But as she repeated the name, the force of the single spoken word causing tremors in the air and the ground, it stilled. It stilled enough that she could examine it closely. The strands, minute and recurring, were gone. Nothing attempted to reach for the word, to pull it back, to center it again. It was in her hand.
She felt the shock, the confusion, the fear—that was the hardest—of yet another person in her coterie of nameheld, and was surprised to discover that Edelonne was female.
Nightshade said,What you did there, do again. One of the creatures that was blocking the hall has reverted to a more familiar shape. She is not entirely cogent, but she is no longer a threat.
I’m not sure I’m going to get all three of them, Kaylin replied as she grabbed the next name. She made an attempt to grab both, but the Feral farthest from her appeared to be retreating.
He or she is retreating. The other is now standing in place.
She stopped speaking to Nightshade. She stopped attempting to catch or hold the retreating name. She concentrated, again, on the one in her hand, listening to the sound of it, until it resolved into a set of syllables that she could pronounce, in sequence, as if that sequence had meaning.
Averen.
Averen.
He did not fight her as Edelonne had fought; speaking the syllables was harder than holding the name. And as she sank the knowledge of it into her thoughts, she could see what he saw: the Consort. Teela wieldingKariannos. Nightshade bearingMeliannos. He turned once, almost wildly, to look over his shoulder; Kaylin could not see what he saw, but didn’t try. She understood that he was looking for Shadow.
Possibly looking for the third and last member of their number.
Come back, Nightshade said, his voice sharper, the two words almost a command. She wanted to tell him that’s not the way names worked, but didn’t, because she felt the tremble start in her arms; her legs, braced for action, had locked in place, but their ability to hold her up seemed to suddenly be in question.
She opened her eyes. Her arms were stiff and, yes, trembling in fists by her sides. She inhaled, exhaled, inhaled; her head hurt. The lights in this hall were too loud.
A Barrani man stood beside a Barrani woman. They no longer bristled; their teeth were invisible between the thin lines of closed mouths. Silence was practically audible.
Do you recognize them?she asked Ynpharion.
Yes.
Did you know them before you—before I—
Yes.
Do you have some idea of who the runaway was?
Clearly. Before you continue, I find it difficult to hold two conversations concurrently when one is...heated. I am answering the same questions, less kindly phrased, for the Lady.
Kaylin shut up. She knew this entire conversation should have been had the moment she’d arrived home from her first visit to the West March—but her own life had been so chaotic. She hadn’t even had a home to return to. She’d also been under the strong impression that the investigation, such as it was, had been given to the Barrani of the High Court.
Clearly, none of the High Court Barrani were Hawks.
Fine. Ask her what she’d like to do with these two.
It is already part of the discussion.
She had forgotten the way Ynpharion had fought her in the very early days. His bitter resentment had faded since the High Halls had come under the attack of the Barrani Ancestors. If his condescension and arrogance were a continuing theme, his actual resistance had vanished.
Averen and Edelonne were new. They pulled. Pushed. Attempted to break the wall of Kaylin.
You could have killed them.It was not Ynpharion who spoke, but Nightshade. He was not contemptuous, though—he was annoyed. Teela was annoyed, as well, but couldn’t make itquiteas clear.
The only person who didn’t seem to resent her decision—no, the only Barrani, as Severn understood it completely—appeared to be the Consort.
I do not resent it, Ynpharion almost snapped.It is what you are.His interior voice gentled as he added,And it is what the Lady expected. She is not what you are; she has had to make much harsher choices given her position and those who seek to harm the High Lord. But were she like you, it is absolutely the choice she would have made.
Averen did not fight her for long; Kaylin thought his struggle was instinctive, visceral. Eledonne was angry. She was angry in almost the way Ynpharion had been.
They were similar people, Averen said. His interior voice was sheared of the edge that Ynpharion’s always contained.This is the heart of their fear. This is why they wanted the power we were offered.
