“Didn’t anyone try to kill them?”
“You hit one,” he answered. “What did it feel like?”
“It was hard, like it was made of wood.”
Friedrich nodded. “They can’t be hurt. Blows bounce off them. And when it got fully dark, they went away. People hoped they were gone, but they came back with the dawn, then gone again with the light. The next evening, there were more. People thought it was those who were dragged away the night before, but no one knows for sure. Maybe they are, changed somehow, or maybe they’re something else.”
Greta reached for her husband’s cup and took a sip. “Lyssa slipped out on us. We kept her in almost all the time. She was such a pretty girl. There was a lot of danger for one like her, and not only from those hunters. But she wanted more than just these walls around her. Foolish.”
Tears stood in her eyes again as she talked about her daughter, and Celia’s heart went out to her. “Hasn’t anyone tried to get into the manor? They must be coming from there.”
Friedrich looked down at the table. “People are afraid. What if those things are in there all the time, not just at dawn and dusk? And what if that makes them come out more often?”
“And everyone just lets things go?”
“I’m afraid so. Those of us who are left,” Greta said.
“Why not leave? I understand this is home, but surely it’s time.”
“Where would we go?” Friedrich asked. “I know nothing but Dunfield. I’ve never been beyond its borders.”
“And others have tried,” Greta said. “They didn’t make it far. Their mutilated bodies were found in the fields. They didn’t die easily.”
Celia took another slice of bread, her mind racing. She was here now, and from what they just told her, she was trapped as much as they. Unless she could find that gate and go home.
She looked down at the bread in her hand. Bread that two poor people, who didn’t even know her, shared with her. It was obviously the only thing they even had to eat. And who knew how they fared compared to others? Perhaps this represented riches in this place.
She could go home, and leave them all behind, leave them to their fates.
Although, she couldn’t. Solomon wouldn’t. He’d fix things first. And she could do no less.
“Tomorrow,” she said, “I want to see that manor.”
Chapter 18
“Ah, it’s good to be home!” Orlando smiled down at her from his horse and Shireen returned it. It was good to have him back, too.
“How did it go?” she asked, holding the bridle while he dismounted.
“Good, overall. Should we talk out here?”
“No, let’s go somewhere more private. It’s no secret you were gone, but there’s no sense in blabbing about it in the open.”
Orlando smiled again, took her hand and she led him to their tree. They hadn’t been there together enough lately, even before he left. Yes, she wanted to know how his visits to the other Houses went. But that could come later.
♦ ♦ ♦
Orlando chuckled as he sat up in the bed, the covers thrown over his lap, and reached for a cup of wine on the bedside table.
“What’s so funny?” Shireen asked.
“This. I’m just now realizing how many conversations you and I have had in this bed.”
She smiled herself at that. Orlando and she had been together for years, yet there were still times they acted as if they were newly in love. It was a nice feeling.
“Well, we’re going to have another one,” she said, scooting up herself and leaning against him. She reached for the wine and took a sip. “So, tell me.”
“For the most part, it went as we expected. The other Houses, the minor ones, agree that Jamshir needs to be reprimanded for what he did.”
She snorted. “Reprimanded? For attacking another House and bringing the Soul Gaunts in?”
“That was the word I heard the most. When I pressed, I was told that the form of that reprimand could be anything from a formal censure, which I’m not even sure what that means, to outright removal as Head of House.”
“But none are willing to call for it, or to back us?”
“Exactly. The feeling seems to be wait and see. I guess they want to see what we do.”
“And they want to wait for Solomon. How many did you tell that he was away?”
“Pretty much all of them. They all wanted to know what he planned.”
“What did you tell them?”
“For most, I told them that he left the Greenweald on an important errand and was expected back shortly. I didn’t say why or what the errand was.”
She nodded. It was only to be expected. The news of his first return made the rounds of the other Houses as quickly as that of the battle. And it was assumed that he would take Jediah’s place as Head of House.
“You said, ‘for most’?”
“I told the new Head of Whispering Pines what was really going on.”
“And?”
“And she was surprised by the news that Celia was still alive, as we all were. She was glad that Solomon went after her, though. Their new Head is named Jocasta. I didn’t get out of her where she came from, but she’s a relation of Florian’s. I think you’d get along well with her.”
Shireen snuggled down into the bedclothes and covered a yawn with her hand.
“At least we know all the Houses aren’t siding with Jamshir,” she said.
Outside, the light was fading. She really should
