Chapter Five #3
The Well of Souls lay open, and Kolis felt the now-familiar tingling weakness in his limbs as trickles of the pure, untapped power of the Well escaped into the living world.
He was not worried that the Fey would sense it.
Tests over the years had proven they could not.
Demons could, of course, but then demons were captive spirits summoned from the Well of Souls.
If a doorway to the Well opened on the other side of the world, demons would know.
As he approached the gateway, Kolis glanced back to verify that the oilskin pouch containing a second offering lay on the nightstand where he’d left it for one of his umagi to activate when he returned.
As the Eld had learned over the years, the Guardians were capricious, and without the offering and Feraz witchspells, exits from the Well never opened precisely where they were supposed to.
Retrieving his dagger from the floor, Kolis stepped through the gateway into the blackness, then turned to murmur a Feraz witch-word.
Behind him, the doorway collapsed upon itself, and all light from the outer world winked out.
Utter blackness enveloped him, snuggling close like a cold lover.
He stood for several moments to let his eyes adjust to the dark.
The jewel in the pommel of his dagger glowed like a red beacon in the darkness, casting a circle of dim light around him, illuminating a path through the shadowy realm.
He held the glowing dagger high and summoned the sweet coolness of Azrahn.
His eyes closed in brief pleasure as the dark power swept through him.
Azrahn, the second mystic, the soul magic, the unmaker, the most powerful of all six magics.
The Fey feared and shunned it. They were foolish and shortsighted.
The Elden Mages, on the other hand, embraced and mastered Azrahn, and they would triumph because of it.
Kolis reached out with Azrahn and guided himself through the Well towards Eld. The journey would not take long. Three bells at the most.
Ellysetta and Rain were in the air over Celieria City, circling round for their descent when the debilitating weakness swept over Ellysetta.
She slumped in the saddle, only the leather restraining straps holding her in place while her fingers clutched feebly for a handhold.
Like the deadly venom of an ice spider, the paralyzing cold sapped all strength from her body and left her limbs shivering helplessly.
Her heart pounded with low, sluggish thuds, each beat an aching blow against the frozen drum of her chest.
Even in tairen form Rain sensed her emotions, because his wings suddenly spread wide to slow their flight and his great tairen head twisted around so he could fix one glowing, pupilless eye upon her. ?Ellysetta? What is it? What is wrong??
Already the icy feeling had diminished and strength was returning to her limbs. ?I’m fine,? she assured him. ?It’s nothing. Just another ghost treading on my grave.?
?That seemed much worse than before.?
With the knot of fear still lodged in her throat, she couldn’t lie. ?It was.? Much worse, in fact, as if some previously existing buffer had been peeled away so the frightening sensation could access her more directly.
Rain’s tairen face took on an expression she could only call grim.
?Hold on, shei’tani.? He waited just long enough for her fingers to tighten on the saddle; then his wings tucked in and he plummeted the remaining distance directly towards the small, bricked garden at the back of her family’s home.
He Changed in midair while she, with a little cry of surprise, slipped down a slide of Air into the waiting arms of her quintet.
“I want twenty-five-fold shields around this house all hours of the day—and around her whenever she goes out,” Rain commanded the quintet as he strode the short distance to her side.
“The wandering soul attacked her again.” To Ellysetta, he added in an equally unequivocal command, “You will tell us whenever you feel this thing again. Something is hunting you, shei’tani, and my instincts tell me these wandering souls of yours are somehow related. ”
“All right.” She met his fierce gaze and wondered how much of her fear showed on her face.
Always before, she’d dismissed the shivery feelings as frightening but inconsequential episodes—nothing nearly as troubling or terrifying as her nightmares or seizures.
But after last night’s terrible dream, she couldn’t hide behind that self-deception anymore.
You’ll kill them, girl. You’ll kill them all. Gooseflesh prickled Ellie’s skin as the Shadow Man’s mockingly triumphant declaration echoed in her ears.
What if she wasn’t demon-possessed as Mama feared, or some Fey foundling hunted by the Mages as Rain believed?
What if the Shadow Man had been telling the truth—that she was an unwitting carrier of some malignant evil—and all the recent events were just signs of that cursed seed within her finally coming to life?
All her life she’d sensed a dark, fierce something deep inside her, a terrible something that frightened her even more than the Shadow Man.
She’d battled it from earliest childhood when the terrible seizures and visions consumed her.
Even now, she could feel it, crouching, a subtle tension coiled deep and tight, waiting for an opportunity to spring.
“Oh, Ellie, good, you’re back.” Mama’s voice drew Ellysetta away from her dark thoughts. She looked up to find her mother standing by the back door. “Master Fellows is here.”
“Thank you, Mama.” Ellie forced a smile to her lips. “I’ll be right in.” She took a deep breath, lifted her chin, and headed inside to greet the queen’s Master of Graces.
When Rain would have followed Ellysetta inside, Bel put a restraining hand on his arm. “A moment, Rain,” he murmured. He waited until the door closed behind Ellysetta before speaking. “I’ve not heard from the two warriors I sent to Norban.”
Rain’s spine stiffened. “Sian and Torel?”
“They’ve not checked in since yesterday afternoon, nor answered my weaves.”
Rain knew the two Fey. Both were responsible men and good warriors. Not likely to miss a scheduled report—and even less likely to ignore their commander when he called. “Keep trying. Torel’s brother is with us in the city, is he not?”
“Aiyah, Tiar is here.”
“Have Marissya go to him.” If Torel was alive, Marissya would sense feelings along the link where even brothers could sense only thoughts.
If there was nothing, Tiar would need the comfort of a shei’dalin to help him control his grief until he returned to the Fading Lands, where he could deal with his loss properly.
“And dispatch a quintet to Norban to look for them.”
Rain joined Ellysetta inside. Master Fellows, the queen’s elegant, impeccably dressed Master of Graces, was already there, murmuring his approval as he circled Ellysetta and eyed her saffron gown with a critical eye.
“Not bad, my lady. Not bad at all. Some might say the clothes don’t make the queen, but as I’ve always maintained, they certainly do help her radiance to shine.” Gaspare Fellows tutted over the dagger at her waist. “That, however, I recommend you do without.”
Ellysetta’s hands closed around the hilt of Bel’s bloodsworn Fey’cha. “No.” The denial popped out before she could stop it, and she took an instinctive step backwards, closer to Rain.
He laid a calming hand on her shoulder. “It’s a Fey queen you’re training, Master Fellows. The blade stays. It’s a symbol of great honor and an invaluable protection.”
“I see.” The Master of Graces frowned but gave in. “Well, the dagger stays, then, of course. All cultures should honor their customs.” He cleared his throat. “And how did last night’s dinner go?”
A betraying blush flooded Ellysetta’s cheeks, and she cast a desperate glance up at Rain.
Master Fellows pressed his fingers to his lips. “Sweet Lord of Light. That badly?”
“Ellysetta did very well.” Rain took Ellysetta’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Any . . . difficulties . . . were outside of her control and did not reflect badly on her.”
“Difficulties? Ah. I had noticed something strange in the palace air today.” Master Fellows paused, but when it was apparent no further explanation was forthcoming, he smoothly changed the subject.
“Well, let’s just make sure there are no difficulties in future.
The best way I know to do that is to ensure your presentation is so queenly none will dare reproach you.
Your next scheduled public appearance is Prince Dorian’s betrothal ball.
You’ll need to be able to dance and converse with flawless polish.
” His finger wagged a caution. “I warn you, these next days of preparation will be far more difficult and demanding than our previous sessions. There’s much more for you to master, and I will be a harsh taskmaster.
My Lord Feyreisen, if you will, please.” He tapped his temple.
Rain summoned Spirit and wove a light weave to gather the instructive images from Master Fellows’s mind, and for the next several bells, Rain devoted himself to guiding Ellysetta through her newest exercises in the Graces, using Master Fellows’s detailed mental instructions.
But throughout the lesson, his mind kept returning to Bel’s perturbing report about Sian and Torel.
Two experienced warriors sent north to investigate the mystery of Ellysetta’s existence were missing.
Even without Shadow Men and wandering souls and Adrial’s illness, that was cause for concern.
Fey warriors did not simply . . . disappear.
One too many troubling events had happened—and all of them circling far too close to Ellysetta for his liking.
When Ellysetta’s lessons were concluded and Master Fellows had departed, Rain wasn’t long behind him.
He stopped at the warriors’ barracks to check on Adrial—who was awake and claiming he was fit enough to return to his position in Ellysetta’s quintet—then joined Marissya and Dax in their palace suite.
The shei’dalin confirmed Adrial’s self-assessment. “I couldn’t find anything wrong with him, Rain. Your shei’tani expunged his memories. They are completely gone, with no trace for me to follow.”
“He wants to return to his duties.”
She hesitated, then said carefully, “He’s a good man, Rain. And I found no hint of evil in him. Whatever afflicted him, I don’t think it was Eld.”
“Would you want him in your quintet?”
“Let him stay here for a few days so I can watch him,” Marissya said.
“If he shows no signs of trouble, then let him rejoin her quintet. There are enough warriors on guard around her home to watch him closely. If you are uncomfortable with that, then yes, he can join mine. Ellysetta can have Soren. His skills are a close match to Adrial’s. ”
Dax frowned at his truemate. A mated Fey would face an army of Mages, demons, and Drogan Blood Lords with less fear than the thought of harm besetting his shei’tani.
“I will think on it,” Rain replied. “What of Torel?”
Marissya’s eyes filled with sorrow, and she shook her head. “I could find nothing. He and Sian are gone. I wove peace and sleep on Tiar, but he should not remain here. Torel and he were close, and he’s taking his brother’s death badly.”
“Send him home, then,” Rain said. “With a quintet to ensure he finds his way. The last thing we need at the moment is a Fey warrior running around Celieria seeking blood vengeance.” He turned to Dax. “How many Celierian supporters did we lose after last night?”
“Six of the thirty we were hoping to sway have told us outright they won’t support us, and two of the lords we were counting on have now turned against us.”
Rain scowled. “They fear our magic, yet they would let the Dark God’s own servants pour across their borders? Where is the sense in that?”
“Don’t expect sense from them, Rain,” Dax said.
“It’s been a thousand years since they saw the true face of evil.
They’ve grown complacent, so accustomed to peace and freedom they think nothing can ever take it from them.
So they see enemies where they should see strength and friendship, and they plot to make friends of our enemies in order to better control us. ”
“Were you not the one who just a few days ago suggested we should allow the trade and use it to send spies into Eld?”
“I know. I know.” Dax heaved a frustrated sigh and scrubbed his hands through his hair.
“And at the time, I thought I was right. But Marissya and I have just spent the last three days with Dorian’s courtiers, and the better part of today interrogating the lords openly.
There is a disturbing distrust and even outright animosity towards us.
The dahl’reisen attacks in the north are partly to blame, but Marissya and I both think it’s more than that. ”
“Then you are beginning to believe the darkness I sense in Eld is real? That the Mages are indeed at work once more?”
“I’m beginning to think it’s a strong possibility. Lord Teleos has arranged a private dinner for you and several of the nobles tonight at his city residence. And Lord Barrial sent word that he’s available to meet with you.”
“Excellent.” Rain was very interested in the Celierian Great Lord who wore a Fey Soul Quest crystal and housed twenty-five of the feared dahl’reisen on his lands. “Is there anything else?”
“Lord Morvel has withdrawn his betrothal offer.”
Rain gave a humorless bark of laughter. “Well, that at least is as much good news as bad. Ellysetta will be relieved, and in truth, so am I. There is no compassion in that human ice pick’s soul.
He will never be a friend of the Fey.” He drew a deep breath.
Much as he didn’t like Morvel—or most Celierian nobles for that matter—he couldn’t afford to lose what few potential allies he had.
“I’ll speak to Morvel tomorrow and try to smooth things over.
“As for the rest,” he added, “Bel has sent a quintet to investigate Sian and Torel’s disappearance. Let’s send another two north to look into the other attacks. If dahl’reisen really are to blame, we need to put a stop to it.”