Gruin had to tell the truth. The Warden knew everything. Almost. It was impossible to discern the full extent of his knowledge. “The bairns are gone from the hill, my lord.”
“I know.”
Gruin nearly snorted, but he held it in. A snort could prove deadly. The Warden had once sent one hundred wild boars after someone who dared to snort in front of him. Gruin was smarter than most.
“Where is the overlord?”
The Warden smirked, folding his hands in his lap. “He’s a bit tied up. He has sent me to get what he needs to free up some wee problems in the hollow.”
“What problems?”
“Never mind. Just get the five items. You’ve heard the list before.”
Gruin had heard the list before, since it was the same list he’d given Lia. “There is something new. Something you need to know.”
“I would expect so. A large portion of the overlord’s domain has been destroyed. Trees uprooted, cages opened. Warriors stunned. Why?” The Warden tipped his head back and whispered, “Why, Gruin. Why? When I report to him, he will insist on an answer.”
“Becausetheycame. The ones we dread. And they took them. The bairns are gone.”
“I am aware of that fact. I can see, Gruin. I wish to know what happened before that. Who exactly came? I was not here to see them, though I wish I had been.”
Gruin organized his thoughts before he spoke. He did wish to survive this encounter, after all. “The new seer, kin to the holder of the Woven Circle of Threads, came as you said she would. She found the memories and loosed the cages. Her cousin, the elder seer, accompanied her. I gave them a show.”
“Ravens in the face. Mice in your pockets. I noticed the snakes that the sworn one eradicated easily.” The Warden’s voice was almost fond. “Youwereentertaining, Gruin. There is only one problem.”
“My lord?”
“All your showmanship did not work. The fools came into my world, freed the bairns, and destroyed part of my kingdom. All but one, I am told. And even that one eventually left.”
Gruin swallowed. His throat had gone to ash somewhere on the staircase up from the lowest level. “Aye, my lord. The last bairn was the MacRuari granddaughter. The seer could not loose her on her own. The girl was too young, she could not connect with her.”
“And so?”
“And so the father went in.”
The stillness that followed chilled his spine. Gruin had served the Hollow for three centuries and had catalogued this master’s silences the way a laird catalogues his seed. This one he had not heard before.
“The father.” The Warden’s voice was soft. “Are you saying the MacRuari son came in to free his daughter?”
“Aye, my lord.”
“Edan MacRuari.”
“Aye.”
“Reginald’s son.”
Gruin bowed his head again. He did not trust his tongue.
“And you let him go? The overlord wants that man’s blood. It was promised to us. To both of us! He was here and you let him leave?”
The quiet in the Warden’s voice chilled him more than his usual bellowing. “I could do naught against him.” Gruin resolved to tell the entire truth. “First, those seers have ghosts who follow them. They used trickery to get inside.”
“That was the first entry. I saw them, and I was mildly entertained, Gruin. I might like the female archer with those strange trews to come into my world. What say you? Would she consider it?”
“No. She is too loyal to the Ramsays and the Grants. They got the bairns out, and they possessed some weapon that overpowered many of our warriors. It glowed with a blue light—you’ve heard of it?”
“Ah yes, the sapphire sword. The overlord tried to get it years ago, but to no avail. So how did they get the MacRuari lass out? I had a special lock on her.”
