Ashk stepped onto the shining spiral, followed by Breanna…and Liam. Gwynith followed them, then Falco. Fiona and Rory. Gwenn and Donovan. Elinore took Keely’s hand, and the two of them stepped into the dance. Sheridan and Morphia. Clay, Edgar, and Glynis. Varden. Squire Thurston and his wife. Kin and neighbors, humans and Fae, Sons and Daughters of the House of Gaian joined the dance. And last…Lyrra, her eyes wet with tears.

Finally Selena stood at Nuala’s feet. She extended her arms again, palms up. Raising her face to the sky, her voice soared as Aiden let the last notes of the song fade.

“Great Mother, we give back one of your Daughters. Let earth take her body. Let air remember her voice. Let water remember her laughter. Let fire remember her heart. Let her spirit fly to the Shadowed Veil and pass through to the Summerland. She is no longer with us, but she will be remembered until she is back among us. Merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again.”

The ground in front of Selena swelled with moonlight, dazzling the eye. When it faded, there was a gentle mound of bare earth—and Nuala was gone.

As if hearing an unspoken command, people turned and walked out of the spiral until only Selena remained. Then she too turned and walked out—and moonlight filled in the path of the spiral dance, leaving a circle of light around the new grave.

After thanking the minstrels, Aiden tucked his pipe through his sash and joined Lyrra. He held her close and felt her shuddering effort not to cry.

“It was beautiful,” she whispered.

He felt his throat close, felt the sting of tears. “Yes, it was. Come along, my heart, we have to help Breanna and her kin get through the rest of it.” Slipping an arm around her waist, he led her back to the carriage.

Most of the mourners came back to the house to say a few words to Breanna and Keely and have a bite to eat. But even as they talked and ate, they kept glancing at the ever-darkening sky, and soon those with any distance to travel were saying their good-byes. Until all the nighthunters were destroyed, people wouldn’t feel easy about being far from home at night.

Aiden wandered among the people still gathered on the back lawn, making a point to talk to the villagers and farmers who hadn’t had any contact with the Fae yet. As he was making his way back to the house, a voice asked, “Bard?”

“Yes?” Aiden answered, turning toward an exhausted Fae male.

“Lord Aiden?”

“Yes.”

The Fae pulled two pieces of wax-sealed paper out of his inner vest pocket. “I’ve a message for you from one of the northern bards. And a message for Baron Liam, but I don’t know where to find him.”