Bellusdeo exhaled a small amount of smoke—which caused an immediate ripple to pass through the cohort and the two Barrani guards. The Consort, however, didn’t appear to notice. “You forgot about Spike,” the gold Dragon said in Elantran.
“I was kind of busy,” Kaylin replied. “Helen, whereisSpike?”
“He is... I’m not sure what the correct Elantran word would be. Meditating? Studying? He is, however, in his room. His room is not in the regular hallway, which would not be entirely comfortable for him. Should I ask him to join us?”
“You already have the familiar,” the Consort said before Kaylin could answer. “And were we to assess danger—to any of us—by competence or ability, I would venture to say that the familiar is the largest threat your home currently contains.”
The little egotist sat up on Kaylin’s shoulder and all but preened.
“If Helen is willing to allow Spike to live here as a guest, I assume that she is confident that she can keep all of the rest of your guests safe. Regardless, I confess I am curious. Who is Spike? Or perhaps the better question would be, what is Spike?”
“Yes,” Kaylin said to Helen. “If he’s willing to join us.”
“He will be willing to join you,” Helen replied. “You offered him your blood and he has used it to form an attachment.”
“That isn’t, for the record, what ‘form an attachment’ usually means,” Teela told Kaylin’s house.
“No?”
“No.”
“I believe he will concern himself in matters of both information and Kaylin’s safety; I believe that he worries that she willnotbe safe. I am unable to see how this differs from other attachments.”
“Is Spike a he?” Kaylin asked.
“I don’t believe Spike understands the nature of gender. If you would prefer, I can call Spike ‘she.’” Helen’s eyes went to obsidian, the pupils spreading to cover the entirety of her eyes. “Spike asks what ‘he’ or ‘she’ means.”
“Never mind. I’m not touching that one. Will Spike speak with us? I think it might be easier in the long run. Umm, and can you apologize for me?”
“For what?”
“For forgetting him.”
“Spike,” Kaylin said to the Consort, “is a Shadow.”
Bellusdeo snorted more smoke.
“He came fromRavellon.”
Every person in the room who didn’t know about Spike stiffened, except the Consort.
“He was taken out ofRavellonby a Barrani lord; he could not leave the containment himself.”
The Consort was now as stiff as the Arkon, and both of their eyes indicated worry: blue and orange. For some reason, Kaylin disliked orange in the Arkon’s eyes, although she saw it so often in Bellusdeo’s it might as well have been gold. Small and squawky shifted position on her shoulder, sitting up straight on the left one, although his tail wrapped around the back of her neck and dangled over the right one.
“A Barrani lord—you imply he is a member of the High Court by use of title—walked intoRavellonand left with a Shadow?”
Kaylin nodded. “I’m sorry—I meant to tell you, but later, when I could make more sense of it.” Or, more precisely, identify that lord.
“And instead you spent your time trying to cancel dinner.”
Kaylin was certain she was now red to the tops of her ears. “You know why,” she replied, trying not to sound defensive.
The Consort, however, nodded. “Yes.”
“For our part,” Sedarias said, “we take no offense, given our very recent history.” She failed to look at Terrano. Terrano said nothing. “And we were somewhat alarmed at Lord Kaylin’s choice to retreat when we learned of your offer.”
“She is not what we are,” the Consort replied. “In her two decades of life, she has not seen enough betrayal—or Barrani alliances—to understand when, and where, things become personal. She considers you family to people she has accepted as friends—but friends incur responsibility as well as affection.”
