"Enough of this." Tenn held up his hand. "We owe you no explanation. We have come for answers, and you will give them to us, willingly or by Truthspeaking. You, Ellysetta of Celieria, stand accused of weaving the forbidden magic Azreisenahn, known as Azrahn. Do you confess to having freely and deliberately woven this magic?"

She glared at them and clamped her lips shut. «They accuse me of weaving Azrahn,» she told Rain. «They say you are a madman, unfit to rule.»

To her surprise, he laughed. «Well, you did weave Azrahn, and I am on occasion more than a little mad.»

She jerked her head around to glare at him. «You think this is funny?»

His teeth flashed in a grin more savage than humorous. «Nei, shei'tani. The fun is only about to begin. Look.» He pointed skyward.

She looked up into the sky overhead, where Steli's white form shone like a pearl in the early morning light. Her wings were spread, and as she swooped down to get a closer look at the gathering on Su Reisu, her eyes blazed like blue stars. She gave a roar that made every Fey on the plateau jump and stare upward in fear. Steli gave another fearsome roar, a call to arms, and scorched the sky with an enormous jet of flame. «Tairen! Defend the pride!»

Within a few chimes, the sky was filled with tairen, all of them roaring loud enough to shake down the mountainside. They dove for Su Reisu, flames searing the air, and the Fey scattered like mice. The tairen herded them together with flames and swooping attacks.

When the Fey were back on the plateau, ringed by a full dozen fierce, furious tairen, Steli-chakai, her fangs dripping venom, leaned her great head down and growled deep in her throat. In a pure, perfectly comprehensible Feyan, she commanded, «Release our pride-kin from your magic, or die where you stand.»

Tenn, Yulan, even Venarra, all looked taken aback. And in an almost laughable display, they turned beseeching eyes to Ellysetta. "They would not dare…" Tenn said. "We are Fey. My brother was king!"

"Rain and I are tairen," Ellysetta replied coldly, "and he is king. I suggest you do as Steli-chakai commands. Quickly, before you rouse her protective instincts even further. There are four hungry kitlings in the lair tonight, and the pride considers all intruders a threat better left dead."

Glowering, Tenn nodded at the Fey, and the weaves around Rain, Bel, and Gaelen dissolved. The three warriors were at Ellysetta's side in an instant, shoving her back behind them, sandwiching her between their tall, protective bodies and the rumbling chests of Steli, Fahreeta, and Torasul.

«Shall we scorch the wingless ones?» Steli sang in tairen song. Tairen did not play politics. To them, an enemy was a creature to be shredded and scorched.

Steli's offer tempted Rain, but after a brief consideration, he turned it down. «Nei. They are Fey, my kin whether I like it or not. Reason may be enough.»

The white cat growled. «Reason? The wingless ones have already reasoned themselves stronger than you, or they would not have issued Challenge. Show them fangs, not belly, Rainier-Eras, and keep your claws sharp. Even Sybhamkai knows a bite on the neck will remind the unruly to show respect. Show the wingless ones who is makai of this pride.»

«Steli-chakai is as wise as she is fierce.» He fixed his eyes on the Massan. "Explain your presence here, Tenn v'En Eilan. Explain to me why fifty warriors of the Fey, three of the Massan, and three shei'dalins have come to the foot of Fey'Bahren to imprison their king and accuse the Tairen Soul's mate of weaving the forbidden magic."

"Do you deny our accusations?" Tenn retorted instead. "Your mate has already woven Azrahn once, and we had very good reason to believe she was bringing Gaelen vel Serranis here with the deliberate intent of weaving it again."

Rain's jaw worked. "How long did it take you to run here from Dharsa?"

The question took Tenn aback. "Eighteen bells. What has that got to do with—"

"Eighteen bells. Eighteen bells ago, you set out for Fey'Bahren because you believed my mate was planning to weave a magic that could corrupt her soul and endanger the Fading Lands." His lips drew back in a snarl. "And yet not once in all that time did I receive a single word of warning from you or any of your fellow Massan that my mate was endangering herself. Why is that, Tenn?"

The Fire master clenched his jaw and did not answer.

Yulan leapt to his friend's defense. "We are not the ones who have done wrong!"

"Are you not?" Sparks began to fly around Rain as magic and fury bubbled up inside him. "Every warrior of the Fey swears on his honor and his life to protect the women of the Fading Lands from harm. Any one of you could have sent me a warning. I could have arrived in time to stop her. But you didn't. Which leads me to only one conclusion: You meant her to weave Azrahn. You hoped she would. Because that would give you the opportunity to banish her from the Fading Lands."

He seared each of the Massan with a glare so hot, it was a wonder they did not burst into flame where they stood. "You dishonor your names and your steel."

Venarra stepped closer to her mate. "Aiyah, we allowed her the opportunity to weave Azrahn," she said, "but we did not make her do it. She knew the danger. She knows the law. Yet still she chose to put the Fading Lands at risk. We all saw what will happen if we allow her to continue leading honorable Fey down the Shadowed Path. She is the Eld's creature, sent here to destroy us, and it is our duty to stop her." Venarra's traveling leathers became scarlet shei'dalin silks, and a scarlet veil covered her face. "Rainier vel'En Daris, your mate stands accused of weaving the forbidden magic. She will confess or be Truthspoken."