"Then I, too, say joy to the Feyreisa," Dax said. "Though, gods love her, may she never again weave Spirit the way she did last night.”

"At least not so the weave lasts seven bells," Marissya amended.

"Witnessed," Rain seconded with a wry laugh. A moment later, he rose to refill his cup and weave privacy wards around the room. "That's twice now that I've seen her weave such strong Spirit. She is more than just a master of it. And the Air weave she spun the other day was no third or fourth level skill either. With such strong command of two magics, there must be considerable Fey blood in her ancestry, but I don't understand why no hint of it shows. She looks pure mortal, but her magic seems pure, powerful Fey”

"Rain, how can she be Fey?" Marissya countered. "Can you honestly believe truemates have lived here, undetected, in Celieria since the Mage Wars? What possible reason would they have to exile themselves from the Fading Lands? Even if there was such a pair, once they realized their unborn child was female, they would surely have returned to us rather than endanger her in the unprotected world.”

"I must agree with Marissya," Dax said. "No Fey lord worthy of his steel would put his women in such peril. More likely, it is as her mother said, remnant magic from the Mage Wars-”

Rain shook his head. "No remnant magic can account for the way she called a tairen from the sky, or the way she healed Bel's soul and wove Spirit last night with such mastery.”

"Then perhaps her birth parents weren't pure mortal," Marissya suggested. "Perhaps they carried within them the gifts of some ancient magical ancestor-Fey, or Elves, or Danae-and perhaps that is what the remnant magic of the north awakened.”

"Have Sian and Torel found anything in Norban to help solve this mystery?" Dax asked.

"Nei," Rain said. "They mentioned a lead they were going to follow up yesterday evening, but no one was in any shape to receive their report last night.”

The two warriors had traveled north to investigate Ellysetta's origins. A young woman who could truemate a Tairen Soul hadn't just sprung up from the ground like a cabbage sprout. And despite Dax and Marissya's doubts, Rain was convinced Ellysetta came from pure, powerful magical stock. Who her parents were and why they'd not brought her to the Fading Lands after her birth was a mystery Rain intended to solve.

"Whatever she is," Marissya said, "she must discover and embrace her true identity before the bond can be complete.”

"I know it. And at least she has finally accepted that she does possess magic and had agreed to be trained in its use." He fell silent for a moment, then said quietly, "She shared my dreams this morning. I was dreaming I was back in Fey'Bahren. I didn't realize it, but she was there with me. She saw Calah and the kits, heard the vow I made to Sybharukai. She saw everything just as it happened in my dream.”

"Sharing dreams has happened to us a time or two," Dax said. "You should be happy, not concerned. It's a sign of a strong bond.”

Marissya watched Rain's face closely. As always, she saw far more than he would have liked. "You haven't told her about the tairen.”

Rain stared at his keflee cup and ran a thumb over the glazed handle.

"Rain ..." Marissya only said his name, but her tone alone was sufficient admonishment.

"What good would it do? She's uncertain enough as it is. Shall I cement the destruction of our bond by piling the fate of two races on her shoulders?”

"The Eye of Truth sent you here to find her, Rain, because the fates of those races rest on her shoulders whether she knows it or not. You must at least let her know what's at stake. There can be no secrecy between truemates. Besides, if you tell her the truth, she may surprise you. There is courage in her, even if it isn't readily apparent.”

"When the time is right," Rain said, "I will tell her everything. At the moment, we have a more immediate crisis to deal with.”

Marissya stared at him for an irritated chime. "There are challenges enough in the completion of a truemate bond without your adding to them, Rain," she warned. "Trust her, as a shei'tan should trust his mate.”

His jaw tightened and he met her reproachful look without flinching. Her lips compressed, then she huffed and let him change the subject. "Ellysetta's weave was localized within the banquet hall," she said. "Only those of us inside were affected. Once we realized what was happening, Dax wove redirection and privacy around the Hall. Those caught up in the weave will remember, but no others will have seen or heard them. And we did what we could to send most of them to the privacy of their own rooms.”

"Quick thinking," Rain approved. "More than I was capable of at the time.”

"Rumors may still spread," Marissya cautioned.

"We'll deal with that if it happens. At least you granted us a little time to prepare." He leaned back in his chair. "What did you learn last night?”

Dax ran through the list of Celierian lords he and Marissya had talked with before and during dinner. Of the two hundred members of the Council of Lords, only thirty still declared themselves undecided as to how they would vote on the upcoming treaty with the Eld, and the Fey, unfortunately, would need almost every one of those votes to keep the Eld out of Celieria.

Too many of Celieria's nobles had grown openly antagonistic towards the Fey. Some had even gone so far as to suggest that Rain's return to Celieria after a thousand years of self-imposed exile in the Fading Lands was proof the dahl'reisen and Fey were working in concert to destabilize Celieria. And though Rain would never say so to Ellysetta, her weave could well have ruined their hopes of winning the upcoming vote.