Selena dismissed the sharp pang beneath her breast. There were men at home who were just as handsome, just as intelligent. She knew as much about the gentry as she knew about the Fae, which wasn’t much. The courtesy and interest he’d shown her could be nothing more than gentry manners. But the turn of conversation reminded her of the other reason she’d agreed to ride out with him.

She turned Mistrunner to head back the way they’d come. She waited until the escorts had turned and started back down the rise before signaling Mistrunner to follow them.

“I’ve offended you,” Liam said, matching his gelding’s pace to Mistrunner’s.

Selena shook her head. “You merely said what the rest have been thinking. There is power among those of us who live in the Mother’s Hills. But if you enter the land of the House of Gaian and do no harm, you will come to no harm.” She smiled mischievously. “At least, not from the House of Gaian. We can make no promises for the wolves that live in the northern part of the hills or the wild pigs that live in the woodlands.”

Liam stared at her for a moment, then smiled. “I suppose you make no promises about rabbits in the kitchen garden, squirrels in the attics, or foxes in the hen house.”

“Of course not. If you want help with those things, you must deal with the Fae. The woods and what lives in it is their duty in the world.”

“If the witches deal with the land and the Fae deal with the wild creatures of the woods, what’s left for humans? Where do we fit in?”