Page 84 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

“You know, I rather resent that everyone seems to feel I cannot do anything on my own,” I informed them both, attempting to redirect the demidragon.

“Do not play the fool, Rian, you know I do not doubt your capabilities. But why take such unnecessary risks?” Darragh insisted with his silver eyes glinting in offense. The dragon knew me all too well.

“I was losing her scent and everyone was occupied with other important tasks. Thank you for acquiring the basin and the dressso quickly,” I added in what I hoped was an effective dismissal for the stubborn arse.

“Where is this new recruit now?” Darragh asked me, clearly not about to let me run him off so easily.

“You will meet her later,” I advised him, because the last thing Nuala needed just then was to be interrogated by a surly Darragh.

“Rian, what are you hiding?” he demanded, even more agitated as he glanced at my chamber again.

“Why do you always suppose I am hiding something? She is just unwell, Darragh,” I defended myself.

“You go alone to retrieve her and now will not allow me to see her. We are not a medical facility, so what use is an unwell fey to us?”

“She is not… Surely evenyoucan find use for a Seer,” I guessed, satisfied when his silver brows rose.

“A Seer,” he murmured thoughtfully before narrowing his eyes and cocking his head at me with more suspicion. “What court did she come from?” he wanted to know.

“No court, Darragh. Now, if you could—”

The demidragon gave a gruff grunt, like a dismissive snort from a vargr, and then marched by me toward the curtained bedchamber.

“Darragh, leave her in peace!” I protested, but I did not dare interfere with the dragon by grabbing him. He had excellent control of his animal form, but I would not put us in danger just to challenge the lengths of that control. Darragh was so stubborn and protective that I should have known he would insist on knowing what was going on.

I followed, setting down the wash basin when the demidragon drew the curtain aside as if he was expecting to uncover something scandalous. Instead, he recoiled and lifted the collar of his cotton shirt over the lower half of his face to cover his nose.

“Mercy of Kur,” he hissed, leaning forward just a little to peer at Nuala closer. It was not until her chest moved that the dragon seemed to accept that it was not a corpse laying on my bed, and he stepped back.

“You see?” I demanded and snapped the curtain shut.

“Where in the Four Courts did you find her?”

“She has been kept in the dark. Abused by her family,” I informed him, and then motioned for him to follow me back across the tent where she might not hear.

It was not until we were back at the tent entrance that Darragh finally lowered the collar of his shirt and looked at me in uncertainty.

“Rian, she is a fire witch,” he said finally.

“I am aware,” I assured him, but I could tell he was already thinking about all the problems this would cause. Most fey hated witches since their kind had spent millenia butchering us to be used in their magic.

“Are yousureshe is a Seer?” he asked.

“Yes, and I would say that she is a powerful one too. Her whole coven seemed petrified of her promises that I would come to get her. She told me that she has known about me since she was a child,” I advised him.

This did not make the demidragon feel better. In fact, the confirmation only made everything worse because he knew the value of such an asset. Valuable enough to risk keeping her in spite of the strife she was sure to cause.

“She had better be a good Seer, Rian. We cannot afford for her presence to create any more conflict in our ranks. We have worked hard to foster unity, and a witch could threaten everything you have accomplished,” he warned.

A part of me, a younger and more idealistic sliver left over from my youth, wanted to ask how he could be so calloused after seeing the witch, but I knew he was right. With the fateof millions of fey depending on our ability to maintain unity in the Four Courts, embracing a witch was a risk that had to be carefully calculated. That was something which Darragh never had any difficulty doing. He was not like aes sídhe who were all taught to value our sensitivity and community. I’d had to learn to embrace my skepticism but at least it had been an easy thing to adopt. Empathy seemed like it was almost impossible to learn when it was not taught early. And although all I had were my suspicions about Darragh and his past after so many centuries of serving in the Wild Hunt together…

I did know dragons were not taught empathy.

“Some scouts need to speak with you. It is urgent news from the Vale,” Darragh advised me.

“I will go to them once Nuala is cared for,” I said.

Darragh shook his head at me in blatant disapproval, but he did not question my priorities.

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