09 #3
guests. Yvonne!”
Severn stiffened.
“Young Severn has come to visit—please do prepare tea. Oh, wait, perhaps something slightly stronger. Choose as the guests
request. I myself require something stronger.” She then nodded to the Avatar; it was a dismissal.
The Avatar offered her a bow that implied deep respect; it wasn’t as low as the bow he had offered the Consort, and he didn’t
hold it for as long, but it was there. Probably because he understood that An’Tellarus could demand it.
“Yes,” the Avatar whispered as he rose. “While it is possible not to offer what is expected, there are subtle costs; she is
famously prickly.”
He must have learned that word from Terrano.
“That,” the Avatar replied, “and many others. The evolution of mortal language is fascinating. Do not keep An’Tellarus waiting,” he added, his tone more somber. “Terrano asks that I ask you to try not to annoy her.”
An’Tellarus led the way to an almost modestly sized sitting room. It wasn’t opulent in an obvious way. Kaylin struggled to
remember etiquette and mostly failed. She regretted the resentment of her much younger self. You can’t eat it. It won’t keep you warm in the winter. You can’t wield it. All the words echoed, because they were hers. They’d been true, then. In some ways, they were true now.
Are you trying to assess her intent? Severn asked.
I am. She’s old. She’s powerful. She’s . . . prickly.
Prickly?
You didn’t hear the Avatar?
No. Perhaps he did not intend to be heard.
He’s spending way too much time with Terrano. But . . . yes. It’s a small room. I haven’t been to the High Halls much, and the Consort meets
us outside, where finery is hard to assess. Plus, she’s the Consort. An’Tellarus might somehow be involved with everything
that’s happening, and she’s powerful enough the Avatar treats her with respect.
You’re worried that she’s behind the Consort’s condition?
Aren’t you?
No.
Teela is.
Of course she is. An’Tellarus would not attempt to harm the Consort. But An’Tellarus may be no friend to Sedarias. She is
powerful. She is—as the Avatar said—prickly. But she is also often unpredictable. Ah, he added as An’Tellarus indicated her guests should sit, please take no offense at anything she might say to me.
To you?
He offered An’Tellarus a perfect bow, as graceful in execution as any Barrani’s would have been.
“I have always said you have such pretty manners, child. But I see you are no longer a child. Why have you come to visit your aunt so seldom?”
Silence descended. An’Tellarus’s words were a large ship’s anchor tossed into the ocean of social visitation; the boat was
almost pulled under.
Teela recovered first. “Aunt?” Kaylin didn’t need to remember etiquette lessons to know this wasn’t the right way to break
an awkward silence. Not among the Barrani.
“Has he not mentioned me?” An’Tellarus replied, smiling. A hint of blue appeared in her eyes. She moved toward Severn and
linked her arm around his.
He met her gaze and exhaled. “You know very well this is not a casual subject.”
“Better, perhaps, than you. But surely she has seen the weapon you wield?” Her gaze fell to Severn’s waist.
“She’s seen it wielded, yes.”
“And she asked no questions?”
“There are no questions to ask,” Teela replied. “The weapon chooses. It has chosen Corporal Handred. The test, the manner
of its passing, is oft private.”
“Indeed, indeed. Yvonne?”
A Barrani woman entered the room. She was modestly dressed in comparison to Kaylin. But her expression brightened considerably
the minute she laid eyes on Severn; she rushed to the table to set down her tray.
An’Tellarus grimaced openly, her exhalation matching Severn’s in tone. “What have I told you about guests?” she demanded, releasing Severn’s arm.
Yvonne’s eyes darkened to blue—but it was a lighter color than Teela’s had been since they’d turned down the hall that led
to the Tellarus rooms.
“I see you are being somewhat politically vexing,” An’Tellarus said, once again turning her attention to Severn. “Your clothing is not what is usually worn within these Halls. You have never been a fool, and I must assume that your choice is deliberate and necessary.
“Won’t you introduce me to your friends?”
“They are my colleagues,” Severn replied. “An’Teela does not require an introduction.”
“No. It is still considered polite. And before you point out that I have not bothered to introduce myself, I remind you that
you have come to my territory.”
“We are all officers of the Halls of Law. An’Teela, you know. Lord Kaylin is my partner in the office.”
“In the office, hmmm?” An’Tellarus turned her gaze toward Kaylin, who would have been just as happy with no introduction.
And food. “Lord Kaylin, is it?”
“Yes. If it helps, he’s Lord Severn when he wants to be. We both entered—and passed—the Tower’s test before the High Halls
fully awoke.”
“You would not be granted that title, now.”
Kaylin said nothing because it was irrelevant. If she could retake that test and have the title stripped from her, she’d’ve
done it in a hot minute.
“May I ask where you acquired the mark on your cheek?”
Kaylin stopped herself from offering a fief shrug as an answer. “I am not at liberty to discuss its origins.” The words were
stiff High Barrani.
“Oh, very well. I can see we started off on the wrong foot, as it were. It is very hard to dance competently when one’s first
step is suspect. Yvonne, please stop hovering. You can sit with Severn. Learn from his decorum where possible.”
Severn offered Yvonne a surprisingly sympathetic grimace. He sat only when Yvonne did. He clearly knew the young woman.
“Why did you wish to see us?” Teela asked.
“Strictly speaking, it was not you I wished to meet with, An’Teela. It was Severn and his companion. But I am aware that you
visited the High Halls to attend the Consort. There is a faint miasma in the air—of politics and folly; they are not always
the same. Severn.” Her expression lost its faint, smug smile and became something far more serious. “I have been asked to
deliver a message, should you come this way.
“Frankly, it was difficult not to be offended, but given the source, I agreed. And now, I am almost chagrined. I did not expect
to see you at all; I have been informed that you are no longer considered a part of Elluvian’s team.”
He nodded. “I no longer work directly under Elluvian, for the most part.” He wasn’t comfortable here, but the level of discomfort
was so minor it might have been familial. And this woman had called herself his aunt.
An’Tellarus gestured, and a scroll appeared in midair, floating gently in front of Severn’s face. “Elluvian is cautious, when
he can be bothered. There is a reason, however, that the message was left with me and not Elluvian.” Her expression was now
grave.
Severn lifted a hand; the scroll case fell, almost heavily, across his palm.
“I am not apprised of the contents. The case was not of a mind to allow me to tamper with it and evade injury.”
Meaning she’d tried.
Kaylin frowned and looked to Yvonne. Yvonne was sitting beside Severn, but she had been constantly glancing at Kaylin, to
look away in a hurry when their eyes met. She was nervous—possibly because of Teela. An’Tellarus’s interaction implied strongly—to
Kaylin—that Yvonne wasn’t in danger from that quarter. There was something about Yvonne that made her seem young to Kaylin.
Something about her that made her seem safe to be around—something that couldn’t be said for most Barrani. The Consort had
said that there were three recent tests; she had mentioned a name. Yvonne.
Kaylin was certain that this Yvonne was the one who had passed the Lake’s first test.