Are you name-bound?She asked it of both Averen and Edelonne.
They were silent.
She asked again, putting more force into the words.
Edelonne said no. Averen once again failed to answer. In this darkness, that was answer enough.
Can I make Averen tell me who holds his name?Kaylin asked Ynpharion.
You? No. You may attempt to exert your will—but there is no hope whatsoever in my opinion that your will, your command, will take precedence here. He will die or break under the force of two separate orders. You will concede the struggle in order to preserve him, as you have done in the past.
Could I—
No, Lord Kaylin.
“An’Teela,” the Consort said. “Lord Averen.” She offered that lord a slight nod.
Kaylin didn’t have time to react to what she only belatedly realized was an order. Teela stepped in and removed Averen’s head from his shoulders.
Kaylin must have made some sound, some noise; everyone turned to look at her. She watched as blood followed beheading; watched as the body crumpled, the head bouncing off the stone floor and leaving a trail in its wake. And she watched, silent, as a single word—a word she now knew—shivered in the air, asserting its freedom from the binding of Barrani flesh. It was over so quickly.
He was dead. She understood then the difference between silence and death that Teela had insisted she would recognize if she felt it.
No one said a word. Neither Teela nor the Consort attempted to justify either the order or carrying it through. Kaylin moved quickly, numbly, to stand between Teela and Edelonne. Her mouth was dry.
It is not the first death you have witnessed.Ynpharion was angry.He was a threat to all of us. He was a threat to the Lady.
Kaylin said nothing. Hope said nothing. Spike was whirring, but in the rhythmic way that suggested breath, not communication.
Why do you even care? They would have killed us all. They would have killed you. You did not know them. They owe you nothing except the obedience you can enforce, and you owe themnothing!Clearly silence was not Ynpharion’s strength.Holding their names—holdingournames—is a display of strength, of power; it’s not an obligation. We arenotyour dependents!
He fell silent again. When he opened his mouth, the Consort placed a hand on his shoulder. “Ynpharion, enough. You understand what she is. Your anger will not absolve her in her own thoughts.”
This time, he kept his mouth shut. It occurred to Kaylin only then that the reason he’d broken what was a furious rant was probably the Consort on the inside of his head.
“So,” Edelonne said—to Ynpharion. “This is where you went.”
This did distract Ynpharion. Given the Consort’s expression—blue-eyed and mildly annoyed—that was probably for the best. For Ynpharion.
Kaylin closed her eyes, not to see names, not to find them, not totakethem. But she could see her arms glowing in the darkness behind her eyelids, and she could see Hope.
He, too, said nothing. But his wings brushed her forehead as she turned to look at him. She stood for three long breaths, thinking Ynpharion was right: she’d seen death before. Some of it had been worse.
But it had been years since her sole purpose was to cause that death; death had become, over the course of years, a sign of failure. The failure to protect. The failure to save. Averen had been almost helpless. Because of Kaylin. She opened her eyes; Edelonne had turned to face her, her expression one of confusion.
I’m sorry, Kaylin said almost reflexively.
He would have killed you, Edelonne replied. There was no contempt in the statement, and no sense of personal loss for Averen. No, on the contrary, there was the bare hint of satisfaction, as if they’d been enemies or bitter rivals.
Kaylin exhaled. She looked at Teela, but couldn’t meet the Barrani Hawk’s eyes. She couldn’t meet Severn’s, either. No one told her it wasn’t her fault, and even if they’d tried, she wouldn’t have believed it. She understood that it was herlack of controlthat had turned Averen into an instant threat.
After I have answered your questions, will An’Teela kill me?The question was asked with resignation and fear. Kaylin could feel both.
No.
You don’t believe that.
She would have, a handful of minutes ago. She’d’ve bet on it.I won’t let her.
