Ellian spent a week at Dae's abode, slowly settling into his new life as a free man in Bahliefa. Dae was a gracious, if distant, host, and he answered all of Ellian's questions about the town. Ellian learned that the town, population 276, had been established five years ago, and that its existence was a closely kept secret, news of which reached fellow mages only by word of mouth. Some mages brought family with them, but Dae was strict in his policy, and only the mageborn were allowed to enter Bahliefa. Nulls couldn't even see the town that mages greeted with tears of joy.

Bahliefa's pastoral sweetness was carefully crafted. The powerful shields that guarded it from outsiders were Dae's doing; the staggering fertility that made it overflow with all sorts of plant life was Dae's doing; the peacefulness of the occasional wild animal that wandered in was Dae's doing. Ellian had thought Dae a bit arrogant, but once he learned just how Dae had carefully used his gifts to protect and nurture the town, Ellian had to hand it to him. Dae had every right to be arrogant.

And for all his arrogance, Dae was devoted to every citizen of Bahliefa. He greeted and interviewed each newcomer personally, and, as he had done with Ellian, housed those too exhausted to move a step beyond that which had moved them into the town. He knew the name, power, and country of origin of everyone in the town and was especially solicitious of the children, precious spare resources that they were. Most of them had come with a guardian, though a few mageborn orphans had dared the journey. The children who had been born in the town (all thirteen of them) were still very young, but, steeped in magic as they were, it was clear to see that they'd grow up unusually strong.

There was a town meeting every month where everyone who cared to could voice a concern. Dae was the self-declared Alcaldel of Bahliefa, but he was adored and beloved, and there was no talk of replacing him. There was a small town council, chosen by Dae, of six other mages, the most powerful who had made it to the town. All of them were weaklings compared to Dae, but then, it was unfair to compare them to him. Power like that was seen once in fifty generations.

As for those mages, Ellian had no head for names, but the pulse of blood in their mageborn bodies attuned him to their powers. He knew that two were Shields, two were Foci, one Scryed, and one, quite vaguely, Saw. Precognition was an exquisitely rare power, however vaguely it manifested itself, and Dae eagerly welcomed the mage into the town's elite.

It wasn't difficult to get information about Bahliefa, and Ellian soon exhausted his curiosity about the place. In a town of 276, one could only say so much before the conversation degenerated into small talk. What Ellian truly wondered about was the mage himself. Where was Dae from? Did he have a family, close friends... a lover, perhaps? He was surprised at the apathy his questions received. The people of Bahliefa asked no questions because Dae made it clear he wasn't going to answer them.

"My only mission is to care for the mistreated, persecuted mageborn," Dae had announced on more than one occasion. "I have devoted my life to this mission. I am interested in little else. I have no time, nor do I overly care, for myself."

The people of Bahliefa were almost fanatically devoted to their Alcaldel, who had saved them from certain demise at the hands of increasingly savage anti-mageborn propaganda. Dae cared for them. Dae loved them. Dae was their champion and benefactor who tended to them and accepted them as they were. Dae had bloomed from an evening rose the color of his eyes. The rays of the sun itself flowed along the strands of his hair.

Ellian liked Dae a lot and appreciated the establishment of Bahliefa, but really, some of the citizens carried their adulation into excessiveness.

Ellian, wanting to pierce this godling mythology, had disregarded the taboo and asked Dae directly about his past. To his surprise, the mage's eyes, already piercing, had brightened almost feverishly. Silence ensued, tense and bewildering, and it had broken only when Dae laughed lightly and commented on the possibility of rain, turning his gaze away.

Ellian continued to wonder, but he learned to do it to himself. His inquiries weren't welcome in Bahliefa. Still, Dae was too compelling a mystery for Ellian to banish from his mind completely. Dae aged slowly as all mages did and looked in his early thirties, which was no indicator of his real age at all. He looked mature but youthful, a splendid example of male virility and confidence. And handsome. By the Four, so handsome. The unattached young women of the town courted him earnestly with little result but that dazzling, enigmatic smile. It was impossible to think that he'd never loved or been loved before.

Ruminations on this subject really took up more time than they should.

Other than the secrets Ellian was certain Dae wore as some women wore jewels, there were other things Ellian noticed that were strange about the Alcaldel. Ellian had had the misfortune of reaching Bahliefa in midwinter when the cold was at its peak, though the sun shone clearly each day. Most of the townspeople wore two or three layers of clothes, or at least a heavy overcloak. Dae openly eschewed such outfits. His customary costume was a sleeveless jerkin often only perfunctorily tied and a thin pair of pants. Yet he never evinced any sign of cold. Damned if Ellian could even spot a goosebump on that smooth, pale skin.

Pale....

Dae had been busy establishing the shields and fertility of Bahliefa for two years before people began to migrate. He'd been in Rhighelza for seven years, and the Rhighelzan-Amasuelian border was famous for its sweltering summers. Dae, with his complexion, ought to have burnt to a toasty brown by now. Yet he was a healthy shade of peach that was undoubtedly the color he'd been born with.

Other peculiarities, such as Dae's complete lack of difficulty in picking up the heaviest of objects or in calming the fiercest of little lynxes, could be attributed to his magic and sorcery, so Ellian didn't bother to worry overmuch about those. What really worried him was that he could sense no pulse from Dae.

Ellian's Blood power was quite intrusive. In a crowded room, the beat of people's hearts provided a gentle but constant rhythm. Through blood he could get a vague impression of power. If he exerted himself, he could get a vague impression of the life that blood had witnessed, or the weaknesses that blood harbored. If he gave in to the temptation of Dark magic, he could make that blood burst from the body, or warp it to yield sickness, or evaporate it, bit by bit. He was always excruciatingly aware of the ebb and flow of blood, but he sensed nothing of the life liquid within Dae's handsome body. Absolutely nothing.

That could mean several things, only one of them relatively benign: Dae could be Shielding, or someone could be Shielding him. Among the more bizarre theories Ellian's mind churned out was the possibility of possession, rogue power, or even ghostliness. But Ellian had to snicker at himself for that last one, even as his mind explored it. It made sense, almost, if Ellian pretended to have lost his mind: Dae could be a spirit riveted to the earth by some past pain or sorrow that wouldn't allow him to leave. Perhaps he was dead, but he'd magicked himself to this plane with fierce Dark arts because he was afraid of the judgment of the Hereafter. Perhaps he stayed on this earth because he had a mission indeed, but a mission very different from that he was stating to Bahliefa.

But Ellian attached as much credulence to this theory as to the one that stated Dae was a guardian angel or the avatar of a god, sent down from the Four explicitly to protect this enclave of mageborn. He'd read and adored too many terror tales in his childhood, and he was all too used to looking for conspiracies. For all of his peculiarities, without Dae, Ellian would likely be dead at the hands of his own countrymen. He could never forget that.