The House Of Gaian

fields we tend in our Old Place. Well”—she smiled—“you won’t find a worm in an apple that came from Tir Alainn.”
    Selena didn’t smile back. She stood and brushed off her hands.
    Gwynith studied her. “If I may ask, what is it you see here?”
    “A beautiful land ruined by ignorance and blind arrogance,” Selena said sharply. “Let’s get back to the Clan house. There are things to be done before I leave.”
    “But... where are you going?”
    Home . She wasn’t sure anymore. “You said Lady Ashk was on her way to Willowsbrook?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then that’s where I’ll be going.” Selena hesitated. “Do you know where it is?”
    “It’s on the other side of the Mother’s Hills. I think.” Gwynith looked at the escorts. “We could find out for you.”
    “I would be grateful.” She returned to Mistrunner and mounted, then waited for Gwynith to mount and move up beside her.
    “It would be a long journey from here, no matter which direction you went,” Gwynith said.
    “Direction?”
    “There aren’t any long bridges between the midland Clans and the Clans on the eastern side of the hills.
    You’d have to go north or south to swing round the hills.”
    “There is one other possibility,” Selena said, smiling. “I can simply ride straight through the hills.”
    “But you can’t ,” Gwynith protested.
    “Whyever not?”
    “Because the Fae ... Because we don’t...”
    “Maybe the Fae don’t, but as one of the Mother’s Daughters, I certainly do.”
    “I forgot,” Gwynith said faintly. “I forgot that’s where you come from.”
    Because she truly liked this woman, Selena leaned in the saddle and lightly touched Gwynith’s arm. “
    Moon sister, that is something you should never forget about me.”
    Tonight, I’ll be back in the real world, guesting with Ella’s family. Mother’s mercy, a meal of soup and day-old bread will be a feast compared to what I’ve eaten here. Would Gwynith be willing to come with me ? There’s so much I need to understand about the Fae. So much they need to understand about themselves.
    Selena let the words of the Clan’s matriarchs drift over her. She’d requested the presence of the Ladies of the Moon who hadn’t already left for their home Clans, as well as the bards and storytellers who had come to this Clan’s territory to bear witness to the ascendance of the next Huntress. Since she hadn’t said other Fae couldn’t join them, the matriarchs had made themselves comfortable around the large round table in one of the outer courtyards that overlooked some of the gardens and the rolling land beyond. She’d tried to listen to the older women out of respect, as she would have listened to the Crones. Unlike the Crones, these women weren’t willing to listen to her, and used brittle courtesy and sly remarks to say what they wouldn’t say directly to her face: she wasn’t welcome, she wasn’t accepted.
    She would never be welcome or accepted.
    Cold, cold eyes.
    They would be capable of watching a child die simply because the child wasn’t like them.
    “Dianna left this morning,” one of the old women said, sniffing. “She didn’t want to remain any longer, despite the pain traveling will cause her.”
    “I expect she’s anxious to return to her Clan, since they need her,” Selena replied politely.
    “That’s not why she left,” the woman snapped.
    “Now, now,” one of the other matriarch’s said, patting her friend’s hand while giving Selena a sly look. “
    Perhaps the new Lady of the Moon can use her power to help the Brightwood Clan.”
    “How so?” For a moment, Selena thought it was the sun on her skin that made her feel overheated. Then she realized it was temper bubbling under the skin that made her feel too warm. She gritted her teeth as she made the effort to bank the branch of fire.
    “Since your loyalty is to the Fae now, and since you know how to deal with witches ... Well, we’d heard there are more witches than we need in the Old Place here. You could command one of them to go to Brightwood and assume her rightful duties.”
    “And what duties might those be?”
    ‘To anchor the magic that keeps Brightwood’s shining road open, of course. It’s the least you could do after cheating Dianna out of—“
    “I cheated Dianna out of nothing,” Selena said sharply, feeling the heat rise inside her. “I ascended because I could meet the gift on its own terms, because I was what it needed. The