homeland weren’t the one clinging to its outdated superstitions.
“What are my options?” Aine asked Taran on her second day with the mercenaries.
“I was wondering when you might ask that.” He reined his horse beside her, his eyes still scanning his surroundings. “I’m not sure you have any, besides returning to Forrais. Should you fall into another clan’s hands, they will use you against your clan as bait, bargain, or punishment. As long as Macha does not learn about your gift, you have the strength of clan law and your extensive holdings to protect you in Forrais.”
“What do you know of those holdings? And why didn’t they revert to Lady Macha when she took clan leadership?”
“Those that belonged to the clan did. But your father was a wealthy man in his own right. You would have to speak to Macha’s exchequer to learn the full extent of his estates.”
“You’re well informed for the lord of a midland clan. Maolain has shifted allegiances a dozen times in the last two hundred years, hasn’t it?”
Taran chuckled. “Your father was one of the few men I truly respected in the north, Lady Aine. I might have even liked him, as much as you can like a man such as him.”
“What do you mean?”
Taran shifted his position on the horse’s back, the upward cast of his eyes telling her he was considering his words. “He was hard. Unyielding. Expected things to be done his way without question. Yet he was also fair and honorable, and he put his tenants’ well-being before his own. Not many lords would be roused in the middle of the night to help fight a barn fire or arrange subsistence for a family who had lost the head of their household. The people on his land both feared and respected him. I daresay some might have even loved him.”
It was no less than she’d ever expected from Alsandair Mac Tamhais, but it was the first time she had heard it from the mouth of someone with nothing to gain. “And Lady Macha?”
“She is your father’s sister, but I fear she lacks his more altruistic qualities. Lady Aine, you must be prepared that she will not take your reclaiming your birthright well. She has benefited from the rents and taxes on your lands. That means thousands of tenanted acres of farm and pastureland, not to mention the livestock and the hives.”
“What would you do?”
“What I would do and what you should do are two entirely different things. Your best hope is to rely on clan law. Give Macha a chance to do the proper thing. She will not want to risk losing the support of the clansmen by taking your rightful inheritance. But she might take some convincing.”
“And exactly whose sort of convincing would that be?” Aine asked with an arch of her eyebrow.
Pepin laughed behind them. “My dear, as much as I would love to serve you, our sort of convincing would cause more problems than it would solve.”
Aine smiled. She’d come to like these men, especially Pepin with his lilting accent and flirtatious charm. His endearment aside, he seemed to look on Aine with the distant affection of an uncle or older cousin. She couldn’t help thinking they were good men, despite their chosen profession.
“We should be reaching Forrais tomorrow,” Taran continued. “Prepare yourself. You may not be welcomed as warmly as your position demands. Concentrate on making allies among the household. Spread word of your return as quickly as possible. The more who know of your existence, the safer you are. You do have status as your father’s daughter, and as Macha’s heir.”
“Macha’s heir? What do you mean? I have two uncles still.”
Now it was Taran’s turn to look surprised. “You didn’t know? They died of the summer fever last year. Did no one send word to Seare?”
“They may have, but I’ve been on the battlefield for the past two years. The message must not have been passed along to me. Or perhaps we were so consumed with war that no one thought to convey the information.” What exactly did this mean for her? By the law of Aronan succession, she was next in line for clan leadership after Macha. Which left . . .
“Macha’s sons,” she murmured. “Should I die, all my property will pass to Macha’s family for dozens of years. Longer if they have children.”
“You see the danger,” Taran said softly.
The last piece of the puzzle clicked into place. It had been about control of the