“Out of the question, Sire!” Colum’s father railed. “How can we possibly trust anything they say ever again? The Tairen Soul had to have known vel Arquinas never left Celieria. He was in collusion with Talisa’s lover to steal my son’s wife—in direct violation of your earlier judgment! There’s no other credible explanation! The Fey have been lying to you and manipulating you all along, Sire!”
In a bleak, toneless voice, the king had agreed with Lord Sebourne. “Given the circumstances, Lord Sebourne is right. Vel Arquinas will hear the charges against him and have an opportunity to make a response. We will not wait for the Feyreisa or any othershei’dalinof the Fey.”
Now Talisa waited at her father’s side as Adrial, Rowan, and her quintet stood before the king to face their accusers. At Talisa’s left, Colum and his father watched the proceedings with curled lips and smug satisfaction.
Adrial held his head proudly erect, never taking his eyes from her as the charges were read. And though he was bound in so muchsel’dorshe could almost feel it burning her own skin, still he spoke to her in Spirit.
«Ke vo san, shei’tani. Throughout this life and every life that follows, I shall always love you. Forgive me for causing you such pain. I should have put your happiness before my own, and I did not.»
The sorrowful acceptance in his Spirit voice should have warned her, but it still came as a shock when the king’s steward finished reading the charges, and Adrial turned to the king, his clear voice ringing out as he said, “I do confess to all charges against me and ask that all similar charges against my brother and the warriors of myshei’tani’s quintet be dismissed. I alone am responsible for every Celierian law that was broken.”
King Dorian sat up, and his brows drew together. “You confess? Just like that?”
“I am Fey, Your Majesty. Despite my recent actions, I am a warrior of honor. I confess that I used magic to manipulate the thoughts, actions, and memories of Colum diSebourne. He is wed by Celierian custom to myshei’tani, my soul’s other half. By your laws, she belongs to him, but her soul was created by the gods to complete my own, as mine was created to complete hers. After Your Majesty’s judgment this summer, I believed that Celieria’s refusal to recognize the will of the gods justified the breaking of your mortal laws. I was wrong.”
Now he turned his gaze back to Talisa, and continued in a softer, more penitent tone. “My actions have subjected my mate to shame and condemnation and thus I have dishonored myself. I have brought shame to my line, myshei’tani, my king, and my brother Fey.”
Her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes. «Adrial…no. Oh, no, beloved, you haven’t shamed me. What I did, I did by my own choice, because I loved you and I always will.»
His lips trembled before he clamped them together and turned his attention swiftly back to the king. “King Dorian of Celieria, this Fey does most humbly beg your forgiveness. He has acted without honor and proven himself unworthy of the great gift the gods bestowed upon him.”
«Adrial!»
King Dorian leaned forward. “Ser vel Arquinas, you understand what you’re saying? You understand that the price of your transgressions is death?”
Adrial’s jaw clenched. “This Fey understands the penalty Celierian law demands and he accepts it. This Fey’s only request is that he be afforded the opportunity to expunge the stain upon his honor. If Your Majesty will permit it, this Fey requests the right tosheisan’dahlein, the honor death.”
“What? Adrial, no!” Talisa surged forward, but her father caught her and held her back. “No! You can’t! You can’t!” «Shei’tan, you can’t do this! Run! Go back to the Fading Lands. Wait for me, as we agreed. I can bear anything if I know you are alive and that one day I will be with you again.» Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.
He didn’t look at her, but a gentle, sweet breeze of Air caressed her face. «It’s too late for that, shei’tani. This is the only way now. We will be together again, I promise you. But not in this life. May I prove more worthy in the next.»
«You’re worthy now! Please don’t do this. The Feyreisen and Feyreisa are coming. Wait for them. Perhaps they can find some other solution. Adrial!»
“Your Majesty can’t be considering it?” Colum huffed when King Dorian did not immediately reply. “This jaffing wife thief deserves nothing more than a common criminal’s execution. To be hanged by the neck until dead, his body left for the carrion birds to feast upon.”
“As do the other criminals who aided him!” his father agreed. “Including the Tairen Soul, who knew this was going on and turned a blind eye to it!”
Dorian flashed a hot look at father and son. “And how many immortal lives will it take to assuage bruised Sebourne pride? Your son was cuckolded. The Fey-Celierian treaty was broken, but for no purpose more calamitous than that. I will not demand the execution of a Fey king because your son’s wife jaffed another man. You are mad to even suggest it.”
“But—”
“Be silent.” Dorian rose to his feet. “Adrial vel Arquinas, you have been charged and have confessed to crimes punishable by death. You have agreed to accept the king’s justice.”
Adrial gave a curt nod. Behind him, his brother, Rowan, stood like a warrior carved from stone, unmoving, unflinching, his face pale as death but otherwise wiped clean of all expression.
“Very well then.” The king drew a breath. “Adrial vel Arquinas, as you have confessed to all abuses of magic and crimes charged against you and claimed sole responsibility for the same, I do hereby find you guilty of the charges in their entirety. As punishment for all crimes committed by you and on your behalf, I sentence you to death. In deference to the centuries of alliance and kinship between our two nations, I commute the sentence of death by hanging tosheisan’dahlein, the Fey honor death, and order that it shall be carried out within the bell. You may use that time to say your good-byes and make your peace. May the gods have mercy on your soul.”
As King Dorian turned and walked towards his tent, Talisa broke into tortured sobs. She would have fallen to her knees except for the strong hands of her father and brother Luce holding her up.
“Adrial…Adrial…” Weeping, she stumbled towards him and fell into his arms.
Colum stepped towards her, an ugly look on his face, but Luce bared his teeth. “Back off, diSebourne. You’ve done more than enough for one day.”
Colum feigned affront. “Me? I am the injured party here!”
“If that were true, you’d be the one crying like your heart was being ripped from your chest.” Luce stood back and swept a cold gaze over his sister’s husband. “You’re a selfish, self-servingrultshart, and I’m sorry we ever thought any better of you. You knew she didn’t love you. If you’d loved her even the least little bit, you would have let her go when the Fey came. This is all your fault. Because you’re a greedy, grasping, controlling little turd pretending to be a man.”
“Luce!” Cann snapped. “That’s enough.” To Colum he said, “But Luce is right: You’ve done enough for one day. So now I suggest you and your father get the Hells out and leave Talisa in peace to share this last bell with the man she loves.” His other two sons, Parsis and Severn, joined Luce and Cann to form a barrier between Talisa and the Sebournes.
