“Does it matter?” Kaylin replied, flushing. “It’s not like it’s going to change anyone’s attitude anyway.”
The Barrani Hawk shrugged. “If you’re going to think out loud, you might want to do it in a place with less acoustical emphasis.”
* * *
Teela had not chosen to meet Kaylin at the foot of the Tower stairs for no reason. Although Tain was absent, Mandoran could be seen in the distance, sprawled across Teela’s chair. The rest of the Barrani Hawks—there were only two in the office at the moment—viewed him with healthy suspicion. If he noticed, he didn’t care.
“Did you catch him?”
“That’s making an assumption.”
“Fine. Did you catch her?”
“No.”
“Did you at leastseethe assassin?”
“Not directly.”
“Teela—”
“Kitling,” Teela said gently, “we’ve been pulled off of the investigation. The Aerian Caste Court—”
“Can stuff itself!”
“Perhaps,” was the neutral reply. “But until the Caste Court is told to, as you put it, stuff itself by theEmperor, that call’s not ours to make. What did the Hawklord say?”
“He told me that the Caste Court had applied for pretty much instant exemption.”
Teela nodded, as if she’d expected no less. It made Kaylin feel vaguely stupid or naive, neither of which she enjoyed. Her life in the fiefs—or her life since she’d been thirteen—should have destroyed that naïveté completely.
But they wereAerians.
“You need to stop idolizing the Aerians.” As comforting statements went, this was about rock bottom—but it was pure Teela.
“I don’t idolize them.”
“You do. Kitling, they have wings, yes, but they’re mortal. They’repeople. Wings don’t give them any moral or ethical advantage over anyone else who lives in this city. I know there were no Aerians in the fiefs. But there were no Dragons, either, and you don’t expect the Dragons to somehow be paragons of virtue. They’re not a single thing. They’re people, like the rest of us. And some of them are going to be unpleasant sons of bitches. It’s just the law of averages.”
“I don’t expect them to be paragons,” Kaylin replied.
“Good. That’ll make things in the near future much less painful for you.”
* * *
Kaylin did not immediately leave to go on patrol. She should have, but Marcus was busy growling at paperwork and his mirror. He was aware that she’d returned to the office, but he wasn’t yet of a mind to object. Or dock her pay.
She tapped Mandoran on the shoulder. He looked up at her. “Are we leaving?” he asked, deserting the chair Teela was almost certain to kick him out of anyway.
“Yes. We’re patrolling Elani. You always enjoy that.”
“And the Dragon?”
“She’s staying here.”
“Good.”
Kaylin exhaled heavily. ShelikedMandoran, most of the time. It didn’t stop her from wanting to smack the back of his head. “You know, I think you’d actually like her if you could treat her with a smidgen of respect.”
