"Bad?" Gil repeated with patent disbelief. "That scream pierced our shields and probably woke every creature from here to Orest."

"Aiyah, well, she's had bad ones before," Rain assured him. Ellysetta almost told him then. Because he was wrong; this dream was nothing like the others. She'd dreamed of battles and death gruesome and violent enough to make a hardened warrior quail, but never had one of those nightmares disturbed her on such a visceral level. She hadn't just witnessed her submission to the Mage and Rain's death—she'd lived them. Every unspeakable moment had felt as real as this moment did now; as if she'd truly been there, as if she'd truly lost her soul, and Rain had truly died.

That was what had frightened her most. Because if the Mage had sent that dream, his hold on her had become dangerously strong. Ellysetta glanced up and found Gaelen watching her. For a moment, she thought he might betray the conversation they'd had back in Orest, but all he said was, "We should get moving. That scream lit our position like a beacon. If the Eld are following us, they know exactly where we are now."

The Fey continued south at a rapid pace. Rain ran at Ellysetta's side, and the quintet formed a tight circle around them.

Gaelen ran at Ellysetta's left, his long legs crossing the ground in an easy, tireless lope. He didn't say anything and he didn't look her way, but his silence was reproach enough.

When Rain ran ahead to confer with one of the scouts, she sent a private weave to Gaelen. «I con sense your disapproval. You think I should tell him.»

He didn't miss a stride. «You said you would.»

«We're not even halfway to Celieria City. You agreed to give me until then.»

«That was before last night.» Ice blue eyes met hers in a brief, piercing look. «Ellysetta, you must tell him. Nothing should have gotten through our shields, but that was no ordinary nightmare and you know it. If it came from the Mage—and, unless you have another explanation, we must assume it did—then our time has run out.»

She set her eves on the horizon. «You’re right. I know you're right,» She should have told Rain the instant she and Gaelen had finished their conversation in Orest, but she'd kept silent for a variety of reasons. She hadn't wanted to add another burden to the staggering weight of troubles Rain already carried. She hadn't wanted anything to distract him from reaching Celieria City and warning King Dorian of the impending attacks. And, selfishly, she hadn't wanted to see the devotion in Rain's eyes turn to horror, as it surely would.

She'd been hoping she'd misread the signs, hoping Gaelen was wrong, but after her nightmare, she couldn't wait any longer. Rain had to know, as did all her lu'tan. The threat was too grave, too dangerous for them all.

She drew a deep breath and set her jaw. «I’ll tell him today, before we make camp for the night.»

Shortly after daybreak, they reached the southern edge of the Verlaine Forest and stopped to rest and break their fast. They spread out in the tall, waving grass of an unfilled field, keeping low so that only a bird flying overhead would see them. Some merely sat or knelt to rest their legs; some lay down and closed their eyes to catch a few chimes of sleep. All took the time to eat and sip the rejuvenating waters of Orest's Source-fed lake from their water flasks.

Ellysetta was tired, but fear of sleep kept her eyes open. Gaelen's words had left such a churning in her belly, she had no desire to eat the Fey journeycake Rain offered her.

"You need to eat, shei'tani," he insisted.

"I'm not very hungry."

"Eat anyway. At least a little. You aren't accustomed to so much running. And you didn't get enough sleep last night." Rain pressed the cake into her hands.

For his sake, she broke off a corner and put it in her mouth. Like all Fey food, it was delicious, tasting of sugared lemons and buttery cream, light yet surprisingly filling, but it could have been sawdust for all she cared.

She cast a brooding gaze westward towards the Rhakis mountains. From this distance, the Faering Mists looked like nothing more than a line of clouds hugging the jagged peaks. But somewhere in those Mists, her family was trapped. Papa. Lillis and Lorelle. At the thought of them, her mind filled with a horrible scene from her nightmare. The twins, black fire pits for eyes, their doll-smooth faces streaked with scarlet ribbons of Rain's blood.

The journeycake crumbled in her hands. She glanced down in dull dismay at the mess in her lap. Rain spun a quick weave of Earth that gathered up the crumbs and formed them back into a solid cake. He set the food aside and took her hands. "What is it, Ellysetta?” He searched her face in concern. "Talk to me."

"I'm just thinking of my family." The evasion slipped from her lips with shameful ease.

"You will see them again, kem'san." His expression softened with sympathy. "In fact, there's probably not a safer place in the world for them to be at the moment. Your father and sisters are innocents. The Mists might hold them for a while, but provided they're unharmed, they'll eventually find their way out. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the gods' intention all along."

"I hadn't thought of that."

The corner of his mouth lifted. "When our bond is complete and your Marks are gone, I promise I will take you into the Mists myself, and we will scour every fingerspan of what lies within until we find your father and sisters and return them to the world."