Shadows and Light

Liam. All dead. From the oldest granny to the youngest babe. Many of them snuck out of their homes and went to the Old Place. But even the ones who were still safely at home ...
    They’re all dead. All of them.”
    Liam stumbled back a step, sank down on the bench as his legs gave out.
    Padrick muttered, “Mother’s mercy,” and wiped his hands over his face. “How did you hear of this?”
    “A rider came by yesterday,” Thurston said. “Said the barons’ council had sent out messengers to warn other villages that the men should be on their guard and keep a more vigilant watch on the females in their communities. The rider said...” He looked around, suddenly nervous. “The rider said the eastern barons were claiming this was the work of the Evil One ... and that witches were the Evil One’s tools. That they caused the madness that made the women do such a terrible thing.”
    Padrick swore softly, viciously.
    “Liam,” Thurston said. He took a moment to steady himself. “Baron Liam. I—I have a wife and two daughters. I’m afraid for them. For all the women in Willowsbrook. What if this madness comes here?”
    “It won’t,” Liam said numbly. “As long as I rule this county, the things that were done that made those women welcome death will never happen here.”
    “But what about the Evil One?” Thurston looked around, lowered his voice. “And the witches?”
    Liam bristled at the suspicion in Thurston’s voice, but Padrick asked calmly, “Do you know the ladies who live here? Have you ever talked to them?”
    Thurston stiffened. “Course I know them. I know all my neighbors. Fine ladies. When our youngest was born and my dear wife was feeling poorly, wasn’t it Mistress Nuala who came by with a simple that she said had the strength of the earth, and didn’t my wife start getting stronger within a day? And weren’t they the ones, that year when we had a hard winter, who told me my tenants could take a deer or two from the Old Place and share the meat among them, and didn’t that make the difference in keeping them all healthy and fed? Every year I send a few of my men over for a day during planting and harvest to give Clay and Edgar a hand with the fields, and I’ll send them again this year if extra hands are needed. They’
    re fine ladies, and good neighbors, and I won’t stand by and let anyone say differently.”
    “They’re witches,” Padrick said quietly.
    “I know they’re witches,” Thurston said testily. “Doesn’t mean they aren’t fine people and good neighbors.”
    “And yet, when you rode in here, you were suspicious of them, almost afraid to be here.”
    “I—” Thurston frowned. “Maybe it was the messenger’s talk of the Evil One that disturbed my mind. Or maybe it was Dudley’s talk about men needing to do their duty and keep their women modest so that they won’t draw the Evil One to them.”
    A chill went through Liam. “Did you get my warning? Have any strangers come to Willowsbrook over the last few days?”
    “Two men rode in a few days ago. Tucked into a big meal at the tavern, and also bought a couple of the meat pies to take with them. Dudley remarked on it when I stopped in. Said he’d told them the beef in the pies would likely spoil at this time of year if they weren’t eaten soon, but the men didn’t pay him any heed. They bought a jug of ale from him, too.” Thurston paused. “It was after that he started talking about this Evil One.”
    “Four men, four strangers, would have drawn more attention than two,” Padrick said thoughtfully. “They could have been buying the food for the two who stayed away from the village.”
    “Why would they care if anyone noticed four travelers or two?” Thurston asked.
    “Because they were Inquisitors,” Liam answered softly. Those men had been so close to Elinore and Brooke... and Breanna. If there hadn’t been so many of Breanna’s kin around here, so many armed and wary men, would he have ridden up to this house and found something very different? Something that would have haunted his dreams for the rest of his life? “They were Inquisitors. Black Coats. The Evil One
    ’s servants.”
    Thurston paled. “They were in our village. Why were they in our village?”
    “To do exactly what they did,” Padrick said. “Plant a seed of fear and suspicion about witches in the people here.”

    “But... why?”
    “So that you would stand aside when they returned and not utter so much as a