"Do you think it wise to enlist the Queen's Master of Graces in spying on the court when we have yet to determine whether the queen herself has been compromised?" Tajik asked after Master Fellows took his leave. "What if he tells her what you've asked him to do?"

Ellysetta stared at the gilded doors through which Master Fellows had just exited. "I don't think he will," she said. "While he listens to every whisper of gossip of the court, he's quite discreet himself." She turned to face the redheaded Fey general. "Besides, there is no one better suited to spy on the court than Master Fellows. He has entrée into every level of court society. He is a fixture in the palace. And since he has taken to carrying Love with him everywhere, no one will be suspicious."

"Do you think Dorian will approve of your enlisting his subjects as spies without his consent?"

Heat warmed her cheeks. Impulsivity was her downfall "Once I explain the situation, I am certain King Dorian will see the benefits of my idea." When Tajik arched a single red brow, she lifted her chin. "And since I asked Master Fellows to report his findings directly to the king, I cannot see why he would object."

She sank back down onto the settee's blue brocade cushion and reached for the keflee pot. She started to pour a fresh cup of the still-steaming aromatic brew, then paused to give each member of her quintet a warning glare. "And don't any of you dare to turn this cup of keflee into anything else, do you hear rue?" She fixed her baleful glare longest on the cobalt-eyed leader of her quintet.

Bel held up his hands. "I swear to you, all I said was, 'Change it,' and that only because I remembered what happened the last time you drank keflee in this place." He attempted to look innocent, but the effect was ruined by the laughter he was fighting to keep in check. "I was looking out for your best interests."

"Clearly you have spent too much time around Gaelen." She sniffed. "Gallberry? It's a wonder I didn't spew the entire mouthful directly into Master Fellows's face."

Bel's mouth twitched.

"Oh... er... that was my fault," Rijonn admitted. "Sieks'ta. I am not familiar with Celierian beverages. I thought it was sweet hazel."

A sudden fit of coughing overtook both Bel and, a moment later, Tajik. Gil suddenly found the plaster moldings on the ceiling utterly absorbing. Ellysetta regarded the three of them with a jaundiced eye, but when she lifted her freshly prepared cup of keflee to her lips and found Rijonn watching her with mournful brown eyes and an expression as woeful and penitent as a puppy's . . . she couldn't suppress a snort of laughter. "Sweet hazel, 'Jonn.' How in the Haven's name could you mistake gallberry for sweet hazel!" Her choked laugh turned into a fit of giggles.

With that, Bel lost his fight and burst into open laughter. "If only you could have seen your face! Gallberry! Sweet brightness! 'Jonn, you're a dim-skull, but flame me if that wasn’t the funniest thing I’ve seen in a tairen’s age.”

First Tajik, then Gil, then Rijonn and the lu'tan joined in the laughter until the room rang with the sounds of unrestrained mirth. They laughed and laughed until tears streamed from the corners of their eyes. After the last weeks of battle, grief, and struggling just to survive from one day to the next, nothing could have felt better or more right.

Rain found himself reassured in King Dorian's measure of men when the nobles he summoned turned out to be many of the same lords and Great Lords Dev Teleos had once invited to his home to rally support for the Fey and prepare Celieria for an Elden invasion.

Among them was a familiar face that made Rain smile in surprised welcome. "Lord Barrial,.. Cann." He offered his arm in friendship and warrior's greeting to the border lord who had only this summer discovered he was descended from the cousin of Gaelen vel Serranis. "I confess I am surprised to see you still here in the city. I thought you would have left weeks ago."

Cannevar Barrial clasped Rain's arm in a firm grip. "The king asked a few of the Twenty and the border lords to stay for military planning. My eldest, Tarrent, returned to oversee our defenses in my stead. His wife, Anessa, took their children south, to her father's estate. The rest of my boys are here with me.

"And your daughter?» Rain asked privately.

Cann's mouth went grim about the edges. Though he possessed no mastery of Spirit, he still sent his thoughts across clearly. «Talisa is as well as can be expected. She and Colum are still here in the city, residing with me and my younger sons at our house in Tellsnor Square. Sebourne wasn't pleased, you can be sure, but I wasn't about to send my only daughter off alone with an angry, jealous husband and no father or brothers to keep him in check.» He took a deep breath and visibly relaxed. «Once vel Arquinas left, Colum started to settle down, but I'm keeping Talisa close as long as I can.»

Guilt pricked Rain's conscience. He liked Cann. The border lord would not be pleased to find out Adrial had never left his truemate's side and had, in fact, been hiding beneath Cann's nose the entire time.

To change the subject, Rain turned to the former dahl'reisen at his side. "You remember Gaelen."

"Of course," Lord Barrial nodded to the Fey whose cousin Dural had sired Cann's family line. "You are looking well, Ser vel Serranis. Your return to honor seems to agree with you."

Gaelen returned the nod. "What the Feyreisa did was a miracle, and one that I will spend the rest of my life striving to deserve."