Disclaimer: I do not own the Tairen Soul Series by C.L. Wilson. I made up Cyr's surname since I could not locate it in the books. If you see it please LMK the proper name and citation. Also, I think it is Greatwood Forest and not Greenwood Forest. Thank you!


Ch. IV: Cyr vel Lesk

Cyr vel Lesk sat down slowly next to Angela's bed. Her blush deepened as his amber eyes surveyed her for a long moment.

"You should rest, shei'tani." Cyr said concerned.

"Did―did you really make these?" Angela asked, her curiosity getting the better of her self-preservation instincts. Her wrist guards pulsed again. She felt warmth suffuse her and she relaxed deeper into her pillows her expression more peaceful.

Cyr smiled at her. Angela's eyes widened. He has a nice smile for someone so serious.

"Aiyah, shei'tani." Cyr said, his chest puffing. "I'm the Air master for the Feyreisa's secondary quintet. Fey warriors must learn at least three talents* in order to qualify for such an honor. My other two are Earth and Spirit."

Angela gaped at him, wholly impressed. "You―you mean you made something from nothing? And you protect the Feyreisa?" She looked at him confused. "Why does the Feyreisa need a secondary quintet?" She blushed deeply, looking down at her wrist guards, wondering how she could salvage her outburst. Feeling inept and way out of her league in front of such a magnificent Fey Lord. You've been in the forest too long. She mentally berated herself.

"Aiyah. My shei'tani needed and I provided." Cyr said shrugging. Despite his calm exterior, Angela got the impression he is very pleased with himself. "When the Feyreisa's primary quintet need to rest we take over, shei'tani." Cyr explained understandingly. "We also hang back to scout and protect the outer perimeters in case the Feyreisa should be attacked because we are the first line of defense."

Angela looked at him anew. "Do you―are you just born with magic? Are Ravel, Sian and Torel in your unit? Or are they in different units depending on their talents? What's a shei'tani?" she slurred, feeling exhausted. She had several questions and felt frustrated at herself.

"Rest shei'tani." Cyr said tenderly. "All will be explained when you're feeling better."

He gently wove Spirit to soothe her to sleep and her grey eyes closed. Unable to help himself he kissed her forehead chastely before settling back in his chair to guard her while she slept.

«Mela, gepa...I've been blessed and honored with a shei'tani. Her name is Angela Felicity Michaelson.» Cyr informed his parents with a strong Spirit weave covering the large distance toward his family home in the Fading Lands.


Angela opened her eyes to dusk. Her stomach growled. "Stop that," she muttered irritably. "There's no such thing as food."

Cyr helped his shei'tani sit up. "There is such a thing as food, Angela." He chided softly, worried.

Mariyssa arrived and smiled at the couple. "How are you feeling, ajiana?"

Before Angela could say anything her stomach growled loudly.

Marissya chuckled. "This is very good, ajiana." Marissya approached her and passed her a faerilas goblet. "You must drink this first."

Angela reached for it, nearly dropping it, and then leaned to her right where Cyr quickly caught her. "Shei'tani?" He asked, concerned. Cyr took the goblet and gently pressed it to her lips.

"Drink." He said encouragingly.

Angela mentally sighed. Baby pacheeta...how much shame can I endure?

She sipped the water feeling immeasurably better. Although, she shivered at the coolness. "Is there magic in everything you do?" Angela asked incredulously.

Marissya exchanged a knowing look with Cyr. "Well ajiana, we are a magical race." She inclined her head to Cyr who bowed to his shei'tani, making her blush again. "I shall see you soon, shei'tani." He turned on his heel and exited the healing tent. He had a few ideas for his first courtship gift to her along with a shower.

Marissya sat next to Angela.

"I know you're feeling very overwhelmed, ajiana." Marissya said tenderly. "So I propose you eat and I'll explain a few things."

A few shei'dahlins entered and placed a breakfast table on Angela's bed. On it, they placed a seafood soup and a pitcher of faerilas along with warm bread before exiting.

Angela stared at the veritable feast in front of her.

"Just eat what you can, ajiana." Marissya said kindly. Angela gulped the faerilas down with Marissya's help and a few spoonfuls of the protein-rich soup. Angela savored the flavors for a moment and bit into the bread before turning to Marissya curiously.

"Do you know what the Fey refer to as a shei'tanista bond? Or why Cyr calls you shei'tani?" Marissya began. Angela shook her head. Her rapt grey eyes on the shei'dahlin.

She smiled at Angela. "It is a great gift from the gods, ajiana." Marissya said. "Very few of our esteemed warriors are blessed with the bonding. Ver reisa ku'chae. Kem surah shei'tani translates to "Your soul calls out. Mine answers, beloved." Angela gasped.

"But―but that's impossible!" Angela protested.

"Nei ajiana." Marissya continued. "Do you sense Cyr's emotions around you?" Angela nodded reluctantly.

"Does it feel like you're almost two people?" Marissya pressed, knowing the answer as Angela looked down and recalled a tugging sensation on her consciousness despite ignoring it. "Fey warriors do not make mistakes in their shei'tanis." Her eyes softened. "The shei'tanista bonding can only exist where an all-consuming love can sustain and survive or what mortals call a soulmate." She smiled slightly. "It does not feel immediate to the shei'tani." She chuckled. "But that is why the shei'tan courts her as she deserves. Protects her as is his privilege and honors and keeps her till death."

"Sounds like a feytale." Angela murmured. Angela wanted to believe. She pursed her lips. The wariness she acquired to survive the past year made her skeptical.

"Aiyah," Marissya said approvingly. "It is the basis of our feytales." She helped feed Angela a few more spoonfuls. She frowned when Angela kept shivering and her wrist guards glowed periodically.

Marissya lightly heated the faerilas and her eyes widened at Angela's sudden smile, gulping down the water with no hesitation. Surprised there was no more and Marissya refilled it watching Angela closely.

"Hot food only then." Marissya murmured. She would consult with the other shei'dahlins. By now Angela should have warmed after the extensive healing from the nutritive baths suffused with shei'dahlin magic. The tairen fire still glowed and suffused her being with warmth; but not as prominently.

"How―how did I wind up here?" Angela asked sheepishly.

Marissya cupped her cheek. "The shei'dahlins and I bathed you, ajiana, using our magic. Cyr is a gentleman first." Angela blushed. "Thank you for everything." Angela said quietly.

"It is us who should thank you, Angela." Marissya said firmly. "Our warriors are stretched thin―and you saved not one, but three, from a horrific death―with another in more ways than you'll ever know." Angela started at that. "Furthermore, I wanted to ask you about the plans your father created." Angela's gaze slipped away as Marissya released her grip.

"I―I ain't never open'd 'em, milady." Angela admitted. "I―I don't know how to read...Papa asked Brother Able to write what he wanted and Papa had my brother draw a few sketches for him...and me―I collected the sel'dor in Greatwood Forest."

"Where did you find the sel'dor?" Marissya asked worriedly.

Angela sighed. "Well, I wasn't supposed to be out but I always find sel'dor somehow." She grimaced knowing how peculiar she sounded. "Papa found out because I didn't know what it was and I thought it was his creation at first."

Marissya quickly related this new information to Bel to disseminate to the Feyreisa and Feyreisen, knowing he was never far from them.

"Who is this Brother Able?" Marissya asked, hoping he was a friend of the Fey.

"Oh, he's Wilmus Able's son who traveled back to Norban from Carthage and Celieria City, my lady."

Marissya gently cupped Angela's chin and regarded her with a maternal gaze. "No one believes you're inferior because you don't know how to read. Do you understand me, Angela?" Angela's eyes watered and she burst into tears.

Marissya pulled her into a tight embrace crooning to her in lyrical Feyan with a mother's reassurance amid Angela's sniffling.

"Do you wish to learn to read and write, ajiana?" Marissya asked softly. Angela hesitated and then nodded. Marissya could feel the tremors in Angela's body. She closed her eyes. She remembered how Angela said the Eld threatened her family with illiteracy to stay alive and belittled her. It was clear this young woman wanted to learn and do more in life. Her self-esteem was beaten down...but she was down not out. Marissya would do her utmost to assist her new nessa ajiana in Felicity's stead.

Well now she can. Marissya thought fiercely. Even if I have to teach her myself. But then she smiled. Or Cyr can.

After Angela quieted and Marissya gently wiped her tears away she kissed her on her forehead. "Let's see what dresses we have available in your size, ajiana." The shei'dahlin announced smiling tenderly at Angela.

A trunk was at the foot of the bed. After a few chimes Marissya chose three dresses. The one Angela selected was a soft saffron cotton with red accents to match her wrist guards. Marissya smiled. Cyr knows his shei'tani without realizing it.

"Come see, ajiana." Marissya said, her true blue eyes sparkling.

Angela turned in front of the full-length mirror and gasped. I feel like Ashleanne the Hearthminder. She thought awed, barely recognizing herself.

Her large grey eyes were highlighted by her high cheekbones and heart-shaped face. Her soft, full lips beginning to smile showcasing small dimples. Her freckles splashed across her cheeks and nose. Her untamable russet curls framed her face in tendrils slipping from a partial updo. Her saffron dress was modest and cinched with red accents and appliqued leaves along the belt, collar and hem.

What will Cyr think? She blinked, confused and then shook her head, turning to Marissya.

"Thank you," Angela whispered. Marissya beamed and laughed, hugging Angela.

Together, the two women walked outside and Angela took a deep breath as the tairen fire suffused her with extra warmth. She walked unsteadily forward.

Sian and Torel appeared on either side of her and she smiled shyly at them. Both warriors beamed at her.

"You bring honor to this Fey," they chorused. Angela smiled and blushed showcasing her dimples. Cyr entered and did a double-take. Grinning, he bowed low.

"You look lovely, kem'shei'tani ajiana." Angela blushed, fidgeting before gripping Sian's arm tightly, feeling winded.

"Kem'falla?" Sian asked worriedly. She took a deep breath. "I'm f―fine. I just...need some more hot water…" she muttered, shivering. Together, Cyr created a goblet and Sian filled it with faerilas water from his flask and Torel lit it. Cyr gave her a concerned look, eying the wrist guards which dulled as Angela consumed the faerilas greedily. Her eyes stared hungrily at the the empty goblet before she sighed, returning it to Cyr who disintegrated it without a thought. She gaped at the casual display of magic.

"What exactly is sel'dor?" Angela asked, wanting to change the subject. Her social graces slowly returning to her.

"It's a black metal that disrupts Fey magic, kem'falla," Sian answered. "The Eld know this and use it in all of their weapons to harm us."

Angela frowned. "But can't you sense it? There is some over there to the left." She said pointing at a fireoak tree farther back.

"Nei kem'falla." Torel said slowly. He turned to investigate and bit back a curse as his hand brushed a trap that clamped on his arm and he hissed in pain. Sian left to help his friend with Spirit magic flaring. Cyr quickly tucked Angela underneath his arm. A glowing shield shimmered into place around his shei'tani.

Angela gasped seeing Torel's wounds as Sian brought him over. "I'm sorry," she said upset as her hand tried to reach through the shield. She could not penetrate it.

She scowled at Cyr. "Let me help him, Cyr." She demanded.

"Nei shei'tani." Cyr said sternly «Fey! Sel'dor traps near the healing tent!» He shouted along the Common Path.

Several Fey warriors sped towards them with fey'cha raised as Torel was brought to his knees. Angela gritted her teeth and the Tairen fire in her wrist guards pulsated quickly. She knelt and placed her hands against the shield again disintegrating it enough for her hand to reach Torel's.

The sel'dor fell to the ground, disintegrating to ash. Angela grabbed Torel's hands and siphoned the burn from him sighing in relief as she stopped shivering from exerting herself.

The Fey gaped at her. "Are―are you alright, Torel?" She asked nervously. Grey eyes downcast.

"Aiyah, kem'falla, beylah vo." Torel said sincerely. Marissya arrived breathlessly realizing her healing is unnecessary.

"Come, let's go and leave the warriors to scout." Marissya commanded as they returned to the healing tent. "What happened, ajiana?" Marissya asked.

"I―I'm just so c-cold all the time," Angela stammered. "And, well I sensed...um...sel'dor...I've always been this way." She admitted feeling more like an outsider than ever before. Why did I think getting cleaned up would be such―. Her emotions spanned the gamut of shame, fear, anxiety and rejection pounding Cyr's senses.

"Las shei'tani." Cyr said calmly, when he was anything but. "No one blames you―least of all Torel." He stood behind his shei'tani his eyes glowing with white sparks in challenge. Daxian v'En Solande rushed in snarling his shields around his shei'tani, red-handled fey'cha glowing.

Angela flinched with a little cry and buried her face in Cyr's chest, shivering in both cold and fright. She had never seen a Fey Lord overreact like that and she vividly remembered Norban gossip and dire warnings on how dangerous and powerful the Fey are. She shied deeper into Cyr. What have I gotten myself into?! Angela thought frantically. She wondered fearfully of the one plighted to her troth. Would he be the same?!

"Setah shei'tan!" Marissya snapped. "I'm not in danger! Angela is frightened enough as it is and you're not helping!" She glared at Cyr who quieted his Rage with a few deep breaths and self-chastised his lack of control.

Marissya stiffly walked around Dax. «I was hoping to finally introduce you to her and you have no idea how long it took me to calm her today after her tragic ordeal!» She Spirited him furiously.

"Ajiana." Marissya said in her best maternal voice. "You're safe, I promise. Remember what I told you about shei'tans? They're fiercely protective and react to even the slightest threat to their shei'tanis." She approached the frightened girl, crooning to her in Feyan and her golden shei'dahlin weaves settling Angela's nerves. She looked at the pulsating Gentle Dawn roses slowly recede.

"I―I swear I di'n't mean anythang by it Lady Marissya," Angela said crying, slipping into her Norban accent. "We―I wanted to know what sel'dor actually was. Papa di'n't know and I'd jus' collected it for his project because it's everywhere in Norban but no one touches it. It's like no one else can even see it. And―and then I jus' thought the Fey could sense it because y―you can sense ev'rythang with your m―magic and I felt some near this camp a few times but figured you knew and―!" she started crying in earnest, hiccuping.

Cyr felt rotten. Already he failed his shei'tani. Dax felt hollow for offending both his shei'tani and the unsettled young woman. He could see she is still too thin for her figure despite the extensive healing she received. She was slight but not skinny naturally. She must have suffered a great deal more than I first thought.

Marissya had been unusually protective of Angela and he could see why.

So this is Marissya's new nessa.

Marissya gathered her in her arms. "Las, las ajiana." Marissya said gently. "You've done another great service to the Fey. For all our power, we do have weaknesses." That stopped Angela short as she stared at Marissya in blatant disbelief. "It's true, ajiana." Marissya continued. "We cannot sense sel'dor until it pierces us." She brushed Angela's tears away. "Were you always so susceptible to fire?" She asked concerned.

Angela nodded. "Mama thought it twasn't proper in all for me to be in Papa's smithy but I liked it 'cause I was ne'er cold. Norban winters are bitter and when I would get too sickly Mama would let me sleep in the smithy. When Kyle died I helped Papa be more efficient." She gave a little self-conscious shrug. Angela glorified her brother and did not want to speak ill of the dead―but the fact remained they both knew she was the better of the two―a real natural at blacksmithing. "Whenever I'd find sel'dor it stopped being hot and I was always disappointed because I finally got to be warm for a bell or two. It's what made sel'dor worthwhile to look for." She carefully avoided Dax's eyes. She felt like a fool for her crying jag. She wiped her tears from her eyes quickly.

"Nei ajiana." Marissya said firmly. Angela nodded, swallowing her tears.

"Do you know how far you can sense sel'dor?" Sian asked after a beat, with a glance at Torel.

Angela frowned trying to remember. "Well...I suppose around five miles...I had to travel that far with my brother one winter. We were hungry and he's―was―one of the best hunters in Norban. I found some there in Greatwood Forest. Papa always said to leave some sel'dor behind and I let Kyle tell me which ones to take so as not to look too suspicious." Angela answered. She shivered and Cyr placed her ruby cloak around her shoulders while both Marissya and Torel wove Fire weaves around her causing her to relax.

"Have you eaten anything yet, ajiana?" Marissya asked concerned. Her brows knitted as she exchanged a glance with Cyr.

«We were going to escort her to get something to eat.» Cyr answered her unspoken question. «She seemed like she wanted to walk around some.»

Marissya nodded. "Why don't we take a walk, ajiana?" She held a hand toward Angela who clasped it and wobbled as soon as she took her first step. Angela's face burned with shame but she managed not to stumble. What's wrong with me? Angela thought frustrated.

Marissya led Angela outside. Angela shivered and moved instinctively closer to the shei'dahlin. Cyr wove a hood for her; which she promptly hid her face in the cowl to stay warm. She breathed a sigh of relief.

The shei'dahlin led her to the center of the Fey camp. Angela paused, turning to her right suspiciously.

"What is it, ajiana?" Marissya asked concerned.

"Can you do that, er, mind thing the Feyreisa did?" Angela asked, her fatigue becoming more apparent. "I think if I just show someone what it is...it'd be easier."

"Of course," Marissya readily agreed. She placed her delicate hand in front of Angela's hood. "Just think of what it is, ajiana."

Instantly, Marissya was bombarded by fatigue, hunger, and depletion from Angela's body from her physiological ordeal but the young woman staunchly pushed it down so Marissya could 'see' what she did. Astounded, Marissya shared her vision with Dax automatically.

The pulsating Eldan magic wrapped around objects were obvious to Angela and glowed with a faint heat. Somehow, the Eld removed the tell-tale Azrahn to hide their subtle, deadly treachery.

"Ajiana," Marissya breathed. "You're truly a gift from the gods."

Dax nodded, stunned. "We must hurry while Angela can still sense them." Marissya glowered at her shei'tan and started to protest.

"You have to," Angela said weakly. "Just," she gulped. "Just please give me some fire and that magic water―I'll be fine, I promise." She smiled cagily. "It's not like this doesn't happen to me everyday."

Cyr was outraged; but he could not dispute Dax's assessment. "We're in grave danger," Cyr said stiffly. "This could all be a trap." His mind racing on how best to defend his shei'tani.

Angela nodded. "'Ware the crows, Cyr," she palmed Ravel's and Sian's blades and went in a slight crouch. "I'm ready, Lady Marissya."

Shields wrapped around every fellana, Marissya and Angela. The fellanas gathered around Angela offering support to Marissya who took the Spirit weaves and transferred it to the Fey. Each fellana wrapped Angela in a small Fire weave as they gave Angela their faerilas store. She drank greedily. Her body rapidly absorbing the faerilas almost as soon as she consumed it.

«Be careful.» Angela Spirited automatically.

«Aiyah, shei'tani.» Cyr answered, pleased at her concern. It is the first time she reached for him. Angela started and quickly disrupted the connection. She was perturbed by the idea of telepathy. Her upbringing warned her of witchcraft and she turned from him.

Angela rolled her shoulders back. She frowned in concentration as she sipped the faerilas absently from a goblet a fellana offered. Her consciousness spread outward, wavering a little. She could do a mile at best as she picked out the stones. The sel'dor blurred in front of her as her heart pounded in dismay when the sel'dor disappeared.

«Las ajiana.» Marissiya Spirited to Angela. «Do not strain yourself.» Angela hissed in pain. Her connection breaking. She shuddered as several pairs of hands caught her.

"Sorry," Angela muttered. "normally, I can do longer." What's wrong me? She sighed, her stomach rumbling. She wished for more of that seafood soup she had earlier. "I think we need to leave quickly." She grimaced at Marissya. "D'you think the Eld know anything? Can you see this?" Her hand on Marissya's forearm and she closed her eyes showing the crows she mentioned to Cyr earlier.

The same hidden Eld energy pulsed around the crows she remembered from Norban. The differences were slight from a regular crow. Doubtless, they were Eldan spies.

"Aiyah, ajiana,I do see it." Marissya confirmed sending the crow memory to the Fey to beware. She frowned at Angela wondering why Angela kept apologizing. She would address it privately.

Bel appeared looking at Angela appreciatively and speculatively. "Angela's right." The Fey busily gathered their camp and returned nature as was before they disturbed it. "We have prepared Lady Marissya's carriage with the ba'houda horses." Angela tilted her head in confusion, glancing at Marissya.

"It was a matepair gifted to us from the Elves." Bel explained. "We have bred them the past few centuries and use them only for Lady Marissya's diplomatic entourage."

Angela nodded and immediately wished she had not. She felt a pair of strong arms lift her and would have flushed had she not been so weary. Her mind flashed to when her brother had done so as a joke or when she had fallen ill. She closed her eyes suddenly grief-stricken. Tears springing from her eyes and bit her lip from crying out.

Cyr shared a worried look with Marissya confused about her sudden grief. He could access her mind...but it is not the Fey way. More importantly, she was just beginning to trust him and he knew he would ruin what chance he did have with her if he pushed it. Together, they entered Marissya's carriage. Angela's stomach rumbled, and she sighed. "No such thing as soup and food." She murmured. "So quit asking for it."

Marissya shook her head at Cyr not to say anything and gestured for him to lift her as she called for the seafood soup cauldron to be brought in.

«She convinced herself that to stave off hunger.» Marissya Spirited to Cyr. «She won't be able to consume too much because her stomach shrunk.» Marissya was clearly worried and Cyr could feel her starvation and insatiable thirst as if it were his own. He shifted to support her while Marissya opened her mouth and spoonfed Angela. Her eyes snapped opened and she gulped what was left of the spoon. Angela lunged for the seafood soup bowl, almost snarling at Marissya as she wolfed it down, nearly choking in her rush.

Cyr gasped and tried to prevent her from harming herself. One hand reaching for the bowl while the other wrapped around her waist tightened.

Angela half-twisted in his embrace and bit Cyr's shoulder and bared her teeth at him. Next, she scratched his hand, batting away his arm in the process. Her grey eyes wild. Finishing the last of the soup greedily she looked bereft at the bowl and licked the remaining the residue, scowling at her shei'tan as she scrambled away from him.

The wild hunger apparent in every line of her body. She did not notice the shield surrounding Marissya or that Marissya openly wept. Instead, she bared her teeth at Cyr, considering him a threat.

"Oh, oh ajiana," Marissya said upset. "What happened to you? Why would anyone be so cruel to you?" Marissya sniffled. She knew her ajiana was at her limit. The hunger and fear making her lash out. She knew this was not her ajiana. Marissya accepted Dax's embrace and buried her face in her shei'tan's arms, taking his strength as she shared what transpired with her mate.

Cyr stared at his shei'tani, shocked. "Shei'tani," he said gently. His amber eyes beseeching. "You're safe, shei'tani." His throat dry, causing his voice to crack. "I'm not going to hurt you, Angela." Hurt by her attack and overwhelmed and grieved as to how to help her.

«Teska.» Cyr pleaded. «believe me, Angela. I'd never hurt you or steal food from you. You're kem'shei'tani ajiana.»

Angela's eyes slowly cleared from her hunger. "C―Cyr?" she whispered, recognizing him before she fainted. Cyr caught her and carefully laid her back in the pillows. Taking the napkin he removed the soup residue from her face.

He silently accepted Marissya's healing from his shei'tani's attacks. "Kem'shei'tani ajiana," he whispered. "You'll never be hungry again." He vowed, shaken.


References: I believe the quintets are masters of one magic (like Kieran vel Solande) with maybe one or two decent sills unless they are just awesome like Bel (who still is not a master of all four Elemental―Earth!―and one Mystic. Otherwise, it would make him a Tairen Soul).