It is not, Lirienne said.And we are both safe. He is yours?
He stays with me. Yes, he’s mine. I don’t think he’d do anything that he thought would really upset me.
But?
Well, he’s not me, and he’s not mortal; he can keep up with Mandoran and Annarion, but he doesn’t cause the issues they can—she stopped. Turned her thoughts to something else: Terrano’s language.
This amused the Lord of the West March.You are becoming wiser.
Can you see?
I see fog. And Lord Barian. I admit that the fog is more pleasant. No harm has come to us. Although it pains me to concur with a Dragon, Lord Bellusdeo is correct. I am not your responsibility.
Can you see her?
No.
“Bellusdeo—”
“Yes, I understand.” Her voice was a rumble of sound. Kaylin turned to her right, because unlike Terrano’s voice, Bellusdeo’s seemed to come from a concrete location. The fog drifted slowly away, and Lord Bellusdeo of the Dragon Court now stood in gleaming plate armor. Of course she did. Dragon clothing wasn’t magical; it didn’t change shape and form when its wearer did. It turned into expensive cloth scraps.
Both Lirienne and Barian froze as Bellusdeo crossed the courtyard to join Kaylin. The Dragon’s eyes were a dark orange. She carried no weapon; Dragon armor didn’t include swords. But they weren’t really necessary for Dragons. She couldn’t exactly bow well in the armor that she now wore, but ditching the armor—while it seldom seemed to cause Bellusdeo any embarrassment—wasn’t an option at the moment.
“Lord of the West March. Lord Barian.” She couldn’t bow, and didn’t make the attempt. “Terrano?”
They were staring at her, but there was, in their regard, both respect and something that might have been admiration. Kaylin did not understand the Barrani, and thought she never would. She had expected anger, fear, hostility.
Lirienne bowed to the Dragon. “We are unharmed,” he said quietly. “You considered this a danger?”
The Dragon exhaled. “I do not know what you’ve been told about my life before my return to these lands, but most of it was spent fighting Shadow. And that small creature was very like the small Shadows sent ahead to scout communities that were not—yet—infested.” She lifted her head. “Terrano?”
“Here,” Terrano replied. His voice echoed, and Kaylin felt a sudden, sharp chill in the air.
Damn it, she thought.
Bellusdeo’s eyes were almost red, because Dragon eyes were not quite the same as human eyes, and she caught sight of Terrano before Kaylin did. He didn’t seem to notice her.
He was, unfortunately, not the Terrano of very recent memory; he was oddly, darkly beautiful, his limbs literally shining, as if they were composed of polished steel. Or silver. His eyes were completely black, and his clothing drifted off his shoulders and toward the ground in a moving swirl of color. A continually moving swirl.
His hands were cupped, as if around a sphere. “We’re going to have to move inside,” he said, entirely unaware of the way everyone was now staring at him. “I don’t think I can hold it for long.”
* * *
“What is she so angry about?” Terrano asked. He had drifted—and that was the right word for a movement that did not resemble walking at all—toward Kaylin, but stayed on the side of her that the familiar didn’t occupy.
“She’s not angry,” Kaylin replied. She kept her voice low, but knew that Bellusdeo and the Barrani would catch every single word. “She’s worried.”
“Well, yeah. I’m not sure how this thing got in—”
“About you.”
“I’m fine.”
“Not about your health. About what you might do.”
He stopped. “I’m not going to do anything. To any of you. I have no reason to try to hurt you.”
“You did, once.”
