Condemnation blew an icy wind through his soul, and he was freezing, teeth chattering.
Gaelen’s eyes opened to the darkness of night. Stars twinkled in the sky overhead, paled by the light of the moons. Dimly he realized he was lying in the dirt at the edge of a field. He was not in the Fading Lands. Marikah was dead and he wasdahl’reisen, soul-lost.
But he could still hear the strains of the Felah Baruk.
A low groan rattled in his throat as he rolled over on his belly and lifted his head. His vision swam, but he saw the glow of a walled city he both knew and despised.
Celieria City.
Outside on the terrace, the air was warm and sweet, perfumed with the scents of the palace gardens. Ellysetta danced with Rain until the last note of the Felah Baruk died away.
“Good evening, My Lord Feyreisen, Lady Ellysetta.” A deep baritone voice spoke just behind her.
“Lord Barrial.” Ellysetta’s fingers tightened around Rain’s wristas she turned to face the border lord. Here was the one person she’d actually liked from the dinner the other night, and she found herself holding her breath as she waited to see how he would greet her.
“Lady Ellysetta.” He bowed deeply. When he rose, the faintest of smiles curved the man’s lips. “No offense, but I trust you will not be drinking pinalle tonight?”
Ellie blushed. “No, my lord. I don’t think I shall ever drink it again. Certainly never in combination with keflee.”
“Now, that would be a waste of a fine opportunity.” Lord Barrial arched a dark brow. “Wouldn’t you agree, My Lord Feyreisen?”
Rain smiled, though a bit ruefully. “Indeed, though it certainly depends on the time and place of the opportunity.”
Lord Barrial laughed, then moved a little closer and lowered his voice. “Teleos tells me you had a bit of trouble with the Eld today. A demon?”
“Aiyah, and the Mages finally made a mistake. They usedselkahrto summon the creature, and left me with the proof I needed to convince Dorian. The borders will not open tomorrow, even if the vote passes. Dorian has said he will invokeprimus.”
“Well done, my friend.” Lord Barrial clapped him on the back. “That is good news. Now you’ve only to pray that nothing else happens to muck things up before tomorrow’s vote.”
“Ah, here you are.” Lord Teleos stepped through the terrace doors. “Good evening, Rain, Lady Ellysetta.” The Fey-eyed border lord bowed his head, his dark, unbound hair swinging free about his shoulders. A stranger stood beside him, clad in robes that shimmered with otherworldly beauty and seemed to shift in color from blue to green to gold. “Have you met Elvia’s ambassador? Lord Arran Bluewing, may I present the Tairen Soul, Rainier vel’En Daris, and his truemate, Lady Ellysetta Baristani.”
The Elvian bowed. Long, silken, brown hair woven in myriad tiny plaits brushed against elegant tapered ears. His eyes were dark green, the color of the deepest forest, his skin almost Fey-pale, but with a golden luster rather than a silvery luminescence.The ambassador turned his deep gaze on Ellysetta, and she stared at him in wonder. She’d never met an Elf before, and there was a strange, compelling mystery about him, as if those eyes saw things no others did.
He murmured something in a language that sounded like waterfalls in sunlight-dappled forests. She didn’t understand him, but his words made Rain, Lord Barrial, and Lord Teleos stiffen in surprise. Rain’s hand closed around her elbow and drew her closer to his side. He replied in the same language, but when he spoke, it sounded like raging rapids. Unperturbed, the ambassador turned his gaze on Rain, spoke again just as calmly as before, then bowed and took his leave.
“What was that all about?” Ellysetta asked.
It was Lord Barrial who answered. “He said your Song in the Dance has begun.” He and Lord Teleos turned to look at her in surprised unison.
“Elvish mysticism,” Rain muttered, shifting closer to her. “It means nothing, Ellysetta, except that you are the truemate of a Tairen Soul.”
“And destined to change the world,” Lord Barrial added, “as all who call a Song in the Dance do.” He frowned at Rain. “And your Song must still be singing, Rain, if Galad Hawksheart wants the Fey to visit him in Deep Woods. He doesn’t lightly issue such invitations.”
“Well, Lady Ellysetta, you are all surprises.” Lord Teleos shook his head. “But what else would one expect from the truemate of a Tairen Soul?” His smile faded, and he turned back to Rain. “In any event, I didn’t come to bring the ambassador—he just divined where I was going in that way Elvish folk do and followed along. I came to tell you that Lord Krahn has arrived with his lady and heir. You and the Feyreisa should come to greet them, and there are several other lords I think you should meet who only arrived in town today. Sebourne’s already making the rounds.”
“Dorian has promised to invokeprimus,” Lord Barrial told him.
“Ah.” Teleos’s brows rose. “Excellent. Theselkahrconvinced him?”
“It did,” Rain answered.
“Good. Good.” Teleos rubbed his hands together. “Still, it never hurts to sharpen all the blades in the arsenal, does it? No telling what else the enemies of Celieria and the Fading Lands may yet hold in store. These are unsettled times.”
Rain’s eyes narrowed with sudden interest, and Ellysetta felt a brief, quickly contained rush of aggression. “Indeed.” He held out his wrist to Ellysetta. When she put her hand upon it, he gestured with his free hand towards the crowded palace ballroom. “Lead the way, Lord Teleos. The Feyreisa and I would very much like to meet all Celierians still willing to honor your country’s ancient ties to the Fey.”
Ellysetta didn’t know how long she and Rain spent greeting the lords and ladies of Teleos’s acquaintance, but the time passed with surprising speed. Unlike the more jaded members of the royal court, most of these nobles spent a goodly part of each year on their far-flung estates, well removed from the intrigues and prejudices of the court. Most of them also came from the west, closer to the Fading Lands, and they greeted Rain with considerably more warmth than many of their peers.
Rain was pleasant and charming in a way Ellysetta rarely saw him with Celierians. For her part, she tried her best to follow Master Fellows’s advice and remember that tonight she was not Ellie, the woodcarver’s daughter, but Ellysetta, the Tairen Soul’s queen. Drawing upon Master Fellows’s training, her own vast knowledge of Fey legends and lore, and the histories she’d read in Master Tarr’s voluminous tome, she managed to carry on appropriate conversation and avoid any embarrassing gaffes.
