Chapter Twenty-Two #3
Lillis and Lorelle clutched Ellysetta’s hands, not at all frightened by her changed appearance but seemingly comforted by it instead.
“Does it hurt her, Ellie?” Lillis asked in a small voice as the flames engulfed her mother’s body.
Fresh tears spilled from Ellysetta’s eyes. She knelt quickly and caught her sister up in a fierce hug. “Oh, kitling, no. Not at all. She’s with the Bright Lord now.”
“In the Haven of Light?” Lorelle asked.
“Yes, Lorelle, in the Haven of Light, singing glorias with the Lightmaidens.” She caught Lorelle in her arms as well, holding both girls tight and sending up a heartfelt prayer for the gods to grant them both peace and help them past the loss of their mother.
The twins sighed and snuggled closer, their small arms twining tightly about her neck.
Lauriana’s pyre burned quickly through sunset and the ensuing twilight, extinguishing itself just as night fell over the city.
When the last flame subsided, Fey Fire-masters dispersed the remaining heat and gathered the ashes.
Ellysetta and her sisters returned to the palace while Rain took Sol aloft to throw the ashes to the winds so they might settle in the soil of the land Lauriana Baristani had loved.
Afterward, in King Dorian’s private chapel, with the Fey, Ellysetta’s family, Lords Barrial and Teleos, and the king and queen in attendance, Rain Tairen Soul wed Ellysetta Baristani in a quiet ceremony officiated by Father Celinor.
The grand pomp of the royal wedding Lauriana had envisioned gave way to simple elegance, consisting of a few exquisite flowers and a priest, which was all Ellysetta had ever really wanted to begin with.
She wore the gown Maestra Binchi had created and the wreath of the Gentle Dawn roses her mother had selected, but there the Celierian bride ended and the Fey shei’dalin began.
Around her neck and waist, dripping in loops of golden links, gleamed the sorreisu kiyr of all the Fey who’d died on her behalf.
Bel and Gaelen’s bloodsworn daggers hung in jeweled sheaths at her hips, and Rajahl vel’En Daris’s crystal glittered at her wrist.
Marissya stood as Ellysetta’s Beacon, and with impeccable, unflinching grace, Master Fellows served as her Honoria—because no matter how scandalous it might be to have a man stand as Honoria, he said it simply wouldn’t do for a queen to wed without one.
When Father Celinor invoked the final blessing and pronounced them man and wife, a sense of peace and rightness settled over Ellysetta, almost as if Mama were standing there beside her, watching with love and approval while Ellysetta joined her life with the man the gods had chosen for her.
Following a brief bridal supper, Rain escorted Ellysetta to their suite for a few bells of privacy while the Fey prepared for departure. Once there, however, Rain found himself at a loss.
He was freed at last from the restrictive Celierian customs and oaths of honor that had bound him since the day of their betrothal, and need for his mate beat at him.
The call of her soul was so strong, the echoing desire in his body just as powerful, and the tairen clamored for its mate, but she had just lost her mother.
He could feel her grief, her sorrow, battering at her, and through her, him.
To pounce on her now, demanding mating, seemed the vilest sort of selfishness. She needed time to grieve.
Determined to do the honorable thing, he escorted her to his bedchamber, spun a swift Earth weave that changed her wedding gown into a fine linen nightrail, and kissed her once, gently, on the lips before turning to leave.
“Rain?” she called when he reached the door. “You’re leaving me?”
“Nei, of course not,” he vowed. “I’ll be right next door. You get some rest. We leave in the small bells, before the city wakes, and our journey will be long.”
Ellysetta frowned at him, perplexed by the way he was clinging to the bedchamber door. He looked ready to bolt. “But this is our wedding night.”
His gaze dropped. The knuckles on the door frame clenched harder. “Aiyah, and I know it is not the happy day you wanted. You are grieving. My needs can wait.”
Relief filled her. His hesitation wasn’t because of her Marks or the forbidden magic she wielded. “But my need cannot,” she told him softly. “Yes, I’m grieving, but there’s been too much sorrow, too many tears. I would end this day in hope—with joy between us. Is that so strange a request?”
He peeled his fingers away from the door frame.
He crossed the room and approached the bed.
“Nei, not so strange. There is nothing I want more.” Slowly, giving her ample time to change her mind, he took her in his arms. Her long hair spilled over the crook of his arm, silken soft and so fragrant every breath was a scented bliss.
He bent as if to kiss her, then paused again just before his mouth met hers.
“Be sure, shei’tani, that this is what you want.
If you have the slightest doubt, say so now, and I will go. ”
“I don’t want you to go.” She reached up to touch his face and pull him down to her. “I want this, Rain. I want you.”
He took her mouth in a long, slow kiss, his lips parting hers gently to share the moist heat of a breath as the kiss deepened. ?You are so beautiful, shei’tani.? His voice whispered in her mind, husky, low, intimate. ?You always were, but now, with your brightness unveiled, even more so.?
?You make me feel beautiful.? He always had. Even when she’d still been plain, mortal Ellysetta Baristani, he’d made her feel like the loveliest woman in the world.
He kissed her slowly, leisurely, taking his time. Nibbling her lower lip, teasing the upper one, feathering kisses across her face until she shifted and nipped at his mouth in impatience. His brows rose. “Impatient, shei’tani? What would you prefer? This?”
His hand trailed down the front of her nightgown.
The fabric parted without a whisper of protest, falling away in silken swaths to bare the soft fullness of her breasts.
The delicate torment of the sliding fabric and the subsequent small breath of air drew her nipples tight, twin buds of soft pink.
His thumb brushed across them, sending a tiny quake of sensation shooting through her that echoed across his own senses.
“Or perhaps this?” Slowly he bent his head and took her in his mouth.
“Rain . . . yesssss. That.” Her breath hissed out on a heated sigh, and she clasped him to her breast. Her head tilted back and her eyes closed as his tongue teased the sensitive peak.
She tasted of sunlight and springtime, of blossoming flowers and crystal waters.
Each stroke of his tongue on her flesh was a tiny sensory illustration of what life would be like in the Haven of Light.
Beauty, pleasure, peace, completion. Belonging.
Everything he’d always wanted, and the promise of much more than he’d ever imagined.
His body answered with an ardent surge, hungry for more than teasing glimpses of fulfillment, ravenous for the gift every Fey warrior dreamed of.
He pulled back just enough to drink in the sight of her, pale and shining in his arms, the silvery glow tinted with deep, warm tones as her own passion rose in response. Her bright Fey eyes glowed a verdant green so rich and deep he could lose himself in them.
Ducking his head again, he scattered soft kisses across her skin.
“When I was a boy, before I found my wings, I tried to dream of what my shei’tani would be like.
I could never picture her, because in my heart I knew I was destined to fly, and I knew the sacrifice that would require.
But there’s not a Fey warrior born who does not dream of finding his truemate, so at night, after my parents went to bed, I would sneak out of the shellaba and lie beneath the stars and ask the gods if they could somehow find a way to give a tairen a truemate. ”
“You never told me that before.”
Color rose in his cheeks, making him look far younger than his years, and more vulnerable. “It was such a foolish, selfish dream,” he said. “Being a tairen is a rare and great gift of its own, and as I grew older, remembering how I begged for more made me ashamed.”
Her hands reached up to frame his face. The sweet kiss of her fingertips and the warm glow of her eyes bathed him in acceptance, soothing the sting of ancient childhood embarrassment.
“Wanting love is not selfish, Rain. We’re all born missing the connections that make us complete.
” Her thumb smoothed across his lips, and she smiled when he answered the caress with nibbles and kisses.
“I dreamed of finding a place where I truly belonged, even though I had a family who loved me. And even though I knew I was neither as good nor as beautiful as the princesses I read about in Fey tales, I still dreamed of finding my one true love.”
He caught her thumb between his teeth, the flare of jealousy small but instinctive. Tairen did not share. Just as quickly, he realized what he’d done. He unlocked his jaw to release her and feathered a quick kiss of apology. “Did your true love have a face?”
She laughed softly, not missing the jealousy, nor misunderstanding its cause. “He did.”
“Well? What did he look like?”
Her smile faded until only a wistful hint of it clung to her lips. “You.”
His eyes blazed, and his head swooped down to claim her mouth.
His arms slid around her, steely bands that clutched her tight and pulled her hard against him.
He kissed her until she was breathless and melting against him, then pressed his face into her hair and nuzzled the soft skin behind her ear.
“Perhaps I should not be so pleased that there has never been another in your heart but me, but in truth I cannot find the humility to be sad for it.” A low, growling purr of satisfaction rumbled in his voice.