The House Of Gaian

the two of you are done with these delightful bedtime stories, I’d like to take my wife back to our room and get some sleep.”
    “Would you mind seeing Lyrra back to the house as well?” Aiden asked.
    Liam gave him a curious look. “You’re not going back?”
    Aiden shook his head. “My night vision is good, so I’ve agreed to take a watch tonight.” He smiled ruefully. “My other form is an owl.”
    “You can’t go fluttering around in the dark,” Liam said. “You’ll get stepped on.” He shrugged. “You can perch on my shoulder.”
    Donovan looked at his friend. “You’re staying, too?”
    “I have the gift of fire.”
    Donovan shook his head. “You two get to stand out in the dark while I escort two beautiful ladies home.
    I guess there are compensations to being just human.”
    Gwenn and Lyrra joined them, both women sensing something and searching faces to try to discover the answer.
    “I’ll see you later,” Aiden said after kissing Lyrra. He handed her the pipe and message. “Take these for me.”
    When Donovan, Gwenn, and Lyrra were gone, Liam said, “Come on, then.”
    Aiden hesitated a moment before changing to his other form and fluttering up to the arm Liam held out.
    Liam studied him for a moment. “The feathers look good on you, Bard.”
    Aiden climbed up Liam’s arm to his shoulder, then nipped his ear.
    “Do that again and you’ll have to find another perch,” Liam growled.

    “Whoooo?”
    Since Liam didn’t say anything, Aiden fluffed his feathers, pleased to have gotten in the last word.
    “I wonder if I can persuade Morphia to send the barons quiet dreams,” Ashk said as she walked around Breanna’s house, her arm still tucked through Selena’s.
    “Why would they need them?” Selena asked.
    “Because, Huntress, between the two of us, we’ve given them the stuff of nightmares. How many of them will dream of being pursued by the Wild Hunt while the ground drops out from under their feet and stones suddenly grow mouths filled with fangs?”
    “Stones don’t have mouths. Or fangs.”
    Ashk smiled. “But dreams don’t always show you the true form of what you fear, do they?” Her smile faded as she thought of Morag and wondered if die Gatherer was still plagued by dreams.
    “I hope not,” Selena said, her voice quivering with some strong feeling.
    Ashk let it go, suddenly too tired to explore strong emotions. They’d already been through enough for one day. “Let’s check on Breanna and the men standing watch and call it a day. We could both use some sleep.”
    Selena nodded. “I need to saddle Mistrunner.”
    “Why?”
    “Because it’s a bit too far to walk back to Liam’s.” Selena’s eyes widened. “Oh. Oh . No, we couldn’t.
    Not after telling them about shadow hound packs.”
    “But the barons who heard that are already back at whatever houses they’re guesting at,” Ashk said, then added, “Besides, wouldn’t you like to know if Liam’s any good at petting?”
    Selena choked on a gasped laugh. “Ashk! That would be ... Well, it would be—”
    “Pleasant?” Ashk suggested.
    “You really expect him to pet a shadow hound? What if he realized who he was petting and got—”
    “Excited?”
    “Intimidated,” Selena said with a different kind of quiver in her voice. “I was going to say intimidated.”
    “Of course you were. Because there he would be, running his hands through all that lovely fur, and when he realized who it was, he’d think, ‘Oh, my. I’m touching Selena. I’m intimidated.’ Phah. On the other hand, if you change back while he’s got his hands all over you, it might be more of a thrill than he’s ready for, depending on where his hands are at that moment.”
    Selena just gaped at her.
    There , Ashk thought, satisfied, that’s got your mind off thoughts of troubling dreams . “Trust a woman married to a baron. They like fur.”
    Selena shoved her hands through her hair. “It wouldn’t be fair, just trotting up to him and wagging my tail.
    Besides, he gets so gentry prim whenever he thinks about Breanna and Falco being lovers—”
    “He’s not his sister. And you’re not his sister. And if you’d ever noticed the way he looks at you, you’d know he’d jump through a couple of hoops for the chance to pet you.”
    Selena sputtered. Muttered. “It’s out of the question. I’m sharing a room with my sister.”
    “He’s not sharing a room with anyone.”
    “This is none of your