Page 163 of The Shadow Path
“It never made any sense,” Naida said. “The children were taken, but honestly, they were not that hard to find. Your average tree sprite could break the wards around them. And taking children like that?”
“And wolves,” Godrik said. “We may not keep company with brownies, but we have good relations with the wild fae in our forests, and we’re better land stewards than the humans. If Orla and Cian had tried to offer them up to a powerful old fae, they wouldn’t have allowed it. Not children.”
“The children were not the sacrifice,” Carys said. “The blood spilled at Saris was the sacrifice. We were all played.”
Naida’s face drained of color. “Dru and Cian?—”
“She played all of us,” Carys said again. “Their rivalry might have inspired it, and Cian’s thirst for power might have made it easier, but the Crow Mother was looking for blood on Saris Plain.” Carys looked at Naida. “The place of offering to the old gods.”
Godrik growled. “She has been starved of the blood of Briton for centuries because of the Queens’ Pact. A war would have fed her power.”
“We stopped the war, but that might not have been enough.” Carys hiked her backpack over her shoulder. “We’re going to the Brightlands right now.”
Naida’s eyes went wide. “Is the Morrigan in the Brightlands?”
“Yes.”
“How did she get there? Epona’s daughters have bound her here in the Shadowlands for centuries,” Naida said.
Carys’s heart sank. “Okay, that’s kind of my fault, but I’m going to try to fix it.” She grabbed Duncan’s hand. “But we have to go now.”
“I’ll go with you.” Godrik glanced at Duncan and Cadell. “Unlike your companions, I am adept at combat with and without magic. The wolves train for times like this.”
Cadell and Duncan both started to speak, but Carys broke in. “Fine. That’s fine. This is not an argument we’re going to have right now, so I’m just going to say that’s fine.”
Duncan grumbled, and Cadell was speaking under his breath in muttered Cymric.
Carys turned to Naida. “I know you can’t go to the Brightlands, but if you could?—”
“I’ll go.” The ellyllon’s face was pale, but her full mouth was set in a line. “The fae started this, and I’ll do what I can to help.”
Cadell spoke softly to her. “It’s possible that nothing has happened,” the dragon said. “It’s possible that we are being overly cautious. We did stop the war. You do not have to do this. I know what going to the Brightlands will do to you.”
“It’s fine.” Naida started marching toward the road. “I’ll be fine.”
She is being fatalistic,Cadell said in her mind.The ellyllon can be reckless.
Her true love is now king of a people who will never accept her.Carys started following Naida.She probably feels like her future is pretty bleak.
The rest of them fell in line behind Carys and Naida.
“You know the gate near the troll market,” Naida said quietly. “But there are other gates all over London. Smaller ones that we should be able to use if you’ll lead the way.”
“Of course.” Carys looked down. “I appreciate it, Naida.”
“I won’t have power there,” she said quietly. “But I’ll still have knowledge that might help.”
“Okay.”
“I might get sick from the iron.” She glanced at Duncan. “If he brought his sword?—”
“Not much use for a sword in Central London,” Carys quickly reassured her. “He left it with my uncle.”
Naida nodded, then glanced over her shoulder at Cadell. “I’m reminded of a joke.”
The dragon laughed under his breath.
“What is it?” Laura asked. “What’s the joke? Or is this magical humor that humans won’t get?”
