«There is nothing I would hide from you, ki falla'sheisan.» His mental voice was calm and steady, a rock of unwavering acceptance, completely devoid of fear. «My mind and my soul, which you have restored from despair, are open to you without reservation. Though I warn you there are memories of things that would make a shei'dalin weep. »

Even with his permission, she shied away from sifting through his mind while he was watching her. She turned instead to Rain, but his thoughts were completely hidden from her. She touched his hand and sighed in relief when his concern touched her senses. That much, at least, had not changed.

At her touch he glanced down at her. «Shei’tani, will you not let Marissya at least try to relieve your pain?» A small frown creased his brow.

Squeezing Rain's hand, she turned to the shei'dalin. "If it will give you peace to heal me, then do so." For the first time, she wasn't afraid to accept Marissya's touch, because she knew the other woman only wanted to stop the pain that Ellysetta's headache was causing them both.

As Marissya raised her hand, Ellysetta realized she could actually feel her summoning her magic, could see the swelling glow as it responded to her call and watch her spin the power into shining thread that she then wove together in a visible pattern. Lavender Spirit, green Earth, and cool white Air whispered through her, soothing clenched muscles and throbbing nerves. Then it was done, and Marissya leaned back into her truemate's strength, utterly spent.

Ellysetta touched her temple. The headache was still there, but muted. "Beylah vo.”

"It is my honor to serve the Feyreisa," the healer replied. Her gaze went again to her brother, and stayed there. "You have truly wrought a miracle. There is nothing I could ever do to repay you”

"He is healed, then?" Rain asked. "No hint of dahl'reisen in him?”

"He and my sister Marikah walked the earth a thousand years before my birth. Gaelen's soul was dark from war long before I knew him, but even that is gone now." She stepped towards Gaelen, waving away the instinctive protests of Dax and her quintet as she reached out and laid hands upon her brother. "He is as unshadowed as an infant." Suddenly, there were tears in Marissya's eyes, and she flung her arms around her brother, clinging tight.

Over his sister's shoulder, Gaelen met Ellysetta's gaze and his voice sounded in her mind, «For this moment alone, I owe you my soul. s His ice-blue eyes squeezed shut, and his face drew tight in lines of intense, barely checked emotion as he returned his sister's embrace.

Ellysetta turned her face into Rain's chest. "For once," she whispered, "it appears I may have done something right with this magic you've awakened in me.”

He stroked a hand in her hair. "What you have done is a miracle, as Marissya says.”

"Kifalla’sheisan ..." Most honored lady. The deep, baritone voice sounded behind her. The voice was slightly raspy, as if rarely used, but the tones were familiar. She'd heard them in her mind just a moment ago.

She turned. The man known and feared throughout Celieria as the Dark Lord swept into a graceful bow so deep that his brow nearly touched the ground. He straightened as gracefully as he had bowed, towering over her own not-inconsiderable height by more than a head.

"Ki falla'sheisan," the Dark Lord repeated. "I am Gaelen vel Serranis, brother of the shei'dalin Marissya v'En Solande and once a proud warrior of the Fey. I have been dahl'reisen for the last thousand years, the most lost of all lost souls, but you have restored me.”

"I am Ellysetta Baristani, Ser vel Serranis. And in truth I don't know what I did or how I did it, but you are welcome all the same.”

"You are not what I expected. You are ... innocent." The pale gaze sharpened, grew so intent that Ellysetta could almost feel his look like a physical touch, probing, as if he were searching for something. Then Gaelen's face cleared, and he dropped to his knees before her. "Ellysetta Baristani, truemate of the Tairen Soul, of my own free will, I pledge my life and my soul to your protection. None shall harm you while in life or death I have power to prevent it." Slowly, so as not to alarm the many warriors ringed around them, he unsheathed a black Fey'cha and drew the blade across his palm. Fisting his hand, he let six drops of blood splash on the knife. "This I do swear with my own life's blood, in Fire and Air and Earth and Water, in Spirit and Azrahn. I do ask that this pledge be witnessed.”

Utter stillness fell over the park. The Dark Lord knelt there before her, his head lifted proudly, his eyes never wavering from hers as the silence stretched out. A muscle worked in Gaelen's jaw. "She restored my soul. Lute'asheiva is my right.”

"Your right?" Rain repeated. "You lost all rights the day you turned down the Dark Path. You laid dahl'reisen hands on my truemate, and that should have earned you death. Instead, she cleansed the darkness from your soul. That doesn't mean I trust you, vel Serranis.”

Gaelen shifted his steady gaze from Ellysetta to Rain. "I serve no other master, despite what you may believe, and with my soul sworn to her service, I never shall." When still Rain did not witness the pledge, he added, "You should be leaping at the chance to witness my oath. Lute'asheiva guarantees I can never betray her.”

"Rain?" Ellysetta touched his hand as the silence stretched out again.

He stared hard, with cold, cold eyes, at the former dahl'reisen. "If ever, even by accident, you betray her or bring her to harm, vel Serranis, your life is forfeit. Only I will not send Fey to kill you. I will send the tairen. And there will be no next life for you.”