He shoved her back with a puff of Air and bound her in place with a five-fold weave. To Gaelen, he growled, "Defend yourself," just before his fist shot out, plowing into the underside of Gaelen's jaw. Vel Serranis went flying. Rain leapt on him and began pummeling.

The fight didn't last long. Rain had not spent those weeks of training under Gaelen's tutelage without learning a great deal about how the other Fey fought and how best to defeat him. And Gaelen, cocky rultshart though he was, knew he had it coming. When vel Serranis was groaning and breathless and his pretty face was sufficiently bruised and bloodied, Rain shoved him aside, got to his feet, and released Ellysetta from his weave.

"We weren't weaving Azrahn, Rain," Ellysetta protested. "We only used Spirit. I wouldn't make a choice so grave without you."

"I know." He wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of one hand. "I realized the truth not long after we spoke. You asked me to believe you. Once I shook off the worst of my Rage, I realized you were right. I did need to believe you, to trust that you would never intentionally bring us to harm. Then I realized what Bel believed had to be wrong. That there had to be some other explanation."

Her jaw dropped. "Then why … ?" She gestured to Gaelen, who had rolled into a sitting position and was massaging his dislocated jaw.

"Because he deserved it." Rain nudged Gaelen's thigh with the toe of his boot. "You need to accept the laws of this pride, vel Serranis. You may be her lu'tan, but I am her mate. Endanger her again—even by her command—and you will answer to me."

Gaelen held his gaze for a long moment, then laughed, spat a mouthful of blood, and nodded. "Accepted."

"Kabei." Rain turned his complete attention back to Ellysetta. "And now, shei'tani, you can explain to me just what in the jaffing fires of the Seven Hells you were thinking?"

She flinched at the bottled fury that turned each word into a whip of flame, but she stood her ground. "I know how to save the tairen, Rain, but I have to weave Azrahn to do it."

Chapter twenty-two

Tairen heart and tairen soul will face the night as one.

The strength of two in tairen love can never be undone.

Light up the sky with tairen flame, and hear the tairen song.

It sings of hope and life to come where tairen souls belong.

From "Tairen Song," a ballad by Merikvel Sejan, Tairen Soul

The Fading Lands ~ Fey'Bahren

Rain wrapped his arms around Ellysetta, holding her even as her arms extended to the nearest tairen egg. He wanted to snatch her back, out of the path of danger. What was he thinking even to consider this? She was his shei'tani, his truemate, the one being he must protect at all cost—even if that cost was the life of every tairen and Fey who still walked the earth.

"Ellysetta…" Forgive me, Sybharukai. "What if the Eye was wrong? You aren't a trained seer. You could easily have misunderstood its message."

"I didn't misunderstand."

He shook his head, afraid for her, desperate to stop her. "Nei, I've changed my mind. This is too dangerous." He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss into her palm. "No Fey would ever ask such a sacrifice of you."

She laid her free hand over his. "But the Fey haven't asked it of me, Rain. The gods have." She feathered her fingers across his skin. «For every great gift, shei'tan, there is a great price.»

"This price is too great."

She forced a wobbly smile. "One more Mark isn't so much to save the world." When his eyes continued to bore into her, burning with despair, her smile faded into somberness. "I have to try. And you have to let me. If I don't do this, the tairen will die. Marissya's child will die. And so will all the Fey. If I don't do this … if I don't stop the High Mage now … it will be too late for all of us."

"Ellysetta—"

"These are not just tairen, Rain. These are the brothers and sisters of the tairen tied to my soul. They are … my family." She drew him close and pressed her lips to his throat. She was acting far braver and more certain than she felt, and she wanted him to know that. "Sieks'ta, I am bullying you, and I should not. This choice is one we must make together. I won't make it for us. I've done enough of that already. Ku'shalah aiyah to nei, shei'tan. Bid me yes or no. And know that if your choice is nei, I will accept it and walk away."

"And the world of the Fey will die."

"Aiyah."

He closed his eyes and bent his head, touching his forehead to hers. "I am afraid," he whispered. "Afraid with a fear I would never feel for myself."

Tears gathered in her eyes. She blinked them back. "I know."

His lips slanted over hers in a fierce, passionate kiss. His breath, his essence, poured into her, while his arms wrapped her tight and held her close. «Ver reisa ku'chae. Kem surah, shei'tani.»

«Ke vo san, shei'tan.»

He drew back briefly, then returned for several more kisses before he nodded and stepped away. "Aiyah. Though it's like stabbing a lute'cha into my own heart, my answer is aiyah. Do what you must. But just this once, beloved. Just this once to save the ones we love."

"Just this once," she agreed. She knew how difficult it was for him to let her proceed. She could feel the fear, the desperate need to protect her battering his will. If the tairen's plight were any less dire, he would have refused and let the gods and the Eld determine which kitling lived or died.