Page 115 of A Land So Wide
“It was only a few days before the Hunt,” her father began.
The wind shifted, pelting a blast of snowflakes at them. Greer leaned toward Finn. She wasn’t as cold as she ought to be, but she did miss the comforting weight of his coat.
“I came home and discovered she was leaving. At first, she denied it, but when I tried to stop her, she changed. She was there and then she wasn’t, and in her place was this…thisthing. I’d never seen one of them before, but I knew exactly who she was. What she was.” His eyes grew distant. “She said she had what she needed”—Hessel glanced toward Greer but didn’t entirely meet her stare—“and that she wasleaving, returning to her mountain, returning to her kind. And then she took out this mess of briars and berries…”
“You killed her,” Finn guessed, his voice so full of sorrow. “Before she could put on her cloak, you killed her.”
Greer’s mouth dropped open. She didn’t like her father most days. She knew he wasn’t a good man, knew he was rarely an honest man, but she’d never considered him capable of murder.
He didn’t respond.
“Father?” she prodded.
“Yes.” He didn’t elaborate any further. He didn’t need to.
Greer’s hand shot to her lips, covering the gasp that wanted to escape. She wasn’t sure if she was going to plead for more information or cry.
“Before I…Before she…” His sigh was shaky. “She told me what she’d done. Why she’d done it. I know all about how you’re supposed to take her position, how you’re meant to replace her. And that’s why I’m here. To take you back. You’re not one of them, Greer. You know nothing of their ways, of what they’re capable of. You belong in Mistaken, with your people.”
“She’s just as much a part of us as she is of you,” Finn disputed, his eyes flashing as the remaining light began to fade from the late afternoon. A curtain of snow obscured him until all Greer could see was that bright glow.
Hessel laughed. “She’s nothing like any of you.”
Greer glanced toward her father, and his breath hitched sharply. He’d seen her eye-shine.
“What did you do to her? What have you…” Hessel stopped and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Let me and my daughter go.”
A dark laugh barked out of Finn. “Why the Devil would I do anything you want? You killed our queen. You killedher mother. You have no power here.” To prove it, he jerked hard on the ropes binding Hessel’s wrist. The force pitched the older man to the ground, making his knees crack against icy rocks.
Hessel remained bent over, breathing heavily. “I have it,” he whispered. “I know where it is.”
“What?” Finn tilted his head with a curiosity that made him look like an owl contemplating his next meal.
“Ailie’s skin. The brambles or cloak or whatever it is you call it. She said it was where her powers were kept. You’d want that, wouldn’t you? It’s important? Important to your…kind?”
Finn narrowed his eyes.
“Take my daughter and me back to Mistaken. Return us there safely—without a touch of harm befalling us—and it’s yours.”
Finn looked at Greer, shifting only his eyes. “Have you seen it? Ever? Anywhere in your house? At the mill?”
“Not since I was little. Not since Mama…” She swallowed, hardening her expression. “Not since you killed her,” she threw at Hessel.
“It’s there,” he promised. “I kept it where no one would ever come across it. Hidden so that no one would ever suspect what I’d married.”
Finn ignored the insult. “How do we know you didn’t burn it? Toss it out to sea?”
“He wouldn’t have,” Greer decided. “He’s too much of an opportunist. He’d know it might one day become useful.”
“And it has,” Hessel pointed out. “Take the offer, boy. You know you can’t resist it.”
Finn’s eyebrows furrowed, as though he might be truly considering it.
“Finn!” Greer exclaimed, horrified. “I’m not going back to Mistaken. Not without Ellis.”
He grabbed at the crook of her arm, pulling her aside. “You need that cloak,” he hissed through clenched teeth, his breath fervent and hot in her ear. “All of Ailie’s powers are in it. You’d have what she had. You’d be queen without question. Even Elowen would have to concede that. She’d back down. Immediately. You wouldn’t have to duel. You wouldn’t have to fight. There’d be no need to—”
Before Finn could offer another point of persuasion, he was yanked back, his shoulder nearly pulled from its socket as the rope he held was torn away.
