Chapter Six #2
“A truemate is the person who holds the other half of a Fey’s soul.
” His gaze never left hers, and Ellie felt the magic of his voice wrapping her in imperceptible weaves of longing.
“It is the most sacred bond known to any Fey, more sacred than that between a king and his subjects, more sacred even than that between a mother and a child.”
“Ellysetta Baristani is a Celierian, not subject to your laws or customs but rather to ours,” the king interjected. “Though she may indeed be your shei’tani, she is also legally betrothed to Den Brodson according to our laws. He has a prior claim, which he is obviously unwilling to renounce.”
Rainier met the king’s gaze impassively.
“I am the Feyreisen, she is my shei’tani.
The betrothal to the Celierian must be dissolved.
I understand your ways. I will pay Den Brodson and his family restitution for their loss.
I do not ask that you break your laws, only that you understand and recognize that there is a higher law at work here.
The gods created one woman whose soul could call mine.
She sits there. Her betrothal to the Celierian must be dissolved. ”
“And if it is not dissolved?”
The sudden biting coldness of the Fey’s expression chilled the room.
“I am the only living Tairen Soul. Any harm to me is harm to the Fey. I have recognized her as my shei’tani, and the bond must be fulfilled.
If you deny her to me, you do me irreparable harm.
The Fey will consider it an act of war.”
An audible gasp rose from the gallery.
The Tairen Soul’s face smoothed. “But let us hope it does not come to that. As I have said, I will pay the young man’s family restitution for their loss.”
He gestured and the doors at the back of the throne room opened.
Two Fey entered, bearing a huge chest between them.
They brought it to the front of the room and at Rain’s signal placed it before the Brodsons and opened the lid to reveal a dazzling display of gold and jewels, wealth enough to dower a princess several times over.
Gothar Brodson’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, while his wife fell back in her seat in a half swoon.
“I know enough of your Celierian laws to know that if the parents accept restitution, the betrothal contract is void.” He pinned the Brodsons with a hard, haughty look. “Do you accept?”
“Yes!” Den’s parents cried, even as their son shouted, “No!” Gothar cuffed his son on the side of the head. “Quiet, boy. That’s a flaming fortune before you. More money than you’ll see in a lifetime. No girl’s worth losing that.” The butcher nodded. “We agree.”
“I don’t!” shouted Den. When his father would have hit him again, Den deflected the blow and glared ferociously at his sire. “Why do you think he’s offering you that money? Because she’s worth twenty times that, and he knows it! I won’t give up my claim to her. I—”
With a snarl of rage, Rain faced him, and Den’s voice suddenly went silent even though his mouth was still shouting words. It didn’t take anyone very long to realize what had happened.
“My Lord Feyreisen!” the king snapped. “Release our subject at once. You will not use Fey sorcery to silence a Celierian subject in a Celierian court of law.”
Though he had the power to destroy Den Brodson with a flick of an eyelash—and despite the fact that the tairen in him was eager to take the burden of this rultshart’s death upon his soul—Rain knew it would be unwise.
Ellysetta had not yet entered into the matebond.
She and her family were Celierian. They honored Celierian laws, not Fey ones.
Besides, a Fey did not call tairen to hunt mice.
With a narrow-eyed look at the king that plainly said he released the boy because he wished to, not because Dorian commanded it, Rain dissolved the bonds of Air he had woven over Den’s larynx to prevent speech.
“You see!” Den cried, pointing an accusing finger at Rain. “How do you know he hasn’t used his sorcery to steal my bride?”
“Goodman Brodson,” King Dorian said, “you are beginning to annoy me.”
“But, Your Majesty—”
“Be silent. You marked a girl under questionable circumstances, forced a betrothal contract out of her parents based on that mark, and now you object because another man may have laid claim to the same girl using his own superior brand of force? Little boys shouldn’t throw torches at tairen, Goodman.
The tairen may get a burn, but the boys will be roasted and eaten for dinner.
” The king turned to Rain. “As for you, My Lord Feyreisen, regardless of whether or not the Brodsons accept your payment, there are still lawful procedures this court must follow—”
“There are no procedures to govern the bond between a Tairen Soul and his mate,” Rain interrupted.
“I have stated my case before you. She is my shei’tani.
You have seen the Brodsons accept my payment to them.
Dorian vel Serranis Torreval, King of Celieria, son of the line of Marikah vol Serranis of the Fey, do you dissolve the betrothal between Ellysetta Baristani and Den Brodson, holding the Baristani family blameless of any wrongdoing in this matter? ”
“My Lord Feyreisen.” Queen Annoura leaned forward in her throne before her husband could reply.
“You have indeed stated your case.” Her blue eyes were narrowed, and there was a snap in her voice.
“The Brodsons have accepted your payment, and yet I don’t recall hearing Master Baristani grant you the right to break the betrothal on his behalf.
” She met Sol Baristani’s bespectacled brown eyes.
“Have you given this right to the Tairen Soul, Master Baristani?”
Sol rose to his feet. He gave Rain a long, hard look. “No, Your Majesty,” he said very clearly. “I have not.”
“Ah. So it seems, Rainier vel’En Daris, you are incorrect in your assumption that the betrothal is broken merely because the groom’s family accepts your very large bribe.” The queen smiled sweetly. “Perhaps you are not so familiar with Celierian laws as you thought.”
Rain’s eyes blazed a furious command at the woodcarver. “You will grant me this right.”
“Sol . . .” The woodcarver’s wife tugged at her husband’s sleeve. Her voice was an urgent whisper that Rain brought easily to his ears on a waft of Air. “Don’t do it. Think of Ellie, of what’s best for her. You can’t mean to cede her over to these . . . these godless sorcerers.”
Sol shrugged her off, muttering, “Hush, Laurie. I am thinking of what’s best for her. She never wanted Den, you know that, but she’s dreamed of the Fey—this Fey—all her life.”
“You’ve always given her everything she wanted, but not this, Sol. They’ll destroy her. They’ll corrupt her soul. Everything we’ve ever done to keep her safe will be lost.”
“Maybe, Laurie, the Bright Lord sent these Fey to help her, to protect her from the things we can’t.”
“And maybe they’re the very thing we were meant to protect her against!”
Sol took a deep breath, stiffened his spine, and struck an aggressive, challenging stance that any male of any species would have recognized.
He turned to Rain. “I don’t know you, my lord, and you don’t know me.
But lest you think it has escaped my notice, for all this talk of souls and mating, not once have I heard the word marriage fall from your lips.
I did not raise my daughter to be any man’s concubine, even if he is a king.
If you want the right to break Ellysetta’s betrothal, Tairen Soul, rest assured you will wed her.
And I mean by Celierian custom, in a Celierian church, with her family in attendance and a binding marriage contract in my hand! ”
“Sol!” his wife gasped. “No!”
“Papa!” Incredulity and hope warred with fear and pride on Ellysetta’s face.
Rain’s expression lost its fury. A man protecting his daughter was something any Fey understood all too well.
“Agreed.” He turned back to the queen. “I believe now your Celierian laws are satisfied. Ellysetta’s father has given me the right to offer payment on his behalf.
The Brodsons have accepted it. The betrothal is broken. ”
Seeing Ellysetta about to slip from his grasp, Den jumped to his feet and shouted, “She’s mine! She bears my mark! She accepted it willingly! Ask her parents! She never tried to stop me, never called out for help.”
A feral growl rumbled ominously from the Feyreisen’s throat.
He bared his teeth, his eyes flashing hot with power and rage.
The guards along the walls snapped to tense alertness.
“She called to me. I felt her terror, her fear, her outrage across hundreds of miles. Willing? You attacked her in her own home, took advantage of her innocence and her ignorance of your mating rituals to put your filthy mark on her and lay claim to her against her will. You did not know she was my shei’tani.
It is the only reason you still draw breath. ”
“My Lord Feyreisen!” The king snapped. “You will not threaten Our subjects in Our presence.”
Rain’s head whipped around. The torches on the wall flared violently, making the crowd gasp.
“Then your subjects had best not lay claim to the Tairen Soul’s mate,” he hissed.
It was not a ruler, not a man of peace, who looked out from Rain’s face, but a fierce predator, barely caged.
No one in Celieria had seen a Tairen Soul in a thousand years, and no one—not even the king, with his Fey blood—had understood what they were dealing with.