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wings folded tightly against her back beneath the shawl.
    â€œI can’t believe it!” Molly said.
    Alida took a long breath, but she had no idea what to say.
    â€œGavin is my grandson,” Molly began quietly. “But he is like a son to me. Where is he?”
    Alida opened her mouth to speak, but she still couldn’t find a place to start. Molly didn’t look ill. Had Gavin lied for some reason?
    â€œTell me. Is he in danger?” Molly asked.
    Alida nodded. “I think he might be.”
    Molly dropped into a chair across from her, waiting, her eyes clouded with worry. Ruth stood against the far wall, silent.
    â€œStart at the beginning,” Molly said.
    Alida began slowly, then the words poured out. She told them about the little chamber, the endless silence, then Gavin’s kindness. She explained their agreement and their escape. Then she told them where Gavin was now.
    Molly’s eyes shone with tears. “I was terribly sick. But with Ruth’s help, and a thousand cups of her foul herb teas, I’ve gotten over it. We sent word to Gavin. We’ve been expecting him to come back. We never thought . . .” She lifted one hand and gestured at Alida.
    â€œIt’s my fault they caught him,” Alida explained. “I promised him I would help you get well and let him think I could work magic. I can’t, but I knew my mother would help. I didn’t know my family was gone.” She looked at the two women, who were staring at her. “Do you know where they went? My mother can help Gavin. And she will. He saved my life.”
    Ruth shook her head, “No one knows wherethe faeries went after Old Lord Dunraven made his cruel law.”
    â€œI can’t fly,” Alida said, wanting them both to understand. “Or I would have followed the guards and helped Gavin myself.” She explained how he had protected her—how he’d made sure the guards would think he was a common thief. “John will pretend I’m still there,” she told them. “Maybe he can help Gavin.”
    Molly wiped at her tears. Then she looked up. “I know you’ve done your best. I can see it in your eyes.”
    But Alida knew her best hadn’t been enough.
    â€œWe will decide what to do in the morning,” Ruth said. “Are you hungry? I have roses.”
    Alida blushed. “No, thank you. I picked some earlier—before you got home.”
    The fire was warm, and Alida began to realize how tired she was. Ruth made a pallet on the floor for her, off to the side. “Just sleep now,” she said.“We’ll eat, then do the same. Tomorrow will be a long day, and we will all need our strength.”
    Alida took her shawl off and got settled as the two women went into the kitchen.
    They talked in low voices.
    She tried to overhear but couldn’t, and her eyes finally closed.

Chapter
    8
    Alida woke to hear Ruth and Molly arguing in whispers.
    â€œThere is no reason for you to go,” Ruth was saying. “None.”
    â€œHe is my grandson!”
    â€œI know that!” Ruth said. “And that’s why you should stay here, so in case things go wrong, you can help him later. Or simply be here when he makes his way home. I am the one who should go.”
    â€œToo many people depend on you here,” Molly hissed back at her.
    Alida sat up.
    In the daylight, she could see into the next room.
    The women were sitting at the table, teacups in their hands, glaring at each other.
    She slipped from beneath her blanket, then out the front door.
    It was a beautiful morning, the sun just coming up.
    Alida could smell the roses.
    She walked around the side of the house, thinking furiously.
    Ruth and Molly were both wrong.
    Neither of them should go. Gavin needed his grandmother alive and well, and Ash Grove needed its healer.
    And they were both old women.
    The castle was huge.
    What if they had to run up and down tower