He’s Barrani.
Oh yes, Kaylin. He is Barrani, and a Lord of the High Court. If your Shadow is truly free, if it does not lie, there is a compromise in the structure of the High Court itself, and a failure in the tower.
Bellusdeo did not recognize the man, but recognized the significance regardless, and her eyes were already almost red. She turned instantly to the Lord of the West March. He did not appear to notice.
You are aware of the ways in which such a breach might occur.
She nodded, although Nightshade wasn’t there to see it.
“He sent me,” the Shadow said, his words almost superfluous.
* * *
Alsanis reacted first. His hands moved, all grace lost to urgency. But the stranger was looking, almost expectantly, at Kaylin.
She struggled to find her voice; it came out thin. “When did he send you?”
The concept of when clearly caused some difficulty, which wasn’t entirely a surprise. But he said, “I traveled directly when word reached him of your arrival in this place.”
There was cacophony in her head, then. Ynpharion spoke. Nightshade spoke. Lirienne was silent, but it didn’t matter; the imperative, the concern, the anger, fell into her mind like a bad traffic accident on a busy, busy street.Guys!she shouted internally.Can you please just shut the hells up for a minute?
“My arrival? Our arrival? Or Terrano’s arrival?” As she spoke, she pointed; she was aware that his sense of people as individuals might not be the same as hers, but his answer, if it could be extracted, was important.
“Yours, Chosen.” He frowned. “Yours and the Dragon’s.”
Sheneededa measure of time, now. She needed a way to askhow long ago was thisand have it be both understood and answered.
Alsanis spoke. She didn’t understand the words. The stranger, however, frowned. Beside the image of the Barrani Lord, a second image began to form; at first Kaylin thought he was adding color and setting to the former; sky appeared, and beneath it, something that might have been grass or weeds.
Alsanis nodded, and Kaylin watched. Nothing changed, to her eye, except the color of the sky itself. She knew roughly when she’d left Elantra; she didn’t know exactly when she’d arrived at the Hallionne Orbaranne. She knew that she’d lost time trying to walk through a portal, but not how much time. But to her the sky was a night sky, shading into morning.
Alsanis, however, saw more, or understood more. He frowned. “Lord Kaylin.”
“Please translate,” she said, in High Barrani.
He closed his eyes. Unlike the stranger, his eyes had lids. The silence was tense; seeds of fear and suspicion had taken root.
Kaylin. It was Severn. Severn who almost never approached her this way. Severn who heldhername. She realized, hearing his voice—the actual weight of it, the pronounced word, that she wanted him here. This was an investigation. If her partner were by her side, she’d feel like a Hawk, and not a floundering incompetent in dangerous, diplomatic waters.
Next time you go to speak with Evanton, I’m going with you.
She almost smiled.Have you been watching?
She felt his nod.Since you landed. I lost you briefly—that was bad.
Where?
I’m going to guess it was when you heard Sedarias. Orbaranne didn’t shut me out.His internal voice changed tone. For the worse.We have a problem.
We’ve got more than one. What’s yours?
The Barrani High Court. No, some members of the Barrani High Court.
Kaylin stared at the image of the Barrani Lord.
Possibly. I wasn’t there in person when a delegation was sent to the Emperor. And when I say delegation, I mean war band.
What?
