Shadows and Light

and blue eyes,” the butler replied. “He said he had an urgent message for you. When I said you were not at home, he asked for your direction.”
    “So you told him where to find me,” Liam said softly.
    The butler stiffened. “It did not seem out of place to do so. He was, as I said, a gentleman.”
    Liam glanced at Padrick, who said nothing. Didn’t have to say anything.
    “Yes, he found me,” Liam said. “He had ... troubling ... news, which requires my immediate return to Willowsbrook.” No reason not to confirm the story Padrick had already told the western barons.
    “Let your groom take the cart and head out of Durham by the north road,” Padrick said. “We have another stop to make, so we’ll catch up with him as soon as we can.”
    Another stop? Liam didn’t ask, certain he wouldn’t get an answer. He just looked at Hogan and said, “
    You have your orders.”
    “Let me accompany you, Baron Liam,” Kayne said quickly. “It’s obvious the news from your estate has distressed you to the point of being ill. You should have someone along to look after you.”
    Liam managed a smile. “My thanks for the offer, but there’s no need. I’ll be fine.” He mounted the gelding, waited for the wave of dizziness to pass, then looked at the butler. “If anyone asks for me, tell them that I’ve been called away.”
    He looked at Padrick, who simply turned his horse and rode out of the mews and into the alley. After a moment’s hesitation, when he clearly heard the sound of a horse’s hooves, Liam followed.
    The sickness from the poison must have affected his hearing, Liam decided. It wasn’t possible for a horse not to make a sound on cobblestone streets. He’d been so busy trying to stay upright in the cab, he’d become delusional. That’s all it—
    As soon as they turned out of the alley and onto another street, Liam heard only one set of hooves on the cobblestones. His own horse’s.
    Padrick urged his horse into an easy trot, a pace that covered distance without looking like the riders were in a hurry. A typical pace for young men in the city—when they weren’t riding like fools.
    Liam gritted his teeth, concentrated on staying in the saddle. “This isn’t the way to the north road.”
    “We’re taking the west road out of the city,” Padrick said. “We’ll circle around. The horses are fresh, so we should be able to catch up with your groom on the north road soon enough.”
    “And if someone’s waiting for me on the north road?” Liam demanded.
    “Then your man will have a better chance by himself,” Padrick replied sharply. “It’s you they’re after, not the people who work for you.”
    You don’t know that, Liam thought bleakly. He continued to follow Padrick toward the west road because he was still too weak and sick to do otherwise. But when they left the city and he saw the road ahead of them lit by the full moon, he reined in, too uneasy to continue.
    “What’s the matter?” Padrick asked, turning his horse so he and Liam faced each other. “Are you feeling too sick to ride? Here.” He extended a hand. “Give me the reins. I’ll lead your horse. You just hang on to the saddle. When we catch up to the cart, you can ride with your groom.”
    Which is what I should have done in the first place. “I have a question that needs an answer before we go any farther.”
    Padrick made an impatient sound. “What answer do you need that can’t wait?”
    “Who are you?”
    Padrick gave Liam a strange look. “Has that poison addled your brains? I’m Padrick, the Baron of Breton.”
    Fear. Temper. Sickness. It was an uncomfortable mix sliding around inside him. “Let me rephrase the question,” Liam said. “What are you? You ride a horse that makes no sound on a city street. You indicate the other western barons wouldn’t dare harm you, which means you have far more power over them than anyone in the council realizes.”
    “Not I,” Padrick said quietly.
    “And you conveniently appear to help me, claiming I’ve been poisoned and those men had been sent to kill me. You seem to know too much and say too little. So I ask again: What are you?”
    Padrick said nothing for so long, Liam wondered if he should try to make a run for it back into the city.
    Then, “I am the Baron of Breton. I am gentry.” Padrick paused before adding, “And I am Fae.”
    Liam swayed in the saddle, not sure if it was shock or sickness that suddenly made him so weak. He was on a