The Pillars Of The World

heard Ari talking to someone. He stopped, staying out of sight.
    “You must know something to deal with this,” a woman said, her voice rising sharply.
    “I’m sorry, Odella,” Ari said, “but I know of no spell or potion that would help you.”
    “You must,” the woman insisted. “ Your kind know about these things.”
    “There may be witches who know how to do that kind of cleansing, but I don’t.” Ari hesitated. “Perhaps Granny Gwynn would know something?”
    “ That one.” The woman sounded furious—and frightened. “Bonnie got a draught from her to take care of things and she’s still in a sickbed. There’s even talk that she might end up barren because of it. That’s not going to happen to me . Because you’re going to help me.”

    “I can’t .” Ari sounded frustrated. “There is nothing I know that would help you with this. Besides,” she added quickly, “you may only be a bit late.”
    “I’m never late.” A pause. Then the voice turned ugly. “You’d find a cure fast enough if you were facing this.”
    Spurred by the ugliness in the woman’s voice, Lucian swung around the corner. The woman had her whip raised, ready to lash Ari.
    Seeing the movement, the woman glanced over at him. Her eyes widened. Her mouth fell open. She lowered the whip and stared at him.
    He’d forgotten the glamour. He hadn’t bothered with the magic that would create a human mask since the first night he’d come to the cottage. Ari knew who, and what, he was, so there was no reason to pretend he was human.
    The woman recovered quickly enough from the shock, gave him a simpering smile that repulsed him, and said, “Good morning to you, Lord.”
    “Mistress,” he replied curtly.
    He noticed the alarm in Ari’s eyes as she realized her guest was seeing one of the Fae. He would do whatever was necessary to placate her once this . . . creature . . . was gone. And he wanted her gone.
    He wasn’t sure what it was about her that offended him so much, but he did find her presence offensive.
    The woman gave Ari a razor smile. “Aren’t you going to introduce us, Ari?”
    “No, she is not,” Lucian said before Ari could make any reply.
    Embarrassment and a seed of hate filled the woman’s face. She slashed a look at Ari. “You’ll regret this.
    ” Wheeling her horse around, she galloped off down the road.
    Lucian strode over to where Ari stood, watching the road. Grabbing her arms, he turned her to face him
    —and immediately gentled his touch.
    She was worried . . . and frightened.
    “Who is she?” Lucian asked. “What did she want?”
    “It’s private business between women,” Ari said, trying to step back.
    Her words almost made him yield, but since it wasn’t Ari’s private business, courtesy crumbled under concern. “What did she want?” he repeated.
    Ari shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t think she wants to wed at the Midsummer Feast.”
    Lucian frowned. “So she doesn’t want to wed.” And what man would want her ? “What does that have to do with her coming here?”
    “Her family would expect her to wed at Midsummer if she’s carrying a Summer Moon child.”
    “There’s not much time between one and the other to be certain about such things.”
    “Certain, no. But enough time to suspect that it may be so. That’s been sufficient for a good many marriages, especially when couples use it as the final persuasion to convince their families to accept their choice of life partners.”
    Partners for life . Lucian suppressed a shudder, finally beginning to understand some of the jests about shackles and being harnessed to the marriage plow that Aiden had told him human males often make when safely out of female hearing. That a man would have to stay with one female, enduring all of her moods, simply because he had sired a child on her was unthinkable. Not that the moods of female kin didn’t have to be endured, but that was different than a lover. Lovers could be vindictive.
    “Could you have helped her?” Lucian asked.
    Ari shook her head. “I truly don’t know anything that would have helped her.”
    “Then why are you worried?”
    She hesitated. “Her family is very influential. They could make things . . . difficult.”
    Lucian drew her closer and wrapped his arms around her to offer comfort. As she relaxed against him, he looked around—and found no comfort for himself in what he saw.
    He’d appreciated the cottage’s isolation while he’d been visiting