Shadows and Light

not the Mother’s Daughters,” Lucian said, his voice rising to meet Aiden’s. “They are witches. They’ve somehow bound their small earth magic to the Old Places, making their presence there necessary for the Fae to have what is rightfully ours.”
    Aiden stared at the man who had been a friend as well as kin through their fathers. “Rightfully ours?” he asked, his voice becoming quieter as pain lanced through him. “Rightfully ours. What have we ever done to deserve Tir Alainn? The witches created the Fair Land. It’s been their power that has kept it in existence. What have we ever done to earn the right to be here?”
    “We don’t have to do anything,” Lucian said fiercely. “We. Are. The. Fae.”

    “Has ‘Fae’ become another word for parasite?” Aiden asked bitterly, his temper pushing aside all prudence as his mind’s eye put before him images of hovels, of broken-down cottages, of broken bodies. “We feed off the labor of others, giving nothing in return.”
    “If there are any parasites, it’s the witches, who have sunk their claws into the Old Places so that we have to keep watch over them in order to protect what is ours.”
    “They’re the Mother’s Daughters,” Aiden cried passionately. “They’re the House of Gaian. When are you going to accept that?”
    “Never!” Lucian shouted. “And I insist that you stop spreading those lies. The House of Gaian disappeared a long time ago.”
    Aiden shook his head. “They are the House of Gaian. They are the Pillars of the World, the ones who created Tir Alainn. Mother’s mercy, Lucian, we have written proof of—”
    “We have nothing!”
    “We have the journals written by a family of witches, which are the record of their history and the Old Place in their keeping.”
    “We have the scrawlings of women who wanted to be more than what they were,” Lucian said. “Where is your proof that there’s any truth to what was written? A passing bard could have told a tale about the House of Gaian generations ago, and the woman who heard it took it for herself, claiming to be something she was not, something she never could be. One family, trying to assuage their own inadequacies by pretending to be something they’re weren’t. Have you come across any other mention of it, Bard? Have you?”
    I’ve lost them, Aiden thought, knowing none of the Fae in this room had missed his moment of hesitation. “No,” he said quietly. “I have not found any other record that the witches are the House of Gaian.”
    “Then, by my command, there will be no more talk of this. Not here. Not in the other Clans. Is that understood?”
    The Lord of the Sun. The Lord of Fire. The male leader of the Fae.
    Lucian, you’ve condemned us all. “I understand, Lightbringer,” Aiden said softly.
    He couldn’t look at Lyrra. Maybe it would be better if she severed her ties with him, went back to her home Clan, or any Clan instead of traveling roads that were getting more and more dangerous.
    The Lightbringer had commanded, and he would obey— up to a point. He would be exiled for what he intended to do—assuming that he could do it—but he couldn’t see any other road left open to him.
    Bowing formally to Lucian, he left the common room and retreated to the room he shared with Lyrra, knowing she would follow him there in a little while. The things he needed to tell her were best said in private.
    Lyrra watched Aiden leave the room, her heart aching for him.

    One of the older women next to her harrumphed in satisfaction. “It’s about time the Lightbringer put the Bard in his place and put a stop to these ... tales.” Her eyes slid to look at Lyrra. “And you would do well to take another lover, a man who will bring no shame to you or your Clan.”
    Lyrra gave the woman her coldest stare. “If my Clan thinks my being with the Bard shames them, then I have nothing to say to them, nor they to me.”
    She walked away before she could say anything else that would cause trouble. She knew, without doubt, that her words would find their way to her Clan within a handful of days—and she knew, without doubt, that if she went back to her Clan while she was still with Aiden, they wouldn‘t have anything to say to her.
    She moved from one end of the long room to the other, paying no attention to what was around her until a hand firmly grasped her elbow. She tried to pull away. When she couldn’t, she turned toward the person who held her.
    “This is an