05
They hadn’t even crossed the damn bridge yet. “Tara couldn’t have known we were coming.”
“She is not a fool. When your confederates crossed the bridge, she became instantly aware of them. She is not familiar with
Lord Andellen, but she is absolutely familiar with Teela and her friends.” Tiamaris was intimidating even when not in draconic
form.
“There’s no way they told you I was coming. Teela’s dead set against it.”
“Correct. But Teela was wearing Kariannos. Tara considered its presence in my fief very rude.”
“She was gone before you could confront her about her poor manners?”
“I assumed that she had come to investigate the scene of the crime,” was his reasonable reply. “Given what Nightshade faced,
carrying her strongest weapon was merely a display of intelligent caution. I lost some small amount of time convincing Tara;
she believed that Teela’s investigation encompassed more than that.
“And it appears I should place far more faith in her instincts.” His eyes, however, belied his words and tone; they were orange,
yes, but flecks of gold could be seen in their glow.
“She had no intention of harming you,” Kaylin replied. Terrano had taken a step back. He wasn’t exactly hiding behind her, but it was close.
“Of course not.” Tiamaris’s tone was dismissive. “But it seems that your timid friend is worried Bellusdeo might react in
a less measured fashion should she encounter Teela. You said she was skirting the border, didn’t you?”
Terrano mumbled a yes.
“The border along Ravellon is in no way the same as the borders that exist between the fiefs. Is she aware of that?”
“She doesn’t entirely agree with your assessment.” Terrano spoke with a touch of hesitation.
“Until my ascent as fieflord, I was the person within the Empire who had the most experience navigating the fiefs and their
many lost secrets,” Tiamaris said, the gold flecks vanishing from his eyes.
“She says that’s true, officially speaking. Before you get angry, she adds that she didn’t break the prohibitions herself—but
she’s certain they’ve been broken, now.”
Red flecks appeared in place of the absent gold. “Explain.”
“She’s been following the trail of a very faint magical sigil to find the Barrani who acted in concert with the war bands
to assassinate the fieflord. She hasn’t crossed the Ravellon border herself—and won’t—but she believes that at least one person did. She’s concerned,” Terrano added, speaking slightly
more confidently. “But she’s not a fool; she’s not entering Ravellon without a small army.”
Tiamaris turned his massive head and exhaled a small stream of fire. “Very well. Cross the bridge, and head directly to Bellusdeo’s
fief. I will escort you from the air.”
Tiamaris didn’t offer to fly them to Teela. Instead, he provided low, aerial cover for the Hawks—and Terrano—as they sprinted through the streets of his fief. Terrano was focused not on being semipermeable, but on the cohort. And the Dragon.
“Bellusdeo?”
“Bellusdeo and her Norranir,” Terrano confirmed. “The Norranir are out in force; Teela’s having difficulty hearing because
they’ve started their defensive drumming.”
Tiamaris, above, roared. Kaylin didn’t have time to plug her ears; she sped up. Tiamaris sped up as well, his shadow racing
past them as he pumped his mighty wings, heading toward the border of Bellusdeo at a speed sprinting on the ground couldn’t
match.
Why do things always turn out like this?
Severn said nothing. They could sprint side by side; his stride was longer, and if necessary, he could outpace her. He didn’t.
Let’s just get to Bellusdeo before she starts breathing fire.
Squawk.
Damn.
Could this day get any worse?
They ran. Tiamaris could fly above the border zone. It wasn’t the first time in her life she wished she were Aerian; they
couldn’t follow. The border zone existed between the fiefs of Tiamaris and Bellusdeo. It existed between all fiefs, except
on those streets that now led to the Academia—and those weren’t the streets they were running in. Kaylin sprinted into the
faded, washed-out road between Bellusdeo—formerly the fief of Candallar—and Tiamaris.
She skidded to a halt a block in.
Severn slowed instantly—and far more gracefully.
Terrano scudded along, feet touching ground on some other plane Kaylin couldn’t see. It was Terrano who cursed.
“Hope!”
Squawk.
“Just make sure he’s safe!”
The familiar pushed himself off Kaylin’s shoulder, squawking up a storm as he flew toward the transparent Terrano.
What is it?
There’s magic here.
The kind you’re allergic to?
She nodded.
You should have looked through Hope’s wing before you sent him off.
I don’t trust the area, and Terrano didn’t stop. He was right, and she knew it, but Terrano always felt he was safe. He wasn’t; he’d managed to get himself caged or confined
before. Nothing could dim his innate arrogance.
Hope exhaled. Terrano swore at him. Particles of silver mist hung in the air, tracing a pattern familiar to the normal version
of Terrano—or at least the solid version. Severn caught the Barrani by the shoulder and dragged him back to where Kaylin,
arms tingling, stood.
“Look, we’re in a rush, but we can’t just trip every magical bomb or trap laid down by fleeing criminals, okay?” Kaylin glared
at him.
“Criminals? The attack happened in the fiefs. Whoever ran this way would never have been under your jurisdiction. Laws of
exemption are irrelevant—if you manage to get yourself killed, the Halls of Law can’t use your death as an excuse to threaten
the High Halls.”
“Not hers, no,” Severn agreed. “But she’s not the only person here. Tiamaris has experience with the fiefs—but so do I. The
Wolves aren’t beholden to the Halls of Law in quite the same fashion the Hawks are.”
“Really?”
“We have pursuit exceptions.”
“Except you’re wearing the Hawk.”
“I am.” Severn grinned. It was not terribly friendly.
“Argue about this later,” Kaylin said, grimacing as the tingling of her skin grew more painful. “Let’s move back into Tiamaris and try to cross the borders further down.”
“Down?”
“Toward Ravellon. Now, Terrano.”
“Sorry. Just arguing with Sedarias.”
“Because she thinks I’m right?”
He shrugged, almost sullen. He did, however, follow when they returned to Tiamaris. “She’s only saying that because Tiamaris
has caught Bellusdeo’s attention, and they’re now deafening anyone in range.”
The obvious, full-body warning that indicated the presence of magic dimmed as they retreated. “This is probably what led Teela
to the border closer to Ravellon.”
Terrano nodded; it was followed by a wince and a grimace.
“You should stop doing that,” Severn told the Barrani cohort member.
“Stop what?”
“Asking Sedarias if you can tell Kaylin your True Name.”
Terrano shrugged. “It really is a lot easier. It’d save time, and we can have a full raging argument without making any other
noise. I wouldn’t have to talk at all, and I wouldn’t have to try to describe what we’re seeing—or what Teela sees right now.
Kaylin could see it all.”
“Could I unsee it?”
“Good question. Doesn’t matter. Sedarias will kill me if I try.”
Kaylin could see the work Tiamaris had done in his fief in the buildings that lined the road they followed toward the Norranir
homes. Those homes had once been tents, overcrowded and heavily worn; they were now taller versions of the buildings that
otherwise girded the road.
Terrano appeared to be shaking dust off his clothing in annoyance. Hope squawked a few times for good measure, sneezed once, and made his way back to Kaylin’s shoulder.
They continued along the road, jogging rather than sprinting as they approached the Norranir homes. Those homes weren’t occupied,
given the number of Norranir who stood outside them, drums in their much larger hands. Terrano was right: it was hard to hear
anything but that drumming—like the sounds of a giant’s heart.
The Norranir were accustomed to the much smaller mortals that otherwise occupied the fiefs; those who weren’t beating the
drums turned immediately toward Kaylin and Severn. They were armed. Their weapons made greatswords look like long knives.
The Norranir had served Bellusdeo in a world that no longer existed; she had been their queen and their leader. Kaylin was
almost surprised to see them here; she’d assumed they would move to Bellusdeo’s fief when Bellusdeo took her Tower.
But it took time to build homes—and Tiamaris had had personal money with which to do it. Bellusdeo didn’t. She’d make changes.
Kaylin was certain of that. But those changes would be slower to occur, and trickier to navigate. The previous fieflord, much
like Nightshade, hadn’t cared for the people who lived in the fief itself.
“Are we supposed to talk to them?” Terrano asked. He’d once again taken up position behind Kaylin, given he was no longer
invisible or half invisible. The Norranir weren’t viscerally terrifying the way a full-grown Dragon was, but they weren’t
exactly comforting.
“We need to reach Lord Bellusdeo,” Kaylin said, without preamble.
“She is not here.”
“No—she’s in her fief. But a friend—of both hers and ours—is also in the fief.”
“An’Teela.” An older woman pushed her way through the sword-wielding guards. Her expression was grim, but it didn’t immediately imply death was a sword swing away.
Kaylin’s surprise must have shown. “Yes.”
“She asked our permission to pass through.”
“When?” Terrano asked. It probably looked like Kaylin’s shoulder was talking.
“An hour ago. Perhaps more. She was navigating the gray. Is that why you’ve come this way?”
Kaylin nodded. “We tried to cross the . . . gray, but it wasn’t safe.”
“So she said, as well. We believe An’Teela can navigate the edge of the barrier. We are less certain you can do the same.”
This caused Terrano to stick his head out. “I can absolutely do the same!”
She glanced down at Terrano, her lips thinning. “You? You are a child, no?”
Kaylin caught Terrano by the arm as he stepped forward. “I’m the same age as An’Teela!”