31 #3
Kaylin reached for the knob. “What did we do here?” she asked, voice soft.
“The Teller’s crown remains in Lord Nightshade’s room.” It wasn’t really an answer. She turned to Hope, who settled slowly
back on Kaylin’s shoulder. “You are responsible for Kaylin’s safety.”
Kaylin exhaled. The hatchling came to rest on her left shoulder, folding its wings and glaring at Hope. “Do you think the
hatchling is going to be visible to everyone? He looks . . . less solid, now.” To Kaylin’s eye, it looked like smoke and shadow,
although its eyes were clear. Rings of swirling color served as irises, but the pupils they surrounded remained white.
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“You will have to ask Hope, and Hope will have to answer. My attempt to answer is fundamentally broken; I cannot translate
it into the words I am speaking now. Please join your friends before Teela destroys half the manse in an attempt to find you.”
The door didn’t lead to Teela.
It led to the room in which Yvonne now sat, shoulders curved inward, eyes a wary blue. She lifted her head the moment Kaylin
stepped through the doorframe, her eyes shedding blue until very little of it remained. Green-eyed, she rose. Her eyes, while
an unusual public color for Barrani, were the normal shade of happy green. Her hair was Barrani black, her skin flawless.
But her expression was far more open.
“Is the green still here?” Kaylin asked.
“You’re still wearing the dress.”
“And I should have known better. I really should.” She listened. She could no longer hear the sounds of combat. “I think it’s
safe to go downstairs, if you’re willing to face An’Tellarus. She . . . didn’t exactly cower from fighting.”
Yvonne grimaced. “She never cowers from a fight. She believes anyone who attacks her is committed to death. Usually their
own. But she’s not going to be happy about it. This isn’t something set up by An’Teela and her friends, is it?”
“Gods, no. If it pushes An’Tellarus into reluctant support of An’Mellarionne, that’ll be the silver lining of a really bloody
awful storm cloud.” She hesitated. “Nightshade is outcaste.”
“So Helen’s mentioned. But she isn’t likely to care. If he doesn’t attack her, she’ll consider him largely irrelevant.”
Kaylin doubted that.
She heard raised voices and winced. “Helen, could you tell Annarion to calm down in front of our guests?”
“I believe the attempt has already been made. But as you are host, you should join An’Tellarus before she feels insulted.
Cediela can find fault with almost anything, but in this case, she would not have to search very hard.”
Annarion was not in the foyer when Kaylin reached it. She wasn’t certain where he was, but didn’t ask. Nightshade, An’Tellarus,
and Teela were in the foyer, and Helen hadn’t moved any of the bodies. She hadn’t cleaned up the blood, either.
Teela’s head turned toward Kaylin in her very green dress as she made her way down the stairs, both shoulders occupied. She
noted Yvonne’s presence behind Kaylin and nodded in the young woman’s direction.
“What have you done this time?” she demanded, her eyes the color of midnight, but lightening into wary blue as she saw Kaylin
was uninjured.
“I don’t think this one is entirely on me.”
“And that new shoulder ornament?”
“Definitely not entirely on me. In fact, if I was going to waste time pointing fingers, I’d say Barrani, Terrano, and—I’m
sorry—Yvonne, in that order. With a large component of the green thrown in.” She glanced at her dress very pointedly. “The
Teller’s crown,” she added, looking past Teela to Nightshade, “is sitting in your room on the bedside table.”
“It is not yet time for the regalia,” he replied, his tone very subdued. Her eyes narrowed. If he had been fighting—and he had—he had no obvious injuries, but
he was the wrong kind of pale.
Oh. That was probably why Annarion had raised his voice. “I’d say it’s time for rest and recuperation.”
“Yes, dear,” Helen agreed. “Lord Nightshade felt it premature. He wishes to speak with the two who are currently detained
before he returns to his rooms.”
Kaylin glanced past the fieflord to the most intimidating of her guests. An’Tellarus’s dress was wet with blood. The cloth
had actually been cut at the sleeve, and the left side, near her ribs. She had chosen to sheathe her weapon. Her eyes were
blue, but they weren’t as dark a blue as Nightshade’s.
“Yvonne,” she said.
“I wasn’t attacked. Nothing entered the room I was in.”
“Good. I would have been highly displeased were that not the case. I must say your hospitality is refreshing and slightly
nostalgic. Helen, if you would be so kind as to provide repairs to my clothing while I am visiting, I would greatly appreciate
it. While I have attended events wearing bloodstained clothing, I chose to do so to make a point, and I believe that point
is unnecessary in this gathering.
“I believe,” she added, turning to Teela, “we have much to discuss. While I am certain that I was not the intended target,
I believe I am slightly offended that I could be so easily overlooked.” She grinned. It seemed disturbingly genuine.
Helen’s Avatar appeared in the foyer. “An’Teela, may I now remove the bodies?”
“I don’t think they bother An’Tellarus,” Teela replied, “and I’d like a chance to examine them more carefully.” Which meant
no.
Helen turned to Kaylin.
“It’s Hawk work,” she said. “And there may be some clues on the bodies. We’ll have to interrogate the prisoners, but the corpses
might serve as confirmation of either truth or lie. Teela?”
Teela nodded.
“You might as well start now,” An’Tellarus said. “Lord Kaylin, please lead Yvonne to the parlor. Severn may join you. I wish
to speak with An’Teela and Lord Nightshade.” Without, her tone implied, the interference of children.
Kaylin was old enough now that she didn’t bridle. She didn’t even attempt to take the reins of control from her guest. She
owed this ancient Barrani woman at least that much. She turned to Yvonne. “Will you join me? I could use a stiff drink.”
Yvonne nodded, looping an arm through Kaylin’s. “I’d love to. I know the old warriors are so accustomed to corpses they don’t
look at them as if they used to be living people—but I’m not, and I’m feeling a bit queasy. They don’t bother you?”
“Corpses are part of my work. And . . . yes, they bother me.”
“Don’t force yourself to smile,” Yvonne said—in Elantran. “It’s your home. I’m your guest, and I say it doesn’t matter. Who
could smile when things are like this?” As she spoke, she glanced at the shadows on Kaylin’s left shoulder.
Teela had already begun her examination of the bodies. This was Kaylin’s home. The crime had occurred in it. Laws of exemption
couldn’t be invoked.
That did make Kaylin smile.