Tenn sighed and rubbed his face wearily. "You may not wish to hear it, Rain, but you need to consider the possibility that perhaps your shei'tani has already done all she was meant to do." His expression grew sympathetic. "The Amarynth blooms for Marissya, and the pride has said her child is a Tairen Soul. You told us last night it was Ellysetta's weave that was responsible. Could that not be the role Ellysetta was destined to fulfill?"

A chill worked down Rain's spine. That possibility had never occurred to him, not even when the Mists had Challenged Ellysetta and him so fiercely. "She is a Tairen Soul," he countered. "The first female Tairen Soul in recorded history—and the first shei'dalin ever to be able to heal the souls of Fey warriors other than her own shei'tan."

"And as the Eye just made abundantly clear, that last power could be deadly to us all. If she falls and her lu'tans follow her into shadow, we are all lost."

The idea of Ellysetta lost to the darkness made Rain's soul shudder in denial. That could not happen—would not happen so long as he drew breath. "You look at her, Tenn, and you see danger. When I look at her, I see hope. For me, for the tairen, and for the Fey."

"She is your truemate," Tenn said. "Of course that is what you see."

"Your loyalty to your mate does you honor," Yulan added, "but no one here can deny that our concerns are valid. The future shown by the Eye may be only a possibility, but it proves the Feyreisa is a potential threat to the safety of the Fading Lands."

"All great gifts of the gods come with a price," Rain countered. "Why should you think the first truemate of a Tairen Soul would be any different?"

Loris stepped towards Rain, the folds of his blue robes swirling around him. "I stand with Rain." His dark blue eyes caught and held them all, and his voice, though calm, brooked no defiance. "Regardless of what threat the Feyreisa may pose to us in the future, she is a shei'dalin, our king's truemate, and a Tairen Soul of the Fey'Bahren pride in her own right. I will accept and defend her. The only other choice leads down the Dark Path. No matter what risk or sacrifice may be required, that is a road I will not travel."

"I stand with Rain also," Marissya said. "No matter what the High Mage may have done to her, no matter what he may intend, Ellysetta is as bright a soul as I've ever known."

"Rain, Loris, and Marissya are right," Eimar agreed. "As a shei'dalin of the Fey, the Feyreisa deserves all the protection and aid we can offer her."

The four of them standing in agreement was enough to earn Tenn's and Yulan's grudging silence, and the matter was decided. Shortly thereafter, Rain sang his farewells to the tairen, took his leave of the Massan, and returned to his suite to comfort his shei'tani.

"They must hate me now." Ellysetta sat curled up in Rain's lap in a broad chair by the open archway in their suite, her eyes still red from the storm of tears she'd shed against his neck.

"Nei, they do not hate you." Rain stroked his hand down her back, tracing the delicate ridges of her spine. "They are concerned, of course, but sooner or later we would have had to tell them the truth. Tairen do not keep secrets from their pride." He pressed his face into her hair, breathing the sweet aroma of her bright curls. "They have even all agreed that you should be trained both by the shei'dalins and by the chatok of the Academy. So you see? The Eye's vision caused no irreparable harm."

"Rain…" She pulled away and gave him a chiding look. "I know it was not so easy."

Much as he wanted to, he would not lie nor dance the blade's edge of truth, not even to set her mind at ease. "Nei, it was not. What futures the Eye shows are not certain, but they are possible. Several of the Massan are afraid what they saw may come to pass."

"So what do we do now?"

"We do exactly as we planned: save the tairen, complete our bond, and defend Celieria against the Eld." He gave a little huff of rueful laughter. It sounded so easy, but he knew they were facing the most difficult challenges of their lives. "Tomorrow, Venarra will take you to the Hall of Scrolls while I make arrangements for your magic training and meet with the Massan and the warriors to begin preparations for the defense of Celieria. There is much to do, and little time to do it if I'm to march warriors and weapons to Orest by month's end."

Ellysetta laid her head in the hollow of Rain's throat and stared out through the billowing veils framing the open balcony. Last night she'd floated on a euphoric cloud of joy, thinking she'd finally come home to the place she belonged, and that the Feytale life she'd always dreamed of was finally at hand.

Today, the Eye had brought her crashing back down to earth and shown her in no uncertain terms that the nightmares she'd lived with all her life were far from over.

The Fading Lands ~ Dharsa

The moment she met Venarra v'En Eilan at the palace entry hall the next morning, every last fear and doubt stirred by Shei'Kess rose up again.

Either Venarra had seen Ellysetta's Azrahn weave and the vision in the Eye or Tenn had told her what happened. Either way, when the woman's black eyes fell upon her, Ellie was instantly reminded of the cold, relentless shei'dalins in the Mists. The sensation intensified as they walked in silence through the morning mist that wreathed Dharsa's central hill. The city was still sleeping, and the world was shrouded in white silence. With each step, Ellie half expected to find herself back in the avenue of trees with the wall of shei'dalins and their grim-eyed warriors standing in wait.