Tir Alainn - The House Of Gaian - Tir Alainn - The House of Gaian Part 71
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Tir Alainn - The House of Gaian Part 71

on him as to indicate a refusal to answer. But he couldn't look away, couldn't break her hold. Why couldn't he break the hold of this soft, useless female? He struggled to impose his Inquisitor's Gift on her. "You have to let me go. I shouldn't be held in this place. I should be released."

"Yes," she whispered. "You should be released. All of you should be

released."

Triumph surged through Ubel. Triumph so keen it felt like a sharp, momentary pain in his chest.

He smiled at her. When he raised his hands, he realized the shackles were gone-and also realized he could see the crates through the flesh of his hands. He heard cries of fear from the men imprisoned with him. He noticed the startled, yet satisfied, look the Fae Lord exchanged with Padrick. But his attention was still on the woman.

He watched as she pulled the pins from her coiled black hair, letting it tumble down her back and over one shoulder. He watched while her face changed from human to Fae, as the softness in her dark eyes changed to something exquisitely merciless.

"I have released you, Inquisitor," she said. "But one of Death's Servants will have to take you to the Shadowed Veil. I have to return to the east. I have a gift for the Witch's Hammer."

Ubel tried to move forward, but couldn't get past the barrier of crates. Why couldn't he get past them? He was free now.

"What have you done?" he shouted at her.

She flicked a glance at the floor, then smiled at him.

He looked down-and stared at his body, the shackles still around his wrists and ankles. He looked at the other bodies on the floor inside the barrier ...

and the ghosts standing beside them.

"What have you done?" he screamed. She just watched him. The face, the

hair, the eyes. He knew who stood before him now. "You can't do this!"

"It is done. My choice. My judgment. I have given you the release you have given others." She turned and started walking away.

"You think you're strong?" Ubel screamed. "You think you can defeat the

Witch's Hammer? He'll crush you, bitch! You're not strong enough to

defeat the Master Inquisitor!"

She stopped walking and looked at him over her shoulder. "I'm strong enough to defeat anyone. Haven't you realized it yet, Inquisitor? The only thing stronger than Death's Mistress is Death itself." She looked at the Fae Lord. "Don't move the bodies until one of Death's Servants gathers the spirits. That will keep the ghosts leashed to the flesh and contain them in this place."

"As you command, Gatherer," the Fae Lord replied.

Ubel screamed at her as she walked away. Kept screaming at her even after she left the warehouse. Kept screaming as the Fae who had guarded him and

the others silently moved away from the barrier and took positions in front of the warehouse doors.

He screamed and screamed as he stared at his dead body, but no one heard

him, no one saw him. Except the other ghosts.

Morag walked over to where the dark horse waited. "I should change out of

these clothes. I imagine it's one of the few outfits Ashk actually likes.""Keep it," Padrick said quietly. "The skirt is designed for riding. Besides, your own clothes are already packed in the saddlebags. You'll need them when you reach Willowsbrook." He made an effort to smile. "If Ashk misses having that outfit, she can order another one-which will please the village seamstress and her lady's maid."

She rested one hand on the dark horse's neck. "I don't need escorts."

"You'll have them anyway."

She didn't bother to sigh. Padrick had given in when she'd insisted she

didn't have the appetite for a meal, but he wasn't going to yield about the escorts.

"It wasn't enough," she said abruptly.

"What wasn't enough, Morag?"

She turned away from him and placed her hands on the saddle as if to mount.

But she stayed there, staring at leather instead of the man.

"They tortured. They maimed. The witches and other women they'd taken had suffered. But the Black Coat and the others ... They didn't even hear

Death's whisper before they died. Was that justice, Padrick? Did that balance the scales for all the harm they've done?"

"Would knowing they suffered balance the scales?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

Padrick placed his hand over hers. "If you wanted them to suffer, then you

succeeded, Morag. Until they pass through the Shadowed Veil, they will

know something men like that would consider worse than death."

Slowly, reluctantly, she turned her head to look at him. "What could be worse than death?"

"Defeat."

Chapter 42.

waning moon Adolfo slowly crumpled the letter, working it until it was a ball enclosed in his fist. The Arktos barons had failed him. Failed him. Instead of continuing the fight until there wasn't a man standing, instead of destroying as many of the enemy in Sylvalan as they could, instead of fighting on to keep Sylvalan's forces divided, they had surrendered. Put down their weapons and crawled to the witches with their tails between their legs. And they were given their lives while his Inquisitors, his men, were taken away and hunted down like animals, slaughtered by the Fae.

He wouldn't even know that much if the messenger he'd sent north hadn't been delayed by a few critical hours because his horse had thrown a shoe. The man had arrived in time to learn of the surrender and the Inquisitors' deaths, had thought quickly enough to lie by claiming to have been sent by the southern barons to request news about the fighting in the north.

So he had the report that had been written for the enemy, had the enemy's taunts and boasts burning behind his eyes, had confirmation, based on the questions his messenger had been asked, that the midland barons and some of the Clans among the Fae were gathered around Willowsbrook, waiting for him.

They could wait. And they could die. He wasn't going to Willowsbrook with sniveling barons from Sylvalan or craven barons from Arktos. Wolfram was behind him, and Wolfram would not fail him. They would annihilate the army Liam had gathered. They would break the Mother's Hills and crush them into dust- and everything that lived in that foul place. They would extinguish magic once and for all.

But before he brought his whole army up, he would take a small company of men and ride up to the very edge of Willowsbrook, and he would give that witch-lover Liam, and all the fools who followed him, a gift that would break their hearts.

Chapter 43.

waning moon What's wrong with him? Ashk wondered as Liam offered her a sickly smile and gestured for her to take the chair in front of his desk. He took his seat and placed his clasped, white-knuckled hands on the desk.

"I'm sorry to trouble you with this, but I have to ask. I have to be certain.

And since this concerns the Fae ..." He pressed his lips together.

Ashk suppressed the urge to rub her forehead to ease the headache building there. "Liam, if you're trying to tell me some of the Fae have taken ...

liberties ... with some of the girls who live around here-"

"No," Liam said quickly. "No, it's nothing like that." He offered another sickly smile. "Truth be told, I think the girls are a little disappointed that there haven't been any offers to take moonlit walks. Of course, the girls don't realize that the thought of having to deal with you, Selena, or Breanna afterward has pretty much stifled the urge for romance-among the human army as well as the Fae."

"I understand why they'd be nervous about me or Selena, but why

Breanna?"Liam winced. "Stories travel. You know how it is. And the Fae ... Well, from what Varden and Falco told me, they all figure that any witch who would threaten to shoot the Lightbringer when he appeared interested in a girl wouldn't hesitate to shoot any of them."

Ashk shook her head and smiled. "I'm sorry I missed seeing that." Then she sighed. "Whatever the problem is, Liam, just tell me."

"There are Fae who are predators in their other form," Liam said carefully.

"Yes, there are."

"And those predators might do some hunting while they're here."

"They might."

"They might hunt people."

Ashk tensed. Her voice chilled. "Say what you have to say, Baron."

Liam took a deep breath. Let it out slowly. "Two young children are missing from outlying farms. At first, their families thought they'd wandered off, saw something intriguing among the trees and followed it. They reported it to the guards who make a daily round to all the farms and estates, and there was a search. But when the children weren't found ...."