“Orbaranne?”
“The Hallionne.”
Terrano turned to Kaylin, as if he expected her to be his personal interpreter. But the confusion in his expression seemed so genuine, she couldn’t resent it. Much. “You are currently standing inside the Hallionne Orbaranne. You were, until very recently from our perspective, living in the Hallionne Alsanis with your siblings.”
“Siblings?”
She shrugged. “At home, we call them the cohort.”
“What do they call themselves?”
“Depends. I only hear Mandoran and Annarion, because they live with me.”
“Cohort sounds almost military.”
Kaylin shrugged. “Whenever I use the word ‘family’ or ‘sibling,’ they react the way you just did.” Sensing Lirienne’s growing agitation, she exhaled. “The Hallionne Orbaranne has not spoken a word since you arrived. What did you do?” The sword to her right rose, and she extended an arm to block it—not exactly the smartest move, given that her arm was mortal flesh.
“I did not—” He frowned. “I did not hear your Hallionne. I did hear Sedarias. She was angry,” he added. “But then again—”
“Mandoran says she’s always angry.”
Terrano smiled.
“Annarion says she’s only angry at Mandoran.”
This widened, brightened, that smile. But his eyes remained the color of small pockets of shadow.
“Terrano—I don’t know how you entered the Hallionne—but you have to leave.”
“I’m looking for them.”
“Yes, I believe you. But thewaythat you’re looking is severely distressing theLord of the West March.”
He said, as if the statement had no meaning, “Is that a Dragon beside you?”
She did not reply in Leontine, but it was close. “...Yes.”
“How can we possibly be in the Hallionne if aDragonis here?”
“I promise I’ll explain it,” Kaylin said. “Please do not attempt to harm the Dragon, the Lord of the West March, or the Hallionne. If you didn’t notice the Hallionne, you must have noticed that it was difficult to reach this space.”
“It was,” he agreed. “But there are many areas that are nigh impassible if one isn’t clever.” Clearly, Terrano considered himself clever, and was pleased to be so. “And this area, at least, was safe.”
“It wasn’t safe for Sedarias.”
“She wasn’t here. There’s a...” Terrano struggled for words before finding them, as if he was struggling with a foreign language that he had studied years ago. “A storm? A storm outside. If we are standing inside the boundaries of a Hallionne, it appeared to be a...” He frowned again. “A cave? A shelter? I heard no Hallionne voice, and the cave itself was difficult to reach. But the storm made it highly desirable. I thought—if Sedarias were as smart as she thinks she is—she might have made her way here.”
“She’s not here. But Terrano—you need to go stand outside. I mean, outside of this space. I don’t think it’s good for the Hallionne—”
“No, no, wait. Just wait. I think I can figure out what went wrong. Wait.”
If Kaylin had ever wondered what Lirienne’s attachment to what was, essentially, a god-like building was, she had her answer now, and it was not an entirely comfortable answer. She could understand why Orbaranne might, in the end, be fond of, or attached to, him; Orbaranne did not have the freedom to leave, to seek company, to make her life less lonely and less isolated. She required visitors; she required people to come toher. And to stay.
The Lord of the West March didn’t suffer from the same restrictions. But if his visits to Orbaranne had once been an act of compassion, they were clearly more than that now.
The ground rumbled; the air flashed. Fire and ice passed through Kaylin like a series of very unpleasant blades.
Lirienne, she said, voice urgent.Tell her—ask her—not to attempt to harm Terrano. Please.Because she understood that Orbaranne was back, or that they were back within the confines of the Hallionne, and Terrano was still with them.
