-and we persuaded the Black Coat to tell us a few things."

"Varden, you make no sense." A sick feeling churned in Liam's belly.

"He makes a great deal of sense," Donovan said slowly, his eyes fixed on Varden. "He's talking about magic, Liam. The Fae's kind of magic. Which means the Inquisitors ..."

"Are part Fae," Varden said bitterly. He shook his head. "I never left a child in the human world, but I know plenty of men who enjoyed a girl until he'd filled her belly and then left her and never looked back. Among the Fae, a man sires a child, but it's the woman's Clan who raises it. But that's not the way in the human world, and we understood that once-at least, understood it enough to provide gifts and bestow favors on the woman's family so that having a child by a Fae Lord wasn't something to be ashamed of. But things changed, and the Fae started abandoning the woman and child, making both outcasts among their own people. Outcast children, unwanted by either race, until someone recognized they had a power that could be shaped into a

weapon."

"Mother be merciful," Donovan said. "And some of those children would have been born of witches."

Varden nodded. "Fae Lords always found the women who lived in the Old

Places appealing, even if we never understood who those women were."

"You provided the vessels for the Master Inquisitor to fill with his own fever of destruction," Liam said. "Your people can shoulder the blame for

abandoning the children and the women who bore them, Varden, but you didn't shape them into what they've become."

"Which begs the question," Donovan said. "If the Master Inquisitor was able

to recognize a power he could shape to his will, what, exactly, is he?"Silence.Liam stared at Donovan.

Do no harm.

Varden swore under his breath and turned away.

"Witch's Hammer," Liam said quietly. "Does he hate what he once loved?"

"Or what he once wanted to love him?" Donovan countered. "The son of a

witch whose bloodline also carried the magic of the Fae?"

"Whatever he is, he's not just a human," Varden said, turning back to look at them.

"No," Donovan agreed, "he's not just a human."

Do no harm.

Liam suddenly stood up, unable to stay in that room anymore. He wanted, needed, to see Breanna, to feel grounded again in that blend of practicality and power, that promise that being something more than just a human wouldn't turn him into something monstrous.

"I'd better see to my guest," he said as he restrained himself from bolting for

the door.

As he opened the door, he heard Donovan ask, "What happened to the Black Coat?"

And Varden's heavy reply, "Baron, your people and mine are just getting to know each other and neither side feels easy yet. It's better not to ask about some things."

Out of the study and down the hall to stand at the parlor's closed door. Liam took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself.

"You won't find out anything until you open the door," Donovan said,

coming up beside him.

Bracing himself for another encounter, Liam opened the door, took two steps inside the room, and stopped. The table was strewn with tea things and a large bowl of water.

"Look," Breanna said, giving him a sloppy smile. "It's Liam. And he's wearing his baron's face."

Selena looked blearily at the men. "How can you tell?""I'm his sister. I can tell. And if you don't believe me, I will phoof you." Breanna struggled into an upright position. "Phoof."

A gust of wind lifted Selena's hair."Well," Selena said. "I'll phoof you back. Phoof."A gust of wind blew Breanna's hair around her face.They both collapsed in their seats, giggling.Gwenn stared sadly at the bowl of water. "I can't phoof. I just burble."The water in the bowl rose in the center, creating a small fountain that...

burbled.

Donovan just shook his head as he walked around the couch to get a good look at his wife. "What have you been drinking?""Tea," Gwenn said, spoiling the prim tone with a hiccup.Donovan picked up the cup and sniffed. "This isn't tea.""It's in a teacup. Therefore, it is tea."Donovan put the cup down, kissed his wife's forehead, and picked her up.

"Come on, Gwenny, you need to take a little nap now."

"Don't want any chicken soup," Gwenn said, pouting.

"Just a little nap." Donovan carried her out of the room.

Liam looked at the two women who were staring rather owlishly back at him

and raked his fingers through his hair. If anyone had asked him what he'd expected to find when he walked into the room, three tipsy witches wasn't it.

What was he supposed to do with these two?

"Well," Breanna said, slowly getting to her feet. "I'd better get home and give Gran a hand with things." She took a step forward and teetered.

Liam caught her, wrapping one arm around her waist.

Selena stood up. "And I'd better... do something, too." She took a couple of

tottering steps and fell against him, almost sending the three of them to the

floor.

"The only thing either of you is going to do is take a nap," Liam said sternly, trying to turn them around to head them toward the door.

"Oh, phoof," Breanna said.

"No more phoofing," Liam said.

"Do you have children?" Selena asked.

When he turned to look at her, he realized all it would take was bending his

head just a little to indulge in a kiss. Heat washed through him. "No, I don't have children."

"Funny. You sound just like my father."

Liam sighed. "Come along, you two."

He'd finally gotten them into the hall when someone pounded on the front door. Suddenly, Varden was there, an arrow nocked in his bow before Sloane could reach for the door.

As soon as Sloane opened the door, a Fae woman rushed inside. The man with her, seeing Varden, grabbed her and pulled her behind him, shielding her from the arrow.

"It's Gwynith," Selena said. "You missed tea," she added- and hiccuped.

"Lady Selena?" Gwynith stepped away from her escort. "Are you all right? I