Lord of the Fading Lands
Page 24

Celieria's National Museum of Art lay on the other side of the river. The domed building was the crowning feature of a sprawling, manicured park that bordered the Velpin's magic- purified waters. Circled by Fire-lamps, the building gleamed like a jewel in the night.
Ellie hurried up the wide brick walkway to the museum's entrance and pushed open the leaded-glass doors. Though the museum staff departed promptly at seventeen bells each day, the museum doors were never locked. Something far more powerful than bolted doors protected the building's many priceless treasures. Any thief could wander in and look to his heart's content, but let him touch a single precious piece of art and he'd be paralyzed until the curator arrived in the morning.
"Don't touch any of the exhibits," Ellie warned. Her voice echoed in the marbled vestibule. She led them through the domed rotunda, where marble columns ringed a twenty-foot statue of King Dorian I holding his sword upraised in one hand, his Fey wife beside him with healing hands splayed over the upturned face of a child. At the base of the statue, deeply carved letters painted with pure gold proclaimed the majestic promise of Celieria's creed: Might and mercy shall vanquish all foes.
She headed down the second arching corridor on the left. Sculpted tairen heads with glowing ruby eyes flanked the entrance to the Fey wing.
Ellie's friend Selianne Pyerson was sitting on a cushioned bench beside the alcove that housed an eight-foot bronze of a tairen rampant perched on a boulder of white marble veined with gold. Selianne's normally tidy blond hair was disheveled, as if she'd been running her hands through it, and her pretty face was drawn tight in lines of worry and agitation. She jumped to her feet when she caught sight of Ellie, then froze when she realized her friend was not alone.
"Who are they?" Selianne gestured to the five men standing behind Ellie.
"They are … um … my guards." Faint lavender light shimmered, and the Fey assumed their true appearance.
Selianne stumbled back a step. "It's true, then. The Tairen Soul really did claim you as his mate.”
"Apparently so." Ellie introduced the five warriors to her friend. "Selianne and I have been friends since my family first came to Celieria City." They'd been childhood outcasts together, Selianne for being the foreign-born daughter of a Sorrelian sea captain and his wife, and Ellie for her odd appearance and strange ways.
Selianne dragged Ellie back a few steps and hissed into her ear, "I can't believe you brought Fey with you. What if they … you know … read my mind or something?”
"They won't," Ellie assured her. "I made them give an honor oath not to eavesdrop or mind read before I let them come with me." She glanced at Belliard behind her. "Would you mind giving us that privacy now?”
He bowed. "I will build a privacy shield around you both. You may walk and speak freely to one another without worry that others will hear." He raised his hands, and threads of faintly glowing white and lavender magic spun out from his fingertips. Ellie felt a soft, cool wind swirl around her. It smelled of springtime, full of sweet rain and crisp morning air. As it closed about her, she felt a strangely light and tranquil silence enter her mind, as if a pressure she'd never realized existed had been lifted.
Selianne stared at Ellie. "You can feel their magic, can't you?”
Ellie raised her brows. "Can't you?”
"No. I know he's weaving magic, because he said so and his hands are glowing a little more, but even knowing it's there, I can't sense it." She lifted shaking hands to her mouth and turned away. "Dear gods. I can't believe you brought them with you, Fey oath or not.”
"I'm sorry, Sel. It was either that or not come at all, and your note sounded so frightened. I did the best I could.”
"I know. I'm sorry that I sounded ungrateful. I do appreciate your coming, and at least you didn't bring … him .. . with you." She jerked her chin towards one of the paintings of Rain Tairen Soul. "It's bad enough that he's here in the city—but to have him claim you. What happens when he finds out about my mother?”
Ellie clasped Selianne's hands. "He's not going to find out," she vowed, staring earnestly into her friend's terrified blue eyes. "I won't let him. I'll lock the memory away so deep inside me, he won't be able to find it, and we'll just stay away from each other until he's gone. Do you hear me? Everything's going to be all right" She filled her voice with conviction, and kept her hands clasped tight around Selianne's cold fingers until her friend's terror began to abate.
After several moments, the reassurance seemed to sink in. Selianne nodded and drew a deep breath. "All right. Good plan. We'll avoid each other until he's gone." Releasing El- lie's hands, she let out a shaky laugh. "How soon will that be? And is there anything you can do to hurry it up?”
Ellie laughed too. "You sound like Mama.”
"I knew there was a reason I loved her so much" Selianne flashed a brief grin, then shook her head again. "I just can't believe it, Ellysetta. There must be Fey blood in you from some-where." Her blond brows rose. "Maybe you're the child of a dahl'reisen.”
"Maybe I'm the child of Celierians and I'm just sensitive to magic because I come from the north," Ellie answered repressively. She took Selianne's arm and began to walk with her away from the Fey. "What excuse did you give Gerwyn to leave the house so late at night?”