«Steli’s heart sings to see you safe, kitling. Steli was…» Steli gave up Fey words for tairen speech with which she spun an image of a tairen mother, crying mournfully over the body of a listless kitling. «Ellysetta-kitling must not give Steli such sadness again.»

“I promise I will try not to.”

Steli nudged Ellysetta back a step, gave her a maternal lick, then scolded, «Ellysetta-kitling must not set fang or claw on Mharog. Mharog not good prey. Good only for burning.»

She gave a rueful laugh. “I’ve learned my lesson, Steli-chakai. Believe me.”

“All right, that’s enough now,” Jisera pronounced. “The Feyreisa and Feyreisen both just woke up. I need to do some tests before I can be sure everything went as well as planned. That means the rest of you need to clear off. Now, please.” The tiny Fey woman gave everyone, including Steli, a stern look. The quintet quickly decided they could guard Ellysetta from outside the tent as well as from within. Steli, however, lifted the edge of one lip and growled irritably.

«It’s all right, Steli-chakai,» Ellysetta soothed. «I’ll be fine.»

Steli sniffed and declared, «Steli-chakai will go hunt. Bring back tasty meat for Ellysetta-kitling.» With one more growling glare for Jisera, Steli yanked her head out of the tent and flounced off.

For the next full bell, Jisera ran both Rain and Ellysetta through a battery of tests, checking their physical recovery, their bodies’ reactions to the Shadar horn, their ability to call and weave magic, Rain’s ability to control his bond madness. By the time Jisera pronounced them well enough to leave shei’dalin care, night had fallen and the slivered crescents of Eloran’s two moons were high in the sky.

Four of Ellysetta’s quintet gathered round Ellysetta as she and Rain walked the now-barren campground. Gaelen, however, was nowhere to be seen.

«I’m here,» Gaelen announced on the quintet’s private Spirit weave when Ellysetta asked where he was. «Just invisible. None of the dahl’reisen know that Ellysetta restored my soul, and if they see me, the secret will be out.»

«I thought you trusted your Brotherhood friends,» Bel said, frowning.

«I trusted them to save Rain and Ellysetta because I had no choice. But I wouldn’t have turned to them at all if they’d known she could restore their souls.»

Rain started to remind Gaelen that Farel was bloodsworn and was therefore incapable of harming Ellysetta, but he swallowed the words before they left his mouth. He hadn’t yet revealed that he’d let dahl’reisen swear their lute’asheiva bonds to his truemate.

“We received some good news from Dharsa.”

Rain arched a brow. He couldn’t think what it could be, unless Tenn v’En Eilan had suddenly come to his senses. “Let’s hear it. I could use some good news.”

“Kieran and Kiel are alive, as are the Feyreisa’s family and two of the shei’dalins we feared lost at Teleon. Kieran and Kiel escorted them all safely to Dharsa before heading to Sohta and the Veil with Loris and another three thousand Fey.”

Ellysetta stopped walking. “They’re alive? They’re safe?

All of them?”

“Aiyah” Bel confirmed. “All of them. Lillis, Lorelle, and your father.”

Her chin trembled. She turned quickly, pressing her face into Rain’s throat and wrapping her arms around his waist.

He felt her whispering an inaudible prayer of thanks, and tightened his own arms around her waist before grinning at Bel. “That isn’t just good news, kem’maresk. That’s the best news we’ve had in months.”

“I thought you would be pleased.” Bel smiled fondly at Ellysetta. “We also received word from Celieria City. It seems Hawksheart kept his word to speak with the Danae and convince them to help us. Dorian’s ship went down, but the Danae’s nyatheri, the Water spirits, saved him from drowning and helped sink the enemy ships.”

“That’s something at least.”

“Unfortunately, the news gets less pleasant after that. Prince Dorian—King Dorian—returned to Celieria City last night to catch a Mage in the act of Marking Queen Annoura.”

Ellysetta lifted her head. Her fingers clenched around Rain’s. “Is she all right?”

“She’s safe and so is her baby. The Marks disappeared when the Mage was killed trying to escape.”

“Who was it?” Rain asked.

“The Queen’s Favorite, Ser Vale, but it seems he wasn’t the only one. The old King Dorian apparently sent some of Lord Barrial’s dahl’reisen down to Great Bay to help his son. And the new King Dorian ordered those dahl’reisen to check everyone in the palace. Dorian’s Spirit master tells me they’ve already found at least fifty Mage-claimed among the courtiers and palace servants, and that doesn’t include any of the Mage-claimed who lost their Marks when Vale died. Now the entire city is on lock-down. No one gets in or out until they’ve been checked for Mage Marks by Lord Barrial’s dahl’reisen.” Bel regarded his friend and king. “You were right, Rain. The entire city had been infiltrated, and gods only know how long it’s been going on.”

Rain nodded in weary acceptance. He should have been glad for both the vindication of his suspicions and the unmasking of Eld’s servants in Celieria, but he wished he’d been wrong. Not for the sake of the greedy fools who sold their souls in exchange for wealth and power, but for the ones, like Ellysetta and her friend Selianne, who’d been Marked against their will.