“You’ve decided to stay then?” Elsbeth blinked.
Rian Swiftgait did not answer the question. “I have several enchantments in mind to shore up the wards. The wards—”
Elsbeth nodded, struggling to pay attention to his words as the kelpie’s face grew more animated than she had ever seen it.
It seemed there was more to Rian Swiftgait after all.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Maeve Cruinn
Cormac collected the hag’s fingers and fashioned a macabre bag out of his shirt. I didn’t dare get close; every time I did, my stomach boiled, and my gullet burned with bile.
The disturbing intestinal decorations disappeared with the Hag, an illusion designed to inspire fear in her prey.
The Court of Teeth had earned its name, it seemed. I wondered how many beasties we would encounter before we stumbled upon Lugh the Craftsman.
As a child, I had never suspected my mother to be one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, despite the stories she told and the magic she possessed.
I had stood in front of the Siren Queen. I had bargained for hospitality and never sensed her to be anything more than a powerful Sídhe.
It seemed that when the Tuatha Dé Danann came to the Aos Sí, they took a vessel—a shield of flesh that hid their true nature.
Would I even know Lugh if I saw him?
The Tuatha Dé Danann had many gods, though some were undoubtedly more powerful than others. Kings and Queens amongst the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Nuada had been the first ruler of the Tuatha Dé Danann, with the Dagda as the second. Nuada had willingly given up the title.
The Morrigan was the Dagda’s ‘wife’, though I had not seen her in the Tuatha Dé Danann. A goddess as powerful as the Dagda, if not more so.
My mother, Belisama, sometimes known as the Boann, was well known to be the Dagda’s lover. At least that proved true.
Of all of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Lugh was perhaps the most famous.
His exploits were known throughout the Aos Sí. A god famed for walking amongst the Fae. For creating magical artifacts and then leaving them to cause mischief. A hero, a craftsman, and possibly the most worshipped god of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
It was hard to know if we had made any progress at all as we walked through the forest. The trees all looked the same to me, and the sun peeked between breaks in the canopy.
I became aware of our stalker quickly, though it was not a Fae nor a beast on our tail.
A small hut, tucked between the trees. Built from logs of the same peculiar color, with a chimney leaking smoke into the gap between the tree branches.
Cormac and I made a silent vow to not pursue the strange house. Small and unassuming as it was. After the Hag had attacked us, I could only imagine what sort of Wild Fae lived in the cabin.
I kept my gaze forward, studying my bare feet and making careful choices about where to step, when I felt my stomach roll as if I had dropped from a great height. My ears popped withpressure, as if I were descending into the depths. The world around us had shifted without much notice—the Aos Sí was sometimes a living creature. The cabin remained fixed in the same spot between an alder and a yew tree. Even after walking for an hour, we still hadn't escaped the cabin.
I had thought that the Dagda might have tricked us after all. The Aos Sí behaved strangely, the way it did around the Selkie, bending to a will not its own. The Mistéireach in the Tuatha Dé Danann had acted much the same. More of a dream than a physical reality.
I would have kept walking, but the Dagda’s staff began to vibrate. Painfully against my skin, like a swarm of insects.
Cormac heard the strange noise, eying the staff as he slowed to a stop.
Wordlessly, I raised the staff to the gap between the trees. Directly at the cabin, its windows glowed with welcome, and the smoke from the chimney promised warmth the forest lacked. The staff sighed in contentment.
“Am I to follow the whims of a stick?” I scowled.
“Makes sense for a quest.” Cormac shrugged, brushing his golden hair away from his face. Several twigs and a leaf had tangled in the strands.
