A rumbling growl stirred at the edge of her consciousness. Rain was waking. Quickly, she flung up a barrier to try to stifle the pain and keep it from flowing down the bond-threads linking them together. The last thing she wanted was for Rain to discover what she was doing. He would be furious.

"Sieks'ta, sieks'ta." Horror stamped Tajik's face. "Release me, Feyreisa, I beg you." The Fey general tried to pull away, but Ellysetta kept her grip closed tight.

"Ellysetta, listen to him," Bel urged. "Let go before you hurt yourself."

"Nei, I'm all right. Please, just give me a moment."

A hand closed around her shoulder. Gaelen. «Is it too much, kem'falla?» He was a cool, steady anchor of strength.

She sucked in a deep breath. «It's worse than I expected,» she admitted. Her back teeth were ground tight together, and fine tremors shook her limbs. Merciful gods, touching Tajik hurt! «I don't understand this.»

«I think Bel may have been more right than either of us knew. Take what you can from me and use it to shield yourself.» Along with the offer came a rapid series of instructions woven on Spirit.

She latched onto the power Gaelen offered as if it were a lifeline. As her mind processed the instructions in his weave, her body was already instinctively following the commands, absorbing a portion of his strength into her own body and allowing a little of Tajik's pain to flow out along the same path.

Gaelen gave a quiet hiss, quickly stifled. «Perhaps you should release him.»

Ignoring him, Ellysetta gritted her teeth and tried to shake off the worst of the pain. Why was she sensing it so strongly when she never had before? Was this what most Fey women felt when they touched the rasa? Gods save them, she hadn't understood. No wonder the warriors were so fiercely protective of them. And no wonder the rasa clung to the fringes of their society and tried to avoid contact with the women of their kind.

Her kind, now, she reminded herself. One thing that awful day in the cathedral had taught her for certain was that she was Fey, not Celierian.

And she would not—could not—participate in this abandonment of the brave men who had sacrificed their own happiness and the peace of their souls defending the Fading Lands.

«Ellysetta, let him go now," Bel insisted. "If you don't, I will call Rain.»

Her eyes flashed. Her lips drew back in a snarl. "Tairen do not abandon their kin. Tairen defend the pride. Either help me or leave."

Bel's face went blank with shock. Beside him, Tajik's did too. Good. They both needed a shock to jolt them out of their blind acceptance of senseless customs. They were so certain the ways of the past could never change, they did not even want to try.

Ellysetta wasn't so ready to accept defeat. These people, these Fey, were hers now. Her people. Her family. Her pride. She would protect them. She would heal their pain.

"Take her other shoulder, Bel," Gaelen snapped. "She can use the lute'asheiva bond to draw upon our strength and wield it as her own."

Bel hurried to comply. "Kem'falla, has Gaelen shown you how to—" His voice broke off, then resumed in a slightly hoarse but rueful tone. "Ah … I see that he has."

The moment Bel touched Ellysetta, a fresh burst of renewing strength flooded into her. She responded with the ravenous, near-desperate consumption of a parched man finding an oasis in the middle of a desert, drinking in as much of the vibrant power as she could hold, then reaching out yet again, searching for more.

It came in a sudden rush, bright and blazing. And furious.

Tajik's face went white. Bel and Gaelen both went stiff as boards. Ellysetta didn't need to turn to know the source of that power was standing right behind her.

Rain.

Chapter six

Fierce as the sun, she made shadows take flight

The Star of Chakai, who spun souls back to Light.

From "The Star of Chakai," a warrior's song of Ellysetta the Bright

The Fading Lands ~ Chatok

"Teska, Feyreisa, release me. I beg you." Tajik once again began frantically trying to pull free of Ellysetta's grip, his efforts hampered by his unwillingness to use force against her. "Rain, kem'Feyreisen, sieks'ta. Forgive me. I should have refused. The blame is mine entirely."

Rain eyed the group grimly. "I know exactly where the blame lies." Bel wouldn't meet his eyes, and even Gaelen looked shamefaced—which had to be a first for the arrogant former dahl'reisen. "Nei, don't release her, you idiots," he snapped when the guilty pair started to step away. "It's much too late for that. Flames scorch it, Ellysetta! You simply could not listen, could you?"

"Rain—"

"Be silent." He was furious with her for sneaking out of their bed to do this—and furious with himself for not realizing she would. If nothing else, the last few weeks should have taught him his sweet, gentle shei'tani had a will of steel—and a head hard as a rock! When she set her mind on a thing, she would no more be diverted from her aim than a starving tairen from its prey.

His hands clamped her waist. "Finish it," he snarled. "Now, before I lose what little control I have left and rip their throats out for laying hands on you."

His knees went weak as Ellysetta drew so much energy from him, so quickly, she left him dizzy.

Connected to her, his hands upon her, he felt the flows of magic spin together with extraordinary speed as vibrant, glowing threads formed a weave so bright he could not see its pattern. The magic poured out of her, and Tajik went stiff, his eyes widening with shock as the swirling cloud of brightness enveloped him in a sparkling haze, then sank into his skin.