"But not a six-fold weave," Nivane said. "Someone out there is weaving Azrahn.”

Lauriana's lungs stalled. The Fey were breaking in? Dread shivered down her spine. The archbishop had promised her the Fey would not be able to detect the exorcism, and he'd been wrong. He'd promised her the Fey could not break in, and now it seemed he'd been wrong about that too. She had witnessed the Fey's fierce defense of Ellie. They would not treat kindly anyone who brought her harm. Gaelen vel Serranis had once murdered an entire family line for the actions of only one member. Oh, gods, what had she done?

"There's not much time, then. We must exorcise what demons we can.” Father Bellamy reached for the ninth needle.

"You're right, Father," Nivane agreed. "There's not much time. Not enough to continue with this charade in any event.”

Before Father Bellamy could do more than look up in surprise, Nivane plunged a black dagger in his back. On the other side of the altar, the third exorcist drew another blade from within his robes and drove it between the archbishop's ribs.

Lauriana screamed. "Dear gods! You've murdered them!”

"I do love a keen sense of the obvious," Nivane sneered.

"No one ever claimed she was the brightest candle in the lamp. But at least she came in useful." The third exorcist threw back the hood on his robe, revealing an all-too-familiar face.

Lauriana clutched her throat. "Den? Den Brodson? What's the meaning of this?”

Den gave a dark smile. "I'm fulfilling my vow, madam. I'm claiming what's mine. Thank you, by the way, for all your help in making it so convenient for me.”

For the first time, Lauriana saw Den for what he truly was-not the brutishly handsome son of a friend or a potential suitor for her daughter's hand, but as a sneering, cold-eyed manipulator who'd stop at nothing-not even murdering the Archbishop of Celieria-to get what he wanted. "Ellie was right about you all along. You are a filthy little toad.”

Den's face darkened with a scowl. He turned to Nivane. "Let me kill her," he urged.

"Not unless she gives us no other choice. The master wants her alive. He thinks she may yet come in handy.”

Lauriana clutched Selianne's arm. "Selianne," she whispered urgently, "we've got to stop them. We've got to save Ellie.”

Her spine went rigid at the feel of a cold, sharp blade pressed against her ribs. She turned a shocked, disbelieving gaze on the girl she'd all but helped raise. "Selianne?”

"I'm sorry, Madame Baristani. I can't let you interfere.”

"No." Lauriana's lips trembled as she whispered the denial. "Not you, too. Ellie loves you like a sister. How could you betray her?”

"How could I betray her? Oh, Madame Baristani, what is it you think you've done?" Selianne's face twisted in anguish. "They have my babies. They vowed to kill them if I didn't help them. You, of all people, know there's nothing a mother wouldn't do to save her child.”

"They who? Who's behind this?”

"The Mages of Eld.”

At last, too late, Lauriana realized how completely she'd been duped. They'd discovered her greatest fear and played expertly on it, convincing her that Ellysetta's soul was in danger. All Selianne's visits, her whispered worries, had been designed to feed Lauriana's fears so she would lead her daughter into this trap.

Everything Rain vel'En Daris had said was true. The Mage! were at work, and they would do anything to capture Ellie. They would turn Ellie's friends-and even her own mother-against her.

Instead of saving Ellie, Lauriana had betrayed her in the worst possible way.

Darkness whirled past Ellysetta, but if there was ground beneath her racing feet, she did not feel it. When she stopped running, the High Mage was still there, a malevolent shadow among shadows, a chilling breath of ice down her back.

"Any hope of escape is futile," he whispered. "No one will come to your rescue. Everyone has betrayed you. Your mother..

your friend, the Tairen Soul. You are all alone.”

"Not everyone has betrayed me," she retorted. "Gaelen and Bel haven't. They're out there fighting for me even now. They will save me.”

"Will they? Do you think they did not sense the exorcist hiding in the Solarus? Or read your mother's and the archbishop's intentions in their unguarded thoughts? They knew what was in store for you, and they wove a cage of magic around you to ensure you could not escape.”

For one instant, her certainty faltered. Was it possible? Her heart fluttered in her breast, and doubt stabbed her like an icy dart.

"Why would they do that?" she challenged weakly. She was ice cold and shivering. Some dark, invisible force was pulling at her, tugging her towards the Mage like steel to a lodestone. She resisted the pull, but her efforts were sluggish and exhausting.

"Because they know what you are. My child, Ellysetta. My daughter. My greatest achievement. The child I created to destroy the Fey.”

"Liar." She tried to laugh, but the chattering of her teeth ruined the effect. She felt so cold, as if all the warmth of the world had been siphoned away. "You outwitted yourself, Mage. Sel'dor doesn't burn Eld flesh, but it burns mine. I'm no daughter of yours, and the Fey know it, despite your trying to convince them otherwise.”

She'd hoped to rattle him, but it didn't work. "You think in such common, limited terms," he sneered. "Any mongrel dog can breed a whelp. Where's the genius in that? I'm talking about siring something far greater than flesh.”