The House Of Gaian

eyes still flashed with temper. “You’re not in your world anymore. There’s nothing you can do in Tir Alainn.”
    “Really?”
    She flung out one hand, giving earth the temper building inside her.
    A moment later, a clap of thunder boomed overhead. The ground shook. The Clan house shook.
    Someone screamed.
    The land ripped apart, zigzagging as if following a lightning bolt.
    Selena poured more of her power into the land, holding it now, giving it strength to fight against the first lash of power she’d flung out.
    The rip continued, speeding through the land, becoming narrower and narrower until it ended as a crack between Lucian’s and Selena’s feet.
    It had happened, and ended, so quickly, the Fae hadn’t had time to get up from the table, let alone run.
    “That is what I can do in Tir Alainn, Lightbringer,” Selena said quietly.
    His arrogance was gone. Standing in front of her was a shaking, terrified man.
    “You bards and storytellers,” Selena said, not taking her eyes off Lucian. “You Ladies of the Moon.
    Listen carefiilly. The House of Gaian made Tir Alainn out of dreams and will. It is our power that made the shining roads to anchor this place to the world and keep it alive. What we gave we can take back. Or destroy. I have no wish to harm those who have done no harm, but I will not leave an enemy at my back when all of Sylvalan is at risk. So I will give the Fae this choice: The rest of Sylvalan is going to war against the Inquisitors and the barons they control. You will either fight with us, and earn your place in the world, or you will stay here.”
    Lucian brushed the sleeve of his coat with a shaking hand. “At least you’re being sensible about this.”
    “You misunderstand, Lightbringer.” Selena waited until he looked at her. “If you choose to stay in Tir Alainn, then here is where you will stay. Forever. We will close the shining roads. Oh, we won’t destroy them as the Black Coats did when they slaughtered the witches. We will simply turn the shining roads into ropes. They will still anchor your Fair Land ... but there isn’t any one of you who will be able to get down that rope to the human world. You will have your Tir Alainn—and that is all you will have. Forever.”
    She looked back at the other Fae, sitting pale and silent, too frightened now to dare speak. “Send that message to all the Clans, and send it swiftly. You have until the full moon to decide. If you do not decide then, we will decide for you.”
    “D-do no harm,” Lucian stammered. “That’s your creed. We’re the Fae, the Mother’s Children. You can’t harm us.”
    At that moment, he looked more like a terrified child desperately seeking reassurance than a grown man.
    “Please, take her. Please.”
    Cold, cold eyes.
    “My pets will tear her flesh and drink her blood.... And then they will devour her soul.”
    “Lightbringer,” Selena said with terrible gentleness, “anyone who makes the mistake of trying to use our creed as a weapon against us does not understand the House of Gaian... or the ones who live in the Mother’s Hills.”
    As she walked back into the Clan house to pack her saddlebags, she heard someone hurrying to catch up to her.
    “Lady,” Gwynith said shakily. “Huntress? Oh, Selena, please listen!”
    Selena stopped and waited. “Come up to my room. We can talk while I pack.”
    Gwynith managed to keep silent until they’d reached Selena’s room and the door was closed. Then the words spilled out.
    “Selena ... Lady ... if some of the Clans refuse to help, you won’t punish all of the Fae, will you? You won’t close all of Tir Alainn away from the world, will you?”
    Selena removed her saddlebags from the wardrobe, walked around Gwynith, and put them on the bed. “
    You said you don’t live in Tir Alainn. Why would it matter?”
    “I don’t live there. Most of the Clan only goes there a few days each season to rest. But our elders live there. The weather is milder and the work is easier. Don’t they deserve some ease in their autumn years?
    And ... and anyone in the Clan who is seriously ill or injured is taken to Tir Alainn to heal. If you close off all the Clan territories, our elders will be alone.”
    Selena retrieved her clothes from the wardrobe, folded them carefully, and filled one saddlebag. “Do the witches ever go to Tir Alainn?”
    Gwynith linked her fingers and twisted them so hard Selena expected to hear a bone snap at any