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belief and soon gone from this world.
    “So the Gruagagh sees to the physical realm and its boundaries, while the Court itself and its people are looked after by our Laird and his family. The Laird rules and settles disputes, while his lady and her daughters hold in trust the songs that sow the seeds deeper, make the harvests more bountiful, keep the Host at bay on Samhaine Eve—the day-by-day magics that make life better. Only now our Laird is widowed and his daughter’s gone…”
    Finn’s voice trailed off and he looked at Jacky. He seemed surprised by her attentiveness. “Are you sure you want to hear all of this?” he asked.
    “Oh, yes,” Jacky said.
    It was like being caught up in a fairy tale, she thought. She imagined this Laird’s daughter, maybe captive somewhere—if she was still alive—and all that was keeping her going was the hope that her father, or one of his people, would rescue her. And the Gruagagh—he was already a tragic figure in her mind.
    “Well,” Finn said. “Things being as they are—with the Laird widowed and his daughter lost—there’s no one but the Gruagagh to do both jobs, to protect both the realm and its people so he has to stay in his Tower. The Host can’t breach the Tower, but the Gruagagh must remain in it, for if he ventures forth again now and they catch him, then Kinrowan’s fate is sealed and the Seelie Court will rule here no more.”
    “I don’t understand why no one trusts him,” Jacky said. “It sounds to me like he’s doing his job.”
    “There’s those who think he’s only waiting until the time is right, and then he’ll hand us all over to the Host—as he did with the Laird’s daughter.”
    “Then why don’t you get a new gruagagh?”
    Finn sighed. “Because he’s all we have—there’s no one else to be had. But it’s hard to trust a man who keeps so much of himself to himself.”
    “So what you really need is to get the Laird’s daughter back,” Jacky said. “Would he know what to do?”
    “Would who know?”
    “This Gruagagh of yours—would he know how to find the Horn?”
    Finn started to answer her, then shook his head. He gave a quick look to the deserted house behind them. When his gaze returned to her, his eyes were troubled.
    “I don’t know,” he said. “No one’s asked him.”
    “Why not?”
    Finn looked away then, refusing to meet her gaze.
    “Why not?” she repeated.
    “Because,” he said finally, “there’s few that would chance a talk with the Gruagagh—after what happened to the Laird’s daughter, even the Laird avoids him. And there’s no one who’d dare go looking for the Horn.” His gaze returned to hers and he flinched at the look in her eyes. “Would you?” he demanded.
    “Me? Why should I? She’s not my Laird’s daughter.”
    “But you’re kin—you said so yourself. Your name’s Rowan.”
    “Finn, until tonight, I never heard of any of you.”
    “Well then, you see,” he said. “You’re no different from the rest of us. You won’t go, and neither will we, and all for the same reason no matter what we say. It’s because we don’t have the courage.”
    Now it was Jacky’s turn to flinch. For one moment she was back in her apartment and Will was slamming the door.
    “This is stupid,” she said. “None of this is even real.”
    “Oh?” Finn asked, glaring at her. “Then why don’t you waltz over to yon’ Big Man and give him a kick in the toe. See what he has to say, before he swallows you whole!”
    “The Big Man isn’t even there and neither are you. I’m just seeing you both because of this stupid cap.”
    “It’s because of the cap that you finally do see . We’re all around you all the time, Jacky Rowan. Though in a few years time, it’ll be only the Unseelie Court that walks the twilight shades of your world. Wear that cap long enough and you won’t need it to see anymore. But then… oh, then… Merriment will have fled and all the wonder. There’ll be nothing