"There's a possibility her parents may not have been from the Fading Lands," Rain said.

"Impossible!" Yulan v'En Belos snorted.

"So we have always believed," Rain agreed, "and so it has always been. Yet less than two weeks after I found Ellysetta, Adrial vel Arquinas truemated a mortal-born woman. Her father bears both Fey and High Elvish blood in his ancestry, but his matebond was a purely mortal one. He didn't even know his daughter possessed magic until her soul called Adrial's." He glanced around the room, seeing Yulan's sudden consternation echoed in the expressions of others. "We must at least consider the possibility that something we've never seen before is happening along the borders. So much magic was released there in the Mage Wars. Who knows what the effects of that might be? Ellysetta's adoptive mother spoke of mortal children born with magic."

"Yet another cause for concern," Tenn interrupted. "We all know what sort of creatures the remnant magic has spawned: lyrant, shadow snakes, blood vines, and bone wraiths. Fell, evil creatures all. Nei, what Eld magic touches, it corrupts. That has always been true, never more so than now. You all saw the same vision I did." He cast a steely glance around the room, meeting each Fey lord's eyes in turn. "Those rasa you allowed to bloodswear themselves to her will become her personal army, as foul and corrupt as she will be."

"When it comes to the future, the Eye shows only possibilities, and you know it," Rain snapped. "Do not dare suggest that what you saw is certainty."

"Neither is it an impossibility," Tenn bit back. "The Eye does not lie."

"For all our sakes, we'd best pray to the gods that she is not the Elden Mages' creature," Loris, the Water master, interrupted. "And if she is, we're better served finding a way to free her of their taint rather than wasting time condemning her for it."

"The only way the Fey have ever destroyed Eld evil is to burn it out of existence," Tenn snapped.

Rain's tense muscles drew even tighter, and his body dropped into a slight crouch, like a cat preparing to spring. "Harm Ellysetta, v'En Eilan, and no place on earth will shelter you from my wrath."

A loud growl from overhead made all the Fey look up. Steli crouched on the wide ledge rimming the domed Hall of Tairen, her pupil-less eyes bright with whirling blue radiance. White wings unfolded and flapped, sending powerful downdrafts gusting into the main portion of the hall. The Massan clutched at whirling robes and stepped aside as the white tairen touched down in their midst.

«This pride does not welcome Ellysetta-kitling. Steli-chakai growls mother-warning.» The great cat lowered her massive white head and bared her fangs. A low, loud, warning growl rumbled from her chest and throat, making the bells in Eimar v'En Arran's hair chime.

With a warning scream, Fahreeta leapt down to join her, Torasul close behind. The pair of them flanked the Massan, growling and hissing and herding the Fey leaders back towards the center of the room. All five Fey lords put their hands on their blades, though not one of them dared pull steel on the tairen. «Warning, Fey-kin. Steli-chakai growls mother-warning. Fahreeta and Torasul growl pride-warning.»

«Ellysetta-kitling is Fey'Bahren pride.» The white head thrust forward, and she bared her fangs at each of the Massan. «Be warned, Fey-kin. Rainier-Eras claims mate rights, but Steli-chakai claims mother rights. Steli-chakai is fiercest of the Fey'Bahren pride.»

Tenn shot Rain a furious glare. "What are they saying, Feyreisen?" The Massan could not hear the tairen's song. All they heard were rumbling growls, hisses, and muted roars.

"They say Ellysetta is part of their pride, but you are not." The answer did not come from Rain, but from Marissya, who had returned from tending Ellysetta and now stood beside Dax in the doorway, her hands clutched over her still-flat belly. "Steli, the white tairen, is the First Blade of the Fey'Bahren pride. She advises you to treat Ellysetta— whom she has adopted as her own kitling—with caution and respect. The others, Fahreeta and Torasul, suggest the same." She let a long, commanding look settle over the Massan. "I suggest you heed them."

Loris spread his palms in a calming gesture. "Las, my friends. We all know Tenn. He occasionally falls prey to the hotheaded tendencies that afflict so many Fire masters, but he would never suggest harm to another Fey's mate. Would you, Tenn?"

He settled an unblinking violet-blue gaze on the leader of the Massan until the glaring Fire master muttered, "Nei, of course not," then stalked to the far side of the room.

"There. You see?" Loris turned back to his fellow Massan. "It doesn't matter where she came from or even what blood runs in her veins. She is Rain's shei'tani, which means we have no choice but to free her—or at least shield her— from whatever Eld taint lies upon her so that she and Rain can complete their bond."

"What if the taint on her corrupts the bond—and Rain through it?" Yulan interjected.

"Then we are doomed," Tenn said.

"Don't be ridiculous." Eimar's hair chimes sang as he glanced around to frown at Tenn. "I've never heard of any Mage powerful enough to corrupt a completed shei'tanitsa bond."

"I've never heard of a Mage-claimed woman completing the bond either," Yulan retorted.

"Shei'Kess sent me to find Ellysetta," Rain reminded Yulan sharply. "I will not believe its purpose was to cement the destruction of the Fey. Nei. There is no doubt in my mind that she holds the power to save us. Our task must be to help her find it."