"Thank you, my lord." Relief made her spine start to wilt. She squared her shoulders quickly. "Will there be anything else, Master Nour?"

"Yes, there will." Over his shoulder he barked, "Brodson, leave us. Close the door behind you. Have the maid send word to the queen that Lady Montevero is feeling indisposed this morning."

The click of the door latch falling into place rang like the toll of doom in the silent chamber.

The Primage took a step closer. "I think, pet, I should like you to show me how well my friend Kolis trained you to serve him."

Jiarine risked a glance at the Mage's face. Then she wished she hadn't.

For the first time since entering her room, Gethen Nour was smiling, and the sight shot terror through her heart.

Eld ~ Boura Fell

Pain enveloped Shan like a blanket. Every nerve ending burned and throbbed. Elfeya huddled on the periphery of his consciousness, singing his favorite Feyan and Elvish tunes from their long-ago life in the Fading Lands. Her voice helped keep the worst of the pain at bay as they waited for Maur to finish toying with them and let Elfeya heal him.

A sound at the door of his cell drew his attention. Elfeya stopped singing.

«He returns?» There was such dread in her voice. If Maur were back, they both knew the last thousand years of captivity would soon be at an end. In his current condition, there was no way Shan could survive more torture.

Voices murmured in the hall outside, too muffled for him to make out the words. The cell door swung open. Shan started to tense, then hissed as the tug of tightening muscles shifted the fragments of shattered bone in his flesh. He could not move except to tilt his head back in an attempt to see who came in.

There was another low murmur of voices; then the broad shape of the guard stepped outside. Shan caught a hazy glimpse of the newcomer—a slight figure whose face was still cloaked in shadow. The scent of food teased his nostrils, and Shan closed his eyes. Not Maur but an umagi, with food for the High Mage's favorite toy. The end of his torment wasn't near after all.

Soft footsteps carried the umagi towards the barbed sel'dor bars of Shan's cage. Cloth whispered against stone, followed by the scrape of metal as the umagi set a platter on the floor.

"I cannot move to feed myself," Shan told his visitor. "Your master enjoyed his work too well."

To his surprise, a morsel of food touched his lips. He opened his eyes, saw the thin arm stretched through the bars of the cage, holding the food to his mouth.

"Eat," a soft voice commanded. A female voice. Young. A child's voice. "Even the strongest Fey needs food."

Warm, flavorful liquid touched the tip of his tongue. Juice from the small piece of cooked meat. How long since he'd had cooked meat? Shan licked his lips. The taste was extraordinary. It occurred to him that the meat could be poisoned or drugged in some manner, but he was beyond caring. The smell of the food was making him ravenous. He opened his mouth and took the bit of meat, forcing himself to chew slowly to savor its flavor and warmth and texture. Another piece brushed his lips before he was finished with the first, and he ate that too.

"Why do you still live?" the child whispered as he ate. "He shatters your bones, peels the flesh from your body, yet still you cling to life. Why?"

Shan just closed his eyes and kept chewing without answer. Apparently the food did not contain any drugs to loosen his tongue, because silence was all too easy.

The child held the next morsel of food away from his mouth, then sighed and gave it to him. "You are wary. I understand. They say you have been here a thousand years."

So long…half his years with Elfeya had been spent here, in darkness and torment. «Ah, shei'tani, sieks'ta. Our bond has been more curse than gift.»

"Nei," she answered instantly. Love, deep and endless, poured across the unbreakable threads of their truemate bond, and with the love came her unshakable certainty, her pure and shining truth. Long ago she'd made her choice and bound her soul wholly and without reservation to his, and nothing—not even the living hell of their last thousand years—would make her regret it. «I would not trade even these centuries of torment if it meant one less day with you. You are all the joy I need. So long as we life, we have hope.»

"They say he's never broken you in all that time," the child said. "You must be very strong…and how your defiance must vex him." Dark glee curled like an invisible smile in the girl's voice. "They all fear you, you know. Even him. I can smell it on them when they set foot down here."

Despite himself, Shan's curiosity was roused. Who was this child? Why was she here?

He took a slow, deep breath and embraced the burn of broken ribs as his lungs expanded. "What do you want?" he growled.

"Your help."

"My help?" He gave a soft, hoarse laugh. "Have you looked at me, girl? What help could I give in this state?"

"You will heal," she answered. "They say you always do, no matter what he does to you. What's important is you are not Marked. You can do what none of the rest of us can."

"And what's that?"

The child leaned forward, pressing her face to the sel'dor bars and lowering her voice to a whisper so soft he had to strain his ears to hear it.

"Kill him."

Chapter eleven

The Fading Lands ~ Fey'Bahren

"You should have warned me."

Rain smiled. "You should have known. It was the obvious outcome."