“—to put Lyrra in the wrong for leaving, hearing how the Clans wouldn’t give her or the Bard any help because the only reason she left was to keep Aiden’s bed warm so he wouldn’t look elsewhere for company. Selfish? Aye, there’s been selfishness in all of this, but it hasn’t been Aiden’s or Lyrra’s doing.”

Dianna’s heart pounded, causing her wounded arm to throb. “You wouldn’t be saying any of this if that bitch hadn’t tricked the power into believing she could be the Lady of the Moon!”

Connor finally looked at her. “Tricked, is it?”

“I wouldn’t have lost the challenge if my strength hadn’t been drained by anchoring the magic at Brightwood!” She had to believe that. Needed to believe that.

He shook his head, looking weary and sad. “I was your escort when you ascended to become the Lady of the Moon. Since it wasn’t that many years ago, I remember it well. So I’m telling you, Dianna—you never were what she is. You don’t know what she knows. Mother’s tits, woman! She danced with the moon! She created a bridge out of moonlight. What she did in that clearing before…before things went sour…was something the Bard should have witnessed and set to music.”

Dianna felt her lips quiver, felt the sting of tears. “You like her better than me.”

“I think she’s the Huntress we need in the days ahead.”

Anger, hot and bitter, welled up inside her. “If that’s what you think, then get her to find an anchor for Brightwood because I am not going back to a place that won’t appreciate the sacrifice I made by using my power that way.”

A long pause. Then Connor said quietly, “You weren’t going back anyway, were you? That’s what all the delays and complaints have been about since we reached the southern Clans. You’ve been trying to find someone who would yield to your pleas to help you anchor the magic while your arm healed. But if someone else agreed to help, you would have stayed in Tir Alainn to recover and never set foot in Brightwood, expecting us to make that person enough of a captive that she wouldn’t be able to leave. That would have suited you quite well, wouldn’t it have, Dianna?”

Yes, that would have suited her. Was there anyone in the Clan who wouldn’t be trying to do the same thing if they were in her place?