“They’re going to take the test.” Kaylin folded her arms. “They’re at risk. We’reallat risk. And since they’re going anyway, we need to tell them what we know—and frankly, I know almost nothing. I mean, I can’t believe that parents don’t tell their children before they face the test, Barrani law or custom notwithstanding. It must be a polite fiction that no one talks.”
You are so mortal, Ynpharion said.
“Barrani lie all the time. They play at games of politics as if there’s an assassination scorecard. You think they’re honest about this?”
So very, very mortal.
“The reason there’s a Test of Name at all is because there’s a powerful Shadow trapped at the base of the High Halls.”
Chapter 9
Kaylin, born—as far as she knew—in the fief of Nightshade, didn’t believe that life was fair. It wasn’t. She knew it. But if life wasn’t fair, she reserved the right towhineabout it. She resented the fact that she was risking Teela’s wrath—or worse, disappointment—solely to protect Ynpharion, a Barrani who hated and despised her.
Not only that, but he wouldn’t—and didn’t—appreciate the effort; it was likely to lower his general opinion of her, although on most days that was probably impossible.
You continually surprise me, he said, his tone confirming her suspicions.I am not your friend. I am not An’Teela’s friend. If you died and your knowledge of my name therefore died with you, I would be a happy man. We can, however, discuss this later if you insist; the Consort is waiting.
The Consort wasn’t the only one. All eyes had swiveled toward Kaylin, and while Kaylin was human enough to want attention, this was not the kind of attention she sometimes craved. She’d had nightmares like this—but, on the bright side, at least she was still wearing clothing.
“We have designations for Shadows as they escapeRavellon. The Ferals, for instance. But dangerous Shadow—”
“It isalldangerous,” Bellusdeo said. Her eyes were an orange-red. The Arkon’s, however, remained an orange-gold.
“We call those one-offs. It means,” Kaylin added, “unique. Something we haven’t encountered before. There are Records in the Halls of Law, but our beat isn’t expected to cover the Shadows, so there are large gaps in our knowledge.”
“Canyons are not generally considered gaps,” Bellusdeo said.
“Bellusdeo,” the Arkon said quietly. “If we are to lament our ignorance about Shadow, we might be here all year. Please. Allow Lord Kaylin to continue.”
Kaylin nodded to both Dragons. “The Shadow beneath the High Halls is unique. I’m not Barrani. I came to the High Halls because Teela—Oh, never mind. I was at the High Halls for reasons that had nothing to do with the Test of Name.”
“And you just stumbled into it?” Mandoran asked. Terrano’s expression was one of open disbelief—not so much at the facts, because he accepted those, as at Kaylin herself.
“More or less. Look—no one told me that the Tower and the Test of Name were so crucial to the Barrani. I knew nothing about it. Racial integration classes don’t cover Barrani minutiae.”
“Minutiae.” That was Sedarias.
“Mostly the Barrani aren’t our problem, speaking as a Hawk. If the Barrani break laws—no, sorry,whenthe Barrani break laws and the Hawks catch even the slightest wind of it—the lawbreakers wind up dead, on our doorstep. The Barrani High Court says ‘laws of exemption’ more often than it says anything else when dealing with the Halls of Law.” She grimaced. “Sorry. I didn’t know that I was taking an incredibly important test at the time.”
“What, exactly, did you think you were doing?”
Kaylin realized then that this was going to be an even worse conversation than she’d imagined. “Getting lost?”
“I begin to understand why Teela worries so much about you, even if youareChosen. I will endeavor to listen without comment going forward.”
Terrano snorted.
“The Tower offers a word—or at least it offered me a word.”
“And that word?”
“It apparently differs depending on who enters the Tower, and I don’t think it really matters. There are two levels of test that the Tower offers. I think it’s a space not unlike the Hallionne, but far more limited in scope. What I saw, what Severn saw, is not what you’ll see. Direction shifts; architecture shifts. Ithinkwe’re moving through the same space, but we don’t perceive it the same way.
“What I saw...” She shook her head.
“What Lord Kaylin encountered for the early part of her test was not something any of you will encounter,” the Consort said firmly. And forbiddingly.
“We don’tknowthat,” Kaylin said.
