Page 78 of First Light

Cadell’s voice came to her mind again.She’s hiding something.

“Don’t be silly.” Aisling shook her head. “Carys, of course it’s not the sight of your face. It’s still a bit startling to see you,but?—”

“She couldn’t save her.” Regan stared at Carys, and her voice was cold. “Can you imagine failing like that?”

Duncan sucked in a breath.

Regan continued to tear down her niece, piece by piece. “My niece trained her whole life to be a healer. She studied so hard, and yet she couldn’t save her best friend.”

Carys looked at Aisling, but the soft young woman was frozen. Her cheeks were red, and she stared at the ground in front of her feet.

“Does she have a lover? A family? Even a pet?” Regan continued. “Of course not. She sacrificed everything, and yet when her dearest friend was dying, she couldn’t even save her.” Regan offered Carys a smirk. “Makes one feel quite useless, doesn’t it?”

Regan’s voice dripped with cruelty, but Aisling was silent. She gripped her tunic in both hands, her body stiff and her shoulders tense.

Duncan was the one who broke the silence. “You tried, lass. Pay her no mind. Everyone in the castle knows how hard you tried.”

“No, she’s right.” Aisling’s voice was barely over a whisper. “Regan is right. I couldn’t save my closest friend.” She blinked hard, and her hands released her tunic. “Carys, Duncan, I’ll see you tonight.” She lifted her eyes, and her expression was carefully blank. “I should start my lessons now.”

I hate her.Carys gritted her teeth as they walked out of the laboratory and into the courtyard to meet Cadell. She glanced at Duncan, then back at the windows into Aisling’s laboratory. “She’s cruel.”

Duncan nodded. “Aye, she’s that.”

“Why does Aisling?—”

“We can’t pick our family, can we?” He looked straight ahead. “There’s no helping it, dove. The moment Aisling decided to study magic, Regan was her only option. The Éiren queen wouldn’t allowAisling to be trained by anyone outside the family, and Regan is the most powerful mage in Éire.”

“So she has to just… deal with it?”

Duncan stopped when they reached Cadell’s side. “We all have our burdens to bear.”

Cadell spoke out loud. “Regan is a venomous snake, but she was far away in the Anglian court when Seren was killed. I checked.”

Duncan lifted an eyebrow. “And does that make a difference when magic is involved?”

“She would have to be an extraordinarily powerful mage to kill someone from that distance, and I don’t see that power in her,” Cadell said.

“What if she hired someone to kill Seren?” Carys wasn’t ready to eliminate Regan when the woman was so obviously evil.

“Then she would have killed that person to cover her tracks,” Cadell said. “It’s possible. I will ask Mared to look into it.”

Duncan said, “Something tells me that if Regan wanted to kill someone, she’d do it with her bare hands. And she’d enjoy it.”

“She makes no attempt to hide her malevolence.” Cadell turned and walked toward the gates. “In that, at least, she wears an honest face. Nêrys, what are your wishes today?”

Carys fell into step beside him with Duncan bringing up the rear. “There’s a banquet tonight, but I don’t have to do anything for that. Aisling said Lachlan might have Seren’s journals, but he’s out hunting for tonight. So…” She looked over her shoulder. “Any ideas?”

“I have one.” Duncan glanced at the dragon. “But you’re not going to like it.”

Cadell turned. “What?”

“Carys is determined to stay here and find out who killed Seren with your help.” He looked at Carys. “That means she’s here for more than a couple of days. More than a weekend camping trip.” He raised an eyebrow.

Carys understood immediately. “I have to go through the horrible fairy murder forest again, don’t I?”

The woods were justas dark as she remembered, but with more context, they seemed even more menacing. Carys and Duncan stood on the edge of the forest where Cadell waited.

They’d walked for an hour to get there, declining the dragon’s offer to fly them in his massive claws.

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