“The Ladies of the Moon are gathering somewhere in the midlands,” Aiden said quietly, “but there’s something not quite…right…about this. Dianna’s power isn’t waning, no one has come forward as the challenger who wants to try to take her place as the Lady of the Moon, and this isn’t the phase of the moon when these challenges take place.”

“There may not be a challenger, as such,” Taihg said hesitantly.

“Meaning?”

“There’s a saying in the west: The gift commands, and the gift chooses. That’s why the Fae in the west haven’t traveled to these gatherings much. It’s really just a formality, a ritual so that the new leader can be acknowledged. If the gift chooses someone, that person will ascend no matter where he or she is.”

“If that’s the case,” Aiden said grimly, “let’s hope whoever ascends is in that Old Place tonight.”

“Why?”

Aiden set his harp aside and turned on the bench to look at Taihg. “If Dianna loses, we need to know who the new Huntress is. We need to know if she’s going to be like Dianna and refuse to do anything to help in the fight against the Inquisitors or if, the Great Mother willing, we might have another ally in the fight that’s coming. When we leave here in the morning, we’ll have a few days before Ashk has to decide if we’re heading for the southern end of the Mother’s Hills or going straight to Willowsbrook. I want you to travel with us until we get word about who the new Lady of the Moon is. Then you’ll come back to the west and make sure all the bards and minstrels have all the information we can glean about her.”

“Ashk will be getting that information, too, and she’ll send word back to the west.”

“How the Hunter and the Bard interpret that information may not be the same. Ashk needs to consider it from the view of protecting Sylvalan. I’ll consider it with the view of deciding whether or not the minstrels and bards will support the female leader of the Fae, whomever she might be.”

Taihg stared at him. “If you ridicule the Lady of the Moon in a song, the Clans won’t have anything to do with you in fear of offending her.”

“Does that include the Clans in the west?”

Taihg hesitated, then shook his head. “No. Unless, of course, the Hunter takes offense.”

“Then I’ve nothing to lose,” Aiden replied. “The Clans beyond the west already disapprove of me.”

Before Taihg could reply, an annoyed male voice beyond the courtyard said, “Mother’s tits! Considering how far I’ve traveled, I’m going to talk to someone.”