Queen of Song and Souls (52 page)

"I love you," she sobbed against his lips, pulling back to feather desperate kisses across his face, the hard curve of his jaw, his cheek, his ear. "Dear gods, I love you so much."

His arms wrapped tight around her, and for one last chime, they shared a final, passionate embrace that would have to last a lifetime. When at last she pulled away, she cast a tearful glance at the silent, stone-faced shadow of Adrial's brother, Rowan. "Take care of him for me," she begged "Keep him safe." And to Adrial, "I will come for you, beloved. Ho matter how long it takes, no matter how many years I must wait to be free, I will come to you. I swear it."

Unable to bear the agony of their parting a moment longer, she spun away. Her quintet wove invisibility to hide their presence, and they hurried out of the forest towards the shadowy outline of tents that dotted the farmlands just beyond the northern border of Greatwood.

The Great Sun was breaking over the horizon, and soldiers were just beginning to stir as Talisa ducked into the still-dark interior of the tent she shared with Colum.

A cool breeze wafted over her, making her skin prickle. The sound of a match being struck broke the silence, and a dim light flared as the match burst into flame.

Colum was sitting in the corner of the tent, his gray eyes pinned on her, his expression colder than she'd ever seen as he calmly lit the small candle lamp on the camp table beside him.

"Welcome back, my dear," he said. "And how is your lover today?”

Celieria ~ Norban

Rain, Ellysetta, and the
lu’tan
had stopped just south of the woodland hamelet of Norban to rest and eat. They'd been running since before dawn, trying to reach Kreppes by midday. As they rested, Gaelen and the rest of the quintet worked with Ellysetta to improve her battle skills and adjust her aim to fit her own body's reach and height rather than her father's.

At her side, Bel's body went taut and his eyes turned hazy as someone directed a Spirit weave his way. A moment later, he blinked and his eyes turned back to their usual pure, clear cobalt. They were filled with concern like nothing Ellysetta had ever seen before.

"Bel?" she asked, straightening from her throwing crouch, Fey'cha gripped loosely in her hand. "What is it?"

But he had already pivoted on one heel and was marching across the short distance to Rain. A moment later, Rain called, "Fey! Prepare to depart!" and his tone was so clipped and grim, Ellysetta knew something was very, very wrong.

At once, she spoke the word that returned her steel to its sheaths, and ran to his side. All around the small clearing, her
lu'tan
did the same. Within moments, she was soaring over Greatwood Forest on Rain's back while the dark shadow of her Fey warriors raced across the ground below. Only then did she ask, "What is it, Rain?"

With bleak, blunt honesty, he told her. "Adrial's presence has been discovered by Talisa's husband. The Sebournes are calling for his execution."

Celieria ~
North of Greatwood

"Have you gone mad, Talisa? Have you lost all sense? Do you comprehend even the tiniest fraction of the gravity of your situation?"

Talisa clenched her hands at her waist as her father paced the confines of the king's tent like a caged wolf and railed against her stupidity.

A small
sel'dor
ring had been her downfall. Lord Sebourne, who had been growing increasingly suspicious of the Fey as they neared the borders, had given the ring to his son as a protection against Fey magic. When Colum had caressed what he thought was his sleeping wife, the ring had passed through her shoulder, revealing her to be a Spirit weave.

Her quintet was now bound in
sel'dor
and under heavy guard. Two score King's Guard had ridden into Greatwood in search of Adrial and his brother. Colum had tried to drag Talisa off to his family's estate at Dunbarrow—insisting that only on Sebourne land would he and his family be safe from the threat of Fey retaliation—but her father had put a stop to that by going to the king. She'd been taken out of Colum's custody and caged here, under guard, until Adrial was found and brought to the king for inquisition.

"Da... I—"

"No." He cut her off with a slash of his hand. "Don't say anything. Just listen. You are not some farmer's wench who can tumble half the stable lads in her village without harm to any reputation but her own. You are the daughter of the great House Barrial. Wed to the heir of another great House. Third in rank to a princess of Celieria. When you commit adultery, it's a matter of consequence! When you commit adultery with an envoy from another nation, it's a matter of state! And when you compound your adultery with the manipulation of your husband's mind in direct violation of the Fey-Celierian alliance, you turn your lust into a crime punishable by death. Colum and Sebourne have already demanded the beheading of Arquinas and every warrior involved in his deception. And I can't say I disagree."

All the blood leached from her race. "Da!" She gaped at her father in genuine shock. She couldn't believe her ears. He'd always been a friend of the Fey—always! "How can you say that? I made the choice to go with Adrial. I'm the one who betrayed Colum. Adrial's not to blame for what I've done."

Cann bared his teeth in a snarl. "
Is
he not?
He brought dishonor to my House and House Sebourne. He lured my daughter from her marriage vows. He used his magic to trick and manipulate mortals incapable of seeing through his illusions. I am not blind to your fault in this, Talisa, but you are a love-drunk twenty-five-year-old mortal He is an immortal who has walked the earth for gods know how many centuries. He has long been man enough to know the difference between right and wrong and to discipline his passions and avoid the misuse of his magic."

"I'm not some innocent victim, Da, and I won't let you pretend that I am. I went because I love him, Da. I've loved him all my life. How can you not understand that?"

"What about your duty? What about honoring your vows? Did you think of anyone besides yourself? Your family? Your brothers? Your country, for the Haven's sake!"

Her spine stiffened. "How dare you accuse me of that? What do you think brought me back?" She flung up her hands in outrage. "If I hadn't honored my vows, I would have run away with Adrial months ago. If not for my
duty"—
she spat the word like a curse—"I never would have married Colum in the first place! I don't love him—I never have and never will. So don't talk to me about duty! If I hadn't wed out of duty to my family, I would have been free when Adrial came! I would have had a chance to be happy. You remember what happiness is, don't you, Da? It's what you had with Mum. That's what I wanted to have. It's all I've ever wanted."

Her father's cheeks went ruddy, and with a muffled curse he spun away and thrust a large hand through his hair. "Flames scotch it," he swore. He cast an agonized look over his shoulder. "Do you think I ever wanted anything less than happiness for you? But some things, once done, can't be undone. Oaths, once given, can't be rescinded. Honor is all we have, Talisa. Without it, we're nothing."

Tears shimmered in his eyes. "Do you think you're the only person ever to be trapped in a loveless marriage? Your mum was the sun, moons, and stars to me. When she died, it was like I'd lost half my soul. Every day I fought just to keep the blade from my own throat. I forced myself to go on because my children deserved a father. Now there's a woman in Celieria City carrying my child in her belly because the Feyreisa spun a weave I couldn't protect myself against. And though I don't love her and never shall, we wed by proxy two days ago so my child would have my name and all the protection that goes with it. And I will honor her as my wife, and be faithful to my oath, even though I'll never love her. And I will keep the blade from my throat still, every day, because she deserves a husband and the child we made deserves a father. Honor is what makes us worthy of love, Tallie. In that, I agree with the Fey. And every day I live with honor is a day I honor your mother and the love we shared."

Talisa's face crumpled and the tears she'd been battling all morning spilled over. "Oh, Da."

At the sight of her tears, all of her father's anger melted. The hard-eyed stranger disappeared and he became once more the warm, loving father she'd always turned to in times of trouble. His arms opened, and she rushed into them.

"Oh, Da, what am I going to do?"

He tilted his head against hers. "I don't know, Tallie. I just don't know."

A sound at the entrance of the tent made them turn. The tent flaps parted and Luce, one of Talisa's brothers, ducked inside. “They've found vel Arquinas and his brother. The King's Guard are bringing them in now."

"Adrial vel Arquinas, you stand accused of violating the king's justice, manipulating mortal minds by magic, violating the Fey-Celierian treaty, adultery against a lord of the realm, conspiracy to commit adultery against a lord of the realm, spying upon a lord of the realm by means of magic, defrauding a lord of the realm by means of magic, controlling the actions of a lord of the realm by means of magic, unlawful theft by means of magic...."

The litany of the charges against Adrial continued on for nearly three chimes. In their determination to see him executed, the Sebournes had charged him, his brother, and Talisa's quintet with every possible crime and variation of a crime they could think of.

At Talisa's urging, her father had done everything he could to delay the inquisition. The Feyreisen and his mate were on their way, and he had insisted that the judgment of Adrial wait until the Feyreisa arrived to Truthspeak him. Lord Sebourne flew into a rage at the mere suggestion.

"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 other
shei'dalin
of 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 much
sel'dor
she could almost feel it burning her own skin, still he spoke to her in Spirit.

«Ke vo son, 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 my
shei'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 my
shei'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, my
shei'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."

«Adriel!»

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 to
sheisan'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.