"Mama!" Ellysetta protested.

"Laurie!" Sol scolded at the same time.

Rain's eyes flashed dangerously. "Do not dare suggest the Fey would ever harm Ellysetta. Every warrior in this city-every warrior in the Fading Lands-would die to spare her the slightest wound. Two already have.”

Sol stared at Rain in shock. "What?”

"I sent two Fey north to find out what they could about Ellysetta's origins. They were murdered." He covered Ellysetta's hand with his own. She'd been upset when he told her the news, but it had helped to convince her of the seriousness of the threat. He hoped her parents would be equally understanding. "I received confirmation of it today when we returned from our courtship bells.”

"Murdered ... by whom?”

"We believe it was the Eld, which means if the trade vote passes-as it appears it will-the same folk who murdered my men will have much easier access to Ellysetta and your family.”

Unblinking brown eyes regarded him solemnly. A long moment passed in silence.

"Sol!" Lauriana protested. "You can't seriously be considering his request.”

"How would you feel, Laurie, if she were hurt-maybe even killed-because we were too selfish to let her go?”

"Will it feel any worse than when we send her to the Fading Lands and she loses her soul to these godless sorcerers because there's no one there to be her beacon?”

"Mama!”

"Laurie!" Sol stared at her as if she'd grown two heads. "What's gotten into you? The wedding's already been agreed to. She's going to the Fading Lands. The only question is whether she goes tomorrow or a few days after that.”

Lauriana bolted up from her seat at the table and rushed out of the kitchen. Sol gave Rain an apologetic look and followed his wife.

"Mama didn't mean it," Ellysetta said. "She's just been .. . upset recently.”

Rain sighed. "She never wanted this marriage to happen. She made that clear from the start. I'd just hoped that she would have begun to accept the idea by now.”

"I thought she had, to begin with," Ellysetta said softly, coming to wrap her arms around him. "But I guess she needs a little more time. After we're wed, when things calm down enough that we can come back for regular visits, she'll see for herself that living with the Fey isn't destroying my soul. She'll come around then." When Rain didn't respond, she drew back to look up at him. "We will come back, won't we, Rain?”

He hesitated, then said, "I've already told you your family will always be welcome in the Fading Lands.”

Her spine went stiff. Her arms dropped away and she stepped back, putting distance between them. "Are you telling me once we leave, I can never return?”

"If the borders are opened to the Eld, it would be too dangerous”

Her face went stony and inscrutable even as irritation sizzled across his senses. "Well," she said after several long seconds of silence, "I guess you'd best do everything you can tomorrow to make sure the borders remain closed, then." Her jaw grew firm. "Because if my family is here, I will be coming back. Whether you like it or not.”

She stepped past him and marched into the other room, heading for the stairs. Unwilling to let her storm off, he followed and grabbed her wrist. Tumultuous emotions-hurt, anger, distrust, even an underlying current of fear-rushed into him as his flesh touched hers.

"I don't do this to hurt you, Ellysetta." His whisper had a sharp edge. "Would you rather I take the free will of every noble in Celieria and bend it to my own? I've tried everything else to convince them, but they won't believe the Eld are as great a threat as I know them to be”

"Then make them believe it," she snapped back. She yanked her hand away from his with such force that she knocked over a stack of wedding presents on the hall table, sending gifts skittering across the floor. Muttering a mild curse, she knelt to pick them up. "You're a Master of Spirit. I know for a fact your weaves feel entirely and vividly real.”

"All Fey have sworn never to manipulate Celierian minds with magic." Rain knelt to retrieve a small silver-ribbonbedecked blue box that had fallen beneath the table.

"I'm not suggesting you manipulate them," she snapped. "I'm saying show them what the Mage Wars were like, just as you've shown me the Fading Lands. Convince King Dorian to let you address the Council directly, before the vote. Make them see the results of Mage evil for themselves, firsthand. Here, give me that." She held out her hand for the small package.

As he passed it to her, their fingers touched, and she flinched at the contact. Grimly he stepped back to put a little distance between them.

Inside the parlor, Rain heard Lorelle ask, "Lillis, what's wrong with Love?”

There was a loud hiss, then a screech, followed by a short cry of pain. Love came tearing out of the parlor, skittering across the hardwood floor, little paws pedaling as she made a sliding turn, scrambled up the stairs, and disappeared.

Rain peered into the parlor. Lillis sat in Kieran's arms, her hand bleeding from deep furrows while the young Fey examined the wound. "What happened, Kieran?”

"I don't know." There was shame on his face for allowing one of the females under his care to come to harm. "The cat just went crazy." He glared at the other warriors. "Which one of you was calling magic?”