“What did you do?”
“There wasn’t anything I could do. I wasn’t even as old as you are now.” She rested her chin on the top of Lillis’s head. “I prayed and prayed that someone would find her before the lyrant did, or if nothing else, that the Bright Lord would send his Lightmaidens to carry Bess away to the Haven of Light.”
Tears turned Lillis’s vision hazy. “Poor little baby. Poor little Bess.”
“That was why I was always so afraid of magic, kitling. Not because I thought you or Lorelle was horrible for having magic, but because I’d been taught that magic was evil, that it could make the people who had it evil, too. I was so afraid of what people would do if they knew.”
“But you’re not afraid anymore?”
Mama smiled gently. “No, kitling. When I let love be my guide, fear lost its power over me.”
“So you’re not mad at us for telling?” Lillis asked.
“Of course not.” Mama pressed a kiss in Lillis’s curls. “I’m very proud of you and Lorelle both, and I’m proud of Ellie, too. I love you all more than I can say.”
“I love you too, Mama.” Lillis snuggled closer and closed her eyes in bliss. Her arms squeezed tight around Mama’s neck, holding her close, and she breathed deep of the special scent that was Mama’s own, the scent of home and love and security, where bad people never came, and monsters never howled. “I never want to lose you again.”
Mama caressed Lillis’s hair in slow, rhythmic strokes, and the beat of her heart thumped reassuringly beneath Lillis’s ear. “I’ll always be with you, Lillipet. No matter what. If ever you’re feeling alone or afraid, just remember that. And remember this, too: We are all the gods’ children. All our gifts come from them. It’s what we do with those gifts that determines whether we walk in Light or Shadow. The choice is ours. When you see Ellie again, will you tell her that for me? And tell her I said to let love, not fear, be her guide.”
“You can tell her yourself. Once Kieran and Kiel get here, we can all go find Ellie together.”
Mama smiled. “I think she’ll understand it better if it comes from you. Will you promise me, kitling?”
Lillis frowned a little but agreed with an obedient, “Yes, Mama.”
“And you won’t forget? No matter what?” “No, Mama.”
Her reward was a kiss and another hug. “That’s my sweet Lillipet.”
Lillis burrowed into her mother’s arms, closing her eyes in bliss as Mama’s love and warmth enveloped her.
CHAPTER TWO
Celieria ~ Kreppes
25th day of Verados
As the watchtower of Kreppes rang six golden bells, the guards fresh from the dining hall and a good night’s sleep climbed the steps to replace the night watch. Soft light from the rising Great Sun lit Celierian fields untouched by war and the perfectly aligned rows of creamy canvas tents fanned out to the west and south of the castle walls. Across the Heras River to the north, the dark fir-and spruce-filled forests of Eld remained empty of all signs of an approaching army.
“Are you so sure they are coming?” Dorian asked Rain, as the two kings toured the ramparts. “You claimed the attack would come last night, yet it did not.”
“Hawksheart said the attack would come last night,” Rain corrected. “I don’t know why he misread what he Saw.”
“What if you’re wrong about where the attack is coming, too? What if Celieria City is the real target? I’ve effectively emptied the city of defenders. I marched half my armies here and sent the other half to King’s Point with my son on your word that an attack was imminent. I left only a few garrisons to protect the city itself. Please, tell me I have not made the most colossal mistake of my lifetime.”
“Celieria City was neither the target specified by the Mage we captured nor the target Hawksheart warned us to protect,” Rain said.
“And yet, here we stand, and there is not an enemy in sight.” The Celierian king folded his arms over his chest. “Or is there perhaps some other important little tidbit of information you’ve been keeping from me? Some reason you wanted me here that you thought I’d be better off not knowing?”
“Nei, there is not. I have always spoken true. I may not have told you everything, but I’ve never lied to you.”
“Oh, right. You don’t lie. That would be dishonorable. Instead, you just manipulate and deliberately mislead.”
Rain’s muscles drew tight as his temper rose. Dorian had a right to his suspicions, but this was deliberate insult. “Are you going to throw that in my face every time I advise you? The enemy may not have attacked last night, as Hawksheart said they would, but there remains no doubt in my mind that they will. There is no doubt in my mind that we are facing the deadliest battle of our lifetime. Our ability to strike any sort of significant blow against this High Mage’s army will depend on how closely we can work together, how much we can trust each other.”
“Perhaps you should have thought of that before you chose to deceive me.” A hard north wind blew Dorian’s blue cloak back off his shoulders and tugged strands of dark hair from his queue to whip about his face.
“Spit and scorch me!” Cursing under his breath, Rain stalked to the crenellated edge of the battlement. He grabbed the edges of the stone and held on as tightly as he was holding the fraying edges of his temper.
Ellysetta was down in the encampment with her quintet, checking on Rowan and making the rounds of the Fey and Celierian armies—ostensibly to see if any of the warriors needed healing, but really to start mending fences and rebuilding damaged trust. As important as that was, Rain should have known better than to take this walk with Dorian without her. Thanks to his encroaching bond madness, his ability to control his temper proved elusive when he strayed too far from Ellysetta’s side. Even the smallest conflict sparked his tairen’s ire—and considering that a tairen’s idea of diplomacy was to flame-roast his opponent and eat his smoking carcass, that was not particularly helpful.
Rain stared across the river at Eld and counted to ten. The enemy, he reminded himself, lay there—across the river. Not standing here beside him. He clung to that truth and used it to force back the growing threat of his tairen.
“I’ve already said I was wrong,” he told Celieria’s king. “But do not forget—the decision I made came after a summer full of difficulties dealing with your people. I warned you war was coming, but you and your Council ignored my concerns and rejected my warnings until the Eld attacked the Grand Cathedral of Light and tried to capture my shei’tani.” Ellysetta would have been proud of how calm and controlled he sounded, how neatly he laid out his argument, when all he really wanted to do was grab Dorian by the throat and shake some sense into him. “The anti-Fey sentiment so prevalent amongst your nobles—your Queen, among them—was still fresh in my mind.”
“All Annoura and those nobles ever did was warn me that Fey would manipulate mortal minds. It seems to me that all you did with the whole Talisa and Adrial fiasco was prove them right!”
Rain drew a long, deliberate breath. “As I told you,” he reiterated slowly, “I did what I thought best at the time. Adrial remained with his shei’tani, but I tried to make certain that if his presence had been discovered, you would be absolved of all blame.”