Lord Death was the one screaming now. His mate was the one dying now. And Melliandra's only hope was to save her.

Elvia ~ Navahele

"We cannot just leave Shan and Elfeya there!" Tajik cried.

"We don't even know where 'there' is," Gaelen pointed out.

"Then we find a way to locate them," Ellysetta announced. "And we put together a plan to rescue them." Her jaw firmed, and her chin lifted as she met Rain's gaze. "I'm sorry, Rain. I know there is far more at stake than just two lives, but we have to do this. I've already lost one mother to the Mages. I'm not about to lose another."

Rain crossed his arms and steeled himself for pain. Refusing to launch a rescue mission to save Shan and Elfeya was one of the hardest decisions he'd ever made. But he knew it was the right choice—the only choice.

"Shei'tani, I know you want this—I know you need this— but I cannot allow it. As your shei'tan, I would give anything— risk anything—to bring you peace. But I am the Feyreisen, Defender of the Fey, and we are at war. In this matter, I must put the needs of the Fey first."

"My parents are Fey!" she cried. "And they are clearly in need of defending!"

"Please... teska... try to understand. I must make my decision as the Tairen Soul who is their king—and I need you to make your decision as its queen. We must both put what's best for all our people above our own desires and consider all the lives at stake, not just these two—no matter who they are."

She flinched and he hated himself for it. His admonition was more than a little unfair. She had always put the needs of others before her own. And now this thing she needed so much, he had to refuse.

An angry, mutinous light sparked in her eyes, "How many does it take. Rain? How many people must suffer for how many years before their lives become important enough to save?"

It was Rain's turn to flinch. "You know that's not what I'm saying."

"Then explain it to me."

Irritation spiked within him. Did she think he liked making this choice? Did she honestly think he would make it if there were any other solution available to him? "Whom should we send, Ellysetta? Your quintet? And leave you unprotected and vulnerable here, outside the Fading Lands, when we all know the High Mage is waiting for just such an opportunity? Should I go myself? The Eld bowcannons nearly killed me in Orest, but I'm sure I could fly straight into the heart of enemy territory undetected, locate your parents in a Mage stronghold, and rescue them without aid."

Color flooded her cheeks and she drew back in affront. "Now who's being ridiculous?"

"Am I?" he countered. "If not me or your quintet, who else should go? Shall I pull warriors off the Celierian borders? The battles have already begun, and we're already seriously outnumbered, but I'm sure Dorian would understand our need to pull back a few of our troops. How many should I withdraw, do you think?"

"I'm not suggesting you pull men off the borders."

"Then whom does that leave, Ellysetta? The lu'tan? Their oaths to you supersede any loyalty to me or the Fading Lands. If you ask, they will joyfully die by your command. Are you ready to send them to their deaths? Because, of a certainty, if you direct them to blunder blindly through Eld in the hopes of finding where the Mage is holding your parents, they will die."

"Of course I don't mean that!" she exclaimed. "You're twisting my words. You're not being fair."

"Fair.'" He swooped on the word like a tairen on its prey. "This is life, Ellysetta, a Fey's life. It's almost never fair. It's hard. It's thankless. We take what joy we find and treasure it so dearly because we know how rare such blessings are. Every Fey warrior and shei'dalin born in the Fading Lands learns very early in life that, like it or not—fair or not—there will be many days when they must decide between a bad choice and a worse one. Today is such a day."

He crossed his arms and leveled a hard look upon his shei'tani and her quintet. "I will not send a single blade brother into Eld without some idea of where he's going and what he can expect to find when he gets there. Do you hear me? I will not issue such a command. There are too few Fey left in this world to risk a single precious life for such madness."

"So we do nothing?" Tajik cried. "We just leave my sister there to suffer?" His hands were clenched, and his lean, muscular body was trembling with scarcely contained fury.

Gaelen was right, Rain realized. They should have taken Tajik's memories. The warrior was teetering on the brink of full-fledged Rage, and that did not bode well for any of them.

"Calm yourself—and I mean now, Fey," he snapped, hoping a little brisk, plain speaking would pull Taj back from his Rage.

"We're at war, and I need cool heads and clear thinking—not warriors Raging out of control. You're a general of the Fading Lands. Start acting like one,"

Tajik's head snapped back as if he'd been slapped.

"Your first duty is your bloodsworn bond to protect Ellysetta, followed by your general's duty to protect the Fading Lands. If we don't defeat the Eld, every fellana—every sister, mother, daughter, shei'tani, and e'tani—everyone will suffer the same fate as Elfeya. Do you think for one moment that she and Shan would want that? Do you think they would want you to abandon your lute'asheiva bond and leave Ellysetta unprotected while you go after them?"