The House Of Gaian

neutral, hoping to be spared if either army marches through their land—and hoping their estates will remain intact because, even if they didn’t fight for the winning side, they didn’t support the losing side, either. The Fae from the nearby Clans have sent men, but they’re also guarding the Old Places to keep their Clan territories protected.”
    “Do you blame the Fae for that?” Selena asked, curious about this bitterness.
    Liam shook his head. “No, I don’t blame them. We’ve gotten more help from them than I ever expected, and they’re more skilled with weapons than the fanners and merchants I can bring to the fight from the villages under my rule.” He sighed. “But we’ve heard nothing from the midland barons, and without their support, we can’t win. And even if they are gathering men and marching toward Willowsbrook, they’ll have to fight their way here from either the north or the south, and that delay, and the loss of men, will work in favor of the Black Coats’ army that’s marching toward us.”
    “There is an alternate route,” Selena said dryly. “There are roads through the Mother’s Hills.”
    Liam looked at her. “Forgive me for saying this, but the Fae are afraid to enter the Mother’s Hills, and anyone who has seen the power a witch can wield understands that fear. As for the humans ... If I didn’t have a sister who was a witch, I’d think long and hard about taking my men into those hills. I’d think long and hard about it anyway.”
    Selena dismissed the sharp pang beneath her breast. There were men at home who were just as handsome, just as intelligent. She knew as much about the gentry as she knew about the Fae, which wasn
    ’t much. The courtesy and interest he’d shown her could be nothing more than gentry manners. But the turn of conversation reminded her of the other reason she’d agreed to ride out with him.
    She turned Mistrunner to head back the way they’d come. She waited until the escorts had turned and started back down the rise before signaling Mistrunner to follow them.
    “I’ve offended you,” Liam said, matching his gelding’s pace to Mistrunner’s.
    Selena shook her head. “You merely said what the rest have been thinking. There is power among those of us who live in the Mother’s Hills. But if you enter the land of the House of Gaian and do no harm, you will come to no harm.” She smiled mischievously. “At least, not from the House of Gaian. We can make no promises for the wolves that live in the northern part of the hills or the wild pigs that live in the woodlands.”
    Liam stared at her for a moment, then smiled. “I suppose you make no promises about rabbits in the kitchen garden, squirrels in the attics, or foxes in the hen house.”
    “Of course not. If you want help with those things, you must deal with the Fae. The woods and what lives in it is their duty in the world.”
    “If the witches deal with the land and the Fae deal with the wild creatures of the woods, what’s left for humans? Where do we fit in?”
    Selena looked away, studying the land as they rode back to the Old Place. “We have an old story that says the witches and the Fae were in this land long before the first humans traveled over the mountains and the first ships touched the shore. The story doesn’t say why they made such perilous journeys, only that they were looking for a new place, a home where they could put down roots and live in peace. They promised to honor the Great Mother as the witches and the Fae honored Her, promised to give something back for the bounty they received. And while there were few of them, they did live in peace with the Fae and the Small Folk and the House of Gaian. But as more of them came to settle on what they saw as open land, free for the taking, they built fences to keep their animals in and opened the land with plows.
    “The Daughters saw the world changing. They did not mind change, for the world is always changing and ever constant. But that was when they walked the boundaries, establishing the Old Places, the places that would belong to the wild things, so that all the Mother’s children would have a home.” She looked at Liam. “Where do your people fit in? Perhaps you were supposed to be the stewards of the tame places, just as the Fae are the stewards of the wild places. Perhaps you aren’t sure of your place because you haven’t yet learned the first lesson—to live kindly with the rest of the