The Pillars Of The World (30 page)

Exhausted, Morag snuggled into the straw to get a little more comfortable. Even with the summer days being so long now, they hadn’t been able to travel as far as she’d hoped. But they had reached this farm.

One of the small bags of silver she’d found in the courier’s saddlebags when she’d stopped long enough to strip the saddle off the horse had been enough to buy grain for the horses, a meal for herself, and a place in the barn for her and the dark horse. The sun stallion and the mares were in a nearby pasture.

They would be safe enough for the night.

The farmer thought the courier’s horse might recover with proper care, so she’d given the animal to him to keep or sell. She couldn’t take it with her. Fae horses had more strength and stamina than ordinary horses. Sooner or later, the poor beast would be left behind to fend for itself if the effort to keep up didn’

t kill it.

Tomorrow was the Solstice. She hadn’t known that, had lost track of the days. The farmer and his wife had invited her to stay for the Midsummer celebration, but she had declined. This year, the only thing the Solstice meant to her was there would be more daylight during which it was safe to travel. And that was especially important because she finally had a name in the human world to mark her destination.

Ridgeley.

It had taken some effort to get her hosts to understand that she wanted to find a village on the southern coast of Sylvalan but didn’t know its name. She really wasn’t interested in a particular village; she just wanted to have a marker in the human world that would help her reach the southern Clans as swiftly as possible. Because of the horses, they’d told her the place she was looking for was a village called Ridgeley. An old man named Ahern lived near there—a man who bred the finest horses around. When the dark horse had pricked its ears at the sound of Ahern’s name, she had a suspicion about who she would find there. But even if it wasn’t the right place, the Lord of the Horse would surely know where to find the Lightbringer or the Huntress.

Three days more. Four at the most, depending on how swiftly they could travel. And then . . .

No. She wouldn’t let her mind circle around what might be. She would find out soon enough what might be waiting for her in Ridgeley.

“Today is the Summer Solstice,” Ari told Merle as she brushed him. “The longest day of the year. A celebration day. And the only day in the summer when work gets set aside to simply enjoy the feel of the season. Well, there’ll be a little work or else we won’t have our feast this evening.” She put the brush beside her on the bench and leaned back against the cottage wall. She grinned at the puppy, who seemed to be grinning back. “May the Mother bless Ahern.
Beef
. A lovely piece of beef that will make a wonderful roast. Not that the rabbits the hawk has brought haven’t been welcome, but they aren’t the same thing, are they?”

She stood up, stretched. “Come on. This morning we’ll walk the land. Not all of it, of course, Brightwood is much too big for that. But I’ll show you some of my favorite places. The hill my grandmother always favored because she said it was the best place for her to sit and listen to the messages the wind brought her. And the pond my mother favored.”

She sobered. Merle, sensing the change, whined quietly.

“It’s also the day to visit the dead,” Ari said softly. “Because it may be the last time I’ll take this walk on the Solstice. My grandmother died on that hill. She went to sleep in the autumn sunshine . . . and she never woke up. And my mother . . . Her body rests with the Great Mother near the pond. I wasn’t sure she would want to be there after . . . There wasn’t another place I thought she would prefer to be, except, perhaps, near that spot on the beach that she often went to. But it wouldn’t have been a good resting place.”

She shook off the mood before it had a chance to take root. “A long ramble, then I’ll start preparing our feast. And after that, a long, deep bath.” She laughed as Merle backed away. The puppy was having trouble learning what “no” meant, but, apparently, he’d learned “bath” quick enough. “For me. You’ve already had your bath. I don’t know what you rolled in this morning, but you certainly smell better now.”

Merle sneezed.

Laughing, Ari set off, with Merle bumbling along beside her, to walk the land and listen to whatever messages were there.

“Are we ready?” Dianna asked quietly.

“If the horses’ hind legs don’t sink into the ground from the weight of these saddlebags, then we’re ready,” Aiden teased. “I wouldn’t be surprised to learn we didn’t leave anything for the Clan feast.”

“We aren’t bringing
that
much,” Dianna muttered.

“That’s easy for you to say.” Lyrra said it in a grumble, but her eyes danced with amusement. “You weren’t the one who kept taking bits and pieces of the feast—or the jars to put them in. And you weren’t the one who requested a plainly roasted chicken.” She widened her eyes and shuddered. “
Plain
chicken?” she said in horror, her voice a high, scratchy, perfect imitation of the Lady of the Hearth, who ruled the kitchens that produced the meals for the Clan. “The Huntress
can’t
be wanting
plain
chicken.”

Dianna stared at Lyrra, not sure if she should laugh or run. “Did we get a plain chicken?”

Lyrra, continuing her imitation, sniffed haughtily. “It’ll be basted with honey butter. That will be plain enough. Imagine.
Plain
chicken, No stuffings. No sauces.” Sniff. “So, yes,” Lyrra said in her own voice,

“we got a plainly roasted chicken, and I’m sure between requesting that and snitching the rest I’ll never get another morsel out of the kitchens no matter how many amusing stories I tell.”

“Oh,” Dianna said. She was very glad she hadn’t braved the kitchens. The Lady of the Hearth would have been doubly offended if
she’d
asked for the chicken directly. At least with Lyrra, such a request, while unusual, wasn’t too shocking. The Muse was known for moments of whimsy.

“Are you sure we can’t bring a packhorse?” Aiden asked plaintively.

“That would be too obvious,” Dianna said tartly. Then she looked at Aiden’s harp and caught her lower lip between her teeth. “Unless
you
need one.”

He smiled at her, and she knew she’d swallowed the bait and never saw the hook.

“I’m bringing my smallest harp,” Aiden said. “It doesn’t have as much range as the other, but it will do well enough for this evening. And Lyrra can manage her drum. It’s not that long a ride.”

“Then let’s go while everyone else is preoccupied with dressing for the evening feast and festivities.”

Except everyone
wasn’t
preoccupied. Falco met them before they reached the stables.

“Take me with you,” he said.

“This is a private celebration,” Dianna said, giving him her best Huntress stare.

“You’re going to the cottage, aren’t you? That’s what you’ve been whispering about these past few days, isn’t it?”

“This is none of your concern,” Dianna said sharply.

“You’re taking Aiden and Lyrra, and
they’ve
never even been there before.” He gave her a sly look. “I’

ve been there several times.”

“And you wouldn’t be able to keep
that
to yourself,” Dianna snapped. “She knows the hawk is a Fae Lord, but she doesn’t know
I’m
Fae, and she’s not going to. Not yet. But you’d give out so many hints about rabbits and hawks she’d have to be deaf and blind not to realize
you’re
the hawk. And if you’re with us, it would make her wonder about
us
.”

Falco looked sulky. “If I can’t go with you, I’ll just have to spend the evening with Lucian.”

Dianna’s breath caught at the audacity of that threat. Lucian would find out about this evening sooner or later, but she’d prefer that it be later. Much later.

“If wanting to go is making him stupid enough to utter a statement like that, we’d better take him with us,”

Aiden said coolly. “At least that way we’ll know what he’s up to. But the Lord of Hawks would do well to remember just how sharply the Bard can hone words into a weapon.”

“Especially when he has the Muse to inspire him,” Lyrra added.

Falco looked nervous but didn’t back down. “I’ll behave. I just want to see how witches celebrate the Solstice.”

Don’t we all
, Dianna thought, wondering just what they would find when they reached Brightwood.

Ari put on the long, sleeveless sea-blue vest, then looked down at herself. Her own brown skirt would stand for the earth. The ivory lawn tunic, which had belonged to her grandmother, would stand for air.

Her mother’s vest would stand for water.

“I doubt anyone would mistake me for a lady of fashion, but at least, in some way, the three of us will stand together for this celebration. Besides, no one but Merle is going to see me, and
he
won’t care how I’m dressed. And
I
don’t care what anyone would think about the way I’m dressed anyway. Well, perhaps Neall.” She paused, then added softly, “But he would understand that the three of us together had held the four branches of the Mother, and this is the only way I can do that—and this is only a gesture to water and air at best. But I still need something for fire.”

Opening a drawer in her dressing table, she took out her grandmother’s jewelry box. “Gran used to wear a garnet pin to stand for fire. That would—” She opened the box, frowned at the contents. Lucian’s gifts were on top of the bits of jewelry the women in her family had collected over generations.

She took out a ruby pendant, held it up to the light.

“On this day, we give thanks to the Lightbringer, the Lord of the Sun, for the season of light and the warmth of that makes all things grow.”

She didn’t think she would be able to say those words this time. It had been different when he’d been nameless, faceless. When it had seemed that he did, indeed, hold the power of the sun in his grasp. When she’d thought he was a little different from the rest of the Fae, who seemed to use their gifts only when there was something in it for them. But he really wasn’t different from the rest of them. In fact, he had much in common with the gentry men of her own world— except that he could turn into a horse.

No, it was the Mother who changed the seasons and made things grow. The Lightbringer might be one of Her most powerful servants, but he was no less a servant than the rest of them—and he didn’t even acknowledge that much.

Do you ever give anything you value, Lucian? Do you ever give when the giving would
inconvenience you?

It didn’t matter what he did or didn’t do. The pledge she’d made to him had been fulfilled. And there was Neall to think about now, Neall who was patiently waiting for an answer. But there was one way she could honor the Lightbringer and what he stood for.

She put on the ruby pendant. It nestled above the pentagram as if it belonged there.

It was the first time she had worn any of the jewelry he had given her. Since he was who he was, the pendant was a fitting choice to stand for fire.

Dianna wasn’t sure if it was shock or just surprise that filled Ari’s face when she looked out the open half of the kitchen door and saw them all standing there.

“I didn’t want you celebrating the Solstice alone, so I decided to join you.” Dianna hesitated, no longer certain this was a good idea since Ari looked so uncomfortable. “And I brought some friends,” she finished lamely.

“Blessings of the day to you,” Ari said.

Oh dear
, Dianna thought when Ari didn’t open the other half of the door and welcome them in.
Maybe
she isn’t alone. Maybe that Neall is with her, and that’s why she isn‘t eager to have us here. If
that’s the case, that’s all the more reason to stay. I’d like to get another look at Lucian’s rival
. “

This is Aiden, Lyrra, and Falco. Aiden is a minstrel, and Lyrra sometimes accompanies him.”

“I’m his inspiration,” Lyrra said, giving Ari a smile.

Aiden slanted a look at Lyrra and said nothing.

Looking more resigned than pleased, Ari opened the kitchen door. “Come in and be welcome.”

It was the first time Dianna had seen Ari openly wear the pentagram. It was also the first time she’d seen Ari wear any jewelry that had come from Lucian. Oh, yes, she recognized that pendant and began to wonder—and worry—about why Ari chose to wear it tonight.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Falco’s grimace as he made a quick appraisal of Ari’s costume.

And she saw the way Ari blushed and looked increasingly uncomfortable.

Before she could decide what to say, or how to move close enough to Falco to stomp on his foot without it being obvious, Lyrra stepped forward. Her expression was equally appraising.

“Is that a traditional Solstice costume?” Lyrra asked. “It reminds me of places where land and water meet.” She laughed quietly. “Never mind me. Everyone says I can be a bit fanciful at times.”

“Actually, you’re right,” Ari said. “I chose these clothes to stand for earth, water, air, and fire—the four branches of the Mother.”

Dianna suppressed a sigh. Had Ari given any thought at all to Lucian when she decided to wear that pendant or was the ruby being a red stone the sole reason for the decision?

“We didn’t come empty-handed,” Dianna said brightly.

Ari still hesitated. “Dianna, may I speak with you for a moment?” She turned and walked into the cottage

’s main room.

Glancing uneasily at her companions, Dianna followed.

“I appreciate your thoughtfulness,” Ari said hurriedly, keeping her voice low so she wouldn’t be overheard. “But the Solstice— Do they know what I am?”

“Yes, they know,” Dianna replied.

“And they can accept that?”

“They wouldn’t have come with me if they couldn’t.” Dianna waited. “Is there something you need to do this evening that can’t be done while others are here?”

“There is something that needs to be done,” Ari agreed slowly, “but it can be observed by others.”

“I just wanted to bring you a little company and music. If that doesn’t give pleasure, we can go.”

“No,” Ari said quickly. She finally gave Dianna a warm smile. “No, don’t go. It
would
give me pleasure to celebrate with you.”

“In that case, let’s unpack the feast.”

As she turned back toward the kitchen, she heard a soft whimper.

“Merle?” Ari said, walking over to the rocking chair in front of the hearth. She knelt beside it, frowning at the cowering puppy. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. Merle. These are friends.”

Not his friends
, Dianna thought as she stared at the puppy.
And he knows it
.

Ari rose. “I guess he’s intimidated by having so many people here. He’s not used to it.”

That explanation would serve well enough.

Not giving Ari any more time to wonder about the puppy’s behavior, Dianna linked her arm through Ari’

s and led the girl back to the kitchen.

Lyrra was emptying the saddlebags Aiden and Falco had brought in. A variety of pots and jars filled the worktable beside the sink. Apparently, they’d had no doubts about her ability to convince Ari to let them stay.