Breanna saw the dark horse waiting a few steps beyond the open door, saw the creature mount and ride away…

The Gatherer has come.…felt the floor disappear……and heard someone saying, “Bless the Mother, she’s all right. She just fainted, is all.”

Fainted? How embarrassing.

“Nothing to be embarrassed about, Lady Breanna. Never saw anyone with so much foolish courage.”

She didn’t remember speaking, but she must have since Liam’s housekeeper was answering her.

Her eyes popped open. They’d carried her to Elinore’s morning room. A smell of burnt feathers stung the air. She’d never understood why gentry households thought burning feathers was so useful for bringing someone out of a faint, but maybe she could add a few coins to the house funds by selling Falco’s molted feathers to gentry ladies. Would he be offended by the suggestion or find it amusing? She must remember to ask him, must remember…

The Gatherer has come.

She struggled to sit up. “Where’s Sloane?”

“Here, Lady Breanna.”

She focused on him. The foolish courage the housekeeper had praised was deserting her, and she had to tell him before her body began shaking so badly she wouldn’t be coherent. “Send the Fae who are waiting for me. They have to find Ashk and Selena and bring them back here now.”

“Yes, Lady.”

The housekeeper urged her to lie down again, tucked a blanket around her. Fear was a runaway horse inside her, and she couldn’t stop shaking. Mother’s mercy, what were they supposed to do? What could Ashk or Selena or any of them do?

The Gatherer has come.

Ashk, Selena, and Liam stood on the low rise overlooking the field. The sun was barely on the horizon, but most of the fog was already gone, giving her a clear view of the field.

“The bodies are gone,” Ashk said. They’d had to leave the dead on the field last night. Finding the wounded and getting them to a house where they could be tended had taken all their effort.

“We gave them back to the Mother last night,” Rhyann said.

Ashk closed her eyes and wished a silent farewell to the men who hadn’t returned from that field. Then she pushed aside any thoughts about those who were gone. She had to do her best for the living—and for the land.

“Those stones,” Selena said softly, dreamily.

Ashk looked at the tumble of huge stones that dominated the field. “A den for their longbowmen.”

“A den,” Selena said in that same soft, dreamy voice. “Yes, a den for the Black Coats.”

“Selena?” Worry sharpened Ashk’s voice. Neither of them had gotten much sleep, and she didn’t like the unfocused look in Selena’s eyes.

“Earth. Air. Water. Fire. Light of the sun. Light of the moon. Dreams and will. That’s what it takes.”