The House Of Gaian

There’s a power in me waiting to be released, filling me until it’s become everything. I could celebrate that rising alone, but I think I need to do this by the Fae’s customs. This time I need to stand among them.”
    “Why?” Rhyann asked, her voice worried and a little plaintive.
    Selena sat on the dressing table stool, then waited for Rhyann to settle on the corner of the bed. “Do you believe what the storyteller, Skelly, told us when he came traveling this way? Do you believe there are men called Inquisitors who have made it their work to kill witches and destroy the magic in the Old Places?”
    Rhyann nodded reluctantly. “It’s hard to deny what he said when the wind tells the same tale. Every puff of air that comes from the east brings sorrow and anger and fear—and a feeling of malevolence that rejoices in the sorrow ... and especially in the fear.”
    “Do you believe it was the Fae Lord of Song, the Bard himself, who brought that news and the warnings to Skelly’s village?”
    Rhyann shrugged. “That makes no difference.”
    “Yes, it does.” Selena leaned forward. “It means there are some Fae who haven’t forgotten who and what the House of Gaian is. It means there are some Fae who care about more than themselves. If they have finally been stirred to care, can we sit in our villages here in the Mother’s Hills and do nothing?”
    “No one has said we’ll do nothing!” Rhyann snapped.
    Selena stared at her sister, no longer really seeing her. “I’ve been having dreams since the Solstice. They’
    ve been getting stronger and stronger. I’m standing in a meadow I’ve never seen before, and there, in the center of it, the grass is greener, richer. Somehow, I float above it, and I can make out the shape of a stag. When I float back down, my bare feet touch that spot, and I feel the vibration of thousands of feet marching in step. I breathe in and choke on the stench of blood and death. I walk a little ways away and drink from a pool of clear water—and gag on the thick taste of gore that chokes the stream that feeds the pool. And I hear a heartbeat, slow and big, and I know that the woods has come alive. It hears. It sees.
    And it’s coming toward the Mother’s Hills. Then I’m surrounded by moonlight, filled with moonlight, and I know I can’t stop whatever is in the woods from coming here, can’t change its coming. But I can become strong enough to meet it.”
    Rhyann tipped her head to one side. “What happens then?”
    “What?”
    “In the dream. What happens?”

    “I—” Selena pressed her lips together. Two shadow hound bitches racing through moon-bathed woods, racing toward a common enemy—a shadowy male figure standing in the center of a high, wide circle of female corpses. “I don’t remember.” She rubbed her hands over her face. Mother’s mercy, she was tired. “I have to go, Rhyann. Succeed or fail, I have to try. This power inside me won’t let me be unless I try.”
    “I’m going with you.”
    Selena let her hands fall into her lap. “No, you are not. I’ve already had this discussion with Father. I don
    ’t need an escort. It’s better if I go alone.”
    “It’s better if we travel together for a while. Father won’t worry as much.”
    A chill ran through her, making her voice sharp. “What are you talking about? You’re not going anywhere.”
    “I’ve reached my majority,” Rhyann replied, equally sharp. “I can do whatever I want without asking anyone’s permission.” She sighed. “If we’re willing to believe that the Bard cares for more than the Fae, isn’t it possible that the Lady of Dreams also cares?”
    “What do my dreams have to do with your leaving?” Rhyann couldn’t leave. She couldn’t . Father was simply going to have to do something about it. He’d always been die more successful parent when it came to dealing with Rhyann.
    “Not because of your dreams,” Rhyann said reluctantly. “Because of mine.” After a long hesitation, she continued. “I dream of fire. Angry fire. Dreadful fire. I feel the heat of it, the pain of it. And then music is
    ... silenced. Lost. Devoured by flame.” She rested her head against the bedpost. “That’s why I have to go. I don’t think I can stop the fire, but I can prevent the music from being silenced.”
    Rhyann closed her right hand into a loose fist. When she opened her hand, a small ball of golden light filled her palm. “Dreams and will,” she said softly.