Sorcha huffed. “We turn over some of the flower gardens and plant more vegetables. We turn the earth on some of the open land and plant grain, which will hopefully be able to feed the horses we keep. The cock and hens that were recently acquired in the human world for the cookpot will be kept for eggs, and if the cock does his duty, we’ll get chicks from some of those eggs, and when they grow, we’ll have more food. It will be hard for all of us, and it’s going to be some time before any of us goes to bed with a full belly. But thanks to Dianna’s gift, we still have an anchor to the human world—enough to keep our piece of Tir Alainn. If there are witches with the power to close a road, then they must also have the power to open one.”

“How long will that take?” someone asked fearfully. “When will the Huntress come and free us?”

Sorcha shook her head. “The Huntress and the Hunter and all the Fae who are joining them to fight must defeat the armies the Black Coats have set against Sylvalan. They must drive the Black Coats and their followers out of the land. Until that is done, they cannot spare thought or strength for anything else. So we will wait until the shining road is opened again—and we will survive.”

“The new Huntress is very powerful. She’ll defeat the Black Coats.” “With the Hunter joining the fight, it won’t take long to rid Sylvalan of these creatures.” “The shining road will be open again before the season changes.”

Voices swirled around her. Hopeful. Fearful. It made no difference. Dianna stared at the shining rope. She heard Sorcha giving orders to take the wounded man to the Clan house, heard someone else say it was fortunate the Clan’s healer hadn’t gone down to the human world.

Voices swirled around her as the Fae slowly returned to the Clan house, still not realizing how much their lives had changed. It made no difference. She just stared at the shining rope.

“Come now, Dianna,” Sorcha said with brisk kindness. She pulled and tugged until Dianna got stiffly to her feet. “You need to rest now. I’ll have someone keep watch on the anchor to the human world. Never fear about that.” She rested a hand on Dianna’s cheek and smiled. “I don’t know how you managed to cross that bridge or what brought you here today, but I’m thankful for it.”

Dianna stared at the older woman. Tears filled her eyes.

“There now, girl, no need for tears. We’ll survive. You’ll see.”

Blinded by tears, Dianna didn’t resist when Sorcha led her to the Clan house.

No need for tears? Did the old fool actually thinking she was weeping out of relief—or even joy?