The House Of Gaian

danced with the moon! She created a bridge out of moonlight. What she did in that clearing before ... before things went sour ... was something the Bard should have witnessed and set to music.”
    Dianna felt her lips quiver, felt the sting of tears. “You like her better than me.”
    “I think she’s the Huntress we need in the days ahead.”
    Anger, hot and bitter, welled up inside her. “If that’s what you think, then get her to find an anchor for Brightwood because I am not going back to a place that won’t appreciate the sacrifice I made by using my power that way.”
    A long pause. Then Connor said quietly, “You weren’t going back anyway, were you? That’s what all the delays and complaints have been about since we reached the southern Clans. You’ve been trying to find someone who would yield to your pleas to help you anchor the magic while your arm healed. But if someone else agreed to help, you would have stayed in Tir Alainn to recover and never set foot in Brightwood, expecting us to make that person enough of a captive that she wouldn’t be able to leave.
    That would have suited you quite well, wouldn’t it have, Dianna?”
    Yes, that would have suited her. Was there anyone in the Clan who wouldn’t be trying to do the same thing if they were in her place?
    “So I’ll tell you this now,” Connor continued quietly. “We’ve been talking to the squire, since he’s the leader of the humans left around Ridgeley. They’re mostly farmers and a few craftsmen. They’ve been afraid to rebuild the village. Don’t really want to rebuild on the same ground. They say some of them feel the presence of too many ghosts there. But they’re also afraid to buy supplies from the nearby villages to the east, especially since there’re rumors that things are turning bad at Seahaven. They don’t want the Black Coats looking at Ridgeley again.”
    It was hard to swallow, hard to breathe. “What does that have to do with the Fae?”
    “We’ve worked out a barter. We’ll act as traders to get the supplies from villages in this part of the south and sell them to the humans in exchange for supplying some of the food and grains we need, as well as helping us build sturdier cottages to live in.”
    “You’re going to sweat and toil like humans? How will you face the other Fae?”
    “I’m thinking they’re going to learn a bit about sweat and toil themselves. And if the Black Coats come in force, they’ll learn about bleeding and dying as well.” He let out a gusty sigh. “So here’s your choice. We
    ’re going on to the next Clan territory. We want to get home. You can come back with us and be the anchor we need to hold the Old Place’s magic—or you can stay here in Tir Alainn.”
    A giddy excitement filled her. He wasn’t being unreasonable after all. “I can stay?”
    Connor nodded. “But if you stay, you will no longer be welcome in the Clan’s piece of the Fair Land.”
    The excitement turned dark and brittle. “What do you mean I won’t be welcome? That’s my Clan . They won’t shun me .”
    “Oh, we won’t shun you. We’ll throw you over the back of a horse and take you back over a bridge to another Clan’s territory. We’ll bear them no hard feelings if they welcome you, but we’ll not have you with us. It’s your choice, Dianna. What will it be?”
    “I have to decide now ?”
    “Now.”
    “I don’t believe it. You may think you can make ultimatums, but I’m sure the Clan elders have something to say about it!”
    There was pity in the way he looked at her, as if he suddenly remembered the days when they’d all been so proud of her. “That is what the elders say about it.”
    Tears filled her eyes. Her Clan was betraying her, abandoning her. All because that bitch had stolen her place as the Lady of the Moon. They wouldn’t have done this if she were still the female leader of the Fae. “But I suppose Lucian will still receive a warm welcome,” she said bitterly. He’d backed down.
    That’s what was being whispered in the Clans. Instead of insisting that Selena yield to a Lady who was really Fae, when the Huntress had done a bit of her thunder-rumble witch magic, he’d backed down.
    Her brother. Her twin . Even he had abandoned her.
    “The Clan will still welcome Lucian,” Connor said quietly. “But I’m thinking that he won’t find many who will listen to the manure he spews about witches being servants and the Fae being above the concerns of the