Lillis started towards the path, then froze in sudden fear as a shadow moved in the stand of trees on the right. Someone — or something— was hiding there. Watching her.

She clutched Snowfoot to her chest and took a nervous step back. "Who's there?”

The shadow moved again, Lillis's heart rose up in her throat. Her shaking hands squeezed Snowfoot so tightly the little cat screeched a protest.

"Las, ajiana. Nei siad. Ke nei vu'odahira." The voice whispered on the breeze, soft and compelling.

Lillis swayed. The tension in her muscles melted away along with her terror. Except for the phrase "las, ajiana," meaning peace, sweet one, which Kieran often said to her, she did not know what the words meant, but the moment she heard them, she felt calm.

The shadow stepped closer, and Lillis couldn't bring herself to run. Closer still the shadow came, and now Lillis could make out a tall, slender figure emerging from the mist. A woman, dressed in gleaming white leathers, with hair the color of golden oak spilling down in thick waves past her hips. She was as beautiful as a Lightmaiden of Adelis, her pale skin shining with a familiar, silvery luminescence. Her amber eyes were bright, yet full of peace and a welcome so loving, Lillis felt her chin begin to tremble.

"Veli, ajiana." The woman stretched out her arms, beckoning.

Wounds and tears forgotten, Lillis went.

Chapter seven

Beyond life there is hope

A Hope that all of them have lost

But a new Tairen Soul has been born

All prayers have been heard

And time would not escape again.

Together two hearts will fight

To break the chain of immortal darkness

A New Hope. by Vardis Merrin, Celierian Poet

Celieria City

With Ellysetta flying overhead on Rain's back, the warriors ran flat-out. They crossed the remaining thousand miles of Celierian farmland in three days and reached the edge of King's Wood at dawn of the fourth. Beyond the wood lay the creamy walls and tiled rooftops of Celieria City, gleaming against a backdrop of blue sky and forested hills cloaked in vivid autumn hues.

Having lived in this city for most of her life, Ellysetta should have felt a sense of homecoming, but instead, as the signal pennants unfurled on the tower ramparts to alert all the city guard to the Fey's approach and crowds began to gather and stare up at the tairen in the sky, she felt more like a visitor than a daughter of Celieria.

The feeling grew stronger as each beat of Rain's wings brought them closer to her former home, and a strange heaviness fell over her. Too many bad memories, she supposed. The bright-eyed Fey Dajan dying from demon-touch in her family's home. Selianne disappearing in a blaze of blue-white Mage Fire. Father Bellamy and his exorcism needles. Mama gasping her last good-byes as she clutched the sel'dor blade that pierced her heart.

Rain sensed her distress. «Would you prefer to stay outside the city with the lu'tan, shei'tani? If it is too difficult, we can stop here, and I will go speak to Dorian alone.»

She leaned across the saddle front to stroke the soft fur at the base of his neck. «Nei. I will be fine. Some memories are sad, but there are others that bring me joy.» To ease them both, she concentrated on filling her mind with those happier recollections: working in Papa's shop while he turned a simple piece of wood into a gleaming masterpiece of art; laughing with Selianne over Kelissande Minset's pompous airs; playing stones with Lillis and Lorelle in the park beside the Velpin River; sharing a moment of peace and contentment with Mama as they recited their devotions to the Bright Lord.

Rain flew over the west wall as the Fey passed through the West Gate's portcullis and loped down the broad, cobbled avenue that ran east-to-west across the city. They turned north, following the city's main thoroughfare to the elegant square of shops and craftsmasters' workrooms crowded in the shadow of the royal palace. Street urchins chased in the footsteps of the Fey, and curious passersby gathered on the sides of the road, reminding Ellysetta of the day she'd first met Rain. Had that really only been a few short months ago? It seemed like entire lifetimes had passed since the day a woodcarver's shy and awkward adopted daughter had called a Tairen Soul from the sky.

Her hands clutched the raised front of the saddle as Rain tucked his wings and dove towards the royal palace. He Changed in middive, and she slid effortlessly down a draft of Air. Earth magic swirled about her during the descent, transforming her studded red leathers into a silken scarlet gown and silver steel underdress. She landed lightly at the base of the palace steps, surrounded by the ring of her quintet and lu'tan. The bloodsworn Fey'cha of her quintet hung in a silver girdle at her hips; a single purple silk belt affixed with sheathed Fey'cha crossed over her chest; and the slight, humming weight of a crown fashioned from whorls of silver studded with Tairen's Eye crystals nestled in her unbound hair.

In a final burst of magic. Rain re-formed at her side, tall and majestic, clad from head to toe in the golden war steel of the Fey king.

Several of the courtiers regarded her with dazed eyes and open mouths, dazzled by the unveiled power of her shei'dalin magic. Several others, however, kept their eyes averted, and their cold, suspicious thoughts sliced at her like knives.

Fey witch.. How dare she spin her wiles so openly on the lords of Celieria?

Look at her. Look how shamelessly she ensorcels those weak-minded fools.

These Fey are not to be trusted. If we do not resist them, they will use their magic to enslave us all.

She reached for Rain instinctively, and the horrible thoughts she'd inadvertently picked up from the courtiers flowed from her mind to his. The trouble that had been brewing in Celieria City when Rain last visited had clearly not dissipated in the ensuing months. If anything, the air of discontent seemed more obvious, but she wasn't sure if that meant the sentiment was stronger or merely that she'd become adept at perceiving it.