Power crashed into the cage, snapping a few of the wooden bars as it sought living flesh. It crackled in a way that grated on the ears, dazzled the eyes with tiny bolts of lightning.
Finally, the power he'd gathered was spent. He waited, listening. When he heard faint stirrings from inside the cage, he released his breath in a deep sigh of satisfaction. He hadn't been sure these creatures would survive the transformation. They were much larger than the squirrels or birds that were usually changed when Inquisitors twisted magic and sent it back into the world. It would take longer for the transformation to be complete.
Adolfo looked up at the patch of sky visible between the trees. He would wait an hour or two before checking on the progress of his new creations. The guards who had been selected for the next step would need the cover of darkness to ride through enemy territory to deliver his gifts to Baron Liam and the witches in the Old Place, so there was no hurry. There was time for a meal and a glass or two of wine.
After one dismissive glance at the witch, still bound and blindfolded, he walked away from the clearing.
Wanting a few minutes of solitude, Liam almost retreated back to the house when he saw Aiden sitting on a stone bench in the garden, the Bard's fingers gently plucking the strings of a small harp. Then Aiden looked up, and Liam, cursing gentry manners, walked over and sat on the other end of the bench.
After listening for a minute, Liam asked, "Is that a new tune?"
Aiden smiled. "No, it's just a way of letting my mind wander while my fingers regain some of their skill."
Since Aiden didn't seem to expect conversation, Liam slowly relaxed,
letting the drift of notes melt into the softening light and the scents of the
flowers his mother fussed over.
There was nothing to do but wait now. The enemy had been sighted, but Falco, Sheridan, and the other winged Fae hadn't been able to get close enough to get an idea of how vast the army moving toward Willowsbrook might be because archers were shooting any birds that came within range.
Falco had a couple of wing feathers tattered by an arrow, and Sheridan had barely avoided being hit. If there were Fae who hadn't made it back to the camps, neither Ashk nor Selena had mentioned it. Maybe because there had been no losses-or maybe because the weight of grieving for Nuala still hung over all of them, and the Hunter and Huntress had made the decision not to add to the grief, knowing there would be more to come in the days ahead.
Think of something else, Liam scolded himself. "Do you think I'm being an ass about Breanna and Falco?"
"I don't think it's my place to have an opinion, one way or the other," Aiden said mildly.
Liam turned on the bench to look at Aiden directly. "You're the Bard. I had the impression you have opinions about most things."
Aiden chuckled. "Is that your impression? Well, you might be right."
"So?" Liam prodded when Aiden didn't say anything more.
"So, yes, I think you're being an ass." Aiden glanced over and smiled before turning his attention back to his harp.
Liam waited. "That's it?"
Aiden stilled the harp strings, then cradled the instrument in his arms. "Love is precious, no matter how long it lasts. We sing the songs, we tell the
stories, we glory in those moments when love begins. We sing the songs and tell the stories of love lost, of love offered and refused, of love betrayed. I suspect you're a man who feels deeply for the people he cares about, a man who wouldn't make a commitment he didn't intend to keep. You look at Breanna and see a woman who also has deep feelings, a woman who would honor her commitments in the same way you do. You look at Falco and remember stories about the Fae-and of love betrayed. You doubt his feelings because he's Fae and because you're afraid for Breanna's sake. But Falco isn't the brash Fae Lord he was a year ago, and Breanna is a strong woman, not a girl who would be swayed by a bit of romance. I see two people working toward a partnership rather than temporary lovers whose only interest in each other is what they find in bed."
"I've only known her a few months," Liam said softly. "It feels like I've known her all my life, that she's always been a part of my life, but, in truth, I met Breanna at the beginning of this summer. Maybe I'm ...jealous?"
"Maybe."
He sighed. "Selena thinks I'm an ass."
Aiden laughed. "Then maybe you should spend less time thinking about
Breanna and Falco and more time giving Selena a chance to change her
opinion of you."
"Maybe." Liam smiled reluctantly and rose. "I have a few things to do. I'm taking the early watch at Nuala's grave so that I can get some sleep tonight."
He hesitated. "It's rather extraordinary, the way the grave still glows with moonlight. It's a beacon in the dark, but it also feels like a barrier against the dark things in the world."
Aiden just looked at him for a long moment. "I suspect Selena is also someone capable of deep feelings for people, whether she's known them for a long time or not."
Adolfo walked back into the clearing, followed by eager Inquisitors and wary guards. Hearing footsteps, the witch made muffled, distressed noises, but he ignored her, his attention on the cage.
Alarm danced up his spine when he saw the broken cage bars-until he remembered the wood had snapped when he released the power, ft wouldn't do to have these creatures loose among his own men. It wouldn't do at all.
Then he heard wood cracking, saw the blankets shift as limbs pushed through broken pieces of the cage.
"Quickly," he snapped. "Put the meat in the cage. Push it through that
broken section."
The guards moved forward cautiously, jumping back when the creatures screamed, having caught the scent of meat and blood.
"Quickly!"
The first guard approached, the body of a dead falcon tied to one end of a long tree branch. He thrust the branch through the bars.
The cage rocked with the impact of the creatures lunging for the offered
prey. Something snapped the branch. Sounds of fighting. Of bones snapping.
"More!" Adolfo ordered. Two other birds that the longbow-men had brought down were thrust into the cage. Then a rabbit, recently snared and still barely alive, was shoved into the cage. Then a chunk of meat from the hind leg of a deer that had been fleeing from one group of men and had run into
the middle of another pack of guards hunting to supply meat for the cookpots.
Five meals, all smeared with a paste he'd made to put the creatures to sleep
for a few hours. Long enough for the guards to get them close to the Old
Place-and Baron Liam's estate.
When the sounds inside the cage diminished to snarls and crunching bones, Adolfo took one of the branches, caught the edge of one blanket, flipped it aside, then did the same with the other blanket. He stepped back to admire what his power had wrought. One of the creatures was still transforming, and its leg revealed clearly what it had been.
He turned and looked at the faces of the Inquisitors and guards. Shock.
Revulsion. Fear.
Smiling gently, he walked over to the witch. He fumbled with the blindfold before managing to pull it off. Leaning down, he whispered, "Look what your magic created."
She just stared at him as he moved to one side, as frightened as the rabbit that had been caught in the snare.
"Look," he said again, turning her head to focus her attention on the cage.
She stared and stared. Then she screamed, the piercing, terrified sounds muffled by the bridle.
Suddenly the screaming stopped.
Leaning over her again, Adolfo studied the blank eyes, pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart still beat. She still breathed. But her wits had fled, and he
wasn't sure they would return. Not a strong witch in any way. No matter.
She could be used for one more spell before she became too worn out to be useful.
One by one, the creatures inside the cage fell into a drugged sleep.
"Swiftly, now," Adolfo said. "There's enough time to ride to the Old Place before they rouse from this sleep, but not much more time than that."
The guards hesitated.
"Move!"
One guard pulled a knife from his boot sheath and sliced at one of the
blankets until it could be ripped in half. Gingerly opening the cage, he took one of the creatures, wrapped it in half the blanket, and hurried out of the clearing to the spot where other guards held the horses.
Three guards, following the example of the first, ripped the other blanket and bundled creatures into the pieces. The last creature in the cage was the one not fully transformed. The guard hesitated. There was nothing left to wrap the creature in. His hands shook as he finally grabbed the creature and ran for his horse.
Adolfo waited until the guards rode off. Then he turned to his Inquisitors and gestured toward the witch. "Take it back to a tent. Give it water. Feed it if it still has enough wits left to eat. Take care of it. I need it physically strong and healthy for another day or two. After that..." He shrugged. "The men will have another use for it."
Aiden was already dozing off in the saddle as Minstrel crossed the bridge that would take them back to Liam's house. If he'd been riding another horse, he might have stayed at the Old Place after finishing his watch at Nuala's grave. But Minstrel knew the way to Liam's as well as he did, and he trusted the horse to get them there safely. Besides, if he didn't come back, Lyrra would worry about him and never get any sleep. And he didn't sleep as well if he didn't fall asleep holding her. Too bad they were usually so worn out that they didn't do much else when they fell into bed.