"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.