Nightshade was not, in Kaylin’s opinion, in any shape to engage even more dangerous Shadows. He did not, however, hesitate. Outcaste or no—and Evarrim had made clear that he was—he obeyed the Consort as if the High Court were still his home.
The runes on bothMeliannosandKariannosonce again flared like lightning in the enclosed space; the fire elemental rumbled in response, tightening its grip. Evarrim did not appear to be suffering from the effects of the summoning, which was good.
“Evarrim,” the Consort said when Nightshade and Teela leaped down the stairs, the aftereffect of the light cast by their blades tracing the trajectory of a fall, not a regular descent.
“Lady,” he replied. He followed, but he took the stairs.
“Yes,” the Consort said, although no one had asked any questions. “They spent some time in the distant past on the same battlefields. It makes me feel almost young again, to see them now.”
Severn walked beside the Consort; Ynpharion took the other side. Kaylin and Edelonne brought up the rear, although the flame itself made that difficult; it had to be cajoled into leaving Edelonne alive. Neither Hope nor Spike seemed bothered by the fire’s heat. And if they weren’t, she didn’t understand why the fire was going to be proof against whatever the Shadow could send against her.
She didn’t ask, in part because Evarrim had followed Nightshade and Teela and was no longer in hearing range. But she had a suspicion that the fire was meant to reduce creatures like the Ferals to ash; while they carried some taint of Shadow, and funneled some of its power—somehow—they were nonetheless akin to the Barrani.
“Lord Kaylin?” the Consort said.
Kaylin grimaced at the title, but held her peace. “Nightshade?” she asked. She felt Edelonne’s surprise; it was the loudest thing on the inside of her head.
The Consort nodded.
She reached for Nightshade’s thoughts, Nightshade’s senses, in response. With the fire as a full-body halo, she felt almost comfortable closing her eyes.You will have to learn, Nightshade said,to speak to us with your eyes open.
Does it matter?
Here? No. But itwillmatter when you are otherwise at Court.
I’m not going tobeat Court again if I have any say in the matter.
Your optimism is both astonishing and unfounded. Keep your touch light, he added.
The stairs continued for some length, a winding spiral that reminded Kaylin very much of her own basement. Well, Helen’s basement. But Helen’s basement was subject to serious change, and often did. The rest of the house tended to remain consistent; she transformed the rooms depending on the number of people in them, but usually only added chairs or lengthened tables.
Kaylin.Nightshade spoke with irritation.Focus.
She flushed.Sorry.“The stairs that they took seem to go down a long way.”
The Consort nodded.
“There are no torches or no obvious sources of light; I think Teela’s providing whatever light they need. It’s not Nightshade.”
“It is possibly Lord Evarrim,” the Consort said. “He is a practicing Arcanist.”
Right. “They can’t see the bottom from where they are—but they’re no longer trying to defy gravity.” She frowned then. Eyes shut, she focused all of her attention on Nightshade’s vision, on what he could, and did, see. He was hyperaware now; he saw everything. There was a breeze, one not caused by the speed of either his movement or Teela’s, that seemed to come from below.
Kaylin could feel it disturb strands of his hair.
“Kaylin?” She felt a hand on her arm, but that realization was slower in coming than it would have been had she not been trying so hard to be where Nightshade was.
Something about the breeze was wrong. She could hear it. She could hear it as if it were howling wind. No, not even that. She could hear it as if it were a voice, raised to shouting, but at a distance.
Something about the sound was familiar to Kaylin. As she concentrated, as she put the brunt of her focus into listening, it became clearer.
Is it dangerous?
I...don’t think so.She was frowning; the hand on her arm lifted as she once again began to walk. She didn’t open her eyes—but she often listened with her eyes closed. It was too easy to be distracted, otherwise. Yes, it was familiar. No, in theory it wasn’t dangerous—not intentionally dangerous.
She drew breath with her own lungs, detaching herself from Nightshade’s hearing.I think—I think it’s Terrano.Terrano, the only member of the cohort that Teela couldn’t reach, and couldn’t therefore track.
Nightshade relayed this information to both Teela and Evarrim; Teela’s expression became completely neutral.
