Page 31 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“I need to go see my nephew. You will not accost her. You swore the last time you overstepped that you would allow me to handle myanamhow I deemed best!”

Ciaran sighed, clearly still frustrated, but he finally nodded in reluctant agreement.

I trust you, Sage, but we may not have time for you to coddle her. If she is who I know we are both thinking she must be, then Rian will not wait for you,he warned me.

I nodded solemnly, sensing his unspoken suspicions in his mind which were the same as mine after I’d seen the dryad absorb Rian’s power. Rian would know it too.

This needs to be handled sensitively. She might not even know about Aodhan,I pointed out.

Seems unlikely she will have any more remorse for it,Ciaran dismissed.

“You don’t know that,” I objected, thinking back to my conversation with Summer while I was braiding her hair.We’ve only ever heard Aodhan’s perspective. She may have a very different story to tell.

“Her reluctance to tell us anything is not making me feel very confident in her,” Ciaran responded before he turned away to head back to the fire.

I walked through the trees to the clearing on the plateau where my people had portalled to safety. I had already stepped up in my mother’s and father’s absences to set a watch in shifts and ensured everyone had been able to locate their surviving family. We had already begun a tally of all the villagers whowere presumed dead with the family sigils and symbols of our lineages which were my people’s only written language.

There were too many familiar names on the list.

Most of the aes sídhe had taken shelter amidst the trees around small campfires to escape the wet snow that had begun to fall during the night. Now the plateau clearing was eerily silent with rows of carts covered in icy snow that glimmered in the morning sun. Very few families had bothered to erect their yurt, knowing we would be moving again soon, but those with injured or vulnerable members had set up a cluster of tents. Among them, I saw the yurt with its canvas walls dyed red and painted with black pictographs of brayr, the token animal of midwives.

I was completely taken off guard when a sudden wave of uncertainty washed over me at the sight of the red-and-black tent. I had been nothing but eager to meet my niece when she was born. But it had not occurred to me until that very moment that I might have a different reaction to meeting her new brother. The revelation that I had almost become a father was still so fresh, and then we had been attacked, so I hadn’t had a chance to fully process it yet. And I was horrified to realize that I was not entirely sure how it would affect me when I held the new baby.

Serafin had followed me from the campfire and stood waiting behind me. He gave a whine when he sensed my rising fear and uncertainty.

I stood there for a full minute, just staring at the tent and not knowing how to proceed before I managed to force one foot in front of the other. I crossed the clearing, weaving with a single-minded determination through the carts to the red yurt. I raised my hand to part the beaded entrance but hesitated when I noticed there were footsteps in the snow leading into the forest. When I peered around the tent, I saw someone in the gloomof the trees behind, leaning heavily against a pine with their head resting back on the trunk. Serafin uttered a growl, but I recognized her silvery-blonde hair right away.

“Orlaith?”

My ex lover jolted in surprise and glanced over at us without meaning to, allowing me to catch a glimpse of her teary eyes before she averted her face.

“Sage! It’s about time that you got here. Shay has been demanding to know where you were,” she berated me. Clearly trying to infuse her voice with lightheartedness while keeping her face turned away from me.

I hesitated in uncertainty of whether to approach her, especially in the midst of such an emotional moment. How much interference did she want from someone who had broken her heart and then abandoned her? And was it my place to offer comfort to the mate of another male?

“Are you… Can I do anything?”

“No! I’m alright. I’m so happy for Shay, and of course I wanted to be here with her. I just… I just needed to take a moment,” she admitted finally, her voice dropping from that forced high of optimism to a more honest waver.

My heart ached for her, for the anguish and yearning she was barely keeping contained. And I decided it didn’t matter if we were not together anymore. We were friends for centuries before we ever became lovers, and I would not turn my back on her suffering again.

I stepped away from the tent, motioning for Serafin to remain before I walked over to her. I would have stayed a respectful distance away, but I could tell from her harsh breathing that she was becoming emotional. So I touched her elbow in a gentle offer that she accepted instantly, throwing her arms around my neck with a gut-wrenching cry as she began to shake with violent sobs.

“I’m so sorry, Orlaith,” I said, my voice unexpectedly rough with my own emotions as she shook against me. “You are a good friend, wanting to be at Shay’s side now, but I know my sister would completely understand if you needed some time. Your loss is still so fresh. You have to be kind to yourself too.”

She was too distraught to respond, so I shut my mouth and just focused on holding her while she unleashed the pain that must have been festering for some time. I could not imagine how much suffering she must have been keeping private during my sister’s pregnancy and labour. And I would not have been helping matters for her with my calloused refusals to see or speak with her when all she’d wanted was to share some of that grief with me.

“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try again, wasn’t sure if I’d survive losing another, but… He is so beautiful, Sage. So perfect,” she sobbed after a few moments when she was able to breathe. “I made myself hold him, I just had to know, and he felt… so perfect in my arms.”

I squeezed her tighter as I nodded.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered again because I had no idea what else to say. There were no words I could offer that would alleviate her pain, but I still tried. “I’m so sorry.”

“I just don’t understand what is sowrongwith me,” she hissed abruptly through her teeth, taking me off guard with the speed at which she went from sorrow to seething. “Why am I beingpunishedthis way?”

“This is not a punishment, Orlaith,” I told her sternly. That much I did know. “It’s not your fault.”

“Then why do I keep losing all my babies?” she cried.

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