Worse than the shame of last night's weave, though, were the horrifying memories of the nightmare that had followed.

The pit of darkness. The rats, swarming around her, crawling over her, shredding her flesh from her bones with their sharp teeth and claws while the Shadow Man taunted, "Show yourself, girl." The vast battlefield thick with the corpses of everyone she knew and thousands more she didn't. The immense army, so huge it stretched beyond the limits of her vision, covering the world like an ocean of foul darkness. The chilling, sibilant voice hissing, "You'll kill them all. It's what you were born for”

Horror after horror, the Shadow Man had shown her. Bel and her quintet, slaughtered, Mama, Papa and the twins, slain-their bodies a gruesome feast to be fought over by crows.

Worst of all had been Rain. Dead at her feet. The glow of Fey life extinguished forever, his beloved eyes gone milky in death. Even the memory of it made her shudder and cry out.

Just as she'd done last night.

That one, anguished scream of denial had been her undoing. A lifetime of hiding shattered in an instant, and she'd revealed herself-and her magic-to the Shadow Man.

Vividly she remembered the icy clutch of his hand clamped around her throat. His chilling triumph, as he crowed, "I see you ... Ellysetta," and threw back his black cowl to reveal his face.

That face was her own.

She was the general of the Shadow Man's armies, the instrument through which he rained destruction on the World. «Feyreisa. »

She was the evil creature who'd led the armies of darkness to slaughter her friends and family.

«Kem'falla. »

He'd claimed he was showing her the future. And even now, in the bright light of day, she was terrified he'd been telling the truth.

«Ellysetta!»

"Ellie?”

The sound of two voices calling her name in sharp unison snapped her back to the present. She shook off the specters from her nightmare and glanced up to find Mama and Ravel standing beside her, watching her with deep concern.

She suddenly realized the room seemed stiflingly hot, and the seamstresses surrounding her were fanning their flushed faces and wiping beads of perspiration from their brows.

«You are weaving Fire, Feyreisa.» Ravel watched her with an unblinking violet gaze, and she could see the subtle tension gathered in him.

That was when she felt the tingle of magic simmering inside her skin and realized the Air and Fire masters from Ravel's quintet were actively weaving to dissipate the room's quickly rising temperature. Ellie gave a quiet gasp, and the hum of magic within her fell instantly silent.

"Ellie," Mama said again, "are you all right?”

Ellysetta glanced at her mother and forced a smile. "I'm fine. I'm sorry. I was just lost in thought." She flicked a glance at Ravel and repeated, «Sieks’ta. I didn't realize what I was doing.”

Mama didn't look convinced, but didn't pursue the subject, and for the rest of the morning, Ellie worked hard to keep her thoughts from wandering. She was mentally exhausted by the time Ravel and his quintet escorted her and her mother to the Grand Cathedral of Light for the second of the six devotions required before Ellysetta could receive the sacrament of the Bride's Blessing and marry Rain.

Outside the Baristani house, there was no sign of the protestors who'd gathered there in anger at the Fey presence. They'd been dispersed by the Fey and kept away by a redirection weave erected this morning in a four-block radius around the house. Beyond those barriers, however, the crowds had grown much larger and visibly more agitated. The Fey crowded close and raised dense, glowing shields around Ellysetta and her mother.

"Must they do that?" Lauriana muttered, glowering at the visible threads of the weave.

"It's for our protection, Mama," Ellysetta replied. "Rain did warn us that he wouldn't be taking any more chances with our safety.”

"Though I commend the sentiment," her mother huffed, "I don't approve of the methods. Magic causes more problems than it solves." Her jaw clenched. "And if these Fey think they're going to follow me around everywhere I go, surrounding me in some great, shining sorcerous bubble, they can think again." She scowled at the warrior closest to her. He merely gazed back without expression.

A few chimes later, they reached the golden bridges that connected Celieria City to the holy Isle of Grace, the small island in the middle of the Velpin River upon which the magnificent Grand Cathedral of Light was built. All white marble and gleaming gold-leafed roofs, the cathedral rose like a palace of sunbeams and clouds from the isle's exquisitely manicured lawns and gardens.

Selianne Pyerson, Ellysetta's best friend, who had agreed to serve as her Honoria during the Bride's Blessing, was already waiting when they arrived.

Ellie hurried up the thirteen marble steps to greet her friend with a hug, a smile, and a searching look. "How are you, Sel?”

Fortunately, Selianne seemed happier today than she had at yesterday's devotions. The darkest shadows of worry in her deep blue eyes had faded, and the smile she gave Ellie when they embraced was warm and genuine. "I'm fine, Ellie. Well," she amended with a grimace and a flick of a glance at the sword-bristling warriors swarming over the isle, "as fine as can be expected under the circumstances." Her eyes narrowed on Ravel and his quintet, and the hand clutching Ellie's tightened. "Those aren't the same Fey that were with you yesterday.”