Tain, the reason the cohort had become deliberately vocal, was no longerinthe room.
To one side of the table, obviously separate from what remained of the cohort, sat Terrano. His eyes were black, all pupil, but otherwise he appeared to be a normal, if dejected, Barrani youth. Allaron, the giant, sat beside Terrano, but his attention was turned to Torrisant and Serralyn.
The rest of the cohort was absent. Kaylin silently counted by name:Karian, Eddorian, Valliant, Fallessian, Sedarias. Teela.Teela. “Helen?”
“There has been some dissolution; some of the cohort let their emotions get the better of them. They are contained, at the moment, but it is surprisingly difficult.”
“Worse than Mandoran?”
Mandoran snorted.
“Mandoran has never been difficult to contain,” Helen replied. “He is very difficult tocage, but he is more or less in control of his actions.”
This time, it was Terrano who snorted.
Mandoran glared at the side of his face.
Bellusdeo, Kaylin noted, had arrived in the dining room, but she hadn’t taken a seat. “Lord Emmerian has departed?”
Kaylin nodded.
“I’m sorry,” Helen said, her voice at its most gentle—which was also, oddly enough, her most intractable, “but Teela has asked that Bellusdeo remain in the dining room with the rest of her friends. I think she believes it will keep them calmer.”
“Why?” Kaylin demanded. “It’s not like they’re not already screaming at each other on the insides of their heads.”
“They are guests when outsiders are present.”
Bellusdeo snorted. “At this point, we’re hardly outsiders.” She folded her arms.
“I haven’t noticed that Teela is in the dining room,” Kaylin pointed out. “I’ll pull her out if she’s caught in the same mess as last time.”
“And I’ll go with her,” Bellusdeo added.
Allaron rose, as well. Unseated, he towered. His eyes were blue, but they weren’t as dark as Annarion’s. Teela did not ask Helen to keep Allaron at the table as he joined Kaylin.
“What were you arguing about?” Kaylin asked as they headed toward the kitchen and the closet with the actual descending stairs.
“Whatweren’tthey arguing about?” Allaron’s Elantran was as good as Mandoran’s, but at this point, Kaylin expected that.
“They?”
“Allaron doesn’t generally argue,” Terrano said.
Kaylin jumped; Terrano wasn’t small for a Barrani, and until he’d spoken she hadn’t been aware that he’d joined them.
“No?”
Allaron shook his head. “At my size, you don’t.” Kaylin had always envied people of Allaron’s stature. “At your height, at your size, you’re not a threat. You might annoy people; you won’t terrify them. If you’re angry, people don’t immediately assume that you’re going to hurt them. They probably won’t immediately assume you can.” He held up a hand as Kaylin opened her mouth. “I’m not questioning your ability to hurt someone. I’m fairly certain you’ve killed men in your time. But your casual anger doesn’t cause fear.
“The Barrani don’t like fear. Some will start a fight to prove they don’t have any—fear, that is. And some will hide the fear, but...there’s constant, quiet anxiety. I try to sit, if I don’t want to cause pressure, but because of my size, I learned—early—to control myself and to choose my words with care.”
“So did I.”
“You learned to avoid causing offense around people who had more power. I learned to avoid causing anxiety in people who had less. It became second nature.”
Terrano was frowning. Helen repeated Allaron’s words in Barrani, and he snorted.
“I didn’t mind causing anxiety in armed people who were trying to remove my limbs. We’re not talking battlefield etiquette here. And Teela doesn’t think the argument is worth repeating.”
