Kasira didn’t have time to analyze his response, because at that moment, a beast screamed.
CHAPTER 13
KASIRA
ALLASTER WENT STILL—THEN HE LIFTED HIS HAND.
Kasira seized his arm the instant before the snap, and she was wrenched from the portal room along with him. They reappeared in the front courtyard, Allaster staring at the spot where her fingers gripped his wrist with an expression somewhere between incredulity and alarm.
She released him and pointed over his shoulder. “It’s Benlo.”
The Relin was thrashing about his pen, tossing his massive head and slamming into the wooden slats of the fence. Two mages were in the enclosure with him, trying to get a blanket over his head in hopes the darkness would calm him, without getting crushed themselves.
“We don’t know what set him off!” called the nearest one, a tall, dark-skinned Jacari woman named Carlia. The other mage—Ayadese, with a round, handsome face and dark eyes—was Fen. They were the mages Kasira had taken over Benlo’s feeding duties from.
“Stay back until we can identify the cause,” Allaster ordered as Benlo pawed wildly at his snout. “The hood won’t help if he’s this worked up.”
Kasira pressed closer to the fence even as her rapid heartbeat told her to put as much space between her and the wild creature as possible. She could still salvage this plan. “He looks like he’s in pain, but I don’t see any injuries.”
Allaster vaulted over the fence as if it were hardly more than a step. “I’m going to transport him to a larger enclosure before he breaks this one down.”
“Hold on,” she said, and to her surprise, he did. She had grabbed Benlo’s feed bucket, shifting quickly through the nuts, seeds, and grains inside until she found the gold petals she was looking for. “His snout!”
He frowned. “What?”
But she was already off across the field toward the feed shed, where a small patch of yellow kisle flowers grew. Ripping one up by the stalk, she shed it of its buds until only the leaves remained and clambered over the fence to land beside Allaster.
Benlo erupted in a fresh wave of agitation at her sudden movement, and she went still. A scared beast was a dangerous beast, and she should have known better than to move so quickly. But then the Relin’s discomfort overtook him, and he returned to pawing at his snout.
“Carlia, Fen, can you get ahold of him?” she asked. Both mages reached for the ropes at their hips before hesitating. They looked to Allaster, but the Librarian had spotted the leaves in her hand. Relins were painfully allergic to kisle petals, but the leaves of the same plant could be used to quell the reaction.
“Do it,” Allaster commanded, and both mages freed their ropes. With practiced hands, they tossed the looped ends over Benlo’s neck, each pulling their rope taut to keep him in place. Benlo balked at the treatment, throwing his weight about in a bid for freedom, but the mages’ magic-enhanced strength kept them rooted to their spots.
Kasira hesitated. Not because Eirlana would, but because her body recognized this scenario and expected a very different outcome. Her hand wanted a sword. Her muscles wanted to bring the blade down on the beast’s neck. No part of her wanted to walk up to this creature, pry open its jaws, and shove a fistful of leaves into its maw. She had planned to do this when he was calmer, mildly irritated by an itch in his throat, not driven wild by pain, but Vera’s arrival had disrupted her timing, allowing the inflammation to fester.
“Corynth!” Allaster hissed, and she took a deep breath, not giving herself any more time to think.
“Sleep, little one, close your eyes. You’ll be safe until sunrise,” she sang softly as she approached. “Dream, little one, far and wide; high in the sky, below the tide.” As she sang, Benlo gradually stilled, his heavy breathing the only lingering sign of his distress.
“Dream, little one, until the dawn. For in the morning, I’ll be gone.” She slowed before the beast, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Dream, little one, inside your bed. Dream, little one, rest your head. Dream, little one, through the night. Dream, little one, until the morning light.”
Gently, she pressed her fingers into the hinge of his jaw until his mouth opened. She forced the leaves inside and held his maw shut, letting the leaves react with his saliva to form a coating that, when swallowed, would ease the irritation in his mucosal lining.
A minute passed, then two, and the beast sagged with obvious relief. Carlia let out a heavy breath, and an anxious grin broke across Fen’s face. “Well, that was fun,” Fen said and collapsed onto their ass.
Carlia pulled free the ropes, and Kasira released Benlo’s snout. The beast rolled his jaw, chewing methodically on the kisle leaves as if nothing had happened. The tremor in Kasira’s hands told a very different story, and she wrung them together, trying to work out the nervous energy. Distantly, she heard Allaster order Carlia and Fen to inspect the feed shed for other signs of kisle and to uproot the flowers.
“How did you know?” His voice at her shoulder surprised her, and she couldn’t suppress her jolt at finding him so close. His eyes were on Benlo, whose head hung low with exhaustion, his already ravaged wing sporting a few snapped feathers. She felt an inexplicable urge to comfort the Relin.
“He was acting like there was something in his mouth or nose,” she recited her practiced explanation. “So it made sense he’d eaten something he shouldn’t have.”
He gave her a sidelong look. “And here I thought you had only pulled those books for show.”
“I have to do something to keep myself engaged around here, seeing as you won’t have anything to do with me.”
“You keep saying that as if you expected otherwise.” He faced her fully, his gaze like a hand at her neck, drawing her inward.
She shook free of the pull, angling toward the fence. “I knew you wouldn’t be thrilled to have a Kalish Assistant, but no, I didn’t expect you to completely ignore me.” She laid a hand on Benlo’s long neck in a move that looked far more casual than it felt. She was surprised at how soft his fur was, at the way he leaned into her touch.
