She backed away, shaking her head. It was too dangerous. No matter what they said, she didn’t dare risk it. “I appreciate your concern, Greatfather—more than you’ll ever know—and I know I was the one to come to you asking for help, but this isn’t the help I was looking for. I was hoping you could simply convince the king to dissolve the betrothal. Once I can get her away from the Fey, things will go back to normal and she’ll be fine.”
“There’s no possible way I could break your daughter’s betrothal. Not only was it decided by the Supreme Council, but between the king and the Tairen Soul, they’ve made it a matter of state. Even if I had such authority—which I don’t—haven’t you been listening to Father Bellamy? Your daughter isn’t fine, and never will be until the exorcism is complete.”
“And I’ve told you I can’t authorize an exorcism. I just can’t.” Lauriana turned and rushed towards the stairs, but before she could set foot on the first step, a hand caught her wrist in a steely grip. Father Nivane held her fast.
“Think of your daughter, woman. Think of her soul. How can you make such a self-serving, cowardly decision and call yourself her beacon?”
“Nivane!” Father Bellamy rapped out. “You forget yourself. Unhand Madame Baristani at once.” Turning a conciliatory face to Lauriana, the chief exorcist approached, hands outstretched in a gesture of peace and entreaty. “Madam, forgive my young Brother. He has long fought the agents of the Dark, and such work requires a certain fervor. It is easy, sometimes, to forget that others are not so acquainted with the perils of evil as we.”
She pressed back against the wall. The stone felt icy against her skin. “I know what evil is, Father, believe me.”
He searched her eyes and nodded. “I do believe you, daughter. I can see in your eyes that you have confronted it before.” Sorrow and compassion lay in his, and the simple kindness she saw madeher start to weep. He obviously regretted what he was asking her to do, and knew how difficult a decision it was. “We cannot force you to do this, but will you at least promise to consider it? You can give us your answer tomorrow.”
“I—”
“You cannot stop her marriage,” he added, “but you can save her soul. And isn’t that what you’ve wanted all along?”
Lauriana nodded, tears trickling from her eyes. “Yes.”
“You’ve been a good mother to her, and an exceptional beacon. Without you, she no doubt would have been lost long ago. For her sake, will you promise to consider our request?”
Nivane bowed, his expression penitent. “Forgive my outburst, Madame Baristani. It was unbefitting my vocation. I want only the best for your daughter. Here, please, take this.” He removed a golden pendant from around his neck and held it out to her. The pendant was a golden sun, set with an amber crystal. “It’s a charm, blessed by some of the Brothers of the Order to ward against magic. I know the Fey have surrounded your home. This will help protect you and your thoughts against them.”
Bellamy laid a hand of thanks on Nivane’s shoulder. “Madame Baristani, if you still wish to refuse tomorrow morning, simply send the charm back to Greatfather Tivrest here at the cathedral. We will know you have declined our offer, and we will depart with no one the wiser. Neither your family nor the Fey will know we approached you.”
Lauriana reached out slowly and took the pendant from Nivane. The metal felt warm to the touch. “I will consider everything you’ve said, and give you my answer in the morning.”
In his room at the Inn of the Blue Pony, Kolis Manza smiled with satisfaction as he sensed the amber crystal change hands from Nivane to the Feyreisa’s mother. The Feraz witchspell anchored to the stone didn’t suppress thoughts but rather siphoned off the loudest of them and channeled them to the receptor crystal Koliswore around his neck. Short of a deliberate Spirit assault on Lauriana Baristani’s mind, the Fey would not be able to hear her thoughts, while Kolis, on the other hand, sat like a little fly on the periphery, hearing everything louder than a whisper.
Rain and Ellie flew farther and faster than they ever had. As they’d departed Celieria City, she’d asked the innocent question,«How fast can you fly?»and with a wicked tairen laugh, he’d shown her.
He’d wrapped them both in a cocoon of magic and shot so high they could see the deep twilight cusp of the sky and the dim shine of stars gleaming just beyond the blue heavens. No breeze stirred in the shield of Air around them as they flew, and Rain’s wings weren’t even moving. They were swept back, fully extended but held close to his frame while magic alone propelled them forward at tremendous speed.
“That was incredible,” she breathed when at last they landed and Rain Changed back to Fey form. “How fast were we going?”
Rain smiled. “Very fast. We’re halfway to Queen’s Point.”
Her jaw dropped. “Halfway to—but Queen’s Point is more than five hundred miles from Celieria City!”
“A little over four hundred as the tairen flies. I could have gone further, but then I would have had to feed to replenish my strength, and tairen dining can be a little unsettling to those unused to the sight.”
She thought of Love and the kitten’s penchant for leaving the gnawed, half-eaten bodies of mice and lizards lying about, and her stomach took a queasy lurch. How easy it was to forget that tairen were, first and foremost, predators, with a predator’s instincts and a predator’s habits. “What do tairen eat?”
“When they’re hungry? Anything that moves.”
“And are you... er... hungry now?”
He threw back his head and laughed. “Only for a meal we can both share. In fact, why don’t you set it out now while I spin theprotection weaves.” After a quick glance at their surroundings to find what he needed, he spun a rapid Earth weave. A folded blanket and a small basket appeared beneath a nearby pella tree.
Leaving her to lay out the blanket and basket of meats, cheeses, and various fruits and salads, Rain wove a large five-fold dome around them and secured the threads firmly in place. Not even here, on the beaches of Great Bay two hundred miles from Celieria City, would he relax his guard. Whatever was hunting her—be it Mage, demon, ordahl’reisen—would have no further opportunity to prey on her as long as he could prevent it.
He joined her on the blanket to share their meal. When they were done, he leaned back on his elbows and watched her walk towards the gentle surf lapping at the white sand. She stretched her arms up high over her head and lifted her face towards the warmth of the Great Sun, all but purring as the ocean breeze ruffled her hair and filled her lungs with the wild, fresh scents of the sea.
The sight of her standing there in the bright waves reminded him of the long-ago days of his youth when he, Rainier-Eras, Tairen Soul of the Fey’Bahren pride, would join his soul-kin to swim in the warm, sparkling waters of Tairen’s Bay and later bask on the silvery sands to dry his wings in the ocean breeze. His father, Rajahl, would bask as well, but never far away from his son and always with one watchful eye open, while Rain’s mother, Kiaria, would lean against her mate, her slight Fey body shining and pale against his tairen darkness, her eyes closed, a smile of utter contentment on her face.
Ellysetta lifted her skirts and dipped a slender foot in the water. A wave crashed, sending spray and sand flying to soak the hem of her gown.
“That is not quite the right attire for a visit to the ocean,” Rain said. He summoned Earth and wove it. Her heavy silk dress shifted, becoming a light, flowing white robe and gown that blew back in the breeze and molded to her body in ways that made hisheart beat a little faster. She glanced down and gasped, and her arms slapped into place to cover all her most interesting bits. He grinned. The robe and gown were sheer and he had not spun undergarments.
