She gave a humorless laugh. “Have you ever stopped to ask if theywantedthat protection? Mortals aren’t children, Rain. They may not live thousands of years or wield magic, but they still have a right to decide their own lives.”
“And Fey do not lie, yet mortals do at will,” he countered. “Does that make them evil because they use a talent we do not possess in order to manipulate and control us? Do not be foolish, Ellysetta. They are neither so innocent nor such victims as you are making them out to be.” He regarded her with a mix of exasperation and concern. “I thought you’d gotten past your fear and distrust of magic, Ellysetta. I thought you had accepted it.”
“I have, but that doesn’t negate my concern about the ways magic can be misused.”
“Aiyah, it can be misused, but do not forget all the many ways it can be used to help people as well. Such as the healing you just did. And the way you saved that boy Aartys’s life in Orest.”
Ellysetta’s gaze fell to the floor. He was right, of course, but Queen Annoura’s accusation had hit a nerve, and what Ellysetta had discovered about the queen’s unborn child had only increased her guilt. “The child wields magic, Rain. A very strong gift, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Is that what this is about?” Hershei’tandidn’t look as shocked or as worried as she was. “Ellysetta, King Dorian has magic, and so does the prince. They are descended from the vol Serranis line, after all.”
“He possesses Azrahn,” she clarified. “The queen couldn’t have children, but my weave made her pregnant, and now she’s carrying a child gifted in Azrahn.”
“I doubt there is cause for alarm. You’ve seen Gaelen wield Azrahn. It stands to reason descendants of his sister’s line might also possess at least some small degree of it.”
She frowned. She couldn’t believe he was taking this so calmly. “I don’t think what I sensed was a low-level talent. It felt very strong to come from such a tiny baby.”
“Rain is right to tell you not to be alarmed,” Gaelen interjected. “Much as some Fey would like to believe otherwise, Azrahn is not inherently evil. It’s just a Mystic, like Spirit. In fact, I believe many of our most magically gifted warriors also possess a strong talent in Azrahn. It’s certainly the case among thedahl’reisen.”
“Which may explain why they’redahl’reisen,” Tajik muttered, ostensibly to Gil but loud enough for the rest of them to hear.
Gaelen narrowed his eyes at the red-haired Fire master. “And where do you thinkdahl’reisencome from, vel Sibboreh? You think they pop up like mushballs in a fellroot bog?Nei, they were born Fey, which means more than a few Fey possess strong talent in Azrahn. Just because thechatokrefuse to test for it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”
“Setah,” Rain rumbled. “Dorian’s lords will reconvene soon. Bel and Tajik, I want you to join us. There are no military minds I trust more than yours. With Gaelen’s knowledge of the north, and yours of battle tactics, we can at least give these Celierians a fighting chance until the allies arrive. Call the warriors from Ellysetta’s secondary quintet to replace you while you are away.” He leveled a commanding eye on Ellysetta. “And you,shei’tani, stop worrying. Annoura’s child is a miracle, not a monster. Training will teach him to control whatever gifts he has. You should go back to the suite and try to rest.”
She gave him a wan smile. “I would be afraid to close my eyes without you there. I think I’ll visit the other ladies who are ill, and offer healing. It’s the least I can do,” she added to forestall his objection, “since I am responsible for their condition.” And it would give her the opportunity to see how many other children conceived through her weave also possessed Azrahn.
Rain didn’t like it, but in the end Ellysetta had her way. He, Tajik, Bel, and Gaelen went to meet with Dorian’s war council while Ellysetta and herlu’tanpaid a call on the sick noblewomen.
Several of the ladies turned them away on the doorstep, but quite a few did not. For those who received her, Ellysetta spun healing weaves to calm their stomachs and did what she could to bolster the strength and health of the more elderly among them.
But rather than putting her mind at ease, the visits only increased her concern. Because every pregnant woman’s unborn child was a son gifted with powerful magic—including a distinct and potent spark of Azrahn.
The proof was irrefutable, the evidence too overwhelming to be mere coincidence. She, Ellysetta Baristani, had done far more than merely cause barren wombs to bear fruit once more.
She had created magical children and given each of them the ability to spin Azrahn.
Just as the High Mage of Eld had done when he had created her.
CHAPTERNINE
“Well, something must have happened during our break,” Cannevar Barrial murmured in a quiet aside to Rain. “I’ve never seen Lord Harrod so distracted.” The war council had reconvened. Prince Dorian was reviewing the defenses of Celieria City, and more than once he had to call a dazed older Lord back to attention.
Rain glanced across the room at the elderly Great Lord Harrod, a former admiral of the king’s navy and lord of King’s Point. He was clearly suffering from the same shock as his fellow lords who had just discovered their impending fatherhood. “I suppose learning your sixty-year-old wife is with child can do that to even the most focused of mortals.”
Cann’s jaw dropped. “Learningwhat?”
“Ah, that’s right. You came in after I did.” The shocked announcements and congratulations had already ended before Lord Barrial returned from the war council’s break. “Lady Harrod is pregnant.” Rain nodded at the assembled lords. “All their wives are—as is any woman who was at that dinner when Ellysetta spun her weave.” He gave Lord Barrial a rueful smile. “It seems myshei’tani’sweave was more potent than we realized.”
“Allof the ladies are—” Lord Barrial’s voice broke off and his face turned to stone. “Will you excuse me?” Not waiting for an answer, he strode out of the council chamber.
As the door closed, Rain winced in sudden understanding. Barrial’s wife had died years ago, but he hadn’t escaped Ellysetta’s weave. Nor had Thea Trubol, the unmarried noblewoman who’d been partnered with him for dinner that night. And apparently Lady Thea either didn’t yet know or hadn’t yet broken the news of her condition to Lord Barrial.
Poor Cann. First his daughter Talisa had recognized Adrial as her truemate scarcely a month after her marriage to Lord Sebourne’s heir, and now this. His friendship with the Fey had not served his family kindly of late.
Two familiar warriors were waiting in the palace suite when Ellysetta returned from her visits with the noble ladies of Celieria. Dark haired, dark eyed, and so alike in appearance they could be twins, they turned to face the opening door when she entered, and the sight of them—unexpected and dearer than she’d known until this moment—shoved her troubled thoughts to the back of her mind.
“Rowan! Adrial!” Joy burst from her heart, and she ran across the room to fling herself into first one pair of arms, then another. “Oh, my friends!Mioralas, kem’mareskia. I am so very glad to see you both.” She pulled back, then laughed, and hugged and kissed them both again.
