He cut off as his eyes found the Kalish symbol on her uniform, his face contorting with something like a sneer as he realized who she must be. The Morvirs were a noble family from the Kalish capital, which meant he likely wouldn’t know a country family from the northern reaches like Eirlana’s, as she had never gone to court.
But what of Kasira?
It had been nearly a decade since she had conned him, and the role she had played of the bashful, demure daughter of a coastal art dealer was vastly at odds with the confident noblewoman-turned-Assistant she was now. It was Loraya he would likely remember, the elder daughter set on establishing her own business out from underneath her mother’s shadow. Together, Loraya and Kasira had mapped every inch of his estate and security, then returned one evening to pilfer his entire art collection.
There was no recognition in his expression, but there wassomething, and Kasira knew better than to leave loose ends.
Queen Sarren joined them, and Kasira and Morvir bowed with their fists to their hearts. Ryn hovered anxiously, inspecting the Queen for injuries. “Lady Eirlana, I am grateful for the Library’s assistance,” they said with a dip of their head. “I did not want to see the beast harmed.”
They gave Morvir a pointed look, and he bowed again. “I apologize, Your Majesty, but I simply couldn’t stand by and watch a beast threaten your life.”
“The only threat here was you,” Kasira said tersely, seeking to needle him into giving something away with his reaction. Did he recognize her, or was his behavior that of a man with wounded pride? “You nearly got Their Majesty killed, not to mention the rest of us.”
Lord Morvir’s lips curled in a show of disgust. “Perhaps you have forgotten, Lady Eirlana, but beasts are our enemies.”
“I have forgotten nothing,” she replied, but Morvir only stared at her.
With a flicker of light, Allaster appeared beside Kasira. He’d disposed of the tyvna bulbs, but his cheeks were still flushed from theexertion of teleporting, his hands stained purple with—she blinked. His fingers looked strange, the ends almost pointed. She blinked again, and the image resolved itself. It had only been the last beads of purple ink dripping from his fingertips.
“I led the Syovar to the base of the mountains, far from any nearby towns,” he said with a nod of acknowledgment to the Queen. “I did warn you this would happen, Your Majesty. Syovars are highly active at the height of fall, and the tyvna fields they would normally visit have been nearly decimated by your worsening blizzards. I recommended to Queen Ayel that the fields be replanted when the ice broke.”
“But the ice didn’t break,” informed the Queen. “It would have cost the crown a small fortune to do the work.”
Allaster looked alarmed at that. “The cold persisted through summer?”
“Worse than even the previous year.” Queen Sarren’s face was grim. “If I recall, Lord Allaster, you claimed to know the cause.”
“I didn’t say I could fix it,” he replied darkly, gaze narrowing on the crossed swords symbol sewn on Morvir’s high-collared coat. “That would require the cooperation of lesser minds.”
A ruddy flush mottled Lord Morvir’s face, his chin lifting with a practiced condescension. “Kalthos has been warning of these signs for years,” he said loftily. “The goddess’s patience wears thin. The beasts must be destroyed if we are to divert this course.”
“No,Ihave been warning of this for years, and your people have been twisting my words for your own gain.” The unbridled anger in Allaster’s voice surprised Kasira. A general air of grumpiness was his natural state, but this was far beyond that. “If you continue culling beasts at this rate, the disasters will worsen. You are children playing with forces you don’t understand.”
“Can one kingdom truly have such an impact?” Ryn asked quietly.
“You are divided by a river, not an ocean, my Lady,” Allaster replied more calmly. “What happens in Kalthos affects us all.”
Morvir straightened with the air of one seeking to wrest control of the conversation. “If I may, Your Majesty, I had an appointmentwith you over an hour ago. I have urgent business to discuss with the crown.” His eyes flicked contemptuously toward Kasira and Allaster.
“You are here for the week, are you not, Lord Morvir?” Queen Sarren waved a hand. “We will find another time to talk. Lord Allaster, Lady Eirlana, if you would follow me.”
Kasira hesitated. She wanted to tail Morvir and ensure he wasn’t about to pen a letter about the imposter wearing a Library uniform, but it would look suspicious if she didn’t join Allaster and the Queen. Reluctantly, she followed them out of the garden and into a serene sitting room of green marble with round, silken furniture surrounding a low table.
A red kyda crystal the size of her fist sat at the center of the table, radiating a pleasant warmth and heating the room with an efficiency that belied its size and elucidated its demand. Kasira had never seen them used in person until now—Kalthos rarely imported anything with a function too near to magic—but her studies had taught her about the wide variety of crystals and their various applications, from temperature control to mood influencers.
Queen Sarren sank tiredly into one of the round chairs, somehow managing to do so with the utmost poise, and gestured to the other seats. Allaster took one and Kasira the other; she was all too glad to give her tired muscles a place to rest. The seat shifted as she sat, molding to her frame in a way that left her off-balance until it settled.
The Queen smiled at her surprise. “They are filled with coffee beans. We had such a surplus one year, we encouraged new uses. It makes for a comfortable seat, wouldn’t you say?”
Kasira prodded the chair. “I would.”
Ryn swept about the room, preparing cups of a steaming drink she handed each of them. The mugs were ceramic and without handles, and the drink smelled dark and bitter.
“Coffee from the royal fields,” Queen Sarren explained as Kasira took a tentative sip. The bitterness of the drink puckered her mouth unpleasantly, but she withheld her displeasure. Allaster, meanwhile, took two large gulps in a row, seeming to savor the bitterness.
Like to like, I suppose, she thought and sat her drink in her lap as if to let it cool.
“What is it you wished to speak about, Your Majesty?” Allaster asked after he’d drained nearly half his cup. His leg had started bouncing, and Kasira eyed the coffee warily. They drank mostly tea in Kalthos, and upon occasion she’d had a cup of it on an empty stomach and been left jittery. She’d heard coffee was much, much stronger.
