Lord Darramon stroked the frail hand cradled so gently in his own, and gave the shei'dalins his answer. "Save my wife and our child."

The Fading Lands ~ Dharsa

Rain and Ellysetta flew west and north, following the River Faer that flowed from Dharsa to the Bay of Flame, stopping twice to rest, eat, and refresh themselves in the magic-infused waters of the river. Unlike the eastern half of the Fading Lands, the west was still heavily forested. The smoking, snowcapped peaks of the Feyls dominated the northern horizon, and to the west, the rolling hills Rain called the Vanyas followed the western coast of the Fading Lands, which they reached late that afternoon. Beyond lay the endless blue of the Lysande Ocean, and from inside the Fading Lands, the western Mists appeared no more than a gleaming shimmer that turned sparkling waves and blue skies into radiant, opalescent vistas.

The northern tip of the Vanyas ended on a curving spit of land capped by a walled city built of gray stone. Across a wide channel that fed an enormous bay, the mighty Feyls came to an abrupt end at the ocean's edge. Waterfalls plummeted down sheer black cliffs and tumbled into the crashing waves below.

«The fortress is Blade's Point, the northernmost city of the Fey, and the source of all Fey steel,» Rain said as they flew closer. «And that is the Bay of Flame, where legend says the great tairen Lissallukai first sang magic into the world.»

A small group of fifty Fey clad in shimmering robes greeted them when they landed. They were led by a Fey lord who introduced himself as Eren v'En Thoress, lord keeper of Blade's Point.

"Meivelei ti'Cha'Rik, Ellysetta Feyreisa," the Fey lord greeted her. "Welcome to Blade's Point." And to Rain, he bowed and said softly, " Meivelei, Rain. My heart is glad to see you here again. Too long has it been since your last visit."

"Too long has it been since I wished to hear what the night might have to say," Rain replied.

"Well, you are here again now. That is what matters." With a warm smile for Ellysetta, Eren said, "Come, Feyreisa, meet my shei'tani and the Fey who keep Blade's Point."

After Eren made the introductions, one of the Fey women led the way to a private room where Rain and Ellysetta could refresh themselves. Fresh silver and twilight blue robes that smelled of honeyblossoms and spring rain had been laid out on a velvet chaise, and a bath scented with rose petals had been drawn in an open-air marble tub that overlooked the city's sheltered harbor and the Bay of Flame.

"They were expecting us?" Ellysetta asked as she and Rain bathed and dressed in the clothes laid out for them.

"I sent word ahead." He had set aside his steel, retaining only a single black Fey'cha, which he sheathed and tucked into the pewter gray silk band cinched at his waist. Ellysetta followed his lead, leaving behind all her bloodsworn blades except the ones belonging to her quintet.

Outside, the Fey who had greeted them earlier had prepared a meal for Rain and Ellysetta. In addition to the robed lords and ladies of the Fey, twenty warriors in black leather and steel joined them. Conversation was pleasant for all that it revolved around the Fading Lands' preparations for war and the armaments the master smiths here had been making for Celieria.

After the meal, all the Blade's Point Fey requested Ellysetta's blessing, which to her great relief she spun without any unruly or embarrassing flares of power.

"I think I owe Venarra an apology," she murmured to Rain afterwards as they walked through the quiet, well-tended gardens of the fort. "I've been thinking uncharitable thoughts about her, but that was the first time my magic has ever come so easily when I called it and still done only what I meant it to do."

A stone stair led up to the ramparts overlooking the Lysande Ocean. Rain stepped aside to let Ellysetta precede him. "I think sometimes, even among shei'dalins, chadins learn more from hard challenge than they do from kind instruction," he said as he followed her up. "Marissya is a much stronger empath than Venarra, and although she is an excellent teacher, she sometimes has difficulty separating herself from the emotions of those she instructs. Venarra does not. In that regard, she reminds me of Gaelen. She is a hard taskmistress, but her weaves are always impeccably precise."

"Oh, yes," Ellysetta agreed with an eye roll. "Venarra is very precise."

Rain laughed softly. How many times as a young chadin had he bemoaned his own chatok in just such a voice? "Even though you may not appreciate it at the moment, precision is what you want in a chatok. It makes learning more straightforward and instills the discipline necessary to master great power."

At the top of the stair, Rain gave her hand a tug. "Come. I want to check the city's defenses, and we have only a little more than a bell to do it."

"What's the rush?"

"You will see." Her sulky scowl made him want to laugh. Ellysetta did not like secrets. At least, not those kept by others.

The crenellated ramparts ran along the hilltop, the stone surface wide enough for defenders to stand four deep and still leave plenty of room for maneuvering men and weaponry and for evacuating the wounded. Every two tairen lengths, the outer wall curved out to form large semicircular platforms for the bowcannon and catapults.

"There's something very important I need to ask of you," Rain said as they circled the city. "As you know, our army marches to Orest in three days, and I must go with them to secure the Veil. I'm going to appoint you my proxy on the council while I'm gone."