\u201cDon\u2019t say that name,\u201d the Wild Hunt\u2019s leader said softly.\u00a0 \u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phelan\u2019s mouth tasted like ashes.\u00a0 He swallowed hard, nodding slightly as Seamus turned and beckoned to another of the riders, a waif-slender figure on a solid chestnut mare.\u00a0 Was it really Seamus, or was he imagining his cousin\u2019s face attached to the leader of the Hunt?\u00a0 Was this some kind of cruel trick?<\/p>\n
They said he was alive.\u00a0 They said he was dead.\u00a0 Is this what they meant?<\/em>\u00a0 His heart stutter-stepped and for a second, the world spun dizzily around him.\u00a0 Thom\u2019s hand closed around his shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cPhelan?\u201d<\/p>\n He waved away the question, staring transfixed as the slender figure leaned down to catch murmured instructions from the Hunt\u2019s lead rider for the span of a few seconds, then straightened in his saddle.\u00a0 Seamus turned away from his rider and walked directly to Phelan, taking him roughly but not unkindly by the arm<\/p>\n \u201cWalk with me, Wanderer.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a tone that brooked no argument, but Thom seemed poised to make one on his behalf.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fine,\u201d Phelan said, glancing at his friend.\u00a0 \u201cBring out a few bottles of whiskey and bourbon and wait for me here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you sure?\u201d J.T. asked.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is,\u201d Thordin told them, eyes never leaving Seamus\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201cCome on, we\u2019d better do as he says.\u00a0 This lot is likely to get ornery if we don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Phelan caught Thom\u2019s shudder out of the corner of his eye as he turned away to walk with Seamus.\u00a0 An errant wind teased the hems of their cloaks as they walked toward the river, parallel to the settlement\u2019s walls.\u00a0 Both men were silent for a few dozen steps before Seamus turned his face toward the starlit sky.<\/p>\n \u201cI see you\u2019re no longer a stranger to command,\u201d he said, his voice soft.\u00a0 It sounded different than it once had, a strange, jagged edge marring its once-musical cadence.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t command them,\u201d Phelan said, then shook his head hard. \u201cHow are you here?\u00a0 How are you with them<\/em>?\u00a0 We were told you were dead.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI very nearly was.\u201d\u00a0 Silence dropped over them like a cloak and Phelan momentarily feared that he\u2019d asked the wrong question too soon, that he\u2019d never know the answers to all of the questions that swirled through his head like a maelstrom.<\/p>\n \u201cTruth be known,\u201d Seamus continued after a few long moments, \u201cI\u2019m hardly the man I was once upon a time.\u00a0 Betrayal does that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWithin the Hunt?\u201d<\/p>\n Seamus snorted softly.\u00a0 \u201cTo the Hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n Ice shot through Phelan\u2019s veins.\u00a0 \u201cHow?\u00a0 Who<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n A bitter, wry smile twisted the former Taliesin\u2019s lips.\u00a0 \u201cMy wife.\u201d<\/p>\n Phelan stopped dead, heart thundering.\u00a0 \u201cLeinth?\u201d<\/p>\n Seamus startled, twisting back toward Phelan, the muscles of his shoulders, neck, and jaw taut.\u00a0 \u201cLeinth was my lover and would that I had married her instead of her sister.\u201d<\/p>\n Phelan stumbled back a step and sat down in the snow.\u00a0 Seamus gave him a strange, curious look.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you know of mo ghr\u00e1 daor<\/em>, Phelan?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cD\u00e9ithe agus arrachtaigh<\/em>, why the hell didn\u2019t you see fit to tell us then?\u201d\u00a0 Phelan\u2019s staff lay next to him in the snow as he raked both hands through his hair, suddenly sweating.\u00a0 \u201cYou could have\u2014there was so much\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFather never would have accepted it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPox on your bloody father,\u201d Phelan snarled.\u00a0 \u201cHe was dead soon enough!\u00a0 You could have told us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was sold to the Hunt the day I left home,\u201d Seamus said, eyes gleaming in the darkness.\u00a0 \u201cYou would have had me plunge all of you into danger and uncertainty?\u00a0 I did what I had to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t use that line on me, Seamus, I practically invented it.\u201d\u00a0 Phelan swallowed against the anger and sickness that rolled together into a lump in his throat.\u00a0 \u201cPart of us died the day that rider came.\u00a0 You don\u2019t know what it did to us.\u00a0 If we\u2019d\u2014do you have any\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can only hope she eventually forgave me,\u201d Seamus whispered.\u00a0 \u201cBefore they killed her, I hope that she was able to find a way to forgive me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKilled her?\u201d\u00a0 Phelan pushed to his feet, fingers closing around the warm wood of the staff.\u00a0 \u201cLeinth\u2019s alive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s here<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 The two men stared at each other as they stood in the snow.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s happened to you, Seamus?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI lead the Wild Hunt,\u201d his cousin whispered. \u201cIsn\u2019t that explanation enough?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Phelan said flatly.\u00a0 \u201cNot by a long shot.\u201d<\/p>\n He took Seamus\u2019s arm and marched him toward the bridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cDon\u2019t say that name,\u201d the Wild Hunt\u2019s leader said softly.\u00a0 \u201cNot yet.\u201d Phelan\u2019s mouth tasted like ashes.\u00a0 He swallowed hard, nodding slightly as Seamus turned and beckoned to another of the riders, a waif-slender figure on a solid chestnut mare.\u00a0 … Continue reading