took Ari, Neall, and Merle back to his house. Said he wanted his physician and the midwife-"
"Physician? Midwife?"
Glenn raised his hand in a placating gesture. "Neall's got that burn on his hip
which I think is paining him more than he'll admit, and he and Padrick both wanted Ari looked over to make sure she and the babe came to no harm because of- Well, because. And the baron said they'd get no rest with the smell of smoke and-" He shifted uneasily as he glanced at the meadow.
"Ari doesn't need to see that. The baron will send men over in the morning to take care of things."
Morag lifted her chin toward the barn. "Something wrong with the animals?"
"No," Glenn said quickly. "It's just... well... some of the Small Folk showed up. Didn't have anywhere to go for shelter. Too dangerous to try traveling any distance in the woods tonight. Wouldn't stay in the cottage for anything, but they were glad of the offer of a couple of stalls in the barn. Forrester came back with some blankets and a small keg of ale. Brought some bread
and cheese, too, to have with the day soup Ari had simmering on the stove.
So they're snug enough for the night."
She wanted bread and soup, too-and enough ale to dull the memories of the
bodies she'd seen.
"Will you be staying, Morag? There's plenty of soup left."
With regret, Morag shook her head. "I'll go on to Padrick's house."
Glenn nodded. "You tell Ari not to worry. Plenty of neighbors have stopped
by to say they'd be back in the morning to air out the cottage and put things
to right."
Morag lifted a hand in farewell, then signaled the dark horse to move on.
Halfway to Padrick's house, she wondered why she hadn't stayed at the cottage. She was almost blind with exhaustion and the dark horse wasn't in
any better condition.
She needed to see Ari. That's why. She needed the assurance that Neall
would recover. She needed to tell Merle he was a wonderful shadow hound.
She needed her family.
So she rode on until her dark horse snorted in surprise and a hand closed
over her arm. Startled, she tried to pull away-and found herself staring into
Padrick's grim face.
"I thought you wouldn't have sense to stay at the cottage once you got done gathering," he said, exasperation making his voice rough. He released her arm and signaled his horse to walk on. "The two of you staggering down the road, asleep on your feet-"
"I'm not on my feet," Morag protested.
"And your horse is barely staying on his. Damn fool of a woman."
"Who's a fool?"
"You. Ari. All of you. You're all too stubborn to know when you need to
stop, when you've done all you can-more than you can. No, you'll just
keep pushing until your brain shuts down or your body quits."
Stung, Morag made an effort to sit up straighter in the saddle. "You can't speak to me that way."
"I can and I will, just as I'd speak that way to Ari or Caitlin if they were being too stubborn to show some sense. Ashk, too, for that matter-although she'd change into her other form long enough to nip me for it."
Wish I could do that, Morag thought sourly."Damn fool of a woman," Padrick muttered. "She was trying to ground the whole fire. Did you realize that? Not just the meadow. Not just keeping that stunted excuse of a man from burning her home down around her or killing the man she loves. No, she was trying to hold the whole thing back."
Alarmed that Ari would even think of trying to do that much, Padrick's tone
nevertheless compelled her to defend the decision. "Did it occur to you that
Ari was trying to protect the Clan?"
"Of course it occurred to me," Padrick roared. "The Clan house would have been lost before the witches who had come up from Wiccandale could do anything about it."
"Witches from Wiccandale?"
Padrick waved that away. "They had business with me. Two of them had the gift of water, and when they saw the fire, they summoned the rain."
"Did you yell at them, too?"
"No, I did not."
"Then why are you yelling at me?" Morag blinked, furious with Padrick
because tears were filling her eyes.
Since they were riding Fae horses, there wasn't even the clip-clop of hooves to interrupt the sudden silence.Finally, Padrick said quietly, "Because I was scared to the bone today.
Because I know what could have happened here. Because I know what didhappen here. Because I was helpless to stop it. Because I'm just a foolish man who was so relieved at finding you're both all right that I yelled at you."
"Did you yell at Neall?" Morag asked, wiping the tears off her cheeks.
Padrick chuckled. "Couldn't. My physician took one look at Neall's hip and
dosed him with something that put him to sleep before he could finish arguing that he didn't want it."
"But he'll be all right?"
"Yes, he'll be all right. So will Ari. The physician and midwife agree that
she needs bed rest. The babe's not due for another week or so, but they were concerned that the strain of channeling so much magic might have brought her to childbed early. However, the babe is content to stay where it is a while longer, and Ari will be recovered before she brings her son or daughter into the world."
Morag tried to stay alert, but after Padrick's assurance that Ari and Neall were all right, her attention drifted. The next thing she knew, he was helping her out of the saddle, assuring her that the dark horse would be well taken care of, and leading her into the house. From there, the housekeeper and the lady's maid to Ashk took over, helping her take a quick bath and wash the stink of smoke out of her hair, bundling her into a borrowed nightgown, and feeding her a bowl of stew and bread. She resisted their attempts to put her to bed, insisting that she had to see Ari first.
Ari gave her a tired smile when she entered the guest room and settled on the
edge of the bed.
"I'm glad I'm not gentry," Ari said. "Lady's maids are very intimidating.
Seems every time I twitch, the bed covers get straightened, the pillows get fluffed, and I spend five minutes arguing that the physician and midwife don't need to come back."
Morag nodded. "I kept trying to picture how Ashk and her maid deal with each other-and decided I didn't want to know."
Ari plucked the bedcovers. "He's gone? Really gone?"
"Yes, Lucian is really gone."
"I keep thinking I should be sorry for what happened. But I'm not. That hurts almost as much as knowing he would have killed Neall without a second thought. And for what?"
"Because he was the Lightbringer, and the Fae have catered to the Lord of Fire and Lady of the Moon for so long, he believed he should have what he wanted whenever he wanted for as long as he wanted."
"People's lives as trinkets?" Ari's eyes filled with tears until one slipped down her face. "Did that make him any different from the Inquisitors, Morag? They think of people as trinkets, too-things they can reshape to suit themselves ... or destroy if it suits them better."
"I think he did care about you," Morag said. "I think he wanted you for
himself as much as for Brightwood."
"I cared about him, too, but not enough to stay, even if the Black Coats hadn't come to Brightwood." An hesitated. "I wanted to remember him kindly, as a lover I'd had for a little while. A small romance that was outside the world in many ways. Now I'll remember him as the man who tried to destroy the people I love. As the man I killed."