King of Sword and Sky (25 page)

"This is your room," she guessed.

"It used to be Johr's—the previous Tairen Soul—but it's been mine since I returned to sanity. There were other furnished rooms, but I burned them out in the early days of my madness and never made the effort to restore them." The corners of his eyes crinkled at her look of dismay. "I'm much better now."

"How can you joke about it?"

He cupped her cheek, his thumb stroking. "Because you restored my joy."

"Rain…" She reached for him, wanting to wrap her arms around him and hold him close, but he stepped back.

"Food first. Then rest. Then perhaps I will show you what a grateful
shei'tan
I am."

Heat curled in her belly at the sight of the silken promises in his eyes. Until Rain, she'd never realized lavender could be such a seductive shade, but now she realized she'd never see it again without thinking of breathless passion and love.

"Come," he murmured. The dark velvet of his voice slipped over her skin, making her breath quicken and her pulse speed up. "I thought we'd eat outside. The view is spectacular." He gestured for her to precede him through a broad archway.

Ellysetta walked past what appeared to be a private bathing chamber and through a smaller, unadorned cave with a large opening that led to the outside world.

She passed through the opening to the broad, wide-lipped ledge that jutted out from the side of the mountain, walking slowly to the farthest point. There, with the wind whipping around her, clouds close enough to touch, and the ground so far, far below, it was easy to believe she was once again aloft in the winds, flying over the Fading Lands. Her belly tightened with exhilaration. She closed her eyes and drew the cool, fresh air into her lungs.

"Just standing here is almost like flying."

He stepped close behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Aiyah.
You feel it too. As if you could leap from the ledge and the wind would welcome you and send you soaring."

"Yes, that's it." She opened her eyes and looked down at her feet. The toes of her boots touched the edge of the precipice, and yet she was unafraid. No hint of vertigo touched her. No sense of even the slightest fear. Only appreciation and thrill and longing.

"I miss this place," he murmured close to her ear. "I don't come back as often as I should. Mostly only when I need the simplicity of being tairen."

"Simplicity? The tairen don't seem simple to me." She thought of the mysteries of the mountain, and Sybharukai with her green eyes so full of secrets. Ellysetta had been here less than a day, but already she knew there was so much more to the tairen than she'd ever realized.

"Do they not? They eat when they are hungry, sleep when they are tired, and kill their enemy without doubt or regret when he threatens them. Do you know how calming that is?"

"To kill your enemy?"

"To have no regrets."

She turned in his arms and lifted her face to his. The shadows were back in his eyes, the memories of all those who had died in his flames. She stood up on the tips of her toes to kiss him, then bent her head to the hollow of his throat, and they stood there together, on the edge of the precipice, alone above the world as the cool winds of the high mountain swirled around them.

"I hesitate to ask what we'll be eating. I'm not particularly fond of raw herdbeast." She tilted her head at the grazing animals so far below.

His eyes crinkled, not quite a smile but close.
"Nei,
I would not think so. Though I must say, to a hungry tairen,
tavalree
on the hoof is a choice morsel."

With a casual weave of Earth, he spun a table and two chairs out from his chambers to the cliffs edge, then wove a small basket containing food, a corked vessel, and a pair of golden goblets. At her surprised look, he confessed, "I keep a small store of food stocked in one of the caves below with a protective weave to ensure freshness. I don't always want
tavalree
when I come here either."

The food was simple fare: a block of cheese, round loaves of flat, golden bread, and several of the tear-shaped
tamaris
fruits. Rain uncorked the bottle, poured a stream of crystal-clear water into the two goblets, and offered her one. A sip confirmed it was
faerilas.
"From Dharsa," he said in answer to her questioning look. He pushed a plate of food towards her. "Enough talking. Eat. Your body needs nourishment to replenish its strength."

Ellysetta reached for a round of bread, then layered slices of cheese on top. The first bite was heavenly. The cheese was creamy and flavorful, the bread a melting delight. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, but once the food hit her tongue, ravenous appetite took over. She devoured the meal in a few quick, voracious bites, and moments later found herself staring in bewilderment at empty hands sticky with
tamaris
juice. How had that happened?

Rain laughed softly. "Hunger comes upon you quickly when you weave magic for so many bells." At her confused frown, he elucidated. "Your singing. You were weaving love and courage on the kitlings through your song. Even Sybharukai was impressed. In many ways, your weave imitated tairen song."

"I didn't realize."

"You never do, it seems, when you are weaving great power." He helped himself to the remaining portion of the food and leaned back in his chair as he took a few bites. "I've been thinking about that since we left Celieria City. The circumstances of your birth forced you to use your magic more as instinct than a controllable skill, Ellysetta. While that served you well in its time, the practice appears to have conditioned you to trust your powers only when you do not know you are weaving them."

She sat up straighter, a bit offended. "I've been weaving magic. All those bells spent with Marissya on our journey here, when she was teaching me how to heal, I wove magic—powerful magic. What would you call that?"

"Frustration." When she crossed her arms and her eyes flashed, he hurried to add, "I am not dismissing your efforts,
shei'tani,
but you've been trying to pour the force of an ocean through the mouth of a stream. And when you cannot forget how vast and potentially dangerous that ocean is, your powers either dam up or overwhelm you.

"So you think I can't control my magic because I fear it?"

"I think,
shei'tani,
you have feared what you are for so long, there's no room in your heart for trust. And until you trust yourself, you will find it difficult—if not impossible— to control your magic…and impossible for us to complete our bond."

"So what's your solution?"

"The same as it is for a
chadin
of the Cha Baruk. Practice. And much of it. Some things cannot be learned by any other means. As you gain confidence, your fears will diminish."

"So who will teach me this confidence?"

"I've been thinking about that, too." He sat back, plucked a Fey'cha from the straps across his chest, and began twirling the blade on his fingertips, razor-sharp steel and black hilt flipping end over end, the pinch of his fingers so perfect the knife edge never broke his skin. "Until our bond is complete, I cannot merge with your mind the way a
chatok
must to guide your learning. The
shei'dalins
will teach you to wield a
shei'dalins
gifts, but you are a Tairen Soul as well. There are skills you need that no
shei'dalin
can teach you."

Ellysetta watched the steel flashing in his fingers. The blade was a mere blur now.

"The mentors of the Warriors' Academy are masters of magic as well as war. They are our most skilled teachers—and all of them are mated, which will make it easier for me to allow them close to you." He caught the black Fey'cha in midspin and returned it to its sheath. "I will ask one of them to be your
chatok
and teach you the ways of Fey magic."

"You want a warrior to teach me to wield my magic."

His eyes lifted, and Ellysetta's mouth went suddenly dry. Thick black lashes framed gleaming pale purple irises that were just beginning to glow. Instantly she was reminded of his expression when he'd stood beside her in Chakai as she healed the
rasa.

"Want?
Nei.
But it's what you need. He stared down at the table, where his thumbnail had just dug a deep groove into the finish. A muscle ticked in his jaw. Green Earth flared briefly, and the groove filled back in. "If our bond were complete, I would teach you myself, but it is not." His shoulder lifted and fell. "If there were another Tairen Soul, I would ask him, but there is not. It must be a
chatok
from the Academy. They are the only ones who can teach you what you need to know."

She leaned across the table and put her hands on his. "There is no need for you to torment yourself, Rain. You are my
shei'tan,
the man I dreamed of all my life. My heart has no room for another."

"When it comes to some things,
shei'tani,
tairen do not listen to reason."

"Do they not?" She slipped out of her chair and sat on his lap, looping her arms casually around his neck. "Perhaps they just need convincing."

She smiled as the tense brackets around his mouth eased and the glow of his eyes grew more pronounced—and much warmer.

"Perhaps you're right," he purred. "Why don't you try it and see?"

The Fading Lands ~ Fey'Bahren

Ellysetta woke with a yawning stretch, smiling at the pleasant tug of muscle and the warmth of Rain's body stretched out beside her. She rolled against him, burying her face in his hair and breathing deep to take his scent into her lungs. She would never tire of waking beside him, skin-to-skin, knowing this was where she belonged.

After their meal, they'd retired to Rain's bedchamber to make love with breathtaking intensity before falling into deep, exhausted, and blessedly dreamless sleep. Now Ellysetta was awake and refreshed, and rapidly discovering that Fey males weren't the only ones to harbor insatiable desire for their mates.

She slid a leg up over his and slipped an arm around his waist. Her fingers traced the steely ripples of his abdomen and moved up across his chest, and she smiled against the soft skin of his neck as one flat male nipple hardened beneath her fingertips. "Mmm." She stroked the small nub and nuzzled his ear. "Are you well rested,
shei'tan?"
Her hand trailed back down his ribs to his hips to stroke a far more interesting bit of hardening male flesh. Her smile grew wider. "Ah, I see that you are."

She squealed with laughter as he turned in one quick burst of motion and rolled her on her back, pinning her to the bed. "Feeling bold?" he growled. He lowered his head, and his silky black hair fell in dark veils around them, casting his face in shadow so that the glow of his eyes seemed more intense.

"You don't like it?"

White teeth flashed. "I never said that." His lips took hers in a deep, passionate kiss, not releasing her until her pulse was racing, her nails were scoring his back, and her lungs were gasping for air. "This Fey loves bold. Bold is good."

She closed her eyes as his lips tracked down her throat to her breasts. Moist heat closed around one sensitive tip while warm fingers worked their seductive magic on the other. "Very good," she groaned. Her legs wrapped around him, heels pressing against the tight curve of his buttocks, urging him upwards. Much as she loved his hands, his lips, his magic upon her, what she wanted was him, inside her where he belonged, completing her. She never felt so whole as she did when their bodies were united, their souls so close she could almost reach out and grasp those elusive, final threads of their bond.

A rumbling purr rolled across her skin, and a puff of warm, richly scented air swirled around her. «
Fine, strong mating is good. Rainier-Eras and Ellysetta-kitling will hatch many kitlings for the pride.»

The happy, purring voice—definitely not Rain's—hit Ellysetta like a bucket of frigid water. Her eyes flew open, and she found herself staring straight up into very large, very glowing, very curious blue tairen eyes.

"Ahhh!" Ellie shrieked, and shoved Rain away from her with such force he tumbled off the edge of the bed and hit the rock floor with a thud. She snatched fistfuls of furred coverlets and silky sheets and yanked them up in a desperate attempt to cover herself.

"Good sweet Lord of Light!" she exclaimed, staring at the white tairen in mortification. "What are you doing here? Have you never heard of knocking?"

Steli snorted and sat back on her haunches. A miffed growl rumbled in her chest, and her tail whipped against the chamber wall, making little flakes of rock fall to the floor. «
What is "knocking"?»

Rain, naked and utterly unashamed, stood up and rubbed his bruised hindquarters. He fixed Steli with a disgruntled look. "Ellysetta-Feyreisa means Steli
-chakai
should sing greetings before entering the sleeping lair of the Feyreisen and his mate."

The tairen cocked her head. «
The pride sang greetings before, in the nesting lair.»

His lips twitched.
"Aiyah,
but Ellysetta-Feyreisa was raised among the mortals…the two-legs who mate only in private. She needs time to become accustomed to the ways of the pride."

Steli looked at Ellysetta, who still held a death grip on the covers. The tairen's ears and tail twitched; then she snorted again. «
What is "private"?»

Rain laughed.
"Private
means that
Steli-chakai
should not enter this sleeping lair unless Ellysetta-Feyreisa or Rainier-Eras says you may."

Steli's ears went back. «
Steli does not like private.»
She growled. «
Or knocking.»
Fur ruffled, clearly offended, she twisted her sinuous body and headed back out to the ledge where she must have come from. «
The Fey-kin are here. They wait on
Su Reisu.»
She sniffed as she left.

"Steli, wait!" Ellysetta ran after the white tairen and caught up with her on the ledge outside. There was enough irritation still whirling in Steli's eyes that Ellysetta stopped short of coming within claw reach of the white tairen.
"Sieks'ta.
I'm sorry. I did not mean to hurt your feelings. I am not used to pride ways—and you surprised me. Please,
teska,
forgive me."

The supplication seemed to soothe the white tairen's injured pride. She swished her tail, then wrinkled her nose and sniffed again for good measure before saying, «
Steli forgives.»

Ellysetta flung her arms around the cat's neck.
"Beylah vo,
Steli-
chakai
."

«Ellysetta-kitling did not hatch in Fey'Bahren. She was not raised in the ways of the pride.»
Steli began to purr and gave the side of Ellysetta's face a warm, maternal lick. «
Steli will teach.»
The white tairen sounded alarmingly pleased by the prospect.

Pride appeased, Steli flew down with Rain and Ellysetta to Su Reisu, the low, flat-topped plateau at the base of Fey'Bahren where Marissya and Dax were waiting. After an initial threatening growl at the truemates, the white tairen settled into a protective crouch behind Ellysetta, and other than an occasional warning rumble if the newcomers moved too close, she left the Fey to exchange greetings.

Ellysetta explained her findings to Marissya. "There are five eggs left. I tried to look for the source of their illness, as you taught me. Maybe it's my own inexperience, but other than the kitlings being tired and frightened and very weak, I couldn't find anything wrong."

"She sang love and strength on them," Rain added.

Ellysetta grimaced. "Without realizing it, of course."

Marissya started to pat her hand, then glanced at the blue-eyed tairen and changed her mind. "You just need practice, Ellysetta. It's not lack of ability, but lack of confidence that holds you back."

Ellysetta glanced over at Rain, who arched a speaking brow. "Rain said much the same thing last night. He wants me to train with the Academy's
chatok
as well as with the
shei'dalins
when we reach Dharsa."

Marissya's eyes widened. "Does he?"

"She is a Tairen Soul," Rain said. "There are skills she must learn that the
shei'dalins
cannot teach."

"The Massan will not approve."

"The Massan have no say in the training of young
feyreisen."

Steli growled and crept closer, poking her head around Ellysetta to fix whirling blue eyes on Marissya. The edge of her mouth lifted up, baring fangs, and her nostrils flared, sniffing the air as if scenting for potential threats—or prey.

"Perhaps not, but tread lightly with them, Rain." Marissya frowned at the white tairen and edged back, reaching for Dax's hand. "They deserve your respect."

"And they have it. But that does not mean this king must seek their approval for his decisions."

"Change takes time."

"Time is a luxury I do not have." Rain's eyes flashed lavender sparks. "War is coming, and my bond with Ellysetta is not complete. I must do what I feel is necessary. I allowed Ellysetta to heal the
rasa
because I need blades to fight. Ellysetta must be trained as both a
shei'dalin
and a Tairen Soul, because both are the gifts the gods gave her. If she cannot accept the entirety of herself, what hope is there for the completion of our bond?"

Before Marissya could answer, Steli pushed her nose against Marissya's brown leathers and sniffed again. «
This one has strong pride scent for a Fey-kin.»

"Marissya?" Rain eyed the tairen in confusion. "She is of the vel Serranis line. Many
feyreisen
were born to her family in the past. Perhaps that is what you sense?"

«Perhaps.»
Steli growled noncommittally. She sniffed some more, nudging Marissya with her nose, then sat back on her haunches. «
This one can help Ellysetta-kitling heal our young?»

"We believe so."

The
chakai
thumped her tail. «
Sybharukai says this one may enter the lair.»

Leaving Rain staring at her in astonishment, the fierce white tairen leapt into the sky and flew towards the wide mouth of the cave that led to the interior of Fey'Bahren.

"What is it?" Marissya asked when the tairen were gone. "What did she say?"

Rain gave her a look of sheer disbelief. "She said you may enter the nesting lair."

The
shei'dalin's
jaw dropped open. "I don't understand. I've been here before, and the tairen never let me set foot beyond Su Reisu."

"Marissya, I'm as confused as you. Steli said you bear pride-scent. Maybe while you've been teaching Ellysetta, some trace of her scent was transferred to you. Does it really matter?"

Marissya shook her head emphatically.

"Good. Then let's go. You can check the kitlings yourself and tell us definitively whether
shei'dalin
skills can heal them."

Marissya started forward, then stopped. "Wait. What about Dax?"

"He stays behind," Rain answered without hesitation. "There are eggs in the lair, and three tairen died last night. The pride would kill him before his foot touched the nesting sands."

"But he is my
shei'tan.
The tairen have always welcomed the mates of those they welcome into the pride."

"You were not welcomed into the pride, Marissya. Sybharukai merely said you could enter Fey'Bahren to help Ellysetta save the kitlings." He glanced at Dax. "I don't know how long we'll be, but you have my oath I will protect your mate as if she were my own."

"I know you will." Dax waved them off. "Go."

Rain flew Marissya and Ellysetta up to the main entrance of the lair. Together, with Rain in the lead, they walked down the winding tunnel towards the nesting sands.

Marissya's eyes were wide with wonder, peering down every tunnel and drinking in the mysteries of Fey'Bahren as they descended towards the volcano's heart.

"When we enter the nesting lair," Rain instructed, "we will all walk slowly across the sands to the eggs. Marissya, if at any time tonight the tairen seem agitated, stop whatever you're doing."

«Would the pride really kill Dax if he entered the lair?»
Ellysetta asked the question on a private weave, troubled by the possibility. The tairen were intelligent and powerful beings, not mere animals. She found it difficult to reconcile the warm welcome she'd received from the pride with the mindless, wild savagery Rain seemed so certain they would exhibit.

«Survival is a tairen's strongest instinct, and this is where tairen hatch their young,»
he answered. «
Any intruder is considered a threat. When it comes to the safety of their young, tairen will kill anything and anyone that threatens them. Don't ever doubt that.»

They reached the bottom of the tunnel, and hard stone gave way to a thick carpet of fine, dark black sand. Inside the nesting lair, the tairen had returned to their ledges except for Sybharukai, who lay curled around the eggs, crooning songs of tairen strength and ferocity to the kitlings.

The tairen closest to the tunnel mouth growled and fluttered their wings when they saw Marissya, but a roar from Sybharukai kept them in place. Her eyes whirled bright and green in the smoky grey of her face, and she remained curled around the eggs, her tail thumping the sand.

«The Fey-kin may approach the eggs, but if she wounds the kitlings, her blood will soak the sands.»

One of Marissya's hands rose to her throat; the other held Ellysetta's in a crushing grip. Sybharukai had spoken in very distinct Feyan, on the common path.

"I … I have no intention of harming them, wise one," Marissya assured the tairen. "I am here only to offer what help I can to the Feyreisa."

«The Fey-kin is warned.»
With that, Sybharukai rose up on her paws and backed up three steps to grant Ellysetta and Marissya access to the eggs. In a show of silent menace, the great cat extended the long, ivory spikes in her tail and stabbed them into the sand.

Ellysetta led the way, moving towards the center of the clutch of eggs. She laid a hand on each and crooned a quiet song of greeting. "They like when you sing to them. This is Miauren." She stroked the closest egg. "He is a fine, brave tairen. And this is Hallah, who I think will be fierce and beautiful like Steli
-chakai.
And these little ones are Letah, Sharra, and Forrahl."

"You picked fine tairen names for them," Marissya said, cautiously stepping closer.

"I didn't pick them. The kitlings told me their names when I sang to them earlier today." Ellysetta smiled at the
shei'dalins
surprise. "Rain tells me tairen kitlings are sentient even in their mother's womb, months before she lays the eggs in the nest. Here, come lay your hand on Hallah's shell and sing to her." She moved aside so Marissya could step in beside her. "She likes warriors' songs. Letah and Sharra prefer lullabies."