“But—”
“All great gifts come with a price,kem’falla,” Gaelen said. “All choices come with consequence. And all Fey accept that.”
“All men of honor, at least,” Tajik said, giving Gaelen a pointed look. Gaelen’s eyes narrowed.
Ignoring him, the Fey general cast out a hand towards the silvery white walls of Chakai on the other side of Taloth’Liera. “Therasasleep there,kem’Feyreisa.If you still wish to bless them, I would ask you to begin with a particular two.”
“I...” Ellysetta hesitated. She had never considered what cost her actions would have on the men she blessed. She’d thought only to stop their pain. And, all right, yes, some vain part of her liked seeing the wonder and joy on the warriors’ faces when they realized the torment of all the lives they’d taken was gone. But how could she offer such healing now, knowing what price they would feel compelled to pay?
“I don’t want to rob them of their hope for a truemate. It’s bad enough I did that to you three without knowing it.”
“Do not berate yourself for healing our souls, Ellysetta,” Bel said. “The Fey number a mere forty thousand. If there were truemates to be had for us, we already would have found them.”
“Yet Rain found me, and Adrial found Talisa,” she pointed out. Though the ill-fated truemating of Air master Adrial vel Arquinas to Great Lord Cannevar Barrial’s married daughter could only end badly—King Dorian had upheld the marriage rights of Talisa’s husband, so Adrial could not claim her—Talisa Barrial diSebourne’s mortal-born soul had nonetheless called a Fey’s. “There could be more truemates in Celieria just waiting for their Fey to find them.”
“The odds are unlikely, Ellysetta,” Bel said gently. “How many other Celierian women descend from both Fey and Elvish blood, as she does?Nei, therasahave already lost all but the smallest flicker of hope. Most of them will perish before their next battle’s end—they are that close to shadow.”
Rain shifted restlessly, and a low growl rumbled in his throat. “Which will in no way reflect on Ellysetta,” he said, giving Bel a hard look. “Therasalive and die by the gods’ decree, as they always have.” He gripped Ellysetta’s shoulders. “Shei’tani, if you are having doubts, then do not do this. The Eye of Truth said your purpose was to save the tairen; it said nothing about restoring light to therasa. If the pain of their presence disturbs you too much, we can leave for Fey’Bahren now, without delay.”
She looked up at him, her eyes wide and troubled. “Is Bel right? Will those men die if I don’t heal them?”
Right at that moment, Rain could cheerfully have put his hands around his best friend’s throat and squeezed until his eyes popped.«Bel, my brother, what flaming maggot in your brain possessed you to tell her that?»
«I should have let her think she’s stolen our hope instead?»Outrage colored Bel’s voice.«What she can do is a miracle sent from the gods. I won’t let her berate herself for it. Besides, you know as well as I do how many of the rasa cling to honor by the merest thread.»
«You are supposed to protect her from pain, not encourage her to embrace it!»
«And which do you think will be worse? The pain of knowing the rasa will have no truemates in this life, or the pain of knowing they chose sheisan’dahlein or slipped down the Dark Path when she could have healed them and did not?»
“Rain?” Ellysetta shook herself free of his grip and frowned up at him. “Answer me. Will therasadie in the next battle if I don’t heal them?”
His lips drew back, baring clenched teeth. He wished he could lie. He would lie to her now, if he could. But he was Fey, and Fey did not lie. “They live here, far from other Fey, because the shadow lies so dark upon them. If war comes, they will not survive it. At least not as Fey.”
The admission hit her like a blow. She flinched and her face went pale. Then she caught herself, and Rain saw the reaction he’d been dreading. Her slender spine went stiff and straight. Her shoulders squared. Her jaw clenched, then lifted with a determined tilt. The small, now-familiar gestures made him want to shred things, starting with Bel and Gaelen.
Ellysetta Feyreisa had made her choice.
“Take me to therasa.”
When Rain held out his wrist so she could put her hand upon it, she looked startled.
“You don’t need to come with us, Rain. You’ve already said it will be too difficult for you.”
Only then did he realize how little she understood. “I am yourshei’tan, Ellysetta. What choices you make, you make for both of us.”
Therasa, when they heard the reason Ellysetta had come, were horrified. Like Tajik, they refused to let her touch them at first, unwilling to inflict their pain upon her, until Tajik rounded up two grim-eyed Fey and hauled them to the front of the warriors’ barracks to stand before Ellysetta. They were the oldest of therasa, warriors the same age as Bel and Tajik, and they well remembered the destruction of the Mage Wars.
“The Mages have returned,” Tajik told them, “and war will soon be upon us. The Fading Lands will need all her sons. The Feyreisa can heal your soul so you may live and fight like a Fey whose steel has yet to taste its first enemy’s blood.” On the Warriors’ Path, he added,«I know it is hard, but accept this gift, my brothers, so we may live and fight together as once we did.»With grim ferocity, he added,«I need you with me, beyond the first battle, to drench the earth in Mage blood and avenge the deaths of those we loved.»
«Mages? You are certain?»The question came from Gillandaris vel Jendahr, a white-blond, black-eyed Fey who was a scorching artist of death with his blades. He’d lost both parents, two brothers, and a belovedshei’dalinniece to the Elden Mages. Not even a thousand years had been enough to dull the pain of so great a wound.
«Bel swears it. Three of them attacked the Feyreisa last week.»
Gil’s jaw clenched, and power sparked like stars in his midnight eyes. He dropped to one knee before the Feyreisa and offered her his hands. “May it please the gods, Feyreisa, I accept your offer of healing, that I may defend the Fading Lands and avenge the deaths of those I loved.”
“What is your name?” Ellysetta asked.
He tossed back his head, sending white-blond hair rippling across his black leathers. “I am Gillandaris vel Jendahr, Master of Air and Earth and Fire, fourth-level talent in Water and Spirit, friend and blade brother of Tajik vel Sibboreh, and formerchadinof the great Shannisorran v’En Celay.” He sent a cool glance in Gaelen’s direction.
