The man shrugged. “Don’t know. They weren’t for telling us much. But the lads and I talked it over last night and decided that if you were against the Black Coats you had to be a good man, and it wasn’t right to be fighting against you. So we decided we wouldn’t raise a hand against your people and we’d surrender as quick as we could.” He shuddered. “Nobody expected that lady witch to…” His voice trailed off.

Liam rubbed his forehead, trying to soothe the headache building behind his eyes. “I’ve never had prisoners before. I’m not sure what to do with you.”

The man leaned forward. “There’s work to be done, isn’t there? Your people can’t do all the work and get ready for the fight.”

Liam frowned. “You want to work for me?”

“We’re farmers, most of us. We can chop wood, take care of livestock. Baron…Baron, you have to win. You have to. You can’t give us back what our baron and the Black Coats took from us, but we want Sylvalan to be what it used to be. We don’t want to be afraid of what might happen to our wives or our sisters or our mothers anytime a guard rides by. We don’t want to be afraid anymore. If you win, you can force the barons to change things back to the way they were before the Black Coats came.”

“I’ll think about it,” Liam said. “That’s all for now.”

The man nodded and walked to the door, the Fae guards behind him. When he reached the door, he looked back. “Baron? We didn’t raise a hand against your people. But if you give us back our weapons, we’ll fight alongside them when the Witch’s Hammer comes.”

The door closed behind the prisoner and guards. Liam leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

“I’ll send out messengers to warn the Clans east of here,” Varden said. “Won’t be enough Fae to stand against an army, not alone, but if they can get down the shining road in time, they may be able to save the witches in the Old Places and make sure a few less men arrive at Willowsbrook.”

“What makes you think they’ll listen now when they never did before?” Liam asked.

“Your sister is entertaining the Huntress and you ask me that?” Varden smiled grimly. “I doubt there’s a Clan in Sylvalan that wants Lady Selena looking in their direction—even more so when they find out what happened here today.” The smile faded. He shifted uneasily. “Besides…we’re to blame for the Black Coats.”

Liam straightened up and stared at Varden.

“What are you talking about?” Donovan snapped.