tactics, diplomacy, leadership. A man who had earned the right to lead both in times of peace and prosperity as well as the grimmer years of blood and battle.
To see Johr—a true and rightful Defender of the Fey—roused all of Rain's most bitter self-doubts. He knew he was not the king the Fading Lands deserved.
The Mists knew it too.
"You cast a shadow on the Tairen Throne, Rainier vel'En Daris. You are not worthy of your crown."
Rain gave a bitter laugh. "That much I will grant you. My soul is black with the deaths of those millions I slew in the Wars. But if you banish me, who will be the Tairen Soul?"
"You know of what I speak—and of whom. You know whose dark hand lies upon her. She will cement the destruction of both the tairen and the Fey. Yet still you bring her. Because you choose self over duty."
Johr's jaw flexed, and his green-gold eyes flared with a sudden, angry burst of power. "This is not the choice of a king, Tairen Soul. You shame your crown, your steel, and the line of your forebears. She brings death to our world."
For one dreadful moment, Rain remembered Ellysetta's seizure and her black, Azrahn-filled eyes and her low, hoarse voice shouting, "I am Death."
Almost as soon as the doubt arose, he shook it off. Nei. Nei, he wouldn't believe that. The only death associated with Ellysetta was the foul Eld evil that stalked her, the dread reason the gods had fashioned a tairen for her mate.
He thrust out a clenched jaw. "Ellysetta is bright and shining. She is the one the Eye of Truth sent me to find—because she brings life to the Fey, not death. She is a shei'dalin and a Tairen Soul and my truemate. You will not speak against her."
"And when the evil she bears comes into bloom? What will you do then, Rainier vel'En Daris? How will you defend the Fey against this serpent you clasp to your breast?"
"She will not fall. We will complete our bond, and the Mage whose Marks she bears will lose all power over her." He clung to that hope, because without it he had nothing. "What else should I have done, if not bring her here? Left her out there in the world, unprotected? I did what any Fey—what any shei'tan —would have done. I brought her to safety."
"And endangered us all."
Rain stiffened his spine and lifted a clenched jaw. "The tairen do not agree. Sybharukai, makai of the Fey'Bahren pride, does not agree. Tairen do not abandon their kin. Tairen defend the pride."
A cold smile curled the edges of Johr's mouth. "Tairen also honor Challenge, for the health of the pride."
Sudden cold swept over Rain, leaving his flesh clammy and his heart stuttering with fear.
"Where is Ellysetta?" he demanded. "What have you done to her?" He spun away from the image of Johr and cried, « Ellysetta!»
Ellysetta screamed until she thought her throat would burst. With none of the gentleness and compassion Marissya had always shown her, the shei'dalins of the Mists plundered her mind, tearing into private thoughts and memories, prying loose even her most closely guarded secrets and deepest fears. She tried to rally a defense, but each time she managed to focus her will against them, they would turn those fearsome eyes upon her and her thoughts would scatter like hapless leaves in the wind.
Ruthless, efficient, they rifled through her mind, examining every memory. Her childhood in Hartslea, the seizures, the priests' declaration that she was demon possessed. Her first exorcism and the howling, bloody, violent rage that had swept through her eight-year-old mind when the long, shining needles of the exorcists had plunged into her body. They saw what she'd been thinking, knew how she'd dreamed of rending those exorcists limb from limb and dancing in the shower of their blood.
Ellie wept in shame and horror at her own evil thoughts. When she'd shared the awful truth of her childhood with Rain, he had offered acceptance and loving, healing forgiveness. These shei'dalins were not so compassionate. They dissected
To see Johr—a true and rightful Defender of the Fey—roused all of Rain's most bitter self-doubts. He knew he was not the king the Fading Lands deserved.
The Mists knew it too.
"You cast a shadow on the Tairen Throne, Rainier vel'En Daris. You are not worthy of your crown."
Rain gave a bitter laugh. "That much I will grant you. My soul is black with the deaths of those millions I slew in the Wars. But if you banish me, who will be the Tairen Soul?"
"You know of what I speak—and of whom. You know whose dark hand lies upon her. She will cement the destruction of both the tairen and the Fey. Yet still you bring her. Because you choose self over duty."
Johr's jaw flexed, and his green-gold eyes flared with a sudden, angry burst of power. "This is not the choice of a king, Tairen Soul. You shame your crown, your steel, and the line of your forebears. She brings death to our world."
For one dreadful moment, Rain remembered Ellysetta's seizure and her black, Azrahn-filled eyes and her low, hoarse voice shouting, "I am Death."
Almost as soon as the doubt arose, he shook it off. Nei. Nei, he wouldn't believe that. The only death associated with Ellysetta was the foul Eld evil that stalked her, the dread reason the gods had fashioned a tairen for her mate.
He thrust out a clenched jaw. "Ellysetta is bright and shining. She is the one the Eye of Truth sent me to find—because she brings life to the Fey, not death. She is a shei'dalin and a Tairen Soul and my truemate. You will not speak against her."
"And when the evil she bears comes into bloom? What will you do then, Rainier vel'En Daris? How will you defend the Fey against this serpent you clasp to your breast?"
"She will not fall. We will complete our bond, and the Mage whose Marks she bears will lose all power over her." He clung to that hope, because without it he had nothing. "What else should I have done, if not bring her here? Left her out there in the world, unprotected? I did what any Fey—what any shei'tan —would have done. I brought her to safety."
"And endangered us all."
Rain stiffened his spine and lifted a clenched jaw. "The tairen do not agree. Sybharukai, makai of the Fey'Bahren pride, does not agree. Tairen do not abandon their kin. Tairen defend the pride."
A cold smile curled the edges of Johr's mouth. "Tairen also honor Challenge, for the health of the pride."
Sudden cold swept over Rain, leaving his flesh clammy and his heart stuttering with fear.
"Where is Ellysetta?" he demanded. "What have you done to her?" He spun away from the image of Johr and cried, « Ellysetta!»
Ellysetta screamed until she thought her throat would burst. With none of the gentleness and compassion Marissya had always shown her, the shei'dalins of the Mists plundered her mind, tearing into private thoughts and memories, prying loose even her most closely guarded secrets and deepest fears. She tried to rally a defense, but each time she managed to focus her will against them, they would turn those fearsome eyes upon her and her thoughts would scatter like hapless leaves in the wind.
Ruthless, efficient, they rifled through her mind, examining every memory. Her childhood in Hartslea, the seizures, the priests' declaration that she was demon possessed. Her first exorcism and the howling, bloody, violent rage that had swept through her eight-year-old mind when the long, shining needles of the exorcists had plunged into her body. They saw what she'd been thinking, knew how she'd dreamed of rending those exorcists limb from limb and dancing in the shower of their blood.
Ellie wept in shame and horror at her own evil thoughts. When she'd shared the awful truth of her childhood with Rain, he had offered acceptance and loving, healing forgiveness. These shei'dalins were not so compassionate. They dissected
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