“Most aren’t.” If her parents had known she slipped out of the house at night, they would have put an immediate stop to it. But the nightmares that plagued her all her life made sleep difficult, and alone in the silence of the small bells, Ellysetta had often found peace by walking in the night air. At first she’d kept to the private courtyard behind the house, but as she grew older the courtyard began to feel too confining and she started to roam farther. Most nights, she ended up at the same place she was going now—Celieria’s National Museum of Art.
“You are either very brave or very foolish, Ellysetta Baristani. Night streets are no place for young women alone.”
Ellie shrugged. In all the years she’d walked alone at night, she’d never had a problem. Indeed, no one had ever even seemed to notice her presence before. “Celieria is well patrolled, the streets are well lit, and this is an honest part of the city.”
“Evil has an affinity for the night. Even in well-lit, well-patrolled, honest quarters.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She glanced at the other four Fey, then back to Belliard. “Since you seem determined to guard me, perhaps you should tell me your names.”
The five Fey bowed and introduced themselves one by one. Thesmiling, brown-haired Fey was Kieran vel Solande, son of theshei’dalinMarissya and her truemate Dax. The blond warrior whose face Lorelle had scratched was Kiel vel Tomar. The other two, both black-haired and brown-eyed, were brothers, Rowan and Adrial vel Arquinas.
“There are another five Fey in your secondary quintet who will guard you for the few bells in the night when we must sleep,” Belliard added.
“Mama will just love that,” Ellie muttered.
“Your mother does not like magic or magical races?”
“She’s from the north. The magic from the Mage Wars left behind many evil things. Dangerous, mutated creatures; dark places no one dares enter.” Even children with frightening afflictions. “Magic and Celierians don’t mix well.”
“And yet, here in Celieria City, the people accept magic and its benefits without question.” Belliard pointed to the Fire-lit lamps.
“Well, the Mages never sacked Celieria City, did they? The worst of the Wars never reached south of Vrest. People here would feel different if mutated predators like lyrant roamed their woods, or if their children were born with ghastly deformities and deadly powers.”
“Do you share your mother’s fear of magic?”
Ellie hesitated before answering. “Magic... makes me uncomfortable.” For the past year or so, if anyone wielded strong magic around her, she would get terrible headaches and her sleep would be tormented by particularly horrible nightmares. She didn’t even want to think what her dreams held in store for her tonight.
They reached Celieria’s main thoroughfare and turned north. Though most of the hardworking families of the West End were asleep, that was not true of all of Celieria’s population. Carriages rolled down the cobbled street, carrying nobles in colorful silks and satins to their night’s entertainment. Men and women, some well dressed, some more commonly so, strolled down the widebricked sidewalks on either side of the road. Boisterous laughter and music poured through the doors of numerous pubs.
Normally, Ellie didn’t come out until much later at night, when fewer people roamed the city. She was very aware of her Fey escort’s distinctive garb. “You’re going to draw attention.”
Belliard vel Jelani shared a glance with his fellow Fey, then gestured. Lavender light glowed around them, and when it faded, all five warriors were dressed in simple Celierian clothing and their Fey skin had lost its luminescence. They were still too handsome to be pure mortal, but their disguises would allow them to walk without drawing too much attention to themselves.
Ellie rubbed at the goose bumps that rose on her skin in response to Belliard’s magic. “Nice trick.”
They turned the corner and slipped into the streams of people walking the sidewalks. A number of women gave the Fey long, hungry looks, but no one stopped them or acted as though their presence were anything out of the ordinary. Ellie led the way up the remaining half mile to the arched bridge that spanned the Velpin River.
Celieria’s National Museum of Art lay on the other side of the river. The domed building was the crowning feature of a sprawling, manicured park that bordered the Velpin’s magic-purified waters. Circled by Fire-lamps, the building gleamed like a jewel in the night.
Ellie hurried up the wide brick walkway to the museum’s entrance and pushed open the leaded-glass doors. Though the museum staff departed promptly at seventeen bells each day, the museum doors were never locked. Something far more powerful than bolted doors protected the building’s many priceless treasures. Any thief could wander in and look to his heart’s content, but let him touch a single precious piece of art and he’d be paralyzed until the curator arrived in the morning.
“Don’t touch any of the exhibits,” Ellie warned. Her voice echoed in the marbled vestibule. She led them through the domedrotunda, where marble columns ringed a twenty-foot statue of King Dorian I holding his sword upraised in one hand, his Fey wife beside him with healing hands splayed over the upturned face of a child. At the base of the statue, deeply carved letters painted with pure gold proclaimed the majestic promise of Celieria’s creed:Might and mercy shall vanquish all foes.
She headed down the second arching corridor on the left. Sculpted tairen heads with glowing ruby eyes flanked the entrance to the Fey wing.
Ellie’s friend Selianne Pyerson was sitting on a cushioned bench beside the alcove that housed an eight-foot bronze of a tairen rampant perched on a boulder of white marble veined with gold. Selianne’s normally tidy blond hair was disheveled, as if she’d been running her hands through it, and her pretty face was drawn tight in lines of worry and agitation. She jumped to her feet when she caught sight of Ellie, then froze when she realized her friend was not alone.
“Who are they?” Selianne gestured to the five men standing behind Ellie.
“They are... um... my guards.” Faint lavender light shimmered, and the Fey assumed their true appearance.
Selianne stumbled back a step. “It’s true, then. The Tairen Soul really did claim you as his mate.”
“Apparently so.” Ellie introduced the five warriors to her friend. “Selianne and I have been friends since my family first came to Celieria City.” They’d been childhood outcasts together, Selianne for being the foreign-born daughter of a Sorrelian sea captain and his wife, and Ellie for her odd appearance and strange ways.
Selianne dragged Ellie back a few steps and hissed into her ear, “I can’t believe you brought Fey with you. What if they... you know... read my mind or something?”
“They won’t,” Ellie assured her. “I made them give an honor oath not to eavesdrop or mind read before I let them come withme.” She glanced at Belliard behind her. “Would you mind giving us that privacy now?”
