18 #3
Kaylin exhaled. “The only connection to Shadow that I’ve noted is in the avenue of retreat chosen by the Barrani—and Bellusdeo
knows about this. There was evidence that the Barrani had been using the border between fiefs as their base. Teela’s been
investigating that; we found Barrani insignias on some of the bodies left behind in the wake of the attack on Nightshade.
“Nothing else we’ve uncovered so far seems to involve Shadow.” Kaylin grimaced. “Except the attack on Terrano.”
“Terrano?”
“I’m not sure how much attention Bellusdeo was paying, but Terrano was attacked when Bellusdeo and Teela surrounded the one
building on the border of her—or your—fief.”
Logia nodded. Gone was affectionate amusement; she was focused now, concentrating.
“Terrano’s a bit unusual.”
This caused a snort with a little bit of smoke in it.
“He often walks around invisible so he doesn’t have to interact with people.”
“I’m sure we’d all do that if we could.” Logia winced. “Fine. Many of us would.” It really was like speaking to a cohort member.
“He avoids magical invisibility because it can be detected, which would make him more visible in a dangerous sense, not less.
Bellusdeo knows their history, or as much of their history as I do.”
“She disagrees with the latter but agrees with the former. She does point out that Terrano can move with ease between different
planes, different states of existence.”
Helen opened the parlor door from the outside.
Mandoran entered, followed by Mrs. Erickson and Fallessian. Fallessian played porter; he carried a large tray as if it were
a tin plate. “I don’t mean to interrupt,” Mrs. Erickson said, “but Helen said you had a guest. Hello, Logia.”
Kaylin blinked. She was surprised that Mrs. Erickson recognized Logia immediately. And why should that be surprising? Mrs.
Erickson had talked to the eight dead sisters before they had, at last, combined with Bellusdeo. She’d heard their stories.
Kaylin hadn’t.
And Kaylin hadn’t asked, either.
“No, dear,” Helen agreed. “And that was both kind and wise.” Meaning: don’t start now.
Logia rose instantly and offered Mrs. Erickson both of her hands, palms up. Mrs. Erickson took them immediately, smiling up
at Logia, who was much taller than Mrs. Erickson had probably ever been.
“You look well.”
“I am much, much better than I was the first time we spoke,” Logia replied, her eyes a warm gold. “We are all doing well. I think Bellusdeo is the most overwhelmed by the changes—but in a good way.”
“I heard you’ve been having a bit of a problem in your new home? Are you getting along better with Lord Emmerian?”
Emmerian was the furthest thing from Bellusdeo’s mind.
“Lord Emmerian is both happy for Bellusdeo and somewhat flustered by the changes in her—but I think it’ll work out, in the
end. Right now, we’re focused on the breach of the fief, or the possible breach.”
“Fallessian said Terrano was injured. That boy just isn’t very careful.”
Mandoran snorted but managed to prevent himself from laughing out loud. He entered the parlor and took the seat closest to
Kaylin. At the moment, the seats were close together. Kaylin wasn’t certain Fallessian intended to remain, but it was clear
Mrs. Erickson wanted to say hello, and that would take a while.
She could, and did, relax.
“Terrano’s almost here. He wanted to investigate one thing, but he would have had to enter the border zone by himself. I offered
to join him.” He winced. Kaylin could imagine just how happy either of the two had made Sedarias.
Logia stepped back, and another sister took over. She greeted Mrs. Erickson with a hug, not a hand-holding. Mrs. Erickson
had never been loud; she was naturally soft-spoken and naturally deferential.
“While she’s saying hello,” Mandoran continued, pulling Kaylin’s attention from the combination of Dragon and Mrs. Erickson, “Sedarias and Teela agree: you should extend an invitation to Yvonne immediately. Or as close to immediately as you can. Sedarias intends to head off An’Tellarus, or to suss out her intent.
Teela’s going to be here when Yvonne visits, just in case. ”
“That’ll make clear An’Teela supports An’Mellarionne.”
Mandoran nodded. “It’s almost an open secret anyway. It’s not formal—but we’re Barrani. Formality counts.”
“But . . . this’ll be formal, no?”
“Not your problem.”
“It is my problem! I’m living with all of you!”
“Yeah, I tried that. But Teela and Sedarias are in complete agreement. They want you to stay out of this as much as humanly
possible.”
“It’s Kaylin,” a familiar voice said. Terrano had arrived. “She’s staying out of it as much as she possibly can. Which isn’t
impressive but shouldn’t be a surprise.”
“It’s not my fault!”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s never your fault; you just stumble into things that blow up in your face. To be honest, I’m grateful for
you—it makes me look less chaotic.” He became visible so he could grin. It was obnoxious. The grin faded. “Teela’s worried.”
Ugh.
“She can stand in line,” Logia said over her shoulder. At least, Kaylin assumed it was Logia.
“When does Teela think I should set as the date for Yvonne’s visit?”
“Tomorrow. Don’t make that face at me—you asked. She doesn’t expect you’ll do it, but she wants to emphasize the necessity.”
Kaylin understood. She wanted Yvonne to meet the Consort, but not if it wasn’t safe.
Sedarias and Teela could assess the safety question only with further Tellarus discussion, and Kaylin wouldn’t suggest that the Consort and Yvonne cross paths if things with Tellarus proved too political.
She couldn’t. She’d liked Yvonne on first meeting her, and she sympathized with her.
But even if she and the Consort had had massive disagreements in the past, she could understand why, and she still liked the
Consort, her complicated family, and possibly the fact that the Consort never treated Nightshade as outcaste.
“I’ll send the invitation after everyone leaves—and no, that doesn’t mean you get to kick them all out.”
Bellusdeo allowed all of her eight sisters to speak with Mrs. Erickson; some took longer than others. Mandoran was content
to wait in the parlor, probably because he was a coward, and he could avoid Sedarias that way. Terrano remained as well, but
most of his attention was on Bellusdeo—or rather, her sisters. Fallessian remained by the door, his back to the wall next
to it. He was definitely keeping an eye out for Mrs. Erickson. It wasn’t necessary. Of her current guests, Helen was fondest
of Mrs. Erickson; she’d made physical changes to the normal state of the house—the kitchen in particular—to accommodate her
and spent social time with her in the absence of Kaylin and the rest of the cohort.
Mrs. Erickson retreated after saying her hellos and putting food on the low, long table, and that once again left Logia and
Kaylin, but with the addition of Mandoran and Terrano. Fallessian retreated when the older woman did.
“You were saying?” Logia started in immediately. She’d been happy to see Mrs. Erickson, but she was now focused on Terrano.
“I wasn’t saying anything,” Terrano replied with a shrug. “But Kaylin was trying to answer your question, and she wasn’t very
good at it. No, I can’t occupy multiple spaces at once. Even if I could, there’d be no point—I’m trying not to be seen. Invisibility
doesn’t cut it—I could avoid being seen, but I’d still have to avoid bumping into people.”
“In other words, he’d actually have to pay attention,” Kaylin added.
“So when you were attacked, you weren’t here.”
Terrano nodded. But he frowned and fell silent. “The thing is . . . Look, I’m telling them, okay?” he snapped at Mandoran,
who hadn’t moved, hadn’t spoken, and didn’t look particularly impatient.
Logia’s gaze traveled between them before coming to rest on Terrano’s again. She smiled. “It seems while you have separate
bodies, you’re not unlike me and my sisters.”
“Oh please.”
“No?”
“We’re not Dragons.”
Logia rolled eyes that remained predominantly gold. “You were saying?”
“I wasn’t in an unusual space, for me. Planes are—or can be—like onion skins. They’re different, but not too different. The
farther away you get from this one, the more difficult it becomes to see this one—and yes, there are beings that can occupy
any space I can, but they do it simultaneously.”
“And you can’t.”
“I don’t really see the point, to be honest. I don’t exist on all planes at once.” He hesitated again.
Mandoran snorted and took over. “He’s not lying, but he tends to act first and think later—if we can get him to think at all.
One of us can cover different planes simultaneously.”