They ran deeper into the forest, and Rain began to spot the shadows ofdahl’reisensentries perched high in the branches above. He knew there must be conversations flying over private Spirit weaves, but thedahl’reisenwere too disciplined for him to detect the barest hint of it.
They approached a deep thicket draped with thorny, flowering sago vines. Except for the faintest glow of a privacy weave and the fact that thedahl’reisensentries now allowed themselves to be visible, Rain would not have given the thicket a second thought.
“We’re here,” Farel said. The vines parted as Farel approached, and he ran through the resulting tunnel without slowing. Thedahl’reisenguards watched silently, their faces inscrutable, as Rain and Ellysetta passed by them and followed Farel through the opening.
They emerged from the long tunnel at the edge of a village. A remarkable, unexpected, secret village—large enough it could nearly be called a city—hidden in the heart of the Verlaine.
Rain looked around with a mix of shock and admiration. He had not expected something so large, nor so impressive.Dahl’reisenEarth masters had done their work well. Cabins nestled amongst the trees, integrated with an almost Elvish flair so that they were scarcely distinguishable from the forest as they hugged the thick trunks and perched high in the heavy branches. Vine bridges draped from tree to tree. Rope ladders and hanging wooden stairs that could be raised or lowered at will granted access to the buildings overhead. Round, illuminated orbs hung from the tree branches, casting a golden glow upon the city in the trees and the forest floor below, where well-worn paths bordered carefully tended gardens.
Villagers rushed out to meet the returning raiders. Among them were several dozen moredahl’reisen—some in full leather and steel, others looking incongruously like Celierian townsmen in tunics and breeches—numerous mortal men and women, even elders with wrinkled skin and whitening hair. And there were children, scores of them, varying in age from the smallest babe still suckling at its mother’s breast to tall, stripling youths on the cusp of adulthood. Rain stared at the children in wonder, seeing more than one Fey face among them. They all watched him with a mix of intense curiosity and deep-rooted wariness.
As thedahl’reisenentered, the villagers moved forward. Women opened welcoming arms and clasped suddenly weary-lookingdahl’reisento their breasts. Small children cried“Gepa!” Father! Several women gave choked cries and rushed to clasp the hands of the wounded, while others waited and stood in grief-stricken silence as Farel’s warriors delivered unto them the steel andsorreisu’kiyrsof the fallen.
Watching them, Rain’s throat grew tight. He remembered countless similar scenes from his own childhood. Happy homecomings when his father, Rajahl, had returned safely from battle. Bitter homecomings when Rain himself had brought the wounded and as many dead as he could carry back from a particularly bloody clash with the Mages.
He had never dreamed to find such warmth… such love… in adahl’reisenvillage.
A tall woman in dark skirts approached Farel. She was young despite the wealth of startling white hair she wore tied back with a simple band. Her face was barely lined, her eyes large, clear pools of misty gray surrounded by thick black lashes. Rain estimated she had seen no more than thirty mortal years. She paused at Farel’s side and clasped his hands, staring up into his eyes. Though they did not embrace or speak aloud, Rain guessed this was Farel’s chosen companion.
The white-haired woman released Farel’s hands and accompanied him back to Rain and Ellysetta.
“This is Sheyl,” Farel said. “She will tend to you and your mate once we rid you both of thesel’dor.”He led Rain over to a smith’s forge built in a small clearing off to one side of the village. Sixdahl’reisenfollowed—to guard the villagers from the Tairen Soul, Rain supposed—but the others dispersed, moving as far from Ellysetta as they could, some even leaving the village altogether.
The smith was notdahl’reisen,but neither was he wholly mortal. His muscles were thick as a Celierian’s, but his eyes were pure Fey, pale, crystalline blue and glowing with latent magic. He turned to Rain, a folded wad of leather in his large hand. “If you will allow me, Feyreisen, I’ll remove that collar. You can lay your mate on that cot in the corner, then come sit on this bench.”
Rain hesitated, searching the man’s gaze for any hint of treachery. When he found only sincere compassion, he nodded and laid Ellysetta gently on the clean bedding. A blanket had been folded neatly at the end of the cot, and he draped it over her before returning to straddle the bench near the forge.
The smith tucked the wad of leather between the collar and Rain’s neck, then slipped a small steel plate between the leather and the collar.
“Turn your head away.”
Rain obeyed, and someone—he couldn’t tell if it was the smith or thedahl’reisen—summoned a five-fold weave. The dominant thread in the weave was Fire. He could feel the concentrated heat of it. Cooling Water and brisk Air kept the heat from penetrating through the leather or spreading through the rest of the collar. The five-fold weave went suddenly ice-cold, and a sharp blow made Rain flinch. After repeating the process another five times, the despised collar fell away.
“Beylah vo,”Rain said, rubbing at his throat. He took a deep breath and winced as the shrapnel still buried in his chest reminded him sharply of its presence.
“Sha vel’mei,”the smith replied. And in perfect Feyan, he added, “Removing the manacles will be quite painful, I’m afraid. There’s no way to break open the bonds without driving the spikes farther in, and they leave thorns we must then cut out.”
“It can’t hurt more than it already does, but see to my mate first,” Rain ordered. Now that he knew what the removal procedure entailed, he would not allow Ellysetta to suffer her bonds a moment more than necessary.
“As you wish,” the smith agreed, “but I’ll need you to hold her. As I said, the procedure will not be pleasant.”
Rain returned to Ellysetta and knelt at her side, gathering her against his chest as the smith first removed Ellysetta’s collar then the manacles binding her wrists and ankles. Even with the weave keeping her unconscious, the pain of the procedure roused Ellysetta enough that she sobbed and fought Rain’s grip until the smith had removed the last of her bonds.
Then it was Rain’s turn again. He hissed through gritted teeth as the smith worked on the barbed shackles piercing his wrists. When the first shackle fell free and the sharp pain of the thorned spikes ripping out of his bone almost wrenched a cry from his throat, Ellysetta roused once more.
“Rain?” Her eyes fluttered opened, dazed and filled with empathetic pain. Now free of hersel’dormanacles, enough of her power must have returned that she was able to fight off the weave meant to keep her unconscious. She reached for him, groping blindly, and when her fingers grasped nothing but air, she pushed herself off the cot and crawled across the dirt floor to reach him. Thedahl’reisenmade no attempt to stop her. Instead, they carefully backed out of her way so that she could not accidentally touch them.
“Ellysetta,nei.”Rain tried to push her away when she grasped his hand. “Do not touch me while they are removing the shackles. You will feel it too clearly.”
Though barely conscious, she would not be dissuaded. Instinct, pure and Fey, drove her. Her long fingers curled around his bleeding wrist. She murmured his name over and over, weeping, as a featherlight weave of healing Earth and soothing Spirit penetrated his abused flesh. He felt her pain as the despisedsel’dorburied in her flesh rebelled against her use of magic, but she persevered, ignoring her own torment as she tended his.
“Stop,” Rain pleaded, pulling away again. Even if she could ignore what she felt, he could not. “Enough,shei’tani—” The word he’d so carefully avoided using slipped from his lips. He glanced up in time to see Farel’s eyes narrow.
“Leave her.” The white-haired Sheyl stared at Ellysetta, her eyes sympathetic. “Can you not see she feels it anyway? Let her find what comfort she can in trying to heal you. Lian, finish quickly. She will try to bear the brunt of his pain for him.”
Rain kicked up a leg, halting the smith.“Nei,do not.”
Sheyl’s pale eyes flashed with sudden fire. “You Fey are fools,” she snapped. “Always trying to protect your women from their own nature. It hurts them more, do you not understand? Worse, you make them weak, when they need to be strong!”
