Shadows and Light (12 page)

“But an acceptable mount for a lady,” Ashk protested.

“— but it was a good horse, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste.”

Ashk opened her mouth, then shut it with a snap of her teeth.

“Yes,” Padrick said, grinning at her, “he softened Neall up like the sun softens butter.”

“It isn’t right to take advantage of Neall,” Ashk growled.

“Considering the wink he gave me after Evan walked away, I’d say Neall’s got a fair amount of horse trader in him, too.”

Ashk screamed — but quietly enough not to cause a commotion that would have people banging on the door wanting answers.

“So when you and Evan go over to bargain for the little horse, don’t make Neall do all the work of haggling himself down to the price he has in mind. You have to do your share in this bartering.”

“I don’t barter.”

Padrick took her hand, his expression turning serious. “Yes, you do. All the time. Just not for small things. Not for things like this.”

Ashk studied his face, studied the way the candle flame gave it light and shadows. “When do you have to leave for the barons’ council?”

“I should have left already, but I wanted to bring Evan home before I went. Don’t be worrying now,” he added, brushing her hair behind her shoulders. “I’ll go up to Tir Alainn and use the bridges between the Clan territories until I get to the southern end of the Mother’s Hills. That will save me a day’s travel, if not more.”

“You’ll need to ride a Fae horse if you’re planning to use the shining roads.”

“I can cloud a stable lad’s mind well enough for him to see nothing more than a fine but ordinary horse,” Padrick said.

“I know,” Ashk replied, smiling.

“And I can use the glamour to hide this gentry face behind the mask of looking Fae so that my presence in Tir Alainn won’t upset the Clans beyond the west.”

What would Morag have said if I’d told her that I loved a man who, because of the mingling of bloodlines over generations, was not only a gentry baron, but Fae, as well?
Ashk wondered.
If she’d shown contempt for our
marriage, which is how I suspect other Fae beyond the western Clans would respond, it would have killed the friendship slowly growing between us. So whose feelings was I protecting by saying nothing until she was thrust into meeting Padrick and the children today? Morag’s? Or my own?

“I have to go, Ashk,” Padrick said softly. “It pains my heart to leave you, but I have to go to this council.”

She pulled herself from her own thoughts and realized he was genuinely troubled. “I know that. We each have the duties that go with who we are.” She studied him carefully. “What troubles you, Padrick?”

When he didn’t say anything, she waited. She’d learned over the years that when he had something on his mind, he collected his thoughts and then strung them together like beads before presenting them to her.

“Many things,” he finally said. “I didn’t like what I heard at the barons’ council last autumn. Didn’t like what I was hearing at the club where I’d dine so that I could listen to more than the other barons braying their opinions at each other. There were things happening back east last summer that bode ill for all of us, and it was as much what wasn’t said as what was that troubles me — especially when I could put those things together with what Neall told me about the Black Coats.”

Ashk shivered. Neall had been more willing to talk to Padrick than to her, but she’d learned enough from Padrick to share his uneasiness. And it occurred to her that if she truly wanted to know more, the person to ask was Morag.

Well, she
would
ask Morag. But not tonight.

“I’m also troubled by the merchant boys,” Padrick continued.

“You don’t approve of them as friends for Evan?” She wasn’t sure she approved of them since she was fairly certain Evan wouldn’t have thought of trying to corner her into buying him a horse at his age if there hadn’t been two
coin-counting little brains helping him look at a mother’s loving words as a chip on the bartering table.

“They’re fine lads. Intelligent and lively, yet courteous and respectful. No, it’s not the boys themselves, but…There are good schools in the east — better schools than you can find in the west if the eastern barons can be believed. A wealthy merchant family is minor gentry. They wouldn’t have any trouble getting the boys into a school in the east. So why would an eastern merchant family send their boys so far from home?”

“Because they don’t care enough about the boys’ feelings to let them stay close to home?” Ashk said.

Padrick shook his head. “They care. The boys mentioned that their uncle, who captains one of their ships, brought his ship in to the nearest port and took a coach the rest of the way to bring them gifts from the family and spend the Winter Solstice with them since there wasn’t enough time for them to go home. When I went down to fetch Evan, their uncle was also there, and we talked for a bit. He mentioned that he’d like to find a nice harbor town here in the west, a place where he could establish a port of call for the family business. He said it all easily enough, but when he learned I was a baron, he was also quick to mention how it would benefit the towns here to have goods brought in by sea.”

Ashk stared at her husband. “He was offering a — what do you call it? A bribe?”

“In that he implied any goods I might be interested in could be gotten for a leaner price than I could get them elsewhere, yes, it was a bribe.”

Ashk sputtered. “What makes him think you’d accept such a thing — or that a man whose estate sits a day’s ride from the coast would have any influence?”

“But I do have influence, don’t I?” Padrick said quietly. “At least, at one harbor where there’s only a paper baron for whom I’ve been casting an absentee vote in the council for the past several years.”

“You really think he’d be interested in a…a safe harbor surrounded by a village that has very few human residents?” Ashk said doubtfully.

“There’s power in him, Ashk. Not Fae, but there’s something in him that I recognized. And I think he sensed the magic in me, which is why he risked talking to me in the first place. I don’t think he’s looking for a safe harbor for his ship or that he gives a damn about expanding the trading territory to fill his family’s coffers. I think he’s really looking for a safe harbor for his family, something that’s established before they may need it. I think that’s why those boys are going to school here in the west. Safe harbor.” Padrick paused. “He also mentioned that his wife and young daughter were going to be visiting kin this summer, a place that borders the Mother’s Hills.”

Ashiver went through Ashk. Not fear, exactly. More like the feeling of stepping into deep, cool shadows after spending time out in the sun when its heat lay heavy on the skin.

Watching her, Padrick nodded. “Oh, he never said the words. He was careful about that, always watching me to see if I understood and accepted or if he had said too much. But he mentioned that their kin’s property was fine land, and held a fine woods. An old woods.”

“An Old Place,” Ashk said softly. “You think his family has roots in the House of Gaian?”

“I’m not sure if they wanted to impress me or Evan, but before he could stop them, his nephews were boasting about how their uncle had never lost a ship at sea, had never limped into port after a bad storm. They said when a storm blew up, their uncle would stand at the bow of his ship, would tie himself to the railing if need be, and call to the sea — and no matter how fierce the storm, no matter how high the waves, the sea would let his ship pass safely through.”

“Mother’s mercy.”

“So, yes, I think it’s safe to assume his family has roots in the House of Gaian. And that puts them all at risk.”

“You’ll find a safe harbor for him and his,” Ashk said, not really asking a question since she realized he’d almost set his mind to doing just that.

“I wanted to talk with you first.”

“You’ll find a safe harbor for him and his,” she repeated.

Padrick sighed as if he’d just been relieved of a great weight. “They have a shipping office in Durham. I have the name of the cousin who runs it. I’ll leave a message to be passed on.”

And I’ll talk to Morag
, Ashk thought.

“While I’m gone, I’d like the children to stay with you.”

“Of course. I can play lady of the manor for a week or two.”

“No. I’d like them to stay here. With you.”

Ashk sorted through the feelings she heard behind the words — and didn’t like them. “I know your people aren’t that comfortable with dealing with me, but —”

“They’re more comfortable than you seem to think,” Padrick said sharply. “Mother’s tits, Ashk. The farm folk don’t leave trinkets or other little offerings in order to placate the Fae as they might do in other places. They do it in the hopes that whoever they’re leaving it for might show up while they’re still there, might talk with them a bit. Do you realize how many of them showed up at Neall and Ari’s door when they arrived here last summer, offering a bit of baking or a dish of food? How many of the men gave up a day of working their own land to help Neall? How many of the women came to clean the cottage because Ari was still too fragile to do the heavy work by herself? Those things weren’t done out of fear of the witch and the young Lord of the Woods. They were done because the people wanted to know Ari and Neall.”

Ashk looked down at their joined hands. “I didn’t realize. Not completely. The truth is, I’m still not

comfortable being around most humans. Many of their ways still seem strange to me.”

Padrick put his other hand over hers. “It hasn’t been so many years that both sides have tried to know each other more openly. Before that, we were always aware of each other but, for the most part, always apart.”

“I’ll stay at the manor house. It will be good practice for me to deal with the people when you’re not there to take care of things.”

“No,” Padrick said firmly. He paused. “My people are servants or farmers. In the village, they’re merchants and tailors and seamstresses and bakers. They’re good people, but . they’re not the Fae. They don’t grow up with a bow in their hands. While I’m gone, it will ease my heart to know the children are safe here — with you.”

“If I make that promise to ease your heart, what will you promise to ease mine?” Ashk asked. “Where you’re going, you’ll find no safety in the woods.”

“I’ll take care, wife. That I promise. And I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

When he leaned forward to kiss her, she turned her face away, then put one hand on his shoulder to let him know she wasn’t refusing his touch but there was something more to say.

“My grandfather is in the woods.”

“I thought that’s who you had sent the children to see before the feast,” Padrick said. “I’m sorry he didn’t choose to join us. Was he feeling poorly after the journey?”

She felt herself stepping away from the light, going deeper into the shadows of the woods, could almost hear blood dripping from her knife onto the leaves beneath her feet. Not today. Not tomorrow. But soon. Soon.

“The old Lord is in the woods,” she repeated, putting a sharper emphasis on the words. “He hasn’t come to the Clan house. He hasn’t changed to his human form at all since he arrived.”

“I see.”

But he didn’t see. Not really. His Fae heritage had lain dormant inside him — and might have remained dormant if they hadn’t become lovers, if it hadn’t been awakened by the continued presence of her strength and particular gift. He understood her Clan better than she understood his humans, but he didn’t understand this.

Padrick took a deep breath, let it out slowly. “I’ll talk to Forrester when I stop at the manor house to pick up my saddlebags. He and his gamekeepers will keep an eye out for your grandfather.”

“It’s not that — but I’m grateful to you for thinking of it.” Ashk closed her eyes. Pieces of the past few days were swirling around in her mind, trying to form a pattern. She just couldn’t see it yet. “First Morag arrives. Why here? Why now? Did she truly choose the road at random that led her to this Clan, or was her gift guiding her here, so subtly she still doesn’t realize she was summoned? Then my grandfather, the old Lord of the Woods, arrives. There’s something he knows, something he senses. But he keeps to his stag form, stays in the woods because it’s the clearest way he has to show me whatever it is that brought him here. And you’re approached by a sea merchant whose family has ties to the House of Gaian. They’re all connected. Somehow.” She shook her head.
The pattern won’t come if you try to force it. Think of something else
. Her eyes snapped open. “Curse the barons’ council twice over! You won’t be back home in time for the Summer Moon.”

Padrick studied her carefully, as if trying to decipher her change in mood. “And will you go out walking that night, darling Ashk?”

“Oh, I’ll go out walking that night, but I won’t be wearing a form any other man would want to cuddle.”

He grinned. “I love the feel of your fur beneath my hands. All thick and soft.”

She narrowed her eyes. “No. It’s too hot, and I’m shedding something fierce.”

“Ah, well, then. I’ll give you a good brushing when I get home.”

“And if you let anything but your eyes roam that night, I’ll pluck you, my fine hawk.”

He took her hand, pressed it against his cock. “The bird’s already plucked, but quite willing to be petted.”

Laughing, Ashk pulled him down on top of her.

I
am sorry, but with the baron away and the mistress not at home, I do not have the authority to offer you shelter.”

Faced with the butler’s genuine concern, Aiden tried to hide some of the weariness that had plagued him for the past two days. He worked to give the man a smile. “I understand. With the troubles in the villages east of here, it is wise to be . cautious . of strangers.” Touching fingertips to temple in a salute, he turned away from the door and started walking back to where Lyrra waited with the horses.

“Minstrel.”

I am the Bard, the Lord of Song
, Aiden thought bitterly as he turned back toward the butler. Such a civilized gift of magic, being the Bard — and so useless in the face of what he and Lyrra had recently seen.