The House Of Gaian by Anne Bishop

she was going to find out why. It was becoming clear that the Fae were distrusted and disliked, even feared, and nothing short of desperation was going to make the humans and witches welcome their presence.
    “We’ll go with you to the barn,” Selena said. “It will help these two settle in better.”
    Chad turned his head, and called, “Parker. Come help with the horses.”
    A boy appeared in the doorway. He hesitated for a moment before joining his father. His eyes were wide, his face filled with awed delight.
    “Oh, they’re beauties!” Parker said.
    Both horses snorted and laid their ears back tight to their heads.
    “He was talking about you, not me,” Selena said dryly, resting a hand on Mistrunner’s neck.
    The boy said hastily, “Oh, you’re pretty too.” He gave his father an anxious look.
    Rhyann burst out laughing. “Let it go, laddy-boy, and just show us where to put these two.” She stepped around Fox until she was facing the dark horse. “Behave. If you act like the gentleman I know you can be, perhaps the boy can be coaxed into giving you a treat.”
    Both horses swung their ears forward.
    Selena pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.
    Chad cleared his throat, and muttered, “This way.”
    They followed father and son to the barn. The horses were unsaddled and given a quick rubdown before being escorted to the barn door that led to the fenced pasture.
    Keeping her eyes on the boy, who had continued into the pasture with the horses, Selena said quietly, “
    Now. Tell me why you’re angry with the Fae.”
    “It’s nothing to do with you, Lady, and I’m sorry we didn’t give you the welcome guests deserve.”
    A flash of anger sizzled under her skin. She struggled to bank the branch of fire that wanted to answer the heat of her feelings. “Do you know what’s been happening in the east? Do you understand that Sylvalan is at risk?”
    “I understand well enough,” Chad replied. He kept his voice low, but it was edged with temper. “I understand well enough that more than trouble could be heading our way. Mother’s tits, woman! The minstrels have been singing songs about the Black Coats and their evil for months now. And a few days ago, the baron who rules this county came to the Old Place to pay his respects. The baron . A responsible man, one who looks after his own, but he’s never come here . Came near to scaring my Ella out of her wits when he showed up with the squire and a handful of guards.”
    “What did he want?” Rhyann asked.
    “Said the last barons’ council made him realize he’d been neglectful of some of his duties. Said the Old Place wasn’t part of the land he ruled.”

    “It wouldn’t be,” Selena said. “The Old Places belong to the Mother’s Daughters.”
    Chad nodded. “He wanted us to know that it was his intention to be a good neighbor, and if we needed help from his people, we need only ask.” He smiled. “He meant well, but this isn’t his home village and he doesn’t spend more than a couple of days here each year to make sure the squire and the magistrate are keeping things right and proper, so he didn’t know how things stand with us here.”
    “And how do things stand?”
    “The squire is my father’s cousin, and one of the guards who came with the baron that day is the brother of my older brother’s wife. Ella’s brother is the village blacksmith. So, you see, we’ve already got ties to the ‘baron’s people.’ Doesn’t matter if those Black Coats come here or come to the village. We’ll stand together.”
    “I’m glad to hear it, but you haven’t answered my question about the Fae,” Selena said.
    Chad’s expression hardened. He was silent for a long time, watching Parker’s slow return to the barn. “
    They aren’t good neighbors. Oh, I know they all live in their grand Tir Alainn, but that’s no excuse for—”
    He blew out a breath. “If they want to go riding, there’s plenty of open land. There’s