I will do what needs to be done, Ashk thought as she and Morphia returned to the terrace. Shadows and light. Morag…what have I promised you?

There wasn’t time to think about that because Aiden was sitting on one of the benches with Lyrra. Sheridan stood nearby.

When Lyrra saw them, she gestured impatiently. “Aiden’s been waiting for you.”

“If you’d wanted the news sooner, you could have joined the others in the common room to hear the bard’s announcement,” Aiden said testily.

Not good. The Bard and the Muse rarely snapped at each other. Ashk understood Lyrra’s impatience—they’d all been waiting for some word about what had happened among the Ladies of the Moon—but she wished Lyrra would pay more attention to the distress in Aiden’s eyes.

“I’m here now,” Ashk said calmly, coming to stand before Aiden. “What is the news, Bard?”

“Where’s Morag?” Aiden asked, looking from her to Morphia.

“Sleeping. You can tell her the news in the morning.”

Aiden nodded. He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Dianna lost the challenge. We have a new Lady of the Moon. A new Huntress.”

Ashk watched Aiden carefully. Had she imagined his slight emphasis on the word Huntress? No. She hadn’t imagined anything. Which meant he considered that part of her title to be the more critical change in power.

“Who is she?” Lyrra said. “What Clan is she from?”

Aiden didn’t look at his wife. He kept his blue eyes fixed on Ashk. “Her name is Selena. She isn’t from a Clan.”

Since Lyrra looked ready to debate the reliability of the information, Ashk said firmly, “Let him speak, Muse.”

Lyrra glared at her but kept silent.

“Her name is Selena,” Aiden said again. “She is Fae, but she is first, and always, a Daughter of the House of Gaian.” He hesitated. “She comes from the Mother’s Hills.”

Ashk felt the muscles in her legs go suddenly limp, and she wondered if she was going to sink to the terrace floor. She was no stranger to the Mother’s Daughters, but even for her, thinking of the Mother’s Hills produced a shiver up her spine.

A reflex, a reaction that had no basis in fact. There was no reason to think the witches who lived in the Mother’s Hills were different from the witches who lived in the Old Places throughout Sylvalan. They all had the same roots. Their gifts all came from the four branches of the Great Mother. They all lived by the same creed.

Didn’t they?