Shadows and Light

the rest of them so uneasy?
    “There’s another reason why the Hunter might be willing to help us,” Aiden said softly. ‘“Merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again.’”
    Lyrra frowned. “I’ve always wondered about that. It’s such an odd saying, and it’s only in that story because the Hunter said it.”
    “I wonder if Breanna or Nuala would find it an odd saying.”
    Could the Hunter have taken those words to himself the same way she and Falco had taken Ari’s ritual greeting to themselves?
    “If that is a witch’s saying ...,” Lyrra said carefully.

    “Then the Hunter might already be acquainted with a witch or two.”
    Lyrra didn’t bother to remind him that plenty of Fae males had been acquainted with witches—for as long as it took to bed them and breed them—but they hadn’t actually understood anything about the women they were mating with.
    “When do we leave?” Lyrra asked.
    “Tomorrow. Early. Even using the bridges between the Clan territories, it will still take a couple of days to reach the north end of the Mother’s Hills and then head west.”
    “And what will we do today?”
    “We’ll rest.” Aiden brushed a finger gently down her cheek. “Lyrra, this won’t be easy, even going through Tir Alainn as much as we can. Are you sure you—”
    “Do you think the Fae in the western Clans have any stories we haven’t heard before?” Lyrra asked, deliberately cutting him off. “Maybe a song or two that even you haven’t heard?”
    “It’s possible,” he said cautiously.
    “And if I stay behind, you would promise to listen to any new stories as carefully as you listen to the songs and tell them to me when you got back.”
    “Yes, of course I would.” He smiled at her, looking regretful and relieved.
    “Ha!” She rolled off the bed so that she could stand with her hands on her hips. “You’d listen to them well enough to snip them here and nip them there so that they’d fit into a melody that suddenly came into your head, and the only thing I’d get is your version of the story instead of the story itself.”
    “But—”
    “Why don’t I go instead, and you stay here? I’ll listen to the songs and bring them back to you.”
    His mouth slowly opened, but no sound came out. “Lyrra... You know I love you, and you have a lovely voice, but, darling, you never catch all of a song when you only hear it once. Most of the lyrics, yes, but never the tune.”
    “Well, I can turn the song into a story so that I remember all of the words.”
    He looked scandalized.
    “You don’t approve?” she asked sweetly.
    He rolled off the other side of the bed to stand and face her. “No, I don’t approve! A story and a song are not the same thing!”
    “In that case, Bard, it would seem we have to go together. You to hear the songs, and I to hear the stories. And we’ll find some way to convince the Hunter to help us. Together.”
    His breath came out in a huff that turned into a laugh.
    “Very well, Muse. Together.” He came around the bed and held out his hand. “Shall we stroll through the gardens for a little while? I think my wife could use a little courting.”

    Smiling, she slipped her hand into his. “I think my husband could use a little of the same.” A thought occurred to her, and she voiced it before she could change her mind. “What made you think of the west?
    ”
    He studied her for a moment in a way that made her sure her guess was correct.
    “Morphia,” he said. “She was going to the western Clans to find Morag since there was nowhere else to look. It made me wonder if the Hunter might not be there, too.”
    “Do you think Morphia has found Morag?”
    “When we reach the western Clans, perhaps we’ll find out.” Aiden kissed her gently. “Let it go now.
    There are miles between us and any answers. For today, just let it go.”
    Lyrra leaned toward him. “When we come back from our stroll through the gardens, will you play for me?”
    “On the harp?”
    “If you insist.”
    He grinned, hesitated, then opened the door. “After our stroll, I’ll play you any tune you care to name.”
    “I don’t catch all of a tune with only one hearing. You said so yourself.”
    He burst out laughing, and was still laughing when he pulled her through the open door. “Come along, then. I want a bit of romancing before you have your way with me.”
    And that, Lyrra decided when they reached the gardens, was one of the reasons she’d fallen in