The House Of Gaian

call to the Ladies in the Old Place, his brother handed him a sheet of paper with a poem written on it. It was the only poem he had written on paper since he’d returned home. It was the last one he ever put to paper.”

    Donovan refilled his glass with whiskey, then sighed. “That poem has been handed down to the heirs in my family since that day. The original paper has been carefully preserved, and is brought out long enough for the heir to make a careful copy in his own hand, which the ruling baron checks against the original to be sure no word is lost or changed.” He hesitated. “I married Gwenn because I fell in love with her and wanted to be her husband. Before her family consented to the marriage, we made a journey, and I learned what my great-great-uncle meant about never forgetting who calls my lady wife kin.”
    As he sipped his whiskey, Liam noticed the slight tremble in Donovan’s hand.
    “Gentlemen,” Donovan said in a hushed voice, “I tell you plainly, the eastern barons are fools to have allowed the Inquisitors into our land. They are fools to have done so much harm. Even if they gather an army and defeat us, they will lose. Because the day will come when they kill the wrong witch, and then ...
    And then may the Great Mother have mercy on us all.”
    No one spoke while whiskey glasses were refilled again.
    Perhaps it was because he was no longer quite sober that Liam asked, “What does the poem say?”
    Donovan stared at some distant point the rest of them couldn’t see. Finally, he recited:

    “Do not wake the Mother’s Hills.
    Do not break the quiet dreaming of The ones who walk there.
    If roused, their wrath can Shake the world,
    And men will not see the Light of day again.“
    “Mother’s mercy,” Liam whispered just as someone rapped softly on the dining room door.
    Breanna entered, followed by Gwenn.
    “Please pardon the intrusion, gentlemen,” Breanna said, “but I—”
    “You said it was a pissing contest,” Liam said. “But are there witches in the Mother’s Hills who really could summon a wind like that or bring the sea so far inland?” You ‘re drunk, laddy-boy . But he sobered up second by second as he saw both women go absolutely still.
    “Not among my kin, no,” Breanna said carefully. “At least... I don’t think so.”
    “There are some questions it is best not to ask about the House of Gaian,” Gwenn whispered.
    Donovan slowly rose to his feet. “Gwenn?”
    She shook her head, then began rubbing her hands over her upper arms, as if suddenly chilled.
    “There are Crones,” Gwenn said reluctantly, “who know the old magic. Things the rest of us never learn.
    They are very powerful. You didn’t meet any of them.”
    Liam glanced over at Donovan and saw him swallow hard. Mother’s mercy. Donovan had obviously been awed by those he had met—and now Gwenn was telling him there were others even more powerful?
    “Mostly they teach,” Gwenn continued. “They teach the strongest and the best, the ones whose hearts embrace our creed. The ones who also have the temper to use that power if it’s needed.”
    “We need allies, Gwenn,” Donovan said softly. “I don’t think my people can stop the Inquisitors. Not alone.”
    “That’s why Gwenn needs to come to the Old Place this evening,” Breanna said. She held up a small piece of paper. “Rory brought this a short while ago. It’s from my cousin Skelly. He says something is happening tonight, and we need to stay aware for whatever might be written on water, whispered on the wind.”
    “What’s tonight?” Liam asked.
    “The new moon rises,” Gwenn replied, still rubbing her arms.
    “Whatever it is, the House of Gaian is paying heed,” Breanna added. “So whatever happens tonight could change everything.”
    Liam rose, then walked slowly to the door. “Let me see if the cook has the means of providing a meal for all of us. Then we can ride out to the Old Place.”
    Breanna nodded.
    As he stepped into the hallway, he heard Gwenn say quietly, “I met two of them a few years ago, when I studied for a while in the Mother’s Hills. Two who were being instructed by the Crones. They are too strongly trained in the creed, as the most powerful of us must be, to ever strike first, but may the Mother have mercy on anyone foolish enough to provoke Selena or Rhyann into striking back.”

 

     
     

Chapter 10
     

 

     
     

     
    new moon
     
    Selena stopped fiddling with the saddlebags already