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I summoned my courage and spoke. “From what I have seen, their intention is intimidation. As Councilman Calder said, to back away and leave Eilith alone is to let them succeed. To come to her aid would be a show of strength, that we’re taking this seriously.

That we don’t leave our own behind.” My voice sounded stronger than I felt, but it still shook.

I looked around at each of them. “Eilith was my home for over a year. She took me in when I had nowhere else to go. She is my family, and I can’t live with myself if I sit here while she’s trapped in some prison. Let us go to the Temple.”

Councilman Magnus retorted with another scoff, “Ha. She arrives only a month or two ago and yet she speaks like she has some sway here. At a Council meeting of all places.”

My face heated immediately, and I glanced around for any support, unsure what to do.

“You all invited her here! And she’s right,” El snapped, glaring at Councilman Magnus.

I was both touched at the gesture, and grateful that I wasn’t on the other end of that look as she continued, “Halja is one of us. She is a strong Sourcerer and a citizen of this city, and she is right. We cannot abandon Eilith. Let us find her and bring her home.”

Councilwoman Fínán interjected, “Our goal is deescalation. Sending delegates rather than a member of the Council keeps our response one step removed from direct political conflict. They should go as our emissaries.”

Councilman Calder spoke, his voice still calm. “I agree. We should send emissaries to deescalate the situation. Speak to her captors –– a High Deacon, if you can. But don’t make this conflict worse than it is.”

“Even just speaking to them within the Temple is dangerous. Especially for one so clearly fae.” Councilman Torin gestured to El. “I’m sorry, Elenwen, but your appearance is conspicuous.”

“Being fae is not illegal yet, Councilman,” El replied. “And there are ways to hide it with glamour, if I need to.”

Councilman Creag, who had until then been quiet and contemplative, spoke up.

“Should the Paragons deign to imprison official emissaries of peace, they will further taint their own reputation with egregious political blasphemy. It would be an affront to civilized political decorum. Surely King Evander would not stoop to that level, despite the distasteful rumors circulating about him. He is still a king, after all.”

Councilman Torin still looked concerned. His brow furrowed, wrinkling his already wrinkled skin further, but he said nothing more.

“It may be a risk,” Councilman Calder said, “but they’ve pushed us too far this time. I’ve had enough of the Paragons and their blatant propaganda. They’ve turned good people against each other. Made the fae-touched an enemy, a scapegoat. It is time to take a stand.”

Several council members murmured their agreement, including Creag, Fínán, Loganach, and Celestine.

After a moment’s silence, Councilwoman Celestine called in a clear voice, “We should take this meeting to private council to make our decision. The open portion of this circle is adjourned. We will inform you of our decision soon. Thank you for coming.”

The Council stood and moved their chairs around the oval table as we exited the chamber into brilliant sunlight.

“What’s up Torin’s ass today?” El chimed as soon as we’d crossed the enchanted passage through the waterfall and were out of earshot of the chamber.

Byrgir huffed a small, amused laugh through his nose. “There’s always something up Torin’s ass. And it isn’t always Loughlin.”

Crow chuckled as El laughed, hitting Byrgir’s arm in amusement. She caught my questioning glance and clarified, “Loughlin is Torin’s husband. They’ve been together longer than we’ve been alive.”

“Loughlin is also Torin’s Blood-Bound,” Byrgir added. “They’re one of the last few sworn pairs.”

“People still take the Blood Oath?” I asked. “I thought it ended when the wars ended and the fae left.”

“Sort of,” said Byrgir. “Torin and Loughlin took the Oath over a hundred years ago, so I’m not sure you can say that people still do. It binds them together for life, though. It's old magic. Strong magic.”

“Blood magic,” El added.

“They took it over a hundred years ago, and they’re still alive?” I asked.

El explained, “Torin is half fae, so he will live much longer than a full human. And when a pair takes the Blood Oath, their lives are entangled, magically interwoven. The bond is strong enough that, if there’s an imbalance, the life of one is extended to match that of the other, like between a fae and a human.

Apparently in the old days, when humans and fae lived amongst each other, there were many sworn pairs between fae and humans. ”

“The legendary Lane and Lorelei were a sworn pair,” Crow said. “Tales say Lorelei’s fae influence helped Lane live to be over five hundred years old, and he was still spry when they vanished. You’d never know his age.”

“Are Blood-Bound pairs always lovers?” I asked.

“No, although it happened frequently. The bond of the Oath is strong. Compelling.” El said, “Emotions get heightened, and feelings grow. Often sworn pairs are good friends, strong teammates. It used to be a common tradition within the fae armies. It was intended to strengthen warriors on the battlefield, and it worked, made a more cohesive and motivated team. The bond can only be broken by death, and the member of the sworn pair left behind experiences great pain when it’s severed, so those in a sworn pair usually fight more for others than themselves.

Not to mention it makes them more powerful.

They make incredibly fierce battle masters.

Both individuals of the Blood-Bound pair can fight with the strength of two, and some legends even say that especially powerful pairs can fight with the strength of whole armies. ”

“The feelings might not always have come after the Oath,” Byrgir added, returning to my question after El’s verbose tangent. “Maybe some pairs are compelled to take the Oath to better protect the love they already have.”

“The old story goes that Lane proposed the Oath to Lorelei when the war started,” El agreed. “They were already committed lovers, and his love ran so deep that he wanted to protect her against the world when the fighting got bad.”

“Romantic,” I said, watching my footing as the path grew steeper.

“Very,” El said. “Seems like that kind of chivalry doesn’t exist anymore, hey Byrgir?” She gave him a teasing smile over her shoulder.

“Chival-who? Never heard of her,” Byrgir said.

“It’s said they took their Oath together in a secret ceremony while their city was under siege, and the power it gave them helped them destroy the entire enemy legion. Their first followers enlisted that same day,” El finished. “I know I would have.”

We fell quiet, each lost in our own thoughts.

El never stayed quiet for long though, and her thoughts had returned to the recent meeting, “Really though, I wish Torin would shove off. He made it very clear in front of the whole Council that he doesn’t trust me.”

“I don’t think it’s personal, El,” Byrgir said. “Torin’s been around a long time, seen a lot. You don’t live through that much shit without a healthy dose of caution.”

“He never supports my ideas though,” El retorted.

“Because your ideas are always dangerous,” Crow said simply.

El rolled her eyes. “And what the hell was with Magnus? Speaking down to Halja like that?”

“It felt like he was trying to undermine your credibility in front of the Council,” Byrgir said, both to and about me. “Just to prove his own point, to keep us out of any kind of conflict with the Crown.”

“And so condescending too! Gods, I could’ve smacked that stupid smirk right off his face,” El added.

We followed the path downhill through mountain heather and melting snow. Lamps and enchanted lights peeked through the shadows in the trees of the city. I was warmed by the sight. Rhyanaes was beginning to feel like home.

Crow left that afternoon for Avanis, to continue to guide the Rangers’ efforts in gathering information on the Temple. Even if we had no approval to extract Eilith, it was wise to at least learn how to dismantle their wards and prepare to infiltrate the Temple if need be.

That evening, we received word that our request to visit the Temple of Enos and ask after Eilith had been approved by the Council.

We had a short discussion with Generals Calder and Celestine at the tavern, where they advised us to proceed with caution, be polite, and not to suggest even a hint of force.

We packed our bags, prepared our mounts, and left with the lavender-gray light of dawn the following morning, the wolves at our heels.