by Anne Bishop
So he would give them the same key he and the assistants he had carefully trained over the years had given the men in Wolfram . . . and in Arktos. He had his own reasons for feeding gentry greed until it ripened into a desire to exterminate what couldn’t be tamed, but, in the end, he and the barons both would achieve their goals. They would have the land they coveted and domination over everything within their grasp. And he would destroy the witches.
Morag studied the faint glimmering in the heart of the old wood. When she had come down that road at the dark of the moon, it had been strong and shining.
True, the Veil between this world and the Fair Land had seemed a little thicker and took longer to cross through, but she hadn’t given it much thought. There were many roads that were difficult to use these days.
The dark horse shifted restlessly, then took a step toward the glimmering.
“No,” Morag said, resting her hand on the dark horse’s neck to soothe him. “We can’t get home that way.” Not anymore.
The dark horse stamped his foot. Took another step forward.
“No,” Morag said more firmly. Gathering the reins, she turned him away from the glimmering—and temptation. He was a Fae horse and could sense the roads through the Veil as well as she, but he couldn’t tell that the magic that signaled “home” to him wasn’t strong enough anymore to get them back safely.
What had changed in the time between the dark of the moon and the full? she wondered as the dark horse picked his way along the game trail, still fretting because they were going in the opposite direction of where he wanted to go. What had changed? And why?
She was tired, and she was troubled by the number of female spirits she had gathered lately to lead to whatever was beyond the Shadowed Veil. Too many of them were young women, and they had died hard deaths.
Because she was tired, she hadn’t paid attention when she had crossed the boundaries into the Old Place, had only been focused on reaching the road through the Veil and going to Tir Alainn to rest again. Now she drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
The air was slightly sour. It always smelled like that in the human world—except in the Old Places. They were as close as the human world came to the feel of Tir Alainn. But this place was already losing that sweetness. Why? Why?
She opened herself to the magic that filled this land, needing to draw some of its strength into herself. A couple of heartbeats later, she closed herself off from it and hunched in the saddle, one fist pressed against her breast.
Watery soup instead of a rich stew. That’s how the magic felt. Worse, instead of being able to draw strength from it, the land had tried to drain magic from her, as if there was a gaping hole in it that it was trying to fill.
As they entered a clearing where a cottage stood, Morag straightened in the saddle. Even as tired as she was, she could maintain a glamour spell long enough to ask for food and drink. It wasn’t that hard to hide the pointed ears and the feral looks behind a more human mask. Many of the Fae didn’t bother with such things, and she certainly didn’t when she stood as the Gatherer. But the Fae had magic, and the Fae were feared. So it was sensible to approach a human dwelling looking like a human and not frighten the people inside to the point where the door would be barred against her.
Halfway across the clearing, she released the glamour, knowing it wasn’t needed. At the new moon, when she had skirted this clearing on her way out to the human world, she had smelled the woodsmoke, had seen the glow of lamps in the windows. Now the cottage was dark and empty. Not the waiting emptiness of a place where the people were away for a little while and were coming back, but the thick, stark emptiness of abandonment.
And all around the cottage, Morag could feel a deep well of magic drying up, withering like a tree whose tap root had been severed.
Turning away from it, she guided the dark horse to the edge of the clearing. She sensed the presence of the Small Folk, knew they were watching her pass by, but none of them came forward to greet a Lady from Tir Alainn. That, too, was something that had changed in recent years.
But it was the sound that was gathering under the rustle of leaves and water flowing over stone that made her urge the dark horse into a canter. She didn’t slow his pace until they reached the human road a few minutes later. Then she reined in and listened.
It had been nothing more than the wood nymphs and water sprites. She knew that. But it still sounded as if the brook and the trees had been weeping, as if the land itself was grieving the loss of . . . something.
Who had lived in that cottage? Why had they left? And why would their leaving make so much difference to an Old Place in so short a time? Was the magic bleeding out from the land the reason the road through the Veil was no longer strong enough to carry her home?
“We’ll find a place to rest,” Morag said, petting the dark horse’s neck. But not here.
Shivering from weariness and from night air that suddenly seemed colder, she studied the road. She had been traveling slowly but steadily toward the south of Sylvalan until she had reached this Old Place and had used the road through the Veil to return to Tir Alainn for a brief rest. When she came back down the shining road at the dark of the moon, she had drifted on the outskirts of the nearby villages before circling back here. She had no desire to go back to any of those places, no desire to see what might have happened to other women in those villages.
Turning the dark horse, she resumed her journey south.
Chapter Six
Ari hurriedly filled the small pack with cheese, apples, and two of the fairy cakes she had made to celebrate the Summer Moon. She strapped two canteens of water into their places on the pack, then looked around. A blanket would be nice, but she didn’t want to be too burdened down. Her cloak would have to do for bedding. With the moon shining tonight, there was no need for a lantern, even if she would have dared use anything that might help someone locate her.
She wiped her hand on her trousers as she stared at the small package lying on the table and fought the revulsion that had been growing throughout the day. Then she gritted her teeth and stuffed the fancy into her left trouser pocket. Her folding knife went into the right pocket.
Grabbing her dark cloak, Ari took one last look around. She’d let the fire in the main hearth go out and had banked the one in the stove. The windows were all shuttered and locked. She’d put every warding spell she knew on the cottage to keep it safe. She’d even extended one of the wardings to protect the cow shed and her garden.
Nothing left to do.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she slipped out of the cottage and paused to listen.
Silence. Not even the usual night sounds.
Would the Huntress be out tonight with her pack of great hounds, riding over the land while her moon banished the hiding places the hunted usually found in the night shadows?
Fool, Ari thought as she closed the door and locked it. The Huntress wasn’t the only one who would be roaming the land tonight. And in truth, if she had to choose between Royce and the Wild Hunt, she’d rather take her chances with the hounds. At least with them it would end quickly.
She pressed her hand against the door in farewell and headed toward the sea.
A quick walk turned into a run until the stitch in her side forced her to stop. By then the cottage was out of sight.
Royce wouldn’t look for her on this beach. Surely not. Even if he remembered it existed.
She’d thought this out very carefully. Had thought of little else in the past two days. If the Gwynn women had any gift for magic, it was centered in their ability to brew love potions, so she couldn’t dismiss Granny Gwynn’s warning about the magic turning back on a person if it wasn’t properly released. Which meant she couldn’t just hide in the cottage. If Royce came to the door, she’d have to offer him the fancy—and herself, since she was sure he would accept it. But if she saw no one tonight, she wouldn’t be refusing the spell in the fancy, and since the offer had to be made
on this particular night, the magic should fade harmlessly.
She hoped.
Another half a mile and she’d reach the rough path that led to the beach and the shallow cave in the cliff wall. Her mother had loved to come here, alone, on summer nights. Tonight it would provide shelter from the wind and, even more important, hide her from anyone who might look down from the cliff.
Clouds drifted across the moon, cutting the light, at the same moment Ari sensed that she was no longer alone.
Her heart raced as she spun around, straining to see down the road. Great Mother, had Royce been to the cottage already? Had he guessed her intention? Was he riding after her?
The road remained empty, but something came closer. She could feel it, even though she heard nothing.
The clouds drifted past.
The moon returned, bright enough to cast a shadow.
Ari forgot to breathe when she saw the black horse racing over the land. This was grace married to strength, an animal so beautiful it made Royce’s finest hunter look like a plow horse.
It wasn’t running away from anything, she decided as she watched it turn toward the old sea road that followed the coast. Just running for the sheer joy of it, as a celebration of life.
She stood there until it was out of sight.
Where had it come from? she wondered as she continued toward the sea. Old Ahern’s farm? He did raise magnificent horses, but even he didn’t have anything in his stables that could compare with this one. Unless this was one of his “special” horses that she hadn’t seen before.
Or perhaps it had slipped away from Tir Alainn itself. She could imagine the Huntress mounted on such a fine animal.
Remembering that she could well be the hunted one spurred her forward until she reached the cliffs that overlooked the sea. Even knowing what to look for, it took her several minutes to find the break in the cliff. She clattered down the rough path as quickly as she could, slipping a couple of times in her haste, until she reached the empty beach.
Over the years, her mother had gathered small boulders and pieces of driftwood that she’d used to build two low walls, using the cliff itself to form the third side of an open-air room. A few times, as a special treat, Meredith had invited Ari to stay with her overnight, but, for the most part, this had been her mother’s private place.
She had never been on this beach without her mother, hadn’t been here at all since Meredith’s death. Because of that, she could almost pretend that Meredith had simply gone for a walk along the beach and would be back soon. Then, as her hand brushed against the pocket that held the fancy, even that much pretense faded, giving loneliness a keener edge and reminding her that she was here to hide, not enjoy a summer evening by the sea.
After making sure the shallow cave wasn’t occupied by anything else, Ari tucked her pack inside. There was a small stack of dried wood at the back of the cave. If she’d dared, she could have made a fire.
No matter. The low wall would block a fair amount of wind, and the night was fairly warm for early summer. Tucked in the cave with her cloak, she would be comfortable enough.
Ari closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, letting the rhythm of the sea and the roll of quiet waves settle her pounding heart.
No one had seen her come here. No one would find her here.
She opened her eyes and saw the black horse galloping along the water’s edge.
It must have found another path down to the beach, she thought as she watched it. But wasn’t it odd that the horse would even try to find its way down the cliff on its own? It couldn’t drink the water, and there was nothing on the beach for it to eat. Maybe it just liked the feel of sand beneath its hooves and sea foam around its legs? She’d have to ask Ahern the next time she saw him. His “special” horses tended to act a bit differently from other animals.
She didn’t know if the horse had seen her or had caught her scent in some shift of the wind, but one moment it was galloping in the foam and the next it was charging up the beach straight at her.
Ari took a step back, ready to duck into the cave.
The horse stopped a length away from the wall and reared.
A wave of heat went through Ari’s body, leaving behind the strange sensation of a heavy lushness combined with the ability to float.
The horse laid its ears back and pawed the sand.
“I have as much right to be here as you do,” Ari said.
Rearing again, the horse trumpeted a challenge.
Obviously, it didn’t like sharing the beach. Well that was just too bad. It could just go galloping back to Ahern’s farm—or wherever it came from. Besides, it was making too much noise, which could draw someone’s attention.
Ari put her hands on her hips. “Now see here, my handsome lad,” she said sternly. “Showing off your fifth leg might make your four-legged ladies roll their eyes and swish their tails, but it doesn’t impress me.”
A flash of panic swept through her. Why had she said that? Was this part of the fancy’s magic, to make a woman speak so brazenly?
The stallion’s forelegs hit the sand. He snorted indignantly.
Ari laughed. “There’s no need for you to nurse a bruised ego. I’m sure your ladies are most appreciative of your . . .” She waved a hand vaguely at his body.
He snorted again.
Ari’s chest tightened. Since it already bound her, she couldn’t fight the fancy’s magic. It would turn back on her if she did. So she had to find some harmless way to channel it. But, Lord and Lady, her body was becoming a stranger she couldn’t trust, and her thoughts were following unfamiliar paths. Even when she’d so foolishly believed herself in love with Royce she hadn’t felt like this.
The stallion pawed the sand.
Ari held out her hand and took a few steps toward the horse. “You are a handsome lad, aren’t you?” she said softly.
The stallion regarded her for a moment before coming forward to sniff her hand.
Ari remained still while he sniffed and lipped her palm, but when he began to lip her long, dark hair, she leaned back. “That isn’t hay.”
He snorted softly, almost sounding amused.
She’d never seen a gray-eyed horse before, Ari thought while the stallion pushed his muzzle under her cloak and snuffled her hip. In the moonlight, those eyes reminded her of her grandmother’s pewter vase that sat on the mantel.
The stallion nudged her left pocket. He stiffened, made an angry sound, then leaped away from her. He laid his ears back and pawed the sand while he stared at her.
Confused, Ari slowly reached into her left pocket. She withdrew the fancy wrapped in the brown waxed paper. Swallowing her distaste, she unwrapped it and dumped the two pieces into her hand.
“It’s just a fancy, a brown-sugar candy with some love magic added to it,” she said quietly while she studied the horse. “I’ve checked it with every bit of magic I know, and there’s nothing in it that would do harm. Except the love magic if it’s denied, but the magic’s binding on the female, not the male. It won’t hurt you.”
The stallion pricked his ears. He didn’t approach her, but at least he didn’t bolt.
It won’t hurt you.
The thought took root, making her a little dizzy. “I didn’t know what it was when Granny Gwynn dropped it into my hand. By then it was too late because, as soon as I touched it, I was bound to the magic. But Granny Gwynn did say the first male I met on the night of the full moon, not the first man. Oh, she meant the first man, but that wasn’t what she said.” That was the problem with all of Granny Gwynn’s spells. They were always phrased in a way that something could go wrong. But that might work to her advantage tonight. If she used the fancy based on what Granny Gwynn said rather than what was meant. . . . “I don’t suppose sugar is all that good for a horse, but old Ahern gives his horses a lump of sugar as a treat now and then, and this isn’t much bigger.”
Not giving herself time to think about what might happen if she was wr
ong about the importance of the spell’s wording, Ari stuffed the paper back into her pocket, kept the brown-sugar phallus in her left hand and held out the full-bodied woman in her right. She licked her lips, then took a deep breath. “With this fancy, I promise my affection from the full moon to the dark. This I swear by the Lord of the Sun and the Lady of the Moon. May they never again shine upon me if I do not fulfill my promise.”
The stallion froze.
Ari waited. The air seemed to get thicker, making it hard to breathe, making it hard to think clearly. There was something about the horse. Something that wasn’t quite right, but . . . He had beautiful gray eyes. And he was so big, so strong. Would he let her pet him, let her feel the ripple of muscles under that warm skin?
She felt strange. Why did she feel so strange? Was the magic in the fancy doing this to her?
Coming forward warily, the horse sniffed the fancy for several long seconds before he took it.
Ari popped the other piece into her mouth and tried not to gag.
It was just a piece of candy, no matter how it was shaped. But it reminded her of Royce’s anger when she’d refused to take him into her mouth as a prelude to the coupling. It reminded her of the way he’d laughed at her when he was done and the cruel things he’d called her before he walked away.
The candy melting on her tongue made her queasy so she chewed a couple of times and swallowed.
Pressing her hand to her stomach, she gulped air and waited for the queasiness to pass.
“Well, that’s done,” Ari sighed a minute later, “and it’s a better bargain than I would have made with any of the men in Ridgeley. So, my handsome lad, if your wanderings bring you to my cottage, you’ll be welcomed. And you won’t even have to wander far since it’s the cottage closest to Ahern’s farm.” She giggled with relief. “The rooms might be bit crowded with you filling them up, and I’ve not the slightest idea how those great legs of yours would fit into my bed, which is where I’m supposed to give you my affection, but a promise is a promise. Not that that would be of much interest to you.”