The Fading Lands ~ Plains of Corunn

Rain, Ellysetta, and the others were halfway to Dharsa when Kieran's weave reached them. They'd just stopped to eat and stretch their legs, which was good, because Dax's legs folded beneath him when he heard his son's words.

Kieran expanded his initial private weave to include them all as he heaped love and blessings upon his stunned parents. Dax was now sitting on the ground, holding his truemate in his arms. The fierce Fey lord wore a look of such staggering joy and devotion, it made Ellysetta's throat go tight.

Amarynth bloomed in Teleon. Marissya was with child.

Fertility had returned to the Fey.

Rain dropped to his knees beside the shei'dalin and her mate. "Miora felah, Marissya. Miora felah, Dax. Brightest blessings of the gods upon you."

Laughing and crying at the same time, Marissya enfolded Rain in her arms. "Joy and blessings to us all, kem'maresk, kem'Feyreisen. And joy to the Feyreisa most of all."

"Me?" Ellysetta blinked in surprise. "But I haven't done anything."

The shei'dalin turned a radiant, tear-stained face in Ellysetta's direction. "Your weave," she explained. She gave a choked laugh and shook her head. "That awful, inescapable seven-bell weave you spun in Celieria." Her joyous laughter pealed out, stealing any possible sting from her words. "Ellysetta…little sister…sweet gift from the gods. You wove much more than Spirit that night—and may the gods shower ten lifetimes of blessings on you for it."

«Steli! Fahreeta, Torasul!» Rain sang the news to his pride-kin, who were chasing tavalree on the plains just to see them run. «Come celebrate and wish us joy. Marissya of the Fey bears young!»

The three tairen joined them swiftly, and Steli bent her head to sniff both Marissya and Dax, then sang a few notes of tairen song. A soft, unevenly pitched and offbeat echo rang in Ellysetta's ears. The white tairen sat back with a satisfied look on her face.

«So that is the scent I smelled,» she declared. She spoke not in tairen song but in plain Feyan, woven on Spirit so Marissya and Dax would be sure to understand. «The Fey-kin bears one of the pride.»

Marissya and Dax both gaped. "I bear what?" Marissya gasped. She splayed one hand across her flat belly; the other clutched Dax like a vise.

"A Tairen Soul?" Rain threw back his head and laughed. He grabbed Ellysetta up and swung her around in circles. "Shei'tani. Ah, shei'tani, you wondrous woman. This is definitely not how I expected the gods to spin this weave, but I welcome it all the same. A child of the Fey—a Tairen Soul—thanks to you." He showered her face with kisses.

Dax started laughing. "You know what this means, of course, once word reaches Dharsa? Our women will insist the Feyreisa be fed a steady diet of keflee and pinalle until all the Fading Lands bloom white once more!"

Ellysetta's eyes went wide.

"Oh, no!" Marissya gave a laughing groan. "Gods save us all."

Chapter thirteen

No moon, sun, or star ever dazzled the night

Like the radiant grace of Ellysetta the Bright.

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

The Fading Lands ~ Dharsa

The remainder of the journey to Dharsa passed rapidly. Spirit weaves carrying exuberant greetings and well wishes continued to pour across the common path. By midday, the wide, rolling grasslands of the Plains of Corunn gave way to graceful swells of densely forested earth that rose and fell like waves on the ocean, all building towards the Shining City.

Constructed entirely of white stone, its many towers capped by gleaming gold spires and domes, Dharsa rose like a jeweled diadem from the rich greenery of the forested hills. The city was built upon a ring of five outer hills, all circling a larger central peak topped by an immense, shining palace. Graceful buildings of incredible beauty and delicacy soared amid lush stands of greenery, terraced gardens, and trees laden with scented blossoms and plump, shining fruit. Water cascaded from breathtaking fountains and artfully arranged cliffs, feeding streams that wound down the hillsides before merging into the wide, shining ribbon of the River Faer. Birds of every shape and color flitted and swooped from tree to tree, filling the sky with a rainbow of dancing colors and song.

Ellysetta had never seen something so perfect, so beautiful. «Rain ,…oh, Rain …»

The black tairen turned his head, his lavender eyes glowing bright. «Welcome to Dharsa, shei'tani. The shining heart of the Fading Lands.»

Rain dipped his wing and banked left, soaring along the perimeter of the ring of hills. Steli, Fahreeta, and Torasul followed close on his tail, and the four tairen landed in a small clearing where the Fey returning from Celieria City waited with Ellysetta's lu'tans and the rest of the former rasa.

The warriors were smiling as they had not smiled in years. A palpable aura of joy surrounded them, and they had already buffed their gleaming black leathers and polished their steel to a mirror shine in preparation for their entrance into the city. Waiting Air masters spun Ellysetta, Marissya, and Dax clear of their saddles.

Gaelen was there the moment his sister's feet touched ground. He caught her in his arms and held her tight. "Mioralas, little sister. Gods' blessings upon you." Still holding her tucked against his side, he offered Dax a smile and a hand, which his bond brother clasped warmly. "Te a vo, Dax. My heart sings for you both." He turned back to his sister, grinning proudly. "A Tairen Soul, no less. I never thought v'En Solande had it in him."