CHAPTER 39
KASIRA
THE MOOD IN THELIBRARY SOURED WITH THE NEWS OFTHANE’Sdeath and the Conclave, furtive looks and quiet murmurs abounding as the seeds Thane had planted blossomed in his wake. Some took the coming Conclave as validation of their concerns about Allaster, others as fuel for their indignation at Kalthos’s discrimination against beasts. By the week’s end, the Library was split firmly in half.
Kasira tried not to think about it as she helped prepare for the dignitaries’ arrival. Each country had a room dedicated to their leaders for longer visits, and while they and their staff would be allowed to come and go as they pleased through the portal room, they all had agreed to stay at the Library should the Conclave’s deliberations extend through the night.
So it was that, with Iylis’s help, Kasira corralled the leopard spirits into completing basic tasks: dusting, changing sheets, bringing fresh towels, anything to keep her mind off the upcoming trial. May tried to help, but Kasira badgered her into resting for another day, her skin still bruised from Thane’s attack though the magic had healed it considerably.
It had done the same for Kasira, her wounds healing within the first couple of days, but the soreness and memory of the pain remained, and she found herself creeping along the Library’s halls like a spirit prepared to flee at any moment. It had been a long, long timesince she had misread someone that gravely. She had known Thane was angry at her, known he blamed her for so much. But she had thought him as conflicted as she was, thought them still tethered, however tenuously. In a way, that had been true, but what had bound them had been far darker a thread.
Thoughts of him, of Loraya and Revna, consumed her dreams, and by the morning, she often found herself in the Eyrie seeking Gievra’s steady presence. The Alkatir was deep in adolescence now, the feathers of his crown a lustrous silver tipped in obsidian and his shoulder near the height of her head. She no longer lay in the grass outside his pen, but curled up with him inside it, her back resting against the warm fur of his ribs. His breathing was slow and methodical, a rhythm she let carry her away, until she felt the presence of another.
When she opened her eyes, Iylis was sitting beside her. Two cups of chamomile tea steamed between them, alongside a plate of chocolate cookies. The leopard didn’t speak, only surveyed the vast expanse of the Eyrie without expression, his tail swaying idly.
Gievra cracked open his one golden eye, lifting his massive head to sniff at the cookies before he noticed Iylis staring at him. Oddly, he didn’t pursue the food, only tucked his head back upon his paws as if chagrined and closed his eye.
“Iylis,” Kasira greeted the leopard uncertainly.
“Do you feel it?” he asked absently.
“Feel what?”
He didn’t reply, but his tail twitched more wildly. Slowly, Kasira sat up with her legs crossed, facing him. There was something off about him, more than just his behavior. He seemed almost … lesshere, like the leopard spirits when they turned incorporeal to pass through the walls. Whatever was wrong with the Library’s magic … It was getting worse.
“Iylis,” she began, “I’ve been wanting to ask you something.”
“Yes?”
“You knew my name,” she said. “Even before Vera revealed it.” It had been bothering her for weeks, and it seemed harmless to ask nowthat Allaster knew the truth. Come tomorrow, she might not have another chance.
“Did I?” the snow leopard asked. “I … don’t remember. I fear I don’t remember a great many things.” She could tell it cost him something to admit that, and the urge to comfort him stole over her. She placed a hand on his shoulder, and he lowered his head to nuzzle it.
“I fear something terrible is coming, Lady Kasira,” he said softly, and the words sent a shudder through her.
“The Conclave—”
“No.” His voice grew fainter. “Something much, much worse.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. Didn’t know if she even had a right to try. After all, so many of the Library’s problems,Allaster’sproblems, were because of her, and tomorrow … tomorrow she would ruin everything, one last time.
“Kas?” She turned at the sound of May’s voice by the fence. “Allaster wants to see us.”
Kasira started to say goodbye to Iylis, but he was already gone.
Unsettled, she picked up the cups of tea, leaving the cookies for Gievra, and joined May outside the pen. She looked twice as worried as Kasira felt, and Kasira handed her one of the teacups, which she wrapped her hands around as if seeking its warmth.
Then Kasira teleported them to Allaster’s office to plan.
THE DAY OFthe Conclave dawned like any other, if any other day was to determine the fate of the magical epicenter of the six realms. A new uniform had appeared in her room that morning, similar in style to her first uniform with the same four strips of cloth hanging from the waist, but the loose-fitting pants were black and the shirt a stiffer brocade. An enlarged version of Amorlin’s sprawling tree had been sewn in bright silver thread across the chest.
After breakfast, she prepared to join Allaster in the portal room, where the Library representatives would soon arrive to welcome theirdignitaries. His plan was simple: target Queen Sarren of Ayador and Arch Minister Cernos Abvaro of Riviair. He was confident in the support of Ambric and Guild Master Arraidia Vezar from Jacara, the latter’s grudge against Kalthos rivaled only by Allaster’s own.
He wanted Kasira to find out how they were feeling and to lay a groundwork of support for him. In truth, she would be doing the exact opposite. She would have to be subtle, but in the end, Vera wanted these people to vote against Allaster. And if Kasira wanted the Library to survive, she had no choice but to ensure that happened.
Allaster was waiting for her in the portal room when she arrived. He too wore a more formal version of his uniform, the threads done in gold, and there was a weariness to him she had come to associate with the nights he drank. She wanted to ask, but the council representatives were filing into the room, and he peeled away to begin giving everyone last-minute instructions.
Each representative was dressed in traditional clothing from their home nation. Warrin was draped in a scholar’s robes, while May wore a two-piece outfit of gold and green that bared her midriff. Talthari was swathed in folds of brightly patterned cloth that wrapped about their thin body, their dark skin dusted with silver. Kyda crystal bracelets clacked on Fen’s wrists as they fidgeted with the sleeves of their silk dress—sans Talowell—having been chosen last minute to replace Elyae as Ayador’s representative. Only Carlia remained in her Library uniform, having volunteered to handle escorting the Kalish.
