Selena looked away, studying the land as they rode back to the Old Place. “We have an old story that says the witches and the Fae were in this land long before the first humans traveled over the mountains and the first ships touched the shore. The story doesn’t say why they made such perilous journeys, only that they were looking for a new place, a home where they could put down roots and live in peace. They promised to honor the Great Mother as the witches and the Fae honored Her, promised to give something back for the bounty they received. And while there were few of them, they did live in peace with the Fae and the Small Folk and the House of Gaian. But as more of them came to settle on what they saw as open land, free for the taking, they built fences to keep their animals in and opened the land with plows. The Daughters saw the world changing. They did not mind change, for the world is always changing and ever constant. But that was when they walked the boundaries, establishing the Old Places, the places that would belong to the wild things, so that all the Mother’s children would have a home.” She looked at Liam. “Where do your people fit in? Perhaps you were supposed to be the stewards of the tame places, just as the Fae are the stewards of the wild places. Perhaps you aren’t sure of your place because you haven’t yet learned the first lesson—to live kindly with the rest of the Mother’s children.”

“If that’s the case, maybe the Inquisitors did us a favor,” Liam said. “Their obsession to eliminate anything and anyone who would prevent men from ruling with impunity forced the rest of us to work together again. The Fae are remembering their place in the world and humans are remembering that there are others with whom we have to share the world.” He paused. “What has the House of Gaian learned?”

“That we, too, need to be more present in the world,” Selena replied. Getting to the subject she wanted to discuss with him wasn’t as easy as she’d thought. Well, she wasn’t that good at being subtle, so why try? “I wanted to talk to you about your sister.”

Alarm flashed over Liam’s face before he regarded her warily. “What has Brooke done?”

Anger sizzled under her skin, coated with disappointment. Maybe he was more cold-hearted than he seemed. “Brooke isn’t your only sister.”

“That’s true,” Liam agreed, “but she’s the only one who would wheedle to have a third party intervene for her. If Breanna has a problem with me, she just marches up to wherever I am and yells at me.”

Selena tried to muffle a laugh and ended up snorting, which made Mistrunner stop and turn his head to look back at her.