The House Of Gaian (39 page)

She rested one hand on the dark horse’s neck. “I don’t need escorts.”

“You’ll have them anyway.”

She didn’t bother to sigh. Padrick had given in when she’d insisted she didn’t have the appetite for a meal, but he wasn’t going to yield about the escorts.

“It wasn’t enough,” she said abruptly.

“What wasn’t enough, Morag?”

She turned away from him and placed her hands on the saddle as if to mount. But she stayed there, staring at leather instead of the man.

“They tortured. They maimed. The witches and other women they’d taken had suffered. But the Black Coat and the others ... They didn’t even hear Death’s whisper before they died. Was that justice, Padrick? Did that balance the scales for all the harm they’ve done?”

“Would knowing they suffered balance the scales?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

Padrick placed his hand over hers. “If you wanted them to suffer, then you succeeded, Morag. Until they pass through the Shadowed Veil, they will know something men like that would consider worse than death.”

Slowly, reluctantly, she turned her head to look at him. “What could be worse than death?”

“Defeat.”

Adolfo slowly crumpled the letter, working it until it was a ball enclosed in his fist.

The Arktos barons had failed him.
Failed him
. Instead of continuing the fight until there wasn’t a man standing, instead of destroying as many of the enemy in Sylvalan as they could, instead of fighting on to keep Sylvalan’s forces divided,
they had surrendered
. Put down their weapons and crawled to the witches with their tails between their legs. And they
were
given their lives while his Inquisitors, his
men
, were taken away and hunted down like animals, slaughtered by the Fae.

He wouldn’t even know that much if the messenger he’d sent north hadn’t been delayed by a few critical hours because his horse had thrown a shoe. The man had arrived in time to learn of the surrender and the Inquisitors’ deaths, had thought quickly enough to lie by claiming to have been sent by the southern barons to request news about the fighting in the north.

So he had the report that had been written for the enemy, had the enemy’s taunts and boasts burning behind his eyes, had confirmation, based on the questions his messenger had been asked, that the midland barons and some of the Clans among the Fae were gathered around Willowsbrook, waiting for him.

They could wait. And they could die. He wasn’t going to Willowsbrook with sniveling barons from Sylvalan or craven barons from Arktos. Wolfram was behind him, and Wolfram would not fail him. They would annihilate the army Liam had gathered. They would break the Mother’s Hills and crush them into dust— and everything that lived in that foul place. They would extinguish magic once and for all.

But before he brought his whole army up, he would take a small company of men and ride up to the very edge of Willowsbrook, and he would give that witch-lover Liam, and all the fools who followed him, a gift that would break their hearts.

What’s wrong with him
? Ashk wondered as Liam offered her a sickly smile and gestured for her to take the chair in front of his desk. He took his seat and placed his clasped, white-knuckled hands on the desk.

“I’m sorry to trouble you with this, but I have to ask. I have to be certain. And since this concerns the Fae ...” He pressed his lips together.

Ashk suppressed the urge to rub her forehead to ease the headache building there. “Liam, if you’re trying to tell me some of the Fae have taken ... liberties ... with some of the girls who live around here—”

“No,” Liam said quickly. “No, it’s nothing like that.” He offered another sickly smile. “Truth be told, I think the girls are a little disappointed that there haven’t been any offers to take moonlit walks. Of course, the girls don’t realize that the thought of having to deal with you, Selena, or Breanna afterward has pretty much stifled the urge for romance—among the human army as well as the Fae.”

“I understand why they’d be nervous about me or Selena, but why Breanna?”

Liam winced. “Stories travel. You know how it is. And the Fae ... Well, from what Varden and Falco told me, they all figure that any witch who would threaten to shoot the Lightbringer when he appeared interested in a girl wouldn’t hesitate to shoot any of
them
.”

Ashk shook her head and smiled. “I’m sorry I missed seeing that.” Then she sighed. “Whatever the problem is, Liam, just tell me.”

“There are Fae who are predators in their other form,” Liam said carefully.

“Yes, there are.”

“And those predators might do some hunting while they’re here.”

“They might.”

“They might hunt people.”

Ashk tensed. Her voice chilled. “Say what you have to say, Baron.”

Liam took a deep breath. Let it out slowly. “Two young children are missing from outlying farms. At first, their families thought they’d wandered off, saw something intriguing among the trees and followed it. They reported it to the guards who make a daily round to all the farms and estates, and there was a search.

But when the children weren’t found ....”

“People started wondering if the Fae might have indulged in a quick hunt—or had taken the children for some other reason,” Ashk finished for him.

“Yes.”

“Well,” Ashk said after a long silence, “I understand why they would ask the question.”

Liam looked slightly alarmed. “You do?”

Ashk gave in and nibbed her forehead. “I’m a mother, Liam. I have two children. If one of them was missing, I’d wonder about the Fae, too, but for a different reason. Or, perhaps, for the same reason.”

When she saw no comprehension in his eyes, she sighed. “If one of the Fae in the form of a predator killed those children, it is only the bodies that are gone. The loved one will go to the Summerland and return to the world one day. There’s a comfort in that. But if it was a different kind of predator that took those children ...”

“Nighthunters,” Liam said, turning pale.

Ashk nodded. “If I were the mother of either of those children, I’d rather wonder about the Fae than consider the other possibility There is no hope in the other possibility. When the nighthunters feast, there is no spirit left to gather, no one to take to the Shadowed Veil.”

“Mother’s mercy,” Liam whispered. “I know that. I’ve talked to Fae who have encountered nighthunters.

Breanna and I were attacked by them. But I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

Ashk pushed herself out of the chair. “We found the nest of nighthunters we scented, and the creatures have been killed and burned. I’d just gotten back when I got your message. I can’t say with certainty, but hopefully that was all of them that remained around Willowsbrook. If any more appear... Well, there are plenty of Fae around here now who can detect the scent. We’ll hope we can detect them before they do any harm. As for the children, I’ll send some of the winged Fae out to search. A hawk can see a great deal more than any of us can see on foot.”

Liam stood. “Thank you, Hunter.”

She shook her head. “Thank me when we’ve found the children. You didn’t say how old they were.”

“Young. Two or three years.”

Children
, Ashk thought as she went upstairs to wash up and indulge in an hour’s rest. Toddlers, really.

Old enough to scamper off in pursuit of a butterfly in a meadow or a fawn glimpsed in the woods. Caitlin had done it to her once. Had wandered off during a moment when her attention had been required elsewhere. She and the Clan had searched for a frantic day before she’d found her girl in a fox’s den, sound asleep with the kits snuggled around her, all of them being guarded by a very confused vixen.

She could wish for something that simple. Hope for something so screamingly normal. But she knew in her gut it wasn’t simple or normal. So she was left with the question of what had happened to two small children—just as she was left with the question of what had happened to Jean.

Hearing the guard captain call a halt, Adolfo pushed aside the cloth covering the carriage window and waited. No further orders were given. He’d heard no urgency to indicate a company from the enemy’s army was approaching. So he waited until the guard captain rode back to the carriage and bent low in the saddle to look at the Master Inquisitor.

“What is the delay?” Adolfo asked.

“One of the Sylvalan brats who were sent out with carts has returned. Says he’s found what you’re looking for,” the guard captain replied.

The Wolfram captain knew better than to let anything in his voice imply criticism of a decision made by the Master Inquisitor, but Adolfo knew the man hadn’t been pleased to have a choice assignment given to unknown, untried, unwanted bastards who came from the enemy’s land. After all, what man wouldn’t want to be the one to supply the tools the Witch’s Hammer needed to hamstring the enemy?

Adolfo leaned forward, but the guard captain dismounted quickly enough to open the door for him.

A good man, Adolfo thought approvingly. He had the proper balance of subservience and authority, and his ambitions didn’t outstrip his common sense. “Where is the Sylvalan boy?”

“Just up ahead. He was stopped by our outriders. I can have him brought to you, Master Adolfo. There’

s no need for you to walk.”

Adolfo raised his right hand in a gesture that was dismissive but not slighting. “I welcome the opportunity to stretch my legs,” he said mildly as he walked toward the head of the column of men. The column split, men stepping to the sides of the road to leave the center clear for him and the guard captain, who handed his horse’s reins to one of the men.

The boy stood to one side of the road, flanked by two guards. Two others flanked the cart, while the fifth held the horse.

Catching sight of him, the boy brightened and took a daring step away from the guards. “I succeeded, Master Adolfo. I found what you were looking for.”

Adolfo moved a few steps closer, then stopped to give the boy that mild stare that had shattered the nerves of Wolfram barons when the Master Inquisitor showed up at their estates unexpectedly.

“I am the only one who decides if you succeed, boy,” Adolfo said softly.

The boy paled and looked at the ground. “Yes, Master. I— My apologies for speaking out of turn.”

Adolfo smiled. “We’ll see if your success is reason enough for a loss of manners.” He walked over to the cart and frowned. Then a scent wafted up from the cart, and his heart began to race. He pointed to the smaller sacks. “Show me.”

The guards flanking the cart moved to one side, reached in, and untied the tops of the sacks.

Perfect, Adolfo thought. Of the eight carts he’d sent out, only three others had returned with anything he could use. When added to these ... Five tools weren’t as many as he’d hoped for, but they would be enough to distract the enemy leaders. Now all he needed ...

Tipping his head to indicate the large sack, he looked at the guard captain. “Show me.” Sweat beaded on his forehead. His heart hammered in his chest as the captain opened the sack and pulled it down enough to show him what was inside.

The girl’s terrified eyes stared at him as she made distressed sounds, muffled by the gag. She stank of fear and sweat. She also stank of magic.

Adolfo turned away from the cart. He studied the boy, now watching him anxiously. “You were right, boy. You did succeed. Well done.”

The boy sagged in relief, then recovered swiftly enough to ask, “Then I’ll become an apprentice? I’ll become an Inquisitor?”

That combination of brashness and hopeful fear. Ubel had been like that when he’d found him years ago.

Yes, perhaps he would keep his promise to this boy and mold him into a useful tool. Take him back to Wolfram to shape him and train him, then send him back here to be a hammer against his own people.

“You have much to learn before you can become a warrior against the Evil One and its servants,” Adolfo said. “As for your apprenticeship ... You can begin by looking after the creatures you brought me. Take good care of them.”

He hurried back to his carriage, the guard captain beside him. “We must act swiftly now. Send messengers back to the main army. Have them come up with all possible speed. Question the boy. See if he noticed any land near Willowsbrook that would serve us well in a fight. And assign some of your best archers to join the outriders. As we get closer to the enemy, they may use the Fae to try to spy on us.

Kill any bird that flies near, any beast that stops to watch men pass instead of fleeing, any hawk soaring overhead.”

The guard captain nodded. “I have some archers who can shoot the eye out of a soaring hawk.”

Adolfo paused at the carriage door. “That’s exactly what needs to be done.” He swung into the carriage. “You have your orders.”

“As you will, Master Adolfo.” The guard captain saluted, then moved off to give his orders.

As I will
, Adolfo thought as he settled himself in the carriage and closed his eyes. He smiled.
Yes. As I
will
.