“If I may speak.” Tarryn did so, softly, as arguments erupted around the table. “We did not destroy the Prayer House in the valley where the Pious once lived, prayed, did those good works, then turned to persecution, blood magicks, torture. This was long ago, long before any here took first breath, but the Fey remember. The Fey forgave, and gave the Pious their place in the south. And in repayment for forgiveness, they used what remains of it, near the God’s Dance, near the graveyard where Eian O’Ceallaigh’s ashes lay, and the ashes of many loved and lost, to stir the spirits trapped within. The sacrificed, and those who sacrificed them. To stir them to walk free on Samhain, through the thinning veil.”
Neo, of the Mer, with legs given when called, fisted both hands on the table. “You’re sure of this?”
“The fates decreed I go there, see, hear, feel, as did Breen Siobhan, daughter of the O’Ceallaigh. I tell you without her, I would have needed a coven to break the spell—Yseult’s spell, strong with the help of the Pious. And I tell you that on Samhain, the Undead would have swept over the valley and beyond.”
She nodded at Minga. “Minga is witness to this.”
“I am. And though I am not Fey, though I haven’t the gift, even I felt the battle of power, dark and light. Even I saw the shadows taking form, clawing to get out.”
Rowan of the Wise spoke again. “The ruins must be cleansed.”
“More,” Tarryn said. “The spirits must be sent to the dark and the light. This will take time and power, but must be done. And the cleansing, and the sanctification, all of it.”
“We can do the same with the south,” Uwin began.
“They have twice turned on us.” Flynn’s voice whipped out. “Betrayed us, sacrificed innocents. Would we give them leave to do so again?”
“We will not. The walls come down, every stone. Vengeance, you say?” As his mother advised, Keegan let his anger free. “So be it, as it is justice as well. See!”
He rose, lifted his hands, spread his fingers, and threw his memory, the images of it, onto the wall. And there the young boys lay, throats slit, blood spilling, pooling.
“Children, children sent to serve and learn and begin a life of good works, murdered by the hand of the Pious. Murdered in hopes their blood would strengthen the attack against us. More!”
He threw another image, one of men sprawled in their own blood. “Those who wore the robes and knew nothing, or pretended to know nothing of the evil inside those walls, the true purpose inside those walls. Murdered. Not by our hands, but their brothers so they could not speak against them.”
He looked at every face around the table. “It will not stand, and every stone torn down will be a sign of strength, of justice, of our purpose. I sent three empaths to walk inside that evil, and the falcon has brought their report. You are free to read it, as I did. And I’ll tell you all three were sickened by what they saw, heard, felt.
“It will not stand,” he repeated. “The ground will be cleansed and sanctified. And in its place on the rise, we will build a memorial to those who gave their lives for us yesterday, and for those whose lives were taken by those who vowed to heal and help and honor. I am taoiseach, and this is my word. I will not be swayed on this, whatever your counsel. I swear by all I am, I will tear it down with my own hands if need be.”
With both pride and rage on his face, Flynn rose. “I stand with you, for this is justice. This is right, and honorable.”
Rowan got to her feet. “I stand with you. Let the light rise from the dark. Let honor grow from the blood of the innocent and the brave.”
“I stand with you.” Neo rose. “Let this tribute rise high to be seen from the sea, from the land.”
One by one, they stood.
Uwin got to his feet. “I’m one for caution, for tolerance, for forgiveness, in hopes that all of this will hold peace. But there are times, I know, all of this gives a path to the evil in some hearts to walk. Children, the most precious of all gifts, murdered. I stand with the taoiseach.”
“Then we are one. My thanks for your counsel. I will ask for more of it tomorrow on other matters. Blessed be.”
It was dismissal, and though some might have lingered, Tarryn nudged them along in her easy, inarguable way.
“Well fought,” she told Keegan from the doorway. “Rest a bit now. There’ll be more battles to come.”
* * *
Breen gave the scene in the courtyard the consideration she thought it deserved.