Crown of Crystal Flame (33 page)

Rain thought of Gaelen, who had come to Celieria fully expecting to be slain for approaching his sister but nonetheless determined to warn the Fey of the Eld army massing near the Fading Lands and protect his sister from the growing threat of Eld.
Dahl’reisen,
the soul lost, were supposed to be beyond Fey honor, men well on the path to evil, but he was having trouble reconciling that image with what he had seen of these
dahl’reisen
who called themselves the Brotherhood of Shadows.

Sheyl and another woman brought Rain’s and Ellysetta’s weapons, and as Rain donned his steel, the women helped Ellysetta into hers.

Still blindfolded, Ellysetta put a hand over one of the Tairen’s Eye crystals set in her hip belt and summoned a weave of Earth to detach the crystal and reset it in a pendant hanging from a gold chain. “It is an ancient custom of the Fey to leave behind a gift in thanks for kindness rendered. I would like you to have this, Sheyl, as a token of my thanks.”

“Nei,”
Sheyl demurred. “I know a Soul Quest crystal when I see one, and I know how precious they are. I cannot accept such a gift. It is too much.”

“I want you to have it. The crystal belonged to a warrior named Dajan vel Rhiadi, who sacrificed his life trying to save me from a demon sent by the Eld. Please, take it. May Dajan’s
sorreisu’kiyr
offer you the same protection its owner once offered me.”

Sheyl looked to Rain for help. “I am the unbonded mate of a
dahl’reisen.
Such a gift is not proper.”

“You are the woman who healed us after your mate saved our lives,” Rain corrected. “Dajan died in Ellysetta’s service. His
sorreisu’kiyr
is hers to bestow. It is a fitting gift for the service you and the Brotherhood of Shadows have done us.”

Sheyl glanced uncertainly at Farel, who looked equally as perplexed. Finally, she took the pendant from Ellysetta’s outstretched hands and placed it around her neck. The crystal settled between her breasts, close to her heart. “Thank you. You do me a great honor.”

Ellysetta held out her hands to embrace the other woman. “Blessings and peace upon you, Sheyl. May the Light always shine upon your path and keep you from harm. Tell Bess I look forward to seeing her again soon, and would you please give this to Bannon and Cerlissa’s adoptive parents for me?” She spun Earth to form a small glass globe into which she wove her fondest memories of Selianne. “When they feel the time is right, I’d like Bannon and Cerlissa to have this… so they won’t forget their mother or how much she loved them.”

“Of course.” Sheyl took the globe.

“We should go,” Farel interrupted. “We have a hard day’s travel ahead of us, and no time to tarry if we’re to meet Gaelen at the rendezvous point on schedule.”

Rain waved an arm. “Lead the way.”

Farel’s gaze flicked to the gathered
dahl’reisen.
A dozen squads of six warriors each immediately broke into a run and jogged through the thicket tunnel. “Our spotters,” he said. “They will travel ahead of us to make sure the way is clear. Come. Your mate can lose her blindfold once we’re a few miles away from the village.” He turned and jogged towards the tunnel himself, leaving Rain and Ellysetta to follow.

Rain took Ellysetta’s hand and wove Spirit to guide her steps. The remaining
dahl’reisen
followed after them. Stoic women stood beside their children, eyes dry and faces pale as they watched their
dahl’reisen
loved ones depart.

When the warriors were gone, Sheyl turned to the remaining villagers. “The Tairen Soul has offered us shelter in the Fading Lands until this war is over. We leave in three bells. Hurry! And pack only what you can carry without hardship. It’s a long walk to the Garreval.”

The Fading Lands ~ Dharsa

“Why do you have to go, Kieran? We just got here.” Lillis pouted at Kieran, who had joined her for a late breakfast on the most beautiful terrace she’d ever seen to tell her that he and Kiel were leaving and that she and Lorelle should be very good and stay out of trouble while they were gone. Her excitement over being in the magical city of the Fey was completely gone now. All she could think was that Kieran was going away again—and she’d only just got him back!

“Ellysetta and Rain need all the help they can get, so Kiel and I are going to go help them. You want us to help them, right?”

She scowled at the breakfast plate filled with delicious fruits and delicate pastries that almost tasted better than comfits. Her shoe scuffed on the terrace stone beneath her chair. “Yes,” she admitted.

“That’s why we have to go,
ajiana.
I’m sorry. I know this isn’t what you wanted. But I am a warrior of the Fey, and Rain is my king, and we have to stop the bad people from hurting others the way they hurt the people of Teleon.”

She picked up a small, slender-tined fork and pushed a pile of chilled berries around on her plate. “But I’ll be afraid when you’re gone.” She jabbed her fork into a plump strawberry.

The admission pierced Kieran’s heart as surely as the sharp tines of her fork skewered the berry. He leaned over to press a kiss on the top of her head and closed his eyes against a sting of tears. She’d told him about her time in the Mists, how he hadn’t been there in the “village” and how worried she’d been that something had happened to him. And then she’d woken, broken and in pain, and terrified. And he hadn’t been there again.

And now he was leaving her.

He pulled up a chair and sat beside her, leaning over to take her hand. “Lillis…
ajiana
… this is the safest place in the world for you to be right now. If it weren’t, I promise I wouldn’t leave you for any reason.”

Lillis stuck the berry in her mouth and chewed, refusing to look at him.

He sighed and glanced over towards the far corner of the terrace, where Kiel was receiving an equally chilly response from Lorelle.
«Time to go, kem’jeto,»
he spun on a private weave.

Pushing away from the table, Kieran stood and walked over to the open archway that led out to the terrace. Sol Baristani was standing by the marble column, smoking his pipe and talking to Kieran’s parents while the children ate breakfast.

“They’re not happy with us,” Kieran admitted. “I wish we could stay—at least until they got settled in—but Orest is under siege, and the allies are outnumbered.”

“They’ll be all right once their mad wears off,” Sol assured him. “You two go do what you must. And take care of yourselves.”

Kieran nodded. “Be well, Master Baristani.
Mela. Gepa”
He hugged his parents. His mother was no more pleased than Lillis to be losing her son again so soon, but she understood.

He was a warrior of the Fey. His place was with his king, defending the Fading Lands from harm.

At least he and Kiel wouldn’t be going alone. After Kieran’s altercation with the Massan, Loris v’En Mahr, the Water master, had followed Eimar’s example and resigned his seat, declaring his intention to travel with Kieran and Kiel to Orest in support of Rain and the allies. He’d put out the word announcing his decision and inviting all who shared his concerns to join them. Three thousand more Fey and more than forty
shei’dalins
had done so.

Celieria ~ Verlaine Forest

The Mharog Azurel stood at the northern edge of the Verlaine Forest, draped in a long, hooded, black shroud to keep the mud-morning sunlight from falling upon his skin. He and the others who’d once been Champions of Light were creatures of Darkness now, and sunlight scorched their flesh like fire.

Pale lids descended over nightmarish eyes, and he turned his head slowly in a half circle to scan the forest for his prey. Put a
shei’dalin
within a hundred miles of a Mharog, and he could find her. A
shei’dalin’s
Light—the same Light that in his previous Fey existence had offered the promise of profound love and joy—shone to his Mharog eyes like a garish sun. And
her
Light blazed so bright it set the horizon aflame. To his surprise, smaller Lights—many of them—lay in a cluster to the east of the Tairen Soul’s mate.

Hatred and loathing consumed him. Watching Rain Tairen Soul scream and rend his own flesh when she died would be a pleasure he’d savor for centuries.

His eyes snapped open. A hiss rattled from his throat. “The village is there,” he told his companions. He pointed to the south, where he’d seen the cluster of smaller Lights. “The Tairen Soul and his mate are there.”

“If Tairen Soul and his mate have left the village, why hasn’t he just Changed and flown away?” Rachuss, one of the Mharog, asked.

“This wood is filthy with traps,” Primage Dur answered. “Poison darts shoot down anything that flies. If the Tairen Soul tried to take wing, he’d be dead before he cleared the top of the trees.”

“Then they’re trapped,” Angramar, another Mharog growled. “Can we use the Well to reach them?”

Dur shook his head. “We’ve not been successful keeping
chemar
in this region,” he said. “The
dahl’reisen
destroy them as quickly as we put them in place.”

“We will run them down on foot, then,” Azurel said. “You Mages, take the soldiers and head for the village. Chernos”—he nodded his cowled head at another robed Mharog—“will accompany you so you don’t lose your way. The rest of us will follow the Tairen Soul and his mate.”

“You know what the High Mage commanded,” the Primage objected. “You are not to approach the woman alone.”

“The High Mage commanded me to bring the woman to him alive, and I will do so,” Azurel countered, his voice as smooth as iced silk. “But you and your soldiers slow us down.”

Dur stood his ground. “You go nowhere without us, Mharog.”

Hidden by his robe’s long sleeves, Azurel’s hands clenched into fists, his long, black fingernails digging into his flesh. He’d spent a lifetime hating the Mages. Embracing Darkness hadn’t changed that. It only meant he didn’t kill them as often.

“Very well, then. We split up. Send half your Mages and soldiers with Chernos. The rest of you, follow us. And keep up.”

Farel slowed and jogged back towards Rain and Ellysetta. “The Eld have breached the Verlaine.”

“Mages?” Rain asked.

“Scores of them, all blue-robes. They lead a garrison of soldiers… They have a Mharog with them. They’re heading for the village.”

Ellysetta’s cheeks drained of color. “Because of me?” she asked with dread. She’d removed her blindfold a bell ago. “Did the Mage use me to find the village?”

“I don’t know. We’ve kept you well shielded and we blindfolded you. Everything I know about Mage Marks tells me that should have been enough to protect against four Marks…”

“But?” Rain prompted.

Farel gave him a shuttered look, the kind warriors gave one another when the news was grim. “But there’s a second Eld party heading on an intercept course with us… and they have five Mharog leading them.”

“We’ve got to go back,” Ellysetta exclaimed. “We’ve got to help Sheyl and the others.”

“Nei.
Getting you to safety comes first. Sheyl understands that.”

“But the children! Cerlissa and Bannon!” Rain caught her when she lunged towards the
dahl’reisen
leader.

“And if the Eld
are
somehow tracking you, going back would lead them straight to the women and children. Right now, the Eld forces are split. It’s best for all of us if they stay that way.” Softening his voice, Farel added, “Besides, Sheyl has already begun the evacuation of the village, and I’ve summoned reinforcements to guard their retreat. They will be as safe as I can make them.”

“But—“

Rain squeezed her shoulders. “Farel’s right, Ellysetta.”

«Shei’tani, their women and children are the only Lights left in these warriors’ lives. If dahl’reisen still retain any part of their Fey hearts—and gods save them, I’m beginning to believe these do—staying with us, trying to get you to safety, when their women and children are in danger must be almost more torment than they can bear. Do not berate them for it.»
He met the
dahl’reisen’s
gaze. “Can we make it out of the Verlaine before the Eld can cut us off?”

“We need to change course. Head due west… maybe southwest… force them to come around the northwest corner. That will buy us a few bells.”

“A few bells are better than none. Lead the way.”

Farel started to turn, then hesitated. “Sheyl told me you offered our women and children sanctuary in the Fading Lands. Was that at her urging?”

“Aiyah,”
Rain admitted softly. “She showed us your nursery this morning… and the child Murialisa. How could I refuse her?”

“That’s why she showed you.” Farel’s shoulders sagged. “She saw this attack coming. She kept it from me because she wanted to be sure I was away.” He took a deep breath, and when he looked up again, his features had once more settled into a stony expression devoid of all emotion. “What she sees comes true—always—so I am where I’m supposed to be, as is she. Let’s get you to Gaelen—and we need to pick up the pace.”

Farel spun a command to the lines of
dahl’reisen
bringing up the rear.
«Brothers, circle the Feyreisa! Ring of Protection!»

The
dahl’reisen
burst into action, parting into two columns to circle around Ellysetta, careful to keep their distance. They ran as graceful as pronghorns, leaping fallen trees and dodging low-hung branches with astonishing speed. Rain and Ellysetta were clumsy tanglefoots by comparison and had clearly been slowing them down.

Farel glanced back over his shoulder. “What are you waiting for, Tairen Soul? Let’s run.”

The last of the villagers hurried out through the thicket tunnel, beneath the watchful eyes of the remaining
dahl’reisen,
while Sheyl ran door to door, checking every room, nook, and stair in the
dahl’reisen
village to make sure no one had been forgotten.

Urgency beat at her, accompanied by the sensation of a heavy weight pressing down upon her. It was like that sometimes with her second gift. Not a clear vision, but simply a driving need that hounded her until she heeded its call. Now was such a time.