The tunnel opened up into another large cavern. Rain called Fire to light the sconces around the perimeter and illuminate the clear, still waters of the lake. Though not as wide as the nesting lair nor as tall, the cavern was still impressive. Scores of adult tairen could comfortably bask on the rocks surrounding the vast, glassy lake, and above, the domed ceiling arched high enough to allow even the largest tairen to fully extend his wings for drying. The walls were smooth and polished from millennia of young tairen testing their flame beneath the pride’s watchful eyes. Rain himself had joined his tairen cradle friends in spewing gouts of flame into rock, learning how to control the flame and its heat, and how to breathe fire without singeing his muzzle.
Ellysetta walked to the edge of the lake and knelt to dip her hand. “Itiswarm.”
“Fey’Bahren is a volcano. Its heat warms the waters of this lake.” He smiled faintly. “The tairen like their comforts.” He led her to a shallow section of the lake, where underwater ledges formed a perfect soaking spot. “Here, Ellysetta.”
She hesitated. “I’m really much warmer now.”
“Ellysetta, if you stripped naked and raced through the tunnels of Fey’Bahren, the tairen would think nothing of it.”
“Yes... well...” Her cheeks flushed a brighter pink. “I don’t believe I’ll be putting that to the test anytime soon.”
So prim. So... Celierian. He smiled and shook his head. Earth blazed at his fingertips, and her travel leathers became a soft linen bathing dress. “There. Now get in the water and let it warm you. And stay there until I say you may get out.”
She arched a brow at his high-handedness.
“Teska.”Please.
She sniffed. “Fine. I’ll get in. But I’ll get back out whenIsay so, not you.”
Sybharukai purred and climbed to her basking ledge.«It is good your mate lets you know who is makai.»Her dark gray ears twitched with amusement.
Rain gave the wise one a sour look.«You will not think so when it is you she challenges.»He took a seat on a boulder beside Sybharukai and watched his mate ease into the warm waters, her eyes closing in bliss as the heat penetrated her cold skin. “Ellysetta said she sensed a presence when we sang the Fire Song for Merdrahl and Cahlah. Something cold and evil. She said it called her name. Did you feel it?”
Sybharukai’s ears flicked.«Nei. There was only the Fire Song, and then peace and sorrow when Merdrahl and Cahlah flew free of this life.»She paused, then added softly,«Of the kitling, there was nothing.»
Rain nodded. He had not felt the unborn kit’s passing either. As with all the other victims of the withering disease, it was as if his soul had leached away before he could be sung into the next life.
Rain’s gut still told him the Eld were to blame, yet there was no hint of Azrahn at work, and no indication that any sort of magic had breached the protective shields of the Faering Mists.
And yet, Ellysetta had sensed evil... dark and cold and beckoning.
A quiet splash drew his attention. Ellysetta had completely submerged herself and was lying still beneath the surface of the lake. With her eyes closed and the long coils of her bright hair floating around her, she looked like one of the beguiling Danae water sprites who delighted in luring unwary mortals to watery graves.
«She brings song back to your heart,»Sybharukai observed.
“Aiyah.”
«You no longer wish for your own Fire Song.»
Rain met Sybharukai’s eyes. “Nei, I want to live.” Until that night when he’d flown along the borders of Eld, the tairen had never discussed how he’d longed for death after Sariel’s murder, but of course, all the pride had known. They had accepted his desire. Tairen mated for life. But they had always known he would not seek death until his responsibilities to the Fey and to the tairen were met.
Sybharukai purred and stretched, flexing her claws.«Ellysetta-kitling is a better mate for you than the other.»
“She is myshei’tani. Sariel wase’tani.” The tairen had never called Sariel by name. Always, she had been “your mate” or “that one.” And now, apparently, “the other.”
«The other was friend, but not tairen.»
Rain glanced at Sybharukai in surprise. It was unusual for themakaito be so talkative. “Nei,” he agreed. “Sariel was not tairen, but Ellysetta is.”
The great cat’s ears flicked.«She smells so, but her song does not sing to us. We cannot choose her sorreisu kiyr or lead her through First Change until we know her song.»
“Perhaps she does not yet know how to sing. The Celierians never could have taught her.”
«Tairen sing in the egg. There is no need to teach.»
“But she is tairen. I saw it in her eyes. She hears my song.”
«Yet you do not hear hers.»
