Free The House Of Gaian by Anne Bishop Page A

be enough to save all of Sylvalan’s people from destruction.
    It always came down to that need, to defend the Great Mother and protect all Her children from those who would destroy and devour. So she would find her courage, swallow her fear, and meet the Fae tomorrow night. Besides, she wasn’t sure if the power that had drawn her there would let her walk away.
    “Come on,” she said, gathering the reins. “Let’s pay our respects to the Daughters who live here and beg some hospitality.”
    Before Rhyann could reply, Mistrunner snorted softly and Fox, Rhyann’s dark horse, stamped a foot as if in agreement.
    The women looked at each other and shrugged. Both horses were almost too intelligent for comfort, as well as stubborn when something wasn’t to their liking, but those traits had been the reason why Selena had been able to talk her father out of hiring men to escort them on this journey.
    As long as those two are under you, you‘ll be safe enough , her father had said. There’s nothing that can outrun them, and they won’t take you anyplace that’s not to their liking .
    The two horses swung into an easy trot, apparently having decided their riders had tarried long enough.
    They moved silently on the wide trail through the woods, their hooves making no sound.
    How did two witches end up with Fae horses ? Selena wondered, not for the first time. Fox had shown up late last autumn, taken one look at Rhyann and tried to follow her into the house. He wouldn’t leave and wouldn’t let anyone else near him until she loudly announced that he belonged to her. After that, the dark horse with lethal hooves acted like a docile pet.
    Mistrunner... She still wasn’t sure about Mistrunner. She’d been out in a clearing three years ago, celebrating the Great Mother and the full moon, playing with the power that swirled inside her. She’d braided the strength of the earth to moonlight, dazzled it with air and drops of water, warmed it with the heat of fire. When she was done, she’d stared at the glittering path that rose from the land and disappeared into the night sky, uncertain if she was delighted or uneasy about what she had done.
    And then she heard the desperate, terrified scream, and shouted, “Here!”
    A heavy mist poured out of the sky, obscuring the top end of her glittering path. A gray yearling burst out of that mist, galloping down the path she’d created as if it were a solid road, stumbling a little when his hooves touched firm earth. He raced past her, getting as far away from the path as he could without leaving the clearing.
    Unnerved that something had come down a path she’d thought led nowhere and had no real substance, she’d unraveled the magic and grounded the power—and her glittering path disappeared. Which left her with a terrified young animal that had decided she was the only safe thing in a strange world. So she ended up taking him home with her and naming him Mistrunner.
    She suspected he had come from Tir Alainn, but she still didn’t know what had terrified him or how he’d found her glittering path and recognized it as a way to reach the world ... and safety. She never tried to find out who he belonged to—and she admitted to herself that part of her apprehension in meeting the Fae was that someone would recognize him and want him back.
    “We’re here,” Rhyann said.
    Selena blinked. “Where?”
    “Where your body has been but you haven’t,” Rhyann replied testily. She leaned toward Selena. “We aren’t home anymore. You can’t get so lost in thought you’re not aware of the world. You don’t know what’s out there. Or who is out there.”
    Feeling her shoulders start to hunch at the justified scolding, Selena straightened in the saddle. “You’re right. I shouldn’t let my thoughts wander so far. I’m just... I guess I’m nervous.”
    “You don’t have to do this.”
    “You wouldn’t say that if the power was pulling at you the way it’s pulling at