She stifled a flinch. The Dark Lord was a phrase originallycoined to refer to the God of Shadows, but since the Mage Wars, it had been used almost exclusively to refer to Gaelen vel Serranis, Marissya’s brother, the infamousdahl’reisenwhose bloody vengeance for his twin sister’s murder had ignited the Mage Wars. She wanted to cry out that it was not true, that her brother would not have murdered a helpless mortal in his sleep, but she could not. For the last thousand years Gaelen had lived beyond the honor of the Fey. She no longer knew what he was and was not capable of. “Is it possible to bring this woman to me that I might question her?”
“She has refused out of fear, and her Lord is bitter enough over the recent attacks that he supports her refusal.”
“Has news of these raids reached Celieria City?”
“The pamphleteers were spreading tales more than a week ago, and the newspapers began printing the story two days after that—including the bits about an eyewitness and evidence proving thatdahl’reisenwere behind the attacks.”
That would explain the hostility Marissya had sensed during the procession. Most Celierians considereddahl’reisenand Fey to be one and the same. Ifdahl’reisenwere killing Celierians, the blame would fall on the Fey.
“Enough of all this doom and gloom,” Dorian announced briskly. “There will be time enough for weighty discussion in the next few days. For now, tell us what happened between the Feyreisen and the Celierian girl. Is it true that he dropped out of the sky and locked himself with her in a cage of magic, then sent her home with an escort of one hundred Fey warriors?”
“It’s true,” Marissya confirmed. “But those tales are only part of the whole story. Rain has found his truemate.”
The king’s eyes widened. “But this is excellent news.”
Marissya exchanged a look with Dax. “That remains to be seen,” Dax replied. “There has never been a truemated Tairen Soul before. The bonding period is difficult at best, for any Fey man. But Rain fights the tairen in him as well. It will push him tothe brink of madness. Our best hope is that the girl accepts him, and quickly.”
The marching Fey warriors caused an uproar along Celieria’s quiet side streets as Ellysetta, the twins, and their enormous escort made their way to the merchant class district that housed the Baristani residence. Luckily, the streets were mostly deserted, or Ellie’s entourage would have caused all manner of problems. As it was, a crowd double the size of her escort followed them from the main thoroughfare, and more folk joined them as they went. Ellie’s face was flaming with embarrassment long before they reached her street.
Unlike Ellie, once the twins had recovered from their initial fear, they found the attention quite entertaining. They darted to and fro, giggling when they managed to catch a warrior’s eye. The Fey did not smile at their antics. They just watched them, stone-faced and gimlet-eyed, except for the brown-haired, blue-eyed warrior, who would give Lillis a tiny grin each time she stuck her little snub nose in the air to show that she still had not forgiven him for not falling prey to her earlier tears.
The warrior beside Ellie was named Belliard vel Jelani. She gathered he was quite, quite old, though his face was as unlined as that of a Celierian just leaving his twenties. It was his eyes, dark and fathomless, that showed his age. Looking into those eyes, she felt an oppressive weight and terrible sorrow, as if he had lived countless centuries without joy. He did not, she noted, look directly at her for more than a moment at a time, and his stern, studious avoidance of her gaze invited little in the way of conversation.
As they neared the Baristani home, Ellie’s step faltered and her stomach clenched in nervous knots. Her mother stood in the doorway of their house. Someone had obviously run ahead to announce her coming, and Mama did not look happy. As the first of the Fey neared the Baristani residence, the procession smoothly parted in two separate columns that circled around the sides of thehouse like a black river flowing around an obstruction in the effluvial plain. Within moments the house was surrounded and Ellie found herself deposited on the doorstep, looking up at her mother’s grim face.
The twins ran to her, chattering excitedly about the Tairen Soul and fire cages and having been very afraid though now they weren’t. Lauriana listened with half an ear, then shooed them into the house.
“What’s this about the Tairen Soul and fire cages, Ellysetta?” she demanded as Ellie drew close. Her voice was sharp, filled with a brittle combination of fear and anger. She held no affection for the Fey. In her opinion, magic was the scourge of the earth. “And why is this... thisarmyof Fey bringing you home?”
Ellie cast a glance at the surrounding avid faces of the neighbors. “Can we talk about this inside, please, Mama?” There was a note of desperation in her voice.
Fortunately, Lauriana firmly believed that respectable folk did not air laundry on the front steps. “Very well. Get yourself inside.” Her eyebrows shot up into her hairline as Belliard vel Jelani and four other Fey—including the two who’d seen to Lillis and Lorelle—followed Ellie up the steps. “Sers, thank you for escorting my daughter, but you need not follow her into our home.” Her teeth made an audible click as she gave the men a grimly pleasant smile. “Especially as you have not been invited.”
Belliard gave her a deep bow. “Eternal apologies, honored one, but we must enter. We protect the Feyreisa. We go where she goes.”
“The Fey-who?” Lauriana turned to Ellie. “What is he talking about?”
“Please, Mama. Let them in, if that’s what they want. Let’s go inside.” Ellie glanced again at the crowd and tried to direct her mother towards the privacy of their home.
“And what aretheydoing?” Outraged, Lauriana turned to glare at a group of warriors weaving an intricate, nearly invisible mass of shining magic over the front of the house. “You there! Stop thatthis instant!” Four of the Fey behind her took advantage of her distraction to slip into the house. Belliard remained, his gaze intent and watchful as he waited for Ellie.
“Mama, I’ll explain inside.Please!” Ellie tugged her mother across the threshold as yet another group of Fey took up guard beside the front steps. The rest seemed to melt away into the shadows of alleyways and rooftops. Ellie knew they were still there, unseen. She could feel them, like a ripple of wind on the back of her neck.
Inside the house, the five Fey guards positioned themselves by the doors and windows of the large main room. They stood silently, arms crossed over their chests, fingers a mere breath away from the countless knives they wore. After one look at their stern faces and resolute stance, Lauriana did not even attempt to oust them. Instead, she turned a dark look on Ellie.
“Well, young lady, what is the meaning of this?”
“It’s a long story, Mama.”
Lauriana crossed her arms over her chest. “I have time, Ellysetta.”
Ellie bit her lip. When Mama called her Ellysetta and had that darkling look in her eye, she meant business. “Well... I took the twins to see the Feyreisen like you asked me to...” She related the series of incredible events, leaving out the more alarming parts like the bit about Rainier vel’En Daris claiming her as hisshei’tani. “... and he sent the Fey to escort me home... and, well, here we are.” Conscious of the five pairs of Fey eyes watching her steadily and her mother’s patent disbelief, Ellie flushed and stared at her feet. Her story was a fabrication of partial truths laid over gaping chasms of omitted pertinent facts.
Before Lauriana could take Ellie to task, a commotion outside the front door drew her attention. “Now what?” Scowling, she marched to the door and threw it open.
The enormous crowd outside had grown even larger. It now included the strangers who had followed the Fey, nosy neighbors insearch of gossip, and, to Ellie’s dismay, Den Brodson. He had bullied his way to the front of the pack and was now loudly demanding to know what was going on. Den’s mother, a plump woman with ruddy cheeks and frizzy brown hair, stood beside him, clutching his elbow and adding her shrill voice to his.
When she caught sight of Lauriana, Talla Brodson waved a frantic hand and yelled, “Lauriana Baristani, what in the name of the gods is going on? Tell these Fey to let us pass!”
