Lady of Light and Shadows
Page 38

Ellysetta sat on her windowsill, looking up at the waning Mother and Daughter moons as they crawled across the night sky. Within the visibly shimmering twenty-five-fold weave surrounding the house, the world seemed utterly tranquil, yet tension still coiled inside her. The house was quiet. Mama and Papa had turned in earlier, and though Ellie could feel the press of weariness urging her to bed, she was afraid to sleep. What if she dreamed again? What if she dreamed worse than she had last night?
Bel had assured her that the twenty-five-fold weaves would keep out all known magical attacks, but her disquiet would not settle. Last night, the Shadow Man had found her. Who knew what terrors he might now unleash? Behind her, three lit candle-lamps cast bright circles of golden light around the room, chasing shadows to the darkest corners, but the flickering lights offered little in the way of reassurance.
Was it her imagination, or had the room grown colder? Ellie shivered and pulled the knitted shawl closer around her shoulders.
Suddenly her entire body went tense. What was that moving in the courtyard? She cupped her hands around her eyes and peered through the window, then sat back with a groan as she realized it was only Kieran, practicing his bladework in the moonlight.
"Oh, for the Haven's sake, Ellysetta, you're being ridiculous." She scrubbed her hands over her face and jumped to her feet, snatching up the heavy volume of Tarr's History of Celierian Noble Houses from the pile of books on her nightstand. After Master Fellows's lessons on the peerage this afternoon, she'd had Bel escort her to the library to fetch a selection of books that she hoped would help her build a better rapport with the nobles next time she met them. Since she wasn't getting any sleep tonight, the least she could do was spend the time doing something productive.
Crawling into bed, she propped the pillows up behind her, set the heavy book on her thighs, and began to read about the exploits and achievements of the past lords and ladies of Celieria. Unfortunately, Tarr's writing style, while a perfection of detailed accuracy, was lamentably dry. Triumphant victories-dizzying, incredible feats that had left her breathless when she'd read about them in volumes of Fey poetry-became about as vivid and engrossing as watching plaster set when recounted by the erudite scholar Master Tarr.
She persevered, determined to become an asset rather than a liability to Rain, and hoping to take her mind off her fears. Perhaps if Tarr had been a more engrossing writer, it would have worked. As it was, she jumped at each rattle of the windowpanes and creak of a floorboard, and every flicker of a shadow on her bedroom walls made her heart pound with fear. Halfway through chapter five, "The History of Great House Orly," a noise outside brought her rigidly alert. She stifled a scream as a shadow passed over her window.
"Shei‘tani?" Rain stood on the small patch of shingled roof outside her window. Glowing green threads of Earth spun out from his fingertips and her window swung inward. Fresh night air, crisp with the scent of magic, wafted in on a cool breeze. He leapt with graceful catlike ease over the windowsill and landed without a sound in the center of her room.
Ellie clutched a hand to her throat, feeling the rapid beat of her heart beneath her fingertips. "What are you doing here?" She set her heavy book on the nightstand beside her. "I thought you were with Lord Teleos this evening.”
"Bel told me you were still awake, so I left early." Two steps brought him to her side and he caught her hands in his, lifting them to his lips. "Fly with me, shei’tani?”
His long dark hair spilled over his shoulders, and his Fey-pale skin shone against the inky blackness of his leathers. Her heart pounded faster, but this time not from fear. Would there ever come a day when the sight of him did not leave her breathless?
Without hesitation, she went. Out the window, up to the rooftop, without a care for her bare feet or nightgown, she followed him.
"Trust me?" he asked when they stood on the crest of the roof, looking out over the sleeping city.
She answered without hesitation. "Of course.”
He smiled and it was as if clouds parted before the sun. His teeth gleamed dazzling white, and his perfect masculine beauty softened to stunning appeal. When Rain smiled, even Light-maidens would weep with joy.
He drew her to him and his mouth covered hers in a long, sweet, melting kiss that made her legs fold beneath her and her hands clutch the broad strength of his shoulders to keep from falling. He laughed softly against her skin and tracked kisses up her jaw to her ear, then whispered in a voice of pure enchantment, "Don't be afraid." That was all the warning she received before he flung her skyward.
She soared up as if she were weightless, spiraling on a column of Air, breathless but unafraid. The twenty-five-fold weaves surrounding the Baristani house peeled back before her like the petals of a blossoming flower. Her arms flung out, and she turned her face up to the sky, letting Rain's magic carry her as high as it would. As she reached the apex of her ascent and began to gently fall back to earth, Rain's tairen form rose up beneath her and she landed neatly in the cradle of the saddle.
Magic spun around her in velvety clouds, and when it cleared, she looked down and laughed in delight. He'd changed her cotton nightgown to long, flowing robes that looked as if he'd woven them from starlight. Each whisper of movement made the cloth shimmer and gleam.
«I was feeling romantic,» Rain said with a chuff of tairen laughter. «Hold on.»
Ellie's hands gripped the pommel as his wings spread wide. Together, they soared skyward, into the dark heavens.