Crown of Crystal Flame
Page 2

Only one month ago, the Fey had learned that the evil High Mage of Eld intended to unleash a terrible army upon Celieria. An army one of his Mages had compared to the mythic Army of Darkness, a world-conquering force of millions. Rain and Ellysetta had spent weeks trying to cobble together an alliance to combat the threat, but now, thanks to what had happened with Talisa, Adrial, and Colum, the small army they’d managed to assemble was in danger of coming apart at the seams.
King Dorian X of Celieria, who had not risen when Rain and Ellysetta entered, continued to scan the sheets of parchment in his hand as if Rain had not spoken, leaving the king and queen of the Fey to stand before him like chastised children summoned to the schoolmaster’s office.
Irritation flickered through Rain. Dorian had a right to his anger—and Rain knew he deserved reproach for hiding Adrial’s continued presence in Celieria City from Celieria’s king—but he would tolerate no discourtesy towards Ellysetta.
“The Fey stand ready to fight,” Rain announced, speaking to the top of Dorian’s bent head, “but before this battle begins, King Dorian, the Feyreisa and I must know what impact our recent mutual loss will have on our alliance.”
The hands on the parchment froze. The Celierian king’s head lifted. Eyes hard as polished stones clashed with Rain’s gaze.
“It’s a little late for such concerns, don’t you think?” The quiet venom in Dorian’s tone came as a surprise. Since meeting the descendant of Marissya and Gaelen’s sister, Marikah vol Serranis, Rain had never regarded Dorian as much more than a too-weak, too-mortal product of a great Fey bloodline. Fey in name only, with little to recommend him as either a strong leader or a seasoned warrior. But there was a new edge to Dorian that Rain had never seen before. A flinty glitter in his eyes and resolute hardness to his jaw.
Trusting, accommodating Dorian vol Serranis Torreval had grown steel in his spine—and with it a decidedly less favorable view of the Fey.
Rain spread his hands in a placating gesture. “King Dorian—“
“You knew!” Dorian kicked back his chair and surged to his feet. “All this time, you knew about Adrial and Talisa. You knew Adrial and the others hadn’t gone back to the Fading Lands. Knew they were using their magic to hide their presence from Talisa’s husband. You knew, and you condoned it. Not only that—you participated in their deception!” He jabbed a finger in Rain’s direction. “You, who posture and pride yourself on Fey honor, intentionally set out to deceive me, the Sebournes, and the Barrials.”
Rain’s skin flushed. “I know how this must seem—“
“Seem?” Dorian gave a harsh, humorless laugh. “You spoke so eloquently about honoring our customs, holding our marriage vows as sacred as your own, and all the while, you plotted to rob a man of his wife. Is this the measure of Fey honor? Is this how low and worthless it has become—or is it merely an indicator of how low and worthless your honor has become?”
At Rain’s side, Ellysetta bristled, but he silenced her with a small touch of his hand. «Nei shei’tani. Dorian has a right to his anger. I did intentionally deceive him.»
“You counted on my trust… on my belief in your honor,” Dorian continued hotly. “You manipulated me like the puppet my own nobles have accused me of being. You used my faith in the goodness of the Fey—even my love for my aunt, Marissya, and my ties of kinship to the Fey—to deceive me. You are the reason three people died today! How I wish I’d heeded Tenn v’En Eilan’s warning about you!”
“That’s enough!” Ellysetta exclaimed. Her green eyes shot sparks. “How dare you lay full blame for today at his feet? You, who bear as much blame as he?”
“Ellysetta, las.” Rain pulled her closer, half-afraid of what she might do to Dorian. “Dorian has a right to his anger. I did manipulate and deceive him. And I will bear the weight of Adrial and Talisa’s deaths, as I bear the weight of all the lives lost to my sword and to my flame.” Silently, he added, «Perhaps Tenn was right, and I truly have lost my way.» The leader of the Massan, the Fading Lands’s governing council, had accused Rain of that when he banished Rain and Ellysetta for weaving the forbidden magic, Azrahn. Had he fallen from the Bright Path and been too blinded by his love for Ellysetta and his hatred of the Eld to realize it?
She whirled on him, anger eclipsed by shock and repudiation of his silent confession. «Rain, nei. Don’t even think that way. You are a champion of Light. Don’t you ever doubt it.» She clasped his face in her hands and stared fiercely into his eyes, as if, by sheer force of will, she could make him believe her.
Turning back to Dorian, she said in a calmer voice, “In his sorrow and guilt over today’s terrible loss, my shei’tan allows you to heap blame upon him without protest. But I will not. What great evil has he done? He allowed a dying man to spend the last months of his life watching over the woman he loved. If that is a crime, you should pray to the gods you would have the heart to be as guilty as he!”
For the first time since they’d entered this chamber, Dorian looked uncertain. “Vel Arquinas was dying?”
“Ellysetta,” Rain murmured a low warning. The high price of shei’tanitsa was a dangerous truth Fey never revealed to outsiders.
“Aiyah, he was,” she confirmed. «I’m sorry, Rain, but it’s long past time he learned the truth. He is part Fey, after all.» To Dorian, she continued, “From the moment you upheld Talisa’s Celierian marriage, Adrial’s life was over. You did not realize it, but by denying him his shei’tani, you condemned him to death.”